We could not do this when we were 3.

One day, Ada awoke to find herself transformed into a Nordic skier.

Halloween Parade

All the little ones lining up for the Halloween parade... Halloween is the awesomest!

Yaay! Halloween!

Ada says, "word up!"

Word Girl to the rescue!

Ada spent Halloween as the intrepid Word Girl, saving the world with her big vocabulary!

Spikes and Twine... or, "how'd you get the rope up there?"

Getting Ada up there, on the other hand, is no problem. Even if it's way, way up there (the bright blue rope is a 70m!).

Buckethead

Is she a heavy-metal guitar phenom or a redheaded cyborg droid? You be the judge.

Ada, terror of the playground!

Run. Run. She will get you.

Thanks to our friend Dave for being the largest one running.

Thanks!

Thanks for the incredibly cute dress, Grandma Lili! Perfect couch-cushion-throwing garb.

"It's not clean yet!"

Favorite after-dinner treat? Doing dishes! OMG, the funnest fun ever. Although, as you can see here, it's very, very serious work and sometimes a cup needs several rounds of scrubbing and rinsing to really, really be sure it's clean.

(Lovely photo taken by world famous photographer Brian Moriarty, on his iPhone. Thanks, Brian!)

Fine Entertainment

"Hmm, so what do you wanna do tonight?"

"Umm, dunno. How about we find a crown, put a dress on the dinosaur and throw all the cushions off the couch?"

"That sounds rad. Sign me up!"

Sledding is so fun...

...when someone else pulls you back up the hill! I think I got more exercise that day than I have in a long time -- up, down, up, down, up... "Again, Mommy! Again!" My favorite part was when Ada decided she wanted to go down by herself. I positioned myself about halfway down the hill, just in case. Sure enough, she made it about halfway down and then steered right into the trees. I headed her off and then... pulled her back up. Again, again! It was such a gorgeous day though -- bright and crisp and sparkly! Yaay, winter!

Oooo, an iPhone

Ada and Nola, gussied up for Thanksgiving dinner, mesmerized by Dain's iPhone. The iPhone is an amazingly useful kid entertainment device -- Balloonimals? Koi Pond? Scoops? An entire season of Sesame Street? I honestly can't wait for the iPad -- a full-size screen for painting, toddler games, movies... it's going to be spectacular. Critics be damned -- I'm excited about it.

Viima and Talvi

Meet Viima (or is it Talvi?), one of the reindeer at Lapland Lakes, and Ada's new favorite creature on earth. We've made the long trek up to visit them (oh, and to ski) a few times this winter --total magic. Although I will say that reindeer don't smell nearly as nice as you think they would.

Sneaking a peek

We started to put the presents under the tree... and then realized what a dumb idea that was, with this sneaky little person around. Note to self for next year: hide everything until Christmas morning.

While we're on the subject...

Ada, trying on her new skis on Christmas morning. Look at that form! How lucky are we that the kid likes to ski (so far at least)... now if only there were any snow out here. Washington DC - inundated with snow. Any ski area within 3 hours of us? Nothing. Grrrr.

Expedition Raspeberry

Ada's all geared up for a ride down the hill with Daddy -- Goggles? Check. Skis? Check. Puffy raspberry suit? Check. Mostly what she says on the way down is, "faster, Daddy, faster!"

Skis!

First time on skis -- she's a natural!

Late Fall Sweetness

This is a photo from a few months ago -- just such a sweet little smile...