Vita and Anabelle

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was a day filled with anticipation. We baked chocolate chip cookies to leave out for Santa, and we set out some reindeer food, too. Vita wanted to put a sign out to make sure everyone knew the food was for Santa's reindeer. After all, we didn't want the regular neighborhood reindeer to eat it.

When the girls woke up, there were presents under the tree and the stockings were filled! Santa ate his cookies and the reindeer ate their food too! Santa even left a note to say thanks for the yummy cookies.

The next hour or so is just as blurry as these photos. Vita walked timidly to the tree and looked to see which presents had her name on them. Anabelle ran to the tree, grabbed a box and ran off with it. Then she used the boxes to climb onto the couch. We managed to get a few blurry pictures before the gifts were opened. Don't you love the morning hair?

We had both cameras going, so the girls are looking in different places, but we couldn't get them to hold still for long so we gave up on pictures and let the girls open presents.

We came up for air for some candy canes, then went back in for more. This pony was Vita's favorite gift from Santa, and she named her "Pink Diamond".

Vita also got this great castle!

Anabelle loved her presents too, including this bear.

The next day we dressed the girls up in Christmas outfits in anticipation of a visit with Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob. While the girls waited for the visit, Vita rang Christmas bells and drew pictures (with a Santa apron on to make sure she didn't get any marks on her white shirt) and Anabelle played "dragon attacks the castle". I love how different their personalities are already!

Vita ringing bells...

Meanwhile, Anabelle attacks the castle.

Vita drawing pictures...

Meanwhile, Anabelle plays with the dragon and makes "roaring" noises.

Finally, Joan and Bob arrived and we posed for some pictures.

After playing for a while, both girls were exhausted and fell asleep. Anabelle woke up before Vita and went to the beanbag chair to wake her up with a hug.

Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob brought Christmas gifts, and it was like Christmas morning all over again.

We played with toys, and Anabelle played with a box.

The rest of the week following Christmas we have spent in recovery from all of our varying illnesses. Despite the beautiful sunshine, we've been cooped up indoors resting... but having fun playing with new toys, and even rediscovering some of the old toys.

The musical toys in particular have been a big hit.

I've been walking in on many scenes like this one. Whenever I think it's too quiet, and I worry the girls are up to something sneaky (as is sometimes the case), I see they are both focused on intense play.

On our last day before taking the Christmas tree down, we let the girls go nuts... playing with the tree and the (non-fragile) ornaments.

On top of all of the gifts from us, and from Santa, and from so many friends and family members near and far... you would not believe what we got for FREE on Craigslist. I mentioned in my last post that we needed a constructive outlet for Anabelle's love of climbing. Well, the mothership has landed and is all set up in the backyard. This Little Tykes play structure configuration retails for over $600 and I cannot believe someone gave it to us for FREE. The look on Anabelle's face here sums it up... "whoa".

In this picture the two pieces of the play structure are separated (as Ernie might build a bridge from one to the the other) but they also can be put together so they are a single structure.

As you see, our cup runneth over and we have are so fortunate and we are filled with happiness and gratitude. There is just one more thing our happy little family could wish for, and I am hoping that 2012 will be a healthier year for us, with fewer colds, coughs, flus, fevers, sick days, and trips to the emergency room.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

The Days Leading Up To Christmas

2011-12-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

These days we're keeping very busy as we prepare for the upcoming holidays. We've had cold but incredibly sunny weather for several weeks, and we realized we haven't been to our favorite park since Anabelle has been a proficient walker. It's so much fun to walk hand in hand.

Anabelle climbed all over the play structure and loved going down the slide.

We need some more constructive outlets at home for Anabelle's love of climbing, as you can see. We ended up scoring a great Little Tykes play structure for FREE on craigslist, which has yet to be assembled. Unlike the bigger one we already have, this one is perfect for little kids Anabelle's age. Can't wait to get it set up!

Vita has been enjoying lots of time doing arts and crafts, and in particular is refining her abilities with scissors.

