San Silvestro

Instead of preparing another special dinner, this year we have thought to go out instead of staying home. Two days ago we have visited some restaurants in our olittle town to have an idea of the menu and the cost for the last of the year dinner. Many places have unaffordable high crazy prices even if the menus seems to be yummy and elegant. The local chines restaurant where we often go proposes an italian menu with just some little chinese things at a lower reasonable price so yesterday we have decided to make a reservation for us and for granny. Momichan is enthusiastic, she loves to go restaurant and she loves this restaurant, also she likes whenever there is granny with us so when we tell her she starts to jump everywhere inside home ! :) For the occasion she weares the new green stripe pullower (see foto) granny has given her as present for Christmas.

The menu includes champagne and panettone and also fireworks so it means we have to stay until midnight. After lunch today Momichan takes her usual nap but we let her sleep until late so that she will not be tired this evening, reservation in the restauurant is around 21.30 PM in this way it will be easier also for a small kid like Momichan to sit at the table for long time anyway I prepare her Hello Kitty rucksack (present from my sister for X'Mas) with some little story books, a colouring album and some coloured pencils.
Just after we have sit at the table and taken off the jackets, the waiter takes us water and the starts, a dish composed by a mix of smoked salmon sandwich, chinese potato rolls, a big shrimp and shells. I do not like the shells so I give to mum because she is fond of, she gives me the two chinese potato rolls because they are sweet and she doesn't like sweet potatoes. The first dishes are two: rice cooked with onions, smoked cheese and mushrooms, garganelli pasta with zucchini and shrimps. Rice is really good but garganelli pasta should have been better if just would have cooked with a little less salt.

The main course is also composed by two different choices one is fish and the other meat: seabass with herbs and veggies, shrimps cooked chinese style. The second dish is a choice of grilled meat, veal, chicken and lamb (very yummy I must say). Between one dish an the other is served some salad.
Little by little the restaurant is empting, the people who stay are the ones arrived after nine o'clock for the fireworks, families with small children little by little go away. In the middle of the ones who stay there are also our neighbours and a nother lady we often meet at our preferred coffee shop (she lives in the apartments just over the restaurant). At 11.30 we have finished eating, music is tuned up and the little chines kids sons and daughters of the owner of t erestaurant start to dance, Momichan join them and a waiter start to make baby dance with them, Momichan amuses a lot and she is really good in moving same way according to the music.

Other waiters take away the last dirty dishes and take champagne and special flute while some others outside take the fireworks and put on the ground ready to be lighted. On tv there is a program taking the countdown, there are singers and dancers and some telling jokes. On each table is taken fruits (mandarins), chokolates and peanuts.
Momichan dances while outside waiters are running to dispose other fireworks and the tv makes the final countdown: just three minutes and 2011 will be finished !!! Sampei opens the champaing bottle and purs it in the glasses, everybody counts down ... 6...5...4...3...2...1...0 ! HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
Outside the fireworks starts, Momichan is enchanted, everybody in the restaurant run to the windows to see better outside, some go outside, music goes on, panettone slices is taken to tables and everybody cheeres. After a little Sampei goes to pay and when the fireworks are finished we start to go home too, we still have some fireworks we had bought three weeks ago when we still thought to make dinner at home and Momichan wants to see.

Granny is still with us, we will take her home afterwards.
At home there is nobody around, we are in our courtyard lighting the fireworks and Momichan is happy and jumps. Sky is clear and we can see Orion and many stars and constellation. After a few minutes also our neighbours come home and take the lift to go up, the rest of the building is dark, maybe many families are already in bed, some others are still outside.
I finish the fireworks, while Momichan and I go up inside home, Sampei takes granny home, when he comes back Momichan is already with her pijama in her bed and holds her milk bottle in her tiny hands.

She has amused so much this evening, so many new enchanting things for her, HAPPY NEW YEAR Momichan :)

going Milano ...

