34 Weeks Old

November 14 - November 20

We started the week with another celebration - Grandpa Jeff's birthday!  We met Grammie and Grandpa, Adam and Megan for dinner at Mi Ranchito. Sarah was in a good mood and really enjoyed playing with Grandpa's birthday balloon. She even got her own order of Mexican food (a side of avocado slices)!  See her reading the menu?  What a smart girl!

All was going well until the dreaded birthday song and giant sombrero that comes with any birthday at a Mexican restaurant.  When the singing started, Sarah seemed to think it was pretty fun!  Then the yelling and clapping started, and that lower lip started trembling.  She really wasn't sure what was going on!  In the end, she held it together and made it stoically through the song.  Plus, Grandpa Jeff looked pretty silly in that hat...

The whole group had a great time and a delicious meal.  Happy Birthday, Grandpa Jeff!

Also this week, Sarah has discovered the mirror on our closet door.  The best part about it is that if she pushes on it, it swings away from her and then back to where she's sitting!  Oh, hinges.  So much fun...

We're also gearing up for Thanksgiving.  And by gearing up, I mean I made her a Thanksgiving quiet book!  She likes to pull on the turkey's tail (it's made out of ribbons) and eat the ribbons in the rings that hold the book together.  Good thing I spent hours creating those pages with the Pilgrims and Indians whose bountiful harvests of corn (or maize, as Tom keeps pointing out), apples, turkey and pumpkin pie are all interchangeable so that different people can bring different items to the Thanksgiving feast each time she reads the book...

In other holiday news, however, Sarah met Santa for the first time this week!  Most of you know that I'm a firm believer in Thanksgiving before Christmas.  But when the city of Overland Park has a Christmas tree lighting ceremony on a still-warm night in November, I'm going to take advantage of that opportunity!

We started our evening with a "cutie pie" from The Upper Crust.  If you haven't checked out this bakery yet, do it.  I mean it.  Turn off your computer, get in your car, and drive there RIGHT NOW.  It's amazing.  The smell alone is worth the trip, but this place makes the Best Pie Ever.  Really.  Ever.

See what I mean? The crust is flaky and buttery, the apples in our apple pie were thinly sliced and baked to just the right level of softness. It was heaven. And I love my daughter enough that I let her try it.

See the way her eyes have bulged and glazed over? And she just got a pea-sized piece of crust. Note in this next picture the way she's reaching for more...

We finally tore ourselves away from the restaurant after we finished our pie. This was partly to go meet Grammie and Grandpa Jeff, and partly to avoid the potential embarrassment of licking the pie plate at our table. We walked down to the clock tower, which is where all the festivities were taking place! There was no line to see Santa, so Sarah was able to check him out for a bit.  I was so proud of her for not pulling his beard!

We walked around for a little bit and looked at all the Christmas ornaments on the big tree.  The mayor of Overland Park lit the tree around 6:20, and that was about all Sarah had in her!  We headed home after that, full of a little Christmas cheer (but still saving most of it for after Thanksgiving, which is STILL a valid holiday itself!).