We also had a visit with Ernie's sister Jennifer and cousin Dan.

We had a great time, despite the fact that Ernie was sick. We let him sleep it off, and didn't let that stop our fun.

The girls LOVED being pulled around the house on a blanket. To this day, any time Anabelle sees this blanket she jumps on top of it, and gets upset if you don't take her on a ride around the house.

Later on we started a nice little fire. Vita helped chop up some kindling.

We snuggled by the fire, and talked about Santa Claus coming down the chimney.

Vita is so excited about Christmas, and I get the sense she's starting to think it's taking so long that it will never really come.

So close, Vita.

Just two and half more days...

Vita's Pirate Birthday... Arrrgh!

2011-12-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

This year for her fourth birthday, Vita had a Pirate Party! Ernie and Grandma Victoria got there early to set up. Here's Ernie guarding the park.

As guests arrived, each got a pirate hat, patch, and inflatable sword. Then, Vita would escort them to the ship. (The park actually has a pirate ship themed play structure, which is why we chose this location.)

A couple of real pirates attended the party! Here's Captain Mike playing with the kids.

Lots of Vita's friends from school came to the party. Here's one of Vita's very best friend Cleo! They have so much fun together! The reason Vita is a little blurry in this photo is because she was actually in mid air, jumping for joy. Seriously, she is.

Captain Mike led the kids on a very exciting and dangerous adventure... Mike found an ancient scroll with a clue that led to a treasure chest hidden at the park. (Amazing coincidence, don't you think?) Each clue led the kids to the next clue...

The kids really had to listen closely to solve the complicated riddles and find the next clue.

They were great at it, and here they are re-grouping at the bow of the ship where they found the next clue.

The next clue was at the statue...

The final clue was at the water fountain... which led them to...

The hidden treasure chest, which was found in the shrubs near some trees! The treasure chest was filled with "goody bags" filled with pirate related stuff for the kids, and some chocolate. (If you think this picture isn't well composed, then I suggest YOU try to get a pirate and a whole gang of kids to look and smile at the same time.) Look closely at Vita's face in this picture, and you'll see her cheeks are about to explode off of her face. She had SO MUCH FUN!

Meanwhile, my other little pirate was in good spirits the whole time, despite the noise and commotion and the cold weather. In fact, she wanted to run and play with all the older kids.

After the treasure hunt, we all had pizza... sang happy birthday, and ate pirate cupcakes. Vita beamed as her friends sang to her.

The party took a bit of a turn when we realized that Vita was actually a brain eating zombie pirate! (Or perhaps she's just a bit messy when eating red velvet cake... I can't remember the details.)

Soon it was cold and dark, so we headed home with all of Vita's "loot". Vita made out like a bandit. She opened one gift that night, but we waited until the next morning (her birthday) to open the rest. Just look at this haul!

Moments later, gifts were unwrapped and Vita played with everything all at once.

Mid afternoon, Vita crashed from all the excitement... with toy and birthday card in hand.

Later on, with Vita's birthday celebration behind us, Christmas preparations officially began with lights and a Christmas tree.

PS - Many many many thanks to my pirate friends Mike and Jackie for making this a very special birthday celebration that Vita and her friends will "treasure" for years to come.

Thankful

2011-11-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

We have all been sick, on and off, since last Sunday night. We were so disappointed to have to cancel our Thanksgiving trip to Los Angeles at the last minute, but we had no choice... as many of us have been fighting some sort of flu with high fevers, body aches, and coughs.

Instead, we have been staying in our pajamas all day. Anabelle is starting to get old enough to play games of pretend, and she mimics what she sees the rest of us do. Vita is so sweet and encourages her as she learns to play tea party. At one point I overheard Vita say "Thanks Anabelle! This sock tea and piece of lint is delicious."

We have been taking long three hour mid-day naps (even those of us who don't nap anymore).

