santa, baby!

there was a christmas tree lighting ceremony at the nearby rotana so the t family and nanny all marched to the hotel.

we came right in time as the choir was just starting to sing.


look, o - all pinoys!

there was a gingerbread house! there were free mince pies and get this, gluhwein and eggnog! for free! yahoo!

and baby saw her first ever santa! photo op! she was scared at first, muttering that he's "big!" haha.

**

the next christmas event that we went to was at the german school christmas bazaar. we only spent about an hour or so over there as we got stuck in traffic.still, we were able to go around the school and baby frolicked in the playground (at night!).we lined up for shawarma and flammkuchen.they were not for free, though.haha.

**
we spent our friday breakfast at this new place in the neighborhood called saladicious. the eggs benedict and omelette were yum!

baby also played with my camera and started clicking away. this is her play area in our loving room from her point of view. please pardon the mess.she's a kid, you know.

that little wooden kitchen area there? that's one of our best buys for baby! we got that from ikea and she just plays with it constantly. the li'l bunny on the left-hand side was part of a tiny knapsack which i got for baby in seoul. mickey mouse is from disneyland in florida (a gift from a colleague) and those li'l wooden utensils are from galeries lafayette in paris (a homecoming present from mr t).

anyway, who am i kidding? they're all from china, i bet.

we went to the mall just because. baby played in the play area along with other kids. she was the youngest there, and dare i say one of the most agile? knock on wood. oh bless her, my baby.

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we found out through a text message that a nursery school was having an open-day/christmas party for anyone who wants to come.free food? free kiddie activities? count the t family in.

so after a pediatrician's uneventful yearly visit, we went to the school and were happily pleased with the activities happening. there were face paintings, mask decorating, goofing in the gym. excellent. baby had a reindeer face done complete with a red nose and ho-ho-ho, she got another photo op with santa! she did not get scared of him this time.

it's amazing to watch baby interact with other kids. there was a kid who pushed her in the slide, and baby looked back at her clearly upset, saying "no push!" with such conviction.there were also different kinds of bicycles and baby tried them all without any hesitation.i was really impressed.she certainly did not get that fearlessness from me!


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we made christmas cookies! mr t mixed the ingredients and showered it with his magic dust while the mignons (me, nanny and yes, baby!!!) cut the dough into christmas shapes and decorated them.

oh it was wonderful! methinks we should do this every year!

want some? :-) they're excellent and i'm not biased ok?