We had promised Momichan that during the X'Mas holidays we would have gone alltogather to Milan to see the big X'Mas Tree and visit a big book store to search some books for her, so this morning after breakfast we leave home for the Center. Every year in the center of Milan in front of the Dome, the local Townhall take and decorate a big pine tree everytime different, so we are curious to see how it is decorated this time.
It is a sunny day and temperature is quite hight for the period, Momichan has her coat and berret and is hot enough.
The Dome is so white and clean (see foto) and the Tree this year is covered by thousands white ribbons and small golden lights. Momichan is enthusiastic, we quite never go to the Center, we live just outside Milan and during the week we have no time, also we do not have the car because daddy uses it to go to work so it would result a llittle complicate to go alone just Momi and me taking busses and underground.
Momichan is crazy about the pigeons flying around and walking in front of the Dome, thousands of tourists are everywhere and I have to care to have Momichan always in my sight.
After having seen shops we stop at McDonalds for lunch, Momichan takes a Happy Meal with "plain" hamburger, fries, yogurt and gas water. (In Italy the word "plain" mean just hamburger without condiments nor salt). She is really good in eating all by herself and eating everything.
As promised after lunch we go to the book store: inside there are many and many kids book of every kind, Momichan starts to take one, then another, she is fascinated by the ones that make sounds or have "pop ups".
We find one of the books she likes, I had taken it from our local library in november, it is a book about Halloween that makes creepy funny sounds and lights.
It is now dark outside and we can see the X'Mas light everywhere, some palaces seem to be gold at the decoration lights, some other seem silver and the big X'Mas Tree is now all lighted and brilliant :) the city seems magic, somewhere there is music fillling the air, some little groups of american indians selling cd are playing some instruments, some other from Peru are doing the same somewhere else and the tipical X'Mas music is everywhere. For us is time to go home, Momichan has not have her usual nap today and is really tired, she has been really good all day long but now she needs to rest and for us once reached home, it will be time to prepare dinner so we direct to the underground to reach the car parked outside the center.

Martina bday party

A few days ago Momichan and I were invited to a birthday party by a kindergarden girl, during which we received another invitation for today, Martina who is in the same class with Momichan is today 4 year old.

Martina and her parents come from Equador and live just two buildings near us, Martina is Momichan best friend.
The parents have thought to invite just a few kids at home at 16.00 PM and prepare themselves food.
Mommy has made a wonderful big cake decorated by fruits and bisquits (foto) and daddy has prepared sandwiches, fries, small fingers food, brioches and also some little presents for the kids coming (a whistle and a booklet for each kid coming).
For the occasion this morning we have gone supermarket for shopping (we needed milk for Momichan) and we searched some little present. We found a product of Hello Kitty (like Momichan, Martina is fond of this characther) with which Martina will be able to make designs of Kitty even if she doesn't know how to. The box says for 6 year old kids but Martina's mum told us is perfect for her daughter because she is already good to use, infact Martina was really happy about the present.

The party went on, Martina's daddy made baby dance with the kids and Momichan also danced with them, kids played with Martina's toys and adults were eting sandwiches.

At home Sampei and granny were waiting for us, so around 19.00 we decided to come back, for some reason Momichan was tired and sleepy and I had to prepare dinner.
We thanked Martina and her family for the invitation and the food and said goodbye.

X'Mas dinner

After her usual nap Momichan awakes and reach us in the livingroom, we are watching cartoons and later we will dress up to go to my relatives.
Around 18.30 we all prepare for the evening, Momichan chooses herself what to wear: rose pants, a white shirt with Aristocats Minou and a coordinated rose pullover also with Aristocats Minou designed on she is so sweet, she says she feels so elegant :) Daddy wear a dark blue ensemble (trousers, gilet and jacket belonging to my dad he has inherited recently, Momi says he is very elegant too). I am inside bathroom to make up a little and as it is X'Mas I put on a little red lipstick (normally I never use make up) and Momichan tells me she likes so much when "I am colorful" :)
At 20.00 PM we reach my aunt house in the center of Milan, ouside is already dark and cold.
Auntie has already prepared the food so we sit to eat the starts.
Momichan loves ham and she eats some of the other foods too, tortellini made by the aunt herself, some roasted duck and veal with veggies. I guess my aunt is able to organize better than me because everytime we have to prepare a dinner od a lunch and we have hosts I am always running here and there trying to make everything perfect.
My two cousins play with Momi, adults talk about everything.
After dinner and talks is time to open the presents, aunts and family have a special present for Momi: the Winnie Pooh computer kids that will help her grow and learn many things, Momi starts to play immediately happy to have received it. More or less this year the presents are books, old vintage dvd and foods: we have received a basket with three different piece of cheese, olive oil, and rice, very much appreciated :)