We've been playing with dolls. Anabelle is working on being able to put clothes on the dolls. At this point, she takes clothes from her own drawers and tangles Vita's doll in a mess of sleeves and pant legs, places her in the doll bed, and pats her gently with a big grin on her face. I wish I had a picture of THAT.

Or sometimes, she throws the doll out of the doll bed and climbs in herself (which is why a certain much fancier doll cradle has been placed out of her reach until she knows better).

Vita has been learning more computer skills, including having a bit of fun with Photoshop.

We have also been sneaking in extra snuggles while the kids are too weak to resist.

The end of Thanksgiving does mark the beginning of the Christmas season, which has not gone unnoticed here. We're already singing Christmas songs, reading Christmas books, and working on our letters to Santa.

Finally, we're also getting ready for Vita's pirate themed birthday party next week. We made these cute invitations tied up into a scroll (with burned edges of course) and placed them in recycled plastic bottles with sand at the bottom to look like a message in a bottle. They were a big hit with the kids at school! (Note to self, when you make cute invitations, the kids notice them in the school cubbies, and then you end up having to invite the entire school to avoid hurt feelings. This can be avoided in future years by putting the invitations in plain white envelopes.)

So much to look forward to!

The Calm Before The Storm

2011-11-19T21:51:00.000-08:00

The next six weeks will bring Thanksgiving, Vita's birthday, Christmas and New Years... but it has been nice to have some downtime between the excitement of Anabelle's birthday and Halloween two weeks ago, and the upcoming holiday season.

Last weekend I used a "groupon" to get a really good deal on a professional family photo shoot. I just got the proofs tonight, and some of them came out really well. There are no family shots where we are ALL smiling, but three out of four is pretty good. (Excuse the photographer's logo at the bottom right, that will be gone when we get the official set of pictures.)

Also, this is a beautiful shot of the girls.

OK, now back to the non-professional photos, mostly taken on phones. Here's Vita with a lady bug. She let this lady bug crawl around on her for over a half an hour, watching intently.

Here's Vita with a friend at some one's birthday party in a park. It's really cute to watch the social interactions of the kids become more meaningful, and to watch as real friendships start to develop.

And finally, here are the two girls in their room playing. Strangely, Anabelle is usually the one doing the tackling and Vita is usually the one getting tackled. She doesn't seem to mind.

Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Halloween today. The day started off with a preschool parade. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up, but trying to keep them organized was like herding cats. I especially loved all the kids holding hands as they walked down the block. Vita dressed up like a black cat.

There were a couple attempts to take a group shot.

Anabelle went to school dressed as a skeleton. Today was a big day for Anabelle, as she is starting to transition out of the baby room and into the toddler room at school.

Grandma Victoria came over dressed as a witch, and joined Ernie and Vita for some trick-or-treating in downtown Santa Cruz in the afternoon.

Anabelle and I stayed home, and had a little photo shoot in her other costume... a bee.

Vita came back from trick-or-treating with LOTS of candy, and she was excited to join up with her friend Maddie for more trick-or-treating in her neighborhood.

One last photo and Victoria, Vita and I headed out for the evening, while Ernie stayed home with Anabelle.

At Maddie's house, we met up with more friends. Vita looks like she is wearing scary Halloween teeth, but really she has a mouth full of crackers. Somehow, I didn't get a photo of Vita and Maddie together, but here's Vita with some of Maddie's friends.

Vita was so cute saying "Trick or Treat" in her tiny little girl voice.

We trick or treated until past Vita's usual bedtime, and headed back home with a VERY FULL bucket of candy.

ONE

2011-10-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Anabelle turned ONE today!

On Friday, the day before Anabelle's birthday, I took the day off work to have a day to spend alone with Anabelle, on her last day as a baby. We had so much fun, and in between games of chase, and catch and peek-a-boo we played with balloons and started to put up some birthday decorations. Anabelle loved this birthday balloon bouquet, and she almost couldn't believe she had the whole thing to herself, and didn't have to share it with her big sister... at least not for a few hours.

