We had an absolutely lovely Christmas holiday time. Although we are away (yet again) from our family and friends in the USA, we were lucky enough to have a little taste of family with us for three weeks. Dana's brother and wife, Mason and Krystal, braved the 24+ hour flight to come stay with us for the holidays. We spent our days showing them the fair Cape, enjoying the sunny, breezy days out by the pool, venturing out for a couple nights on the town, eating far too much sushi and tasting far too much local South African wine (not possible Mason says). Soaking in the sunshine and having a braai (bbq) for our Christmas supper is surprisingly becoming normal for us now, but our families back home tell us all over Skype about the cold and snow, so we won't forget the magic of a white Christmas.
At Arabella Hotel under the enormous Christmas tree. (This one is for you Nana! Thank you for an amazing few days of being utterly spoiled rotten)
At Aquila Game Reserve, where Mason and Krystal went on safari. She was fascinated with the ostrich in the background!
It's happened over night, our little girl has suddenly changed from a quiet, unmoving, adaptable, easy going infant to a one year old, sassy, strong willed, speedy pirate peg leg crawling and cruising machine. Her crawling is unique, she uses the one knee down the other leg's foot down approach to getting around, and it seems to propel her faster than the normal baby. Lucky for us, that means that cupboards full of pots and pans or Tupperware, bookshelves of books and coffee table materials are scattered and destroyed at a much quicker rate.
Poor Sophiya, having a birthday the day after Christmas is not ideal. Everyone is relaxing with family after a big Christmas dinner the night before, looking over, playing with or trying on their new gifts, it's certainly not the best day for having a birthday. However, Dana and I vow to always make her birthday a special day no matter what and always to separate the two celebrations, no "combo" gifts. We had a small celebration, sang Happy Birthday with family on Skype, had a homemade carrot cake for her (thanks to Krystal baking and my mom's famous recipe) with one little candle.
For her first birthday, Sophiya received a very special birthday present from her Dad. Uncle Mason and him built her a beautiful, slam proof, baby safe toy box for all her toys from Grandpa Crum (aka Santa Claus). It is something that she can have for life, bring to college with her one day with all her belongings, a treasured gift for years to come. I was really proud of Dana for doing something so thoughtful, not to mention quite a lot of blood, sweat and tears was put into this box!
Sophiya in her inflatable "Duckie". Duckie was for sale on the side of the road from a hawker, thanks to Uncle Mason, this has been very well used. She sure understands the concept of rest and relaxation at an early age!
This is currently the most famous facial expression for Sophiya to date. Although in the photograph it looks a bit frightening, this is her open mouthed kiss face for nearly everything/person she encounters. From the moment she wakes, she is ready to kiss the animals on her curtains, her new outfit, house plants, the guy swiping my card at the gym, the car guard at the parking garage, characters in her books, the rock in our front yard, you name it, she'll try to kiss it. This girl has a lot of love to give and she gives it all day long. Dad just hopes that it ends promptly when she is 14.
Much love and light from Africa. Wishing you all a blessed 2011!