X'Mas lunch

After breakfast and the opening of the presents, while Momichan is playing and granny is dressing, Sampei and I start to prepare lunch.
The table is decorated and we are using the special X'Mas dishes and glasses. I have prepared a special menu, we have salami, ham and russian salad for start, tortellini with speck and X'Mas ham with veggies.
For me it is important to show Momochan a special day with menu and presents and traditions we can repeat every year and this is the first time she realizes a little more what it is Christmas, she knows Santa Claus is coming to take presents, a special lunch will be done, there will be sweets all day long and cartoons to watch on tv, in the evening also today we will be invited to my aunt and oncle to have X'Mas dinner alltogather and Momochan knows Santa Claus has taken some other presents there to be opened with the relatives.

X'Mas morning

HAPPY X'MAS EVERYBODY !!!

This morning around 9.00 AM Momichan got up and jumped in her granny's bed (we have bought a camp bed at Ikea store yesterday morning to host granny a couple of days and we are sleeping all togather in the same room). She was excited because of the presence of granny, she didn't even remember about X'Mas and the presents for a little while ;)

During the past night while she was sleeping I was working hard: I was cleaning around, reparing the small panettoni (see what I made ) for breakfast, displaying all the presents under the x'mas tree, preparing breakfast table and organizing everything. I got up and went bathroom to take shower first and dress so that I could start the day and organize breakfast, then I came back to take Momochan to shower and change. She went to see the presents and was astonished (most of the presents were belonging to her, there are just three packets for the three of us). In the meantime daddy and granny got up and reached me in the kitchen for breakfast, after which we all trasfered in the living room to open the presents.
When all the presents were open daddy and granny started too go bathroom to wash and dress while Momichan played. While granny preferred to stay home, we went out to take a coffee at our preferred coffee shop, when we would be back home, we would start to prepare lunch.

Greta birthday party ...

Kindergarden is already closed for holidays and is time of vacation. The first day begins with a birthday party. Momichan has been invited yesterday togather with other kindergarden kids so here we are today with a big present for the child going to the party location.

At the party there is a girl inventing games, making special make up to kids and showing how to do baby dance, Momichan after a few moments of shyness tells me she wants to be make uppped and she tells the girl to make a butterfly on her face (see foto).

The buffet of the party is yummy, salami and sandwich, pop corn, fries, candies, chokolates and the b'day cake. The funny thing is that adults amuse much more than kids HAHAHA at the start. After an our kids relax more and start to play and dance, Momichan too seems to amuse so much even if she doesn't eat anything, at home she gets crazy for salami but here she doesn't want to taste, she just drinks water, After another our another kid arrives at the party, she is a kindergarden mate of Momichan, same class, and she is also having birthday in a few days so she invites Momichan at her party at home the 26th december ! HAHAHA Momichan is funny, her agenda is so full of invitation to parties more than mine HAHAHA ! everybody loves her and appreciate her, my sweetie :-)

Around 18.30 kids and parents start to go home and we also. Once inside Momichan wants to take a bath while I prepare dinner, she is really tired after dancing, running and jumping but on tv is transmitted a couple of X'Mas cartoons: A Christmas Carol and The Beauty And The Beast so after having had her milk bottle, Momichan sits of the sofa with a blanket, dummie and pelouche cat to watch tv, well she is on vacation now and is X'mas time ^___^

X'mas show in kindergarden

As every year (for Momichan is the first time at the new school) teachers organize a special show wit the kids for Christmas. During all december teachers and kids have learned how to do during the show, the final poetry they have to tell parents and also they have built and coloured the walls for the show and assembled a sourprise they will give each parent :)

Kid have been divided into groups depending what they have to do and what they have to wear.

This morning I have taken Momichan as any usual day at 9.00 AM except I had to make her wear a pijama under her coat, another group of kids will be wearing elegant clothes, some of them will be wear something to resemble Pinocchio, some others teddy bears and so on.

The parents will reach their kids at 14.00 PM to see the show and if someone wants to help it is requested to make a cake that will be sold at the small kindergarden X'Mas market organized for the occasion.

I have to go shopping at the supermarket to buy everything we need for X'Mas day and the day next and I want to make a chokolate cake for the kindergarden.

