New Year's Party

Photo credit: Anatoly Kapinos

For the love of books

Cleveland has an amazing independent bookstore, Loganberry, where Lill and I could spend hours just hanging out.

It's a purple X-mas

A super great treat this year at Nana and Osik's house was putting up a purple Christmas tree and leaving treats and milk for Santa next to the fireplace.

Bring your granddaughter to work day

While we were in Cleveland for the holidays, Lillian got a tremendous treat: a visit to the hospital to see X-Rays of zombie brains ...

.... and to help Grandpa Jim do a colonoscopy.

Amazing!

TBT (but on a Tuesday)

TBT (but on a Monday)

Science Center play-date

Thank you, Emily, for a super fun day at the Science Center.
The apples for lunch were delicious.

Party at Alexandria's

Last day of school.
Party at Alexandria's.

Holiday colors

It's the last day of school before the winter holidays.

Lillian got her tips dyed red yesterday.

Happy Holidays!

Selfies by a six-year-old

The Theory of Everything

Hanukkah

This year, Hanukkah came early to our home.
At 711 Bay St., today is the last day of Hanukkah.
Lillian has been getting a gift a day for the past eight days.

We've really enjoyed opening just one gift a day.
It permitted us to enjoy each gift more.

On the first day, Lillian got a work book for Grade 2 kids.

Day 2: Penmanship poster.

Day 3: "How to Train Your Dragon 2" movie.

 Day 4: Two foam swords.

Day 5: Chocolate Santa wrapped in beautiful Hanukkah paper.

Day 6: "Fred" action figure, and a home-made pom-pom balaclava.

Day 7: Monster High puzzles.

Day 8: Knitting kit.

A visit to Mt. Mike's

Every year, Lillian and I bring a holiday basket to the nurses who work at the St. Mike's NICU, where Lillian spent the first three weeks of her life.

They remember us, and they recognized us this year as well.

Afterward, we stopped at Fran's Diner, and couldn't avoid entering an art contest while we waited for our dinner.

Lillian had an individual pepperoni pizza and I had French onion soup.

We desserted on hot chocolate and chocolate cake.

We went home via Dundas square where there is a light display of polar bears.

(Lill is wearing a pom-pom balaclava that I made for her today - more about that later).

Meeting Santa

Thank you so much, Brealyn for a wonderful playdate. We had a great time at the Santa Party.

Hot Chocolate and Home Alone

Thank you, Anna and Peter, for the best dinner we've had in a long time. Yum!!!

And the hot chocolate was thick and delicious!

And "Home Alone" is a holiday season gem!

after school fun

Today, after school, Lillian stayed for an extra 45 minutes to play tag in the gym with her friends, Addie and Aija.

Sleep patterns

Last month, Lillian made a record of her sleep pattern for a week, where an inch represented one hour (that's 14 feet).

We recorded when she got up and went to bed. We recorded the phases of the moon during that week. And we also plotted the sunrise and sunset.

Lillian presented her timeline to the class.

Letter to Santa

One of the great things that Canada Post does is something they call "Write to Santa and he'll write back!"

The idea is that if you use their template and send the letter to the following address, then you'll get a letter back from Santa:

Santa Claus
North Pole
Canada
H0H 0H0