Back in January we hosted a birthday party for madame.

This year’s theme was Beatrix Potter. Everyone wore masks of different Potter characters, and we had tea, sandwiches, scones and cakes for the party.

We played with some of her new presents…

and had a rousing game of impromptu ‘balloon ball’ too!

Some January kidspeak:

“Whatever food you’re making I’ll be in time for.”
— the kid’s response to “Breakfast is ready!”

Dad: “Look! We’re going through the castle. That’s the portcullis.
Do you know what that is?”
Kid: “Yes.”
— a conversation as we enter Disneyland

“Why does your hair look like a little crown, Dad?”
“Why does your hair look like fireworks?”
“What did you say about your hair looking like the water show?”
— the kid riffs on her dad’s hair

January was pretty fun. In addition to the kid celebrating her fifth birthday, we also had a fun trip to a little place called Disneyland.

January Happenings:

• We celebrated the new year with a trip to the beach
• We wrote about a letter from Santa
• The kid and her mom saw the SF Nutcracker
• We posted a Disneyland video

January Book Readin’:

A Storm of Swords

The Killer of Little Shepherds

Movie Watchin’:

Midnight In Paris

50/50

Crazy, Stupid Love

Fish Story

TV Gazin’:

Downton Abbey, Season 1

Downton Abbey, Season 2

“That was exciting!”
— the kid, as we leave Disneyland’s “Soarin’ Over California”

“Nice one, Dad!”
— the kid comments on her dad’s use of a hair dryer on his shoes after a rainy day at Disneyland

Here’s another video with pics from our Disneyland trip.

Music Used:

• “It’s A Small World“, “The Aristocats“, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious“, and “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers“, from the Sherman Brothers Songbook performed by various artists and written by the Sherman Brothers

“It’s a hotel after all.”
— the kid, when asked to name her favorite Disneyland ride

We just spent four days at Disneyland and I’m actually quite surprised to say that we happily would’ve spent even more time there.

I’m sure we’ll be posting lots of words and pictures. For now, here’s a video of our time there.

December Kidspeak:

“Well what do you know….I’ve been wanting one of these for years!”
— the kid, while opening items found in her Christmas stocking

“Think pink! Think pink! That proves the kitchen sink!”
“Everything is muffin, YES, when strawberries are here!”
— the kid, making up songs as she runs up and down the hall

Another month (and year!) is now history. The kid and her mom instructed me to wake them up right before midnight so they could ring in the new year. However, when I gave Jill a little nudge at 11:53 PM, she gave me a “What are you, crazy?” look and immediately went back to sleep. Oh well.

Happy new year.

December Happenings:

• We created a July – December, 2011 video and photo collage
• We posted a few Christmas videos here, here, and here
• We visited the 2011 Dickens Fair
• We visited a Waldorf school

December Book Readin’:

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

My 2011 Reading List (from most to least enjoyed):

• A Clash of Kings – George R. R. Martin
• A Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin
• Unbroken – Laura Hildebrand
• Moneyball – Michael Lewis
• The Call of the Wild – Jack London
• A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
• Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
• Moonwalking with Einstein – Joshua Foer
• Life of Pi – Yann Martel
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Douglas Adams
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
• Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
• Freakonomics- Steven Levitt
• The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
• The Psychopath Test – Jon Ronson
• The Partly Cloudy Patriot – Sarah Vowell
• The Professor and the Madman – Simon Winchester
• A Visit From the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
• Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs – Chuck Klosterman
• ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun – James Miller and Tom Shales
• Notes from a Small Island – Bill Bryson
• I’m a Stranger Here Myself – Bill Bryson

Movie Watchin’:

Hugo

Limitless

Warrior

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

TV Gazin’:

Community, Season 3

Amazing Race, Season 19

American Horror Story, Season 1

Dad: “You’re, uh…”
Kid: “…THE BEST KID IN THE WHOLE WORLD. THE END!”
— the kid finishes her dad’s sentence for him

Here’s the latest chapter of “Life with the Kid”. In this ongoing series I post a video collage of pics and videos from the past half year.

This latest installment contains approximately 180 photos and 20 video clips and clocks in at 9 minutes and 37 seconds.

Previous installments:

1. 2007: Part 1 (Jan – Jun) | Part 2 (Jul – Dec)
2. 2008: Part 1 | Part 2
3. 2009: Part 1 | Part 2
4. 2010: Part 1 | Part 2
5. 2011: Part 1 | Part 2

All pics and short videos used in this collage were taken from July through December, 2011.

Music used:

• “Feel Good Inc.” from Demon Days by Gorrilaz
• “Coffee & TV” from 13 by Blur
• “Porno Music” from the Freaks & Geeks Soundtrack by Michael Andrews

“And that is Wubie dressed as an angel.”
— the kid explains a Christmas drawing

It’s that time of the year, so I’m cranking out some home movies. Here’s a video of yesterday’s our Christmas get-together at my mom’s place. Every year we say “Wow, look how grown up the kids are!” For some reason it seemed especially apparent this year.

Sorry you couldn’t make it!: Sam & Mirjana & family (OR), Tisa & Jim (HI), Nina & Larry (TX), Michelle & Michael (CT!)

Music Used:

• “Deck the Halls”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “Silent Night”, “Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)”, from Christmas Album by Charlie Byrd

“Whooah! They fall down on the floor, tiny ice cream.”
— the kid narrates as mom drops something on the floor

It’s 3:22 AM Christmas morning, so I better be getting to bed pretty soon. I stayed up a bit later than I thought I would, wanting to finish off this video Jill shot last night of the kid leaving out various foodstuffs for Santa and his trusty reindeer.

This is our fourth “Christmas Eve with the Kid” video. I really treasure these things and am already a bit fearful of the eventual day when the kid isn’t bouncing off the walls excited about Christmas morning.

Luckily, Gpa Peter, Uncle John, and Auntie Laura visited with us last night, so we got a bit of them in our little video. These are the good times. Merry Christmas.

“You can’t go to the airport, Wubert! There’s a plane squash you…and take you away. That’s not fun, Wubert.”
— the kid explains to Wubie why he can’t go on a plane trip in September, 2009

Here’s a quick video from this year’s Dicken’s fair. The kid’s Gpa Tom and Gma Karen are featured, along with some footage of the kid playing one of her favorite fair games, “Boot the Cat.”

Music used:

• “Christmas is Coming” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio from A Charlie Brown Christmas

There is the friendly neighbor cat, who feels right at home…even waits by the door to come in (though she is never invited.)

There is a mushroom house occupied by two cheerful gnomes.

Nearby you will find a rabbit, a deer, a few ducks, and other statuary.

The most recent addition we noticed on our last visit was a little door in a previously unoccupied hole in the walnut tree.  This attracted a great deal of attention and speculation about the occupants, although they did not appear at home when we knocked (many times).

The wildlife varies but is always entertaining. This large green beetle appeared out of the blue a few weeks back, the only one we have ever seen. It must have been lost or taking a rest stop on the way to somewhere else.