The money wich will be raised selling the cakes will help kindergarden to buy during the year, what kids need: paper, felt pens, coloured pencils, glue and something like this.

At 14.00 PM we reach kindergarden and after a few minutes the show start, Momichan is in the first group, kids with a pillow and their preferred pelouche, enter and lay on the floor pretending to sleep, after a few minutes they get out and another group enter to decorate the x'mas tree and so on, every group has something to do while a teacher tells a kind of story.

Every kid have been fantastic and they have amused a lot but the small kids have not taken the usual nap so every kid 3 year old is really tired, the other 4 and 5 year old not so much.

At the end of the show every kid returns to its class section, they have to give parents the little presents they have made by themselves and also they have to recite a kind of poetry wishing "happy X'Mas" (this is the one Momichan was telling me about all the month long :)

Momichan is so proud of her work (obviously every kid has been helped by a teacher to do the present), the result is a very cute decoration for X'Mas house, Momichan wants to carry herself. We are really emotioned by everything, everybody waves goodbye and "merry X'Mas" and we out on the way home.

home x'mas tree

Finally we have our X'Mas Tree decorated. This year we bought a real tree from Ikea at the beginning of december but I guess it has not been a good idea, smell is so nice but hot inside house is really negative and from the start our small tree has lost needles and has dried, it doesn't have a nice aspect too because is too small so I guess next year I will buy a new one bigger I can just put away after Epifany.
Everytime I put some decoration, some of the needles come down and the tree seems quite nude even if I put so many, anyway Momichan likes it and we will put presents under it during the night of 24 so that Momichan will open her packets in the morning of 25. We have still to buy some little presents for us and my mum who will come at our house the X'Mas day to open presents and have lunch. During theese days in the morning after coming back from kindergarden, I also prepare a special coffee with cookies in the special x'mas mug, it's just my ordinary breakfast but in this way comes cute.

Momichan will go kindergarden until 22 so I am profiting of theese days to organize, X'Mas meals, last presents, sourprises and other small duties. Momichan in the meantime is having special days at kindergarden, today Santa Claus will visit the kids and bring presents, tomorrov kids will make a show, they have something to say and act, each of them and Momichan is enthusiastic about that. On wednesday they will organize special games and after there will be a X'Mas party with panettone.

special "presepe" ...

This morning we went for breackfast at our preferred coffee shop and inside the cake fridge I noticed a special presepe.
It is made with a normal panettone, covered with chokolate and decorated with plastic statues and a big sugar star. The result is something curious but quite cute ^O^

Cirkus !!!

As every year during this period, in our town comes the cirkus. Last year Momichan and I have gone but I did not have amused so much, artists were really appalling and also price of the ticket was really high for what we saw.
Yesterday coming out of kindergarden with Momichan I heard a friend speaking of the cirkus and telling about new shows and special discounted tickets she was selling to the other moms.

Price of the ticket today has a special price (just two coffee) so I decided to take Momichan thinking that if the show would have been horrible as last year, we would not have spent so much. The cirkus is the same of last year, Circo di Barcellona, but there are many new things. We notice the difference since the start when two big horses come inside starting to dance and walk in front of all kids.
Music is enchanting and Momo claps hands. At the end a clown come inside, this one is very funny and good, last year the show was really sad and artist really appalling, kids laugh a lot at this clown, me too.

After the clown act comes the girl with the hula hop, same as last year but this time she is more skilful and the music is better than last year. She starts to make a spanish dance, then she kicks away and skirt and start to make the hula hop turn, one, twoo, three, five, fifteen !!! ^O^ Then is he turn of another girl who, laying on a special thing is able to roll with the feet some objects without letting them fall. Also enchanting.

After a pause, the two artists who at the beginning have entered with the horses, come inside with another act: knives throw on a special platform which moves.... brrrrr ! (see foto). Momichan claps hand enthusiastic.

At this point there is a breck during wich the special tiger cage is assembled.

Tigers will enter in the cage from a special corridor and will arrive very near us, this time we are sitting in the first line just one meter behind the tigers !!! ^O^

Momichan cannot wait, she is enthusiastic and likes the tigers. Finally after a few minutes, the act start, tigers are announced and start to run inside: there are four tigers (one male and three females) and two lionesses.

