Winter in Santa Fe

We just came back from our annual trip to snowy Santa Fe.  Well actually, the snow was thin and scarcely visible this winter, but we had a magical time as usual.  In fact this was perhaps the best Christmas, mostly thanks to Niko being such a sweet and easy girl.  Last year, she was an entirely different person.  She cried most of the time, she never slept for more than half an hour, and she required constant attention and soothing.  No such person this year.  She was content, curious and made everyone fall in love with her.

Unlike her wimpy mother, Niko adores the cold.  Her favourite napping condition is out in the snowy mountains, the higher the altitude and colder the air, the better she slept.

Every year, we sit on this tree trunk for our snack stop during our hike.

I'm not quite sure if Niko enjoyed the sledding.  I think that she preferred her little cocoon pod in the stroller.

While inside the house, Mila and Niko liked playing inside their little teepee.

Peekaboo with Niko inside the teepee.

In Santa Fe, people line their houses and streets with candlelit luminarias, rather than strings of electric Christmas lights.  It's a breath taking sight.  Luminarias are brown paper bags, filled with sand, and lit with candles.  On Christmas eve, most people turn off all exterior lights, and the streets are only lit with countless rows of luminarias.  Parades of people walk the streets to enjoy the luminarias.  Many people light bondfires outside their homes to welcome walkers to warm up by the fires. 

To stabilize the paper bags, the tops are folded down.  It sounds simple enough until you realize the tear-factor, and you've got 100 more bags to go.        

Niko was keeping me company as I took to my task of luminaria origami.

She also enjoyed swimming in the crunchy sea of luminaria bags.

 

Here is what our luminarias looked like when lit.  

When exposed to a different environment, I notice the most change and maturity in Niko.  She was babbling like crazy.  She was really making an effort to communicate with us.

 

Besides rolling around on the floor, Niko got this jumper thing as a gift.  It took her a little while to get used to it, but then she absolutely LOVED being in a new vertical position.  She was acutally jumping (getting real elevation under her legs!) by the 8th day and looked damn proud.  I wish I got a video of her jumping.

It's a sweet picture to see Niko in her jumper next to the Christmas tree.  Kiril's mom gets a native New Mexican tree every year, and the required height is a tree that scrapes the ceiling.

Being someone who's never put any weight on her legs, Niko currently doesn't know how to place the soles of her feet down on the ground.  She's on the tops of her toes like a ballerina. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Here's to more fun in 2014!