Month: December 2020

Home for the Holidays

We’ve kept things low-key lately. Today’s list of accomplishments include a trip to the mailbox and a gripping game of Go Fish. If anyone’s asking, the last week of the year, the one where each day bleeds into the next and a concept of time isn’t necessary, is my absolute favorite.

A postcard from “Highlights” magazine is on its way to Grandmother!
That huge smile erupted when she realized that she’d won.

Christmas 2020!

It was low-key and quiet, but joyful and 100% magical. The day took place just as Gigi had planned: she got out of bed, put on her slippers, and came into our room to “wake us” at 9:18am (in reality, Dave and I had been up for over an hour, just waiting for her to wake!). When we walked into the living room, Gigi was so happy to see that Santa had come! She noted that he’d eaten most of his cookies and was excited the reindeer had eaten their carrots. And then, it all happened as we’d expect. She opened her presents, one at a time, carefully peeling every single piece of wrapping paper off each gift before opening the package or inspecting its contents. After unwrapping, she’d open the gift, and then right away start playing. She did not deviate from this methodology, and, as a result, we finally finished opening gifts around 1:00pm. We did take time to make breakfast — eggs with butternut squash and apple hash — and later in the day, we enjoyed a takeout Christmas dinner from Locanda Verde.

Gigi’s family spoiled her and she was grateful for every gift. Dave and I took a very practical approach to gift giving this year, and mostly got things we needed for the apartment (the image below should bring this idea to life).

We missed our family and our holiday traditions, but are grateful that technology allowed Gigi to connect with her grandparents on Christmas Day.


Yes, Dave got a toilet bowl cleaning brush… for Gigi’s bathroom. I do know how to spoil him. Towards the end, Gigi began unwrapping gifts with her feet. She thought it was hilarious! 🙂

Christmas with Grandmother!

We are so fortunate that we were able to share Christmas with my mom! She drove all the way from Connecticut so that we could have a masked, socially distanced, windows open holiday celebration. It was safe and it was perfect. Gigi rushed to give Grandmother her homemade gift (a gingerbread ornament) and then we ate dinner, “went to church” (ie watched Father Mark at Trinity via webcast), and exchanged gifts. It was exactly what we needed to get us to the finish line of the pandemic.

Smiling under our masks. Never gets old.

Hanukkah Gelt

The big gift on Gigi’s Christmas list this year? Hanukkah Gelt. Fortunately, her sweet friend/nanny, Emma, remembered and made it happen for her.

I just love the magic of this video. You can see that she is just SO excited, and in the beginning, you can hear her put forth one of the many phrases/mantras we’ve taught her since she was small. She was having trouble opening the chocolate, and said, “I can do it, but I might need a little help.” (It’s the phrase we’ve given her to replace “I can’t do it.”)

Christmas Cookies

The activity for #23 of Gigi’s advent calendar was to bake Christmas cookies! This time, though, I insisted that Gigi and Dave do it as a team (only fair since Gigi and I got to make cookies a few weeks ago AND because Dave said he’d never baked cookies from scratch). It was beyond sweet and I loved being a fly on the wall.

I did jump in and decorate two cookies at the end… couldn’t help myself. 😉

Nutcracker Day!

For the past two years, I have picked Gigi up at school and taken her to Lincoln Center to see The Nutcracker. Obviously that did not happen this year, but we honored our tradition in the most special way possible: we both got dressed up and enjoyed New York City Ballet’s 2019 performance of The Nutcracker (the same one we saw in person last year!) at home, along with our traditional in-theater treats: M&Ms for her and champagne for me. I made “tickets” and Dave escorted us to our seats. After a few minutes, Gigi reflected, “Mama, I bet we’re the only people who have done this.” I asked what she meant, and she said, “Watch The Nutcracker at home in our fancy clothes with the Christmas tree lit and treats like M&Ms and wine. It’s really special.” That little statement, acknowledging the magic of Christmas, was all the gift I needed. She is a very reflective and thoughtful child who is VERY grateful. I’m so proud of her and love getting to know what a beautiful human she is.

I didn’t take many pictures, so I’m hoping Dave has a couple to post. It really was so special.