Beasts are the same as last year but they have become bigger and very big now and powerful, their paws and theeths are enormous, two tigers are nervous and show teeth and roar ^O^ nonetheless they do what the lion tamer asks them. The two lionesses are more funny and friendly, the lion tamer jokes with them and embraces them, they roll one side and make the tamer scratch their bellies HAHAHA

At the end of the show we have to wait a while until the cage is disassembled, we profit to drink some water and eat some pop corn we have taken from home (buying inside the cirkus is not convenient so I had prepared a bag with some, drink yogurt for Momi, pop corn, candies and water bottle).After a while three camels come inside and start to run on the ring soon accompanied by three lama, a yak and a strange tibethan cow with long horn.
The ring is covered by a special wooden dust that makes the ground soft for the animals and clean for the artists, whenever the animals run, the dust fly around especially towards the people who, like us, sit in the first line, the smell is like a pine wood but the effect is that of making me sneeze a lot.
After the camels and the cows have gone out, the same clown as before comes back and start to make funny jokes with the director of the cirkus and with the public.

After a few minutes the same artist of the horse show come in the ring and start a western fantasy with guns, arch and an enormous jest (10 meters long). The girl has to hold some balloons that the guy has to explode shooting with the gun .... ^O^ then the same he will do with the arch. While he girl is starting a western dance, he starts to make the jest whirl. Theese two artist are really skilful and their show are fantastic, everyone is clapping hands and whistling happily.

After they are gone, a trapeze artist is now making his show twirling and balancing high in the air (no net behind him).

Momichan does not want to show but as she has not has the time for her usual nap she is a little tired and some moments seems to be fast asleep also if she claps hands, plays and jumps.

Now is the moment of the clowns playing instruments, kids laugh a lot. It is nearly 19.00 PM and the show is now ending. All the artists come on the ring to thank the public and after a while everybody start to get out of the big top.

Outside is really cold, I am freezing but Momichan is hot inside her special sack and feather jacket. We have to run home to make dinner and go home, she is really tired now and sleepy.
Well, this year cirkus have been amazing, it has been worth while coming to see, I'm happy ! YIPPI YA YEE !

electronic toys

Momichan likes many different charachter, some of them comes from cartoons on tv and some other comes from books, Smurfs, Hello Kitty, Winnie Pooh, Peppa Pig, Pimpa, Barbapapa and she is developing a love for digital items that looks like the ones adult use, like for example our computer and our digicamera she wants to use everytime we go out.

There is acute computer kid for 3-5 years old of the character Winnie Pooh, it speaks with the real voice of Pooh and gives the possibility to learn numbers, letters, hear music, logic games, improves memory and about 30 activities, it also has a "mouse" like the adults pc :-)
It is cute and nice to use at home on the sofa but I guess Momichan would call me every second saying "mommy can you help me ...?" I would like something she can use all by herself in fully authonomy, but I guess I am still a little confused about what type Momichan can use.

I have always said I do not like electronic toys but I do not intend theese kind of games, computer kids have many different levels and can easily be used for long time and not left in a corner and forgotten. I discovered that theese ones are really helpful, they teach a little english, numbers, letters, shapes and more so to help Momichan grow we have thought to give her as a X'Mas present something like this Barbapapa station or some of the other computer kids we saw at Toys Center.
More or less this kind of computer kids are all the same, it just changes the appearance, the colour and the number of application and games they contain depending on the age of the kid, from 20 to 45 application of logic, games, language and more. One of theese from Clementoni for example is really fantastic, is a little station not so big, something quite little and handy you can put

inside a rucksac and take out everywhere, inside a coffee shop, on the sofa at home or inside the car while you travel, it teaches the kid to write letters, learn alphabet and numbers and so much

more but the best thing is that if you want to change game you just need to change "cartridge" and you have new games and adventures. The negative aspect is that the cost seems to be very high, double than the other toys.

Speaking of digital cameras I discovered one quite cute decorated Hello Kitty. No idea about the price, the website Clementoni does not give even the slighest idea. It makes foto like normal cameras, has a memory card and a program that gives the possibility to personalize the images taken, I guess if Momichan would see, she would make me crazy until I buy :-) but we will have to think at this one as present for another moment maybe next future not now.

ciao ciao