Christmas in the Bay Area

It was sad to leave Tahoe the day after we got tons on fresh snow....but on the bright side we had an easy drive back. Plus, as an added benefit, we stopped to visit Asja and the girls in Folsom! I was happy to see my old friend as always, and Nikolas had a blast roaming around and playing with the new toys.
We spent another couple of days at Steve and Laurie's before we headed back to Palo Alto where we met my parents to spend the next few days with them, staying in the same hotel. Nikolas still particularly reacts to my mom's voice--whenever she talks to him, he gets motivated to respond loudly and intensely, making a lively conversation. Every morning I'd take him to their room as soon as he would wake up: this is his prime time for talking and cuddling. Just put him on the pillows and talk to him, and he will beside himself from giddiness, throwing himself left and right, up and down like a little puppy, talking and screaming.
Again, every day we were making sure that downtown Palo Alto was still there :) and warmed ourselves up at the new Pete's Coffee on University Ave that Robb and I miss so much in Florida, as it was still cold, cold, cold. While we sipped our lattes, Nikolas decided it was time to start drinking from his straw-bottle or he wasn't getting any drink otherwise. Finally!
We visited teta Snjeza and cika Ljubisa. Nikolas discovered a magnet, and after he lifted a spoon with it, he persistently tried to use it on all kinds of other objects, unfortunately none were metallic so he kept failing and trying...
But he successfully balanced an apple in the hole in the truck meant for a little toy-person :)
We spent Christmas Eve at Tijana's new house. Her whole family was there except for Tamara, and we really enjoyed catching up since the last time we saw each other at our wedding! It was great to see the Stamenovs.