It was fun to watch the sun project the colors of the butterfly onto the wall, the couch, and on Anabelle.

On Saturday morning, Anabelle put on her first birthday outfit, and we had some snuggle time on the couch with a bottle.

We opened cards and gifts slowly and intermittently throughout the day so each item could be enjoyed, rather than opening everything at once at the end of the day. Anabelle had fun opening her cards and gifts all by herself.

These hand puppets were a hit. Anabelle picked each one right up and hugged them all!

Even the chickens had a present for Anabelle. They started laying eggs today! Thanks, ladies!

After nap, Anabelle put on her second outfit of the day, which is the same dress Vita wore on her first birthday.

Grandma Victoria came over for some birthday fun, too.

Soon enough, it was time for cake...

Ernie and Vita sang and carried the birthday cupcake over to the birthday girl.

I don't know if she was more interested in the cupcake or the fire.

After cake we finished unwrapping gifts, including this barn I picked up second hand, which BOTH girls seem to enjoy.

Since Anabelle is so very musical, we also got her a "band in a bucket" with a tambourine, harmonica, kazoo, maracas, etc. She loved it, and we all made lots and lots of noise together.

Anabelle found a way to make music with each item in the box.

I can't believe my BABY is a YEAR OLD already... but there's no time to waste reflecting on how quickly the time passes, because Halloween is coming up on Monday!

No Stopping Us Now

2011-10-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm going to attempt to make up for posting so infrequently with a huge post with lots of pictures...

There's no stopping us now, we're on the move. For months, Anabelle would "walk" around the house with this walker toy for balance. She loved the mobility, and was so happy to be able to get around while upright.

She was always on the go.

Now, Anabelle doesn't need the walker anymore. She's been taking steps for about a month, but she is now officially walking, and if I thought she was on the go before, there's really no stopping her now. I have lots of video, from first teetering steps to her slightly more confident current stride, and I promise I will post some videos some time soon.

So much is going on with Anabelle developmentally. She is capable of concentrating for longer periods of time.

She sometimes mimics words, and uses "mama" and "dada" a lot. She waves goodbye and sometimes says "bye bye". Also, now that she is walking, her climbing and reaching, and hanging from window sills (and general ability to cause havoc) is also improving by leaps and bounds.

We recently had a visit with Grandpa Bob, who was in town to go camping with Ernie (during a rain storm... bad timing).

The kids got lots of new goodies, including the new dress on Anabelle in the picture below.

Ernie's sister Jennifer and cousin Dan were also in town, so most of the group met up for a trip to Ano Nuevo. Somehow, we didn't get any pictures of Jenn and Dan with the kids, but it was a fun little visit, and we even went to see the Monarch butterflies while they were here for their annual visit.

At night, Vita and Bob watched Vita's favorite movie: How To Train Your Dragon.

The next weekend, we met up with my sister at the San Francisco Zoo.

Adventurer Vita is checking out the giraffes with her binoculars.

Posing for pictures with the baby elephant statue.

We found a little maze out of hay bales and stopped for a snack, some play time... and a big photo shoot. Here are a bunch of pictures we took.

We got to see the grizzly bear up close while he was resting.

There were big spiders, too.

And Vita even met this strange creature... is it a bull? I'm not sure, but it was friendly.

Anabelle was a good sport about being pushed in the stroller most of the day (yes, we got another stroller).

Generally speaking, Anabelle has been a good sport about most things, and is a happy girl.

We also tried to do another photo shoot at home... and although these pictures are pretty cute, we didn't get a picture where both girls are actually looking at the camera and smiling, so we're determined to try this again soon.

We're getting really excited about upcoming events, including Anabelle's birthday, and Halloween. Recently, Vita's preschool had a fun field trip where the kids got to take a real train up into the redwoods to a pumpkin patch. They picked a pumpkin, and took the train back. They even got ice cream! Grandma Victoria attended with Vita, and took these cute pictures.

