Brush It Longer Maum!

Last week, in the middle of a princess dress up, Gaby noticed that her hair is not as long as Annabel's.

"Maum! I need a brush!" she says. She still doesn't quite pronounce "mom" correctly.

"Okay, says Kristin, I'll get you a brush." and she heads to the bathroom to grab one.

Gaby looks at herself in the mirror while Kristin is gone.

"Here you go" says Kristin, returning from the bathroom, brush outstretched.

Gaby brushes her hair a few times while looking in the mirror. Then she comes over to Kristin holding out the brush.

"Brush It longer, Maum." Gaby says.

A beat. Kristin and I look at each other.

"Oh, it doesn't work that way honey. I can't brush it longer. You have to wait for it to grow by itself. It just takes time." Kristin says as gently as she can.

"Brush it longer, Maum!" this time a little more emphatically as if insisting will make it happen.

"I can't brush it longer, sweety. I'm sorry."

And now it starts to set in. She starts crying.

"I want you to brush it longer!" She buries her head in her hands and run out of the room crying.

I grabbed by camera and ran after her and managed to snap this shot.

Holidays 2007

We spent the holidays here in San Francisco this year. There was just too much going on between the remodel on the new house and the move to manage our traditional trip to Iowa for Christmas. Although the girls certainly missed spending time with their family (and particularly their cousins), they still really enjoyed the holiday.

We bought and decorated a Christmas tree (a first for me), put presents under it, hung up stockings and waited for Santa to come. The kids saw Santa at the mall and told him what they wanted for Christmas. Annabel asked for a Camera and Gaby asked for Chocolate. We all find the chocolate thing with Gaby completely hysterical. In a recent interview Gaby actually said that when she grows up, she wants to be chocolate!

Gabs gets the idea that Santa brings toys, but Annabel is really starting to think through some of the finer points. She crawled into bed with us on the morning of the 22nd or 23rd and asked how much milk we had in the house. She was concerned that we wouldn't have enough for her and Gaby to drink and still have some left over for Santa. I assured her that we would have plenty.

Its also nice to see Annabel starting to appreciate the giving part of the holiday, which Gaby is still a little too young to get. Annabel picked out the Spiderman 3 DVD for me this year because she knew that I like Spiderman. Kristin said that Annabel suggested it out of the blue on her own. She even asked Kristin to tell her the letters so she could write out "To: Daddy" on the card.

She also got a present for her friend Tess and just before leaving to see her, she asked me to help her put a bow on the package and then glue a plastic jewel from her pirate treasure set on the bow. We met Tess and her mom for breakfast, and Tess had left her present to Annabel back at her house. We braced for the worst, but Annabel wasn't upset at all. She just wanted to give her gift to Tess and watch her open it.

They got all kinds of presents. There was a dollhouse, a barbie vanity, digital cameras, a bat-girl costume, a good number of books, a few cars, some plastic animals and yes some chocolate for Gaby.

They both want Christmas to come more often. Annabel suggested 2 times a year. I told her no-can-do. Gaby then suggested 3. :)

Here are some pictures: