UCLA Christmas & Holiday party

The UCLA school holiday party is always such a fun affair! The teachers, here, lead teacher Belinda and assistant teacher, Miriam, along with the director and a group of wonderful therapists pull out all the stops to make it a beautiful event. So, rather than giving you another boys and Santa shot, I opted for this in the challenging classroom light of the boys and their beloved teachers. See Reuben's hand stretching out to Callum's and the lovely smile that is emanating from his face. Callum here reminds me so much of me as a toddler.

One of the daddy's became Santa (aka Hannukah Harry) and handed out presents to all the children. Even graduates of the programme such as Reuben were given gifts in their thoughtfulness. We all brought tasty dishes for the pot luck to munch on. And it's just a great way to get to meet the other parents, especially those in the 6-18 month infant programme or working parents whom we would not otherwise get to know.

Reuben graduated from the special ed programme at age 3 and Callum joined at age 18 months as the sole peer role model with the objective of supporting the other kids. I'm not sure that not eating his lunch is a good example.

After, in the pouring rain that was at first refreshing, then great for the garden, then a flooding nuisance, we shopped in Santa Monica to replace some of the gifts stolen yesterday in the mall. Desperately trying to find an outfit for Callum's baptism on Sunday wasn't much fun. So at 5pm, we slipped into the cinema and watched Yogi Bear, much to the boys' delight.