New Years Eve(ning)

We spent most of the evening at a semi-private party for parents & kids at Perch, which turned out to be a really fantastic evening for all of us. Hennie & Mette were ecstatic the entire time, and Hege & I actually got to have some drinks and cafe food and feel like we'd broken our routine. We left by 10 though and walked a block to friends' house, where the girls fairly quickly unraveled, so we had to run home with them. I was in bed and sound asleep at 11:55 pm. Hege tried to wake me up, but could not.

Hennie & Zora toasting apple cider at (approximately) Midnight, Greenwich Mean Time.

New Years Eve - Afternoon

Our friends Matt & Muneko are moving to Toyko very soon, so Rahdy & Chris came into town to have dinner & drinks on the 30th. The next morning we had brunch at our house so that they could see how little was done on our house and to let Hennie dress Matthew.

Muneko made jewelry out of tin foil


unfortunately we got no photos of Rahdy & Chris. What a drag.

afternoon nap (rare)

skating

Valeria, Hege, & Karla took Andrusha, Hennie, & Pasha skating in Prospect Park, which has a small outdoor rink.

Andrusha, Hennie & Pasha

with Pasha

Hennie did well for being a beginner. Hege skated behind her and held her hands. We're hoping to make the trips semi-regular so that she can pick it up early.

Valeria propping Andrusha

cheetah

Hennie was painting by herself in her room and came out having covered herself with this design in black tempra.
She announced she was a Cheetah, and acted like one.

christmas day

making waffles for breakfast. it was a nice quiet day and we spent a lot of time together.
they both show a lot of interest in helping me cook

xmas ballet

Both grandparents teamed up to get Hennie some really nice (real) ballet slippers, a leotard & tutu, which she quickly changed into and began performing for us. She looks very dour here, but it was a very happy night.

Mette also got a pair of ballet slippers and she worked hard to keep up.

xmas eve(ning)

we opened most of the presents on the night of christmas eve, with David.


Hennie got her wings on




new teddy bear

pre tree

Painting pine cones for the Christmas tree

hennie photo

Hennie took this one

south street seaport santa

Hege & Rebecca took all the girls to a Santa at the south street seaport. A week later he was written up in the paper as the best santa in the city - well, I'll be damned.

Mette, Rebecca, Sabine, Sophia, Thebestsantainnewyorkcity, Hennie

Hennie & Sophia @ Sophia's.

Breakfast at Deirdre's

We got up early one weekend morning to eat breakfast and spend time at our friend's new cafe, Perch. Deirdre & Bruce just finished an epic gut renovation of the space, which is within a (long) walking distance down 5th avenue from our house. Its designed to be as child-friendly as possible, as there is such a large niche for that in the area. The wall is painted with magnetic paint and Hennie is rearranging the birds to kiss.

Bagels & Egg sandwiches