This Christmas Eve, Mio got a big treat — she got to see snow for the first time in her life! She seemed really fascinated and curious. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she kept trying to grab at the snowflakes that swirled around us.
The snow didn’t stick and the flurries stopped after a while, so we won’t be getting the white Christmas we’d been hoping for, but it was still a memorable experience for Mio! We can’t wait until she can see enough snow to play in!
Dan received this ridiculous bear paw scarf in a White Elephant gift exchange at his workplace, and he brought it home for Mio to try on. She had so much fun chasing us around, terrorizing us with her newfound bear paws! Here’s a video of Mio-Bear in action!
My sister and I built a gingerbread house last night! We had made one last year for the first time in years, and it was so much fun that we had to do it again. This year, we decided to make a time-lapse video to document the process, because we had so much fun making the tree-trimming time-lapse the other week.
We bought the gingerbread house kit from Trader Joe’s, and we really liked it for its unique look, all the materials it came with, and its unbeatable price — only $7.99! It’s imported from Germany, and while we have yet to eat it, the gingerbread was pretty soft and thick coming out of the box, compared to the rock-hard gingerbread you find in most other kits. It looks and smells delicious! I just love everything Trader Joe’s sells, especially during the holidays!
Here is the time-lapse video of us assembling and decorating the gingerbread house! Special thanks to Dan for setting the camera up and editing the video for us. 🙂
Some additional photos…
And Mio’s reaction to the gingerbread house? She saw it this morning during breakfast and broke out into a huge smile!
Maybe next year, Mio will be able to help build one with us! 🙂
Among Dan’s birthday gifts was a remote control quadcopter, and he’s been having fun playing with it all weekend. For me, it’s more fun watching Mio’s reaction to it — a mixture of uncertainty, curiosity, and apprehension with a hint of excitement. She likes to chase where it goes, but maintains a safe distance and at times gets scared and runs away from it, towards me.
One of Mio’s favorite things to do these days is a “roll call,” in which she calls “Mama” and “Dadoo” to which we respond “Hai!” (Japanese for “here!” or “yes”), and then she waits for us to call her name and she responds “hai” back. She will often repeatedly do this for five rounds or so. I’ve tried to capture it on video, but she gets camera-shy every time. Here’s an old video from almost a month ago that we took on Thanksgiving Day — it’s usually a lot more enthusiastic, but she is a bit reluctant here. Still fun to watch, though! 🙂