Three Years Old

Happy birthday, sweet girl! We all love you so very much.

At three, Aspen is passionate about her sweets. She loves food as long as it's more than 50% sugar. She adores her big sister,



her cousins,



and is making her own friends at her Friends school.



Her favorite color is still yellow, but she specified a chocolate cake with BROWN frosting, lest there be any doubt. Chocolate trumps yellow. She's a homebody, who likes to cuddle, play with her toys, wear dress up clothes whenever possible, and "make" (cook) in the kitchen with mommy and daddy.




(this girl has chopped more asparagus...!)

She's getting quite good at puzzles. She's wearing "princess" underwear (regular) underwear more and more, and waking up dry in the mornings about half the time. She loves Disney movies, current favorites are still Princess and the Frog and Sleeping Beauty. (And Curious George, although I don't know if that's Disney?) She's developed an interest in Fancy Nancy books, and also loves to read and re-read Curious George Goes to the Beach these days. She's still very attached to her Goat and paci for sleeping, and has moved into size 3 clothes.

Aspen's birthday morning started early, with some presents before Sabine had to head off to school.



Uncle Eric and Aunt Diana brought Aspen some fun puzzles, which she managed to assemble before even getting dressed.



Then we took a field trip to the toy store for a birthday present, since the one she requested (a Tiana dress, from the movie Princess and the Frog) hadn't arrived yet, and out of everything in the huge store, she picked out a little plastic baby. Given that it was purchasable with pocket change, we let her get two.



There was a yellow cookie for lunch



quickly followed by a sugar crash and a good nap.

Then Sabine came home from school, Uncle Eric and Aunt Diana headed out, and we ran a few errands to get ready for tonight's double birthday celebration with these two lovely ladies!



It was a fun, intimate party with just family and close family friends,



Aspen got some neat gifts, including an Owlette costume from her favorite show, PJ Masks



(which daddy briefly commandeered)



then it was time for dinner and cake!











Both cakes were pretty tasty!



Everyone seemed to have a great time.







We stayed up a bit late, but it was hard to end such a fun evening.

Happy Valentine's Day

Daddy spoiled us and sent all three of us flowers! We are all (real!) grinning like crazy.







We are so lucky to have this guy.



Meanwhile, in other news:

Uncle Eric and Aunt Diana came in to town, and stayed with us before heading up the mountain to their annual ski vacation. We were all happy to see them, sometimes it's just hard to smile around a pacifier...!





We've been having unseasonably warm weather, and Aspen requested a spontaneous trip to the zoo the other day, which happened to be Charlie's first attempt at doggy day care. Since all the stars aligned, we headed off, and were not disappointed!



Equally exciting, Nana, Aunt Dani, and the cousins also adopted a new puppy! We are all smitten! Welcome to the family, Lucky.

Charlie

Meet the cute new addition to our family, Charlie!

We somewhat-spontaneously adopted him on January 9, a day when Sabine was home "sick" from school because she had been ill the day prior, and we were all looking for a reason to get out of the house. We saw his picture on the shelter's website, and it was love at first sight.

We brought him home after a visit to the shelter, where Sabine promised to take care of him and love him forever if only we could get him, and Aspen didn't even bother with negotiations, she was just like, "Hi, Dad! This is my dog!" when we Facetime-ed him.

Sabine swears she's no longer afraid of dogs. Any dog who can make my kid smile like that has already earned his keep!

And, of course, there's this one, no less enamored:

We've introduced him to the girls' cousins, who love him, too, 

as well as Nana, Aunt Dani, and Grandmom and Grandpa, as well as a smattering of friends.

Charlie is very sweet, he's an Italian Greyhound mix of some sort, weighs about 15.9 lbs, give or take, and best guesstimate is that he's about a year and a half old. He is very sweet and timid, and already quite attached to us. He is mostly housebroken, he doesn't bark unless the situation is dire (like the first time he spotted our terrifying cats), or chew on things. He's very cuddly, he fancies himself a lap dog, 

and when no lap is available, he opts for the next warmest/softest spot in the house. 

He's fitting in beautifully around here. Welcome to the clan, pup!

New Year's Eve/Christmas Part III

We spent our New Year's Eve up at Grandmom and Grandpa's house. We had a lovely Christmas celebration with them,



complete with presents,



stockings,







good food,




(Mommy's girl! She still loves her spanikopita!)





And, of course, wonderful company. It was really special to get to be all together.