Next week: Anabelle's First Birthday and Halloween!

Lost Treasures

2011-10-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ernie takes lots of pictures on his phone, and sometimes they get forgotten about. Today, Ernie finally got all of his phone pictures into our shared computer where I could see them... and just look at these lost treasures I found.

Here's Vita getting ready for a camp out in the backyard with dad. She's got her adventure hat and "her" knife. This must have been April, because the lawn is so green.

Here's a cute picture taken in the middle of a hot summer day. We had just come in from playing in the kiddie pool, and we all shared a watermelon.

Back in the days before Anabelle could walk (or even crawl) she would lay on a blanket in the backyard and just play and play. I love the way she would use her hands and feet to play, like a kitten with a ball of yarn.

In late summer, our favorite local gourmet fancy ice-cream shop had an anniversary party, where they were giving out free ice cream all day. As a special treat, Ernie brought Vita there on their way home from school.

Here's me and Anabelle at the park, just about to head down the slide together.

Anabelle LOVES the swings, and Vita loves to push her on the swings.

Here's Vita at the dentist getting an X-ray. No cavities!

Vita doesn't take naps in the daytime anymore, but sometimes on a particularly busy and active day, she crashes right in the middle of playing games.

Apples, Pumpkins and the Beginning of Fall

2011-10-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Around here, the County Fair officially marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. It just happened to also be a beautiful sunny day.

The merry-go-round is still Vita's favorite ride.

But her favorite part of the Fair this year was either the bouncy house...

Or perhaps riding a pony for the very first time.

Despite the fact that we didn't get much sunshine during the summer, we're embracing the fall. We went apple picking at an organic apple farm.

Vita loved running through the orchard.

And Anabelle was content to just be along for the ride during the apple picking. Here she is enjoying the shade during our post apple picking picnic.

Story time with the girls. Anabelle loves the books where she can lift flaps and touch things, and Vita loves the books that are short enough to memorize so she can "read" them to Anabelle.

Vita still enjoys art. Here's Vita with the cutest worm and bunny ever drawn.

Anabelle's personality is really blossoming. She's such a character! She is very very expressive, and she lets us know exactly what she likes and dislikes, exactly what she wants and when she wants it. Anabelle has the ability to make the loudest noises I have ever heard from any human. She also has a smile that melts my heart.

When you hold Anabelle you REALLY have to hold on tight because she will try to lunge out as soon as you let your guard down.

Now that fall is here, we're even starting to get ready for Halloween.

We play dress up all the time.

This NASA astronaut jumpsuit is my favorite new addition to Vita's box of dress up clothes. I swooped on this a few weeks ago when a local thrift store starting putting out their Halloween stuff.

In other BIG NEWS, Anabelle is starting to walk! Yesterday she took her first steps, and today there were a few times when she took as many as eight steps on her own without holding on!!! I don't have any video because (like most children) she stops doing whatever you want to film when she sees the camera. It occurred to me that I haven't been adding videos of Anabelle like I did with Vita. However, I have been taking video and I have lots and lots of it. Perhaps in advance of Anabelle's upcoming birthday I will upload some video from the previous months, and maybe I'll even have some walking footage by then. I just can't believe she's ALMOST ONE YEAR OLD!

The End of Summer

2011-09-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming to an end, and we are trying to make the most of any good weather we get. On Labor Day weekend we went to the Bay Area Children's Discovery Museum and had a lot of fun.

Anabelle wasn't sure what to make of it, but she was a really good sport the whole time.

The best part was the huge outdoor play area with a pirate ship, trees to climb, caves to explore, secret paths, etc.

Vita loved crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge, and she thanked the bridge for allowing her to cross the water without getting all wet. Then she slept the rest of the way home, as did Anabelle.

We also enjoyed visits with family and friends.

And the girls play and play and play.

Here's a pretty shot of Vita from this morning.

And here's Anabelle enjoying a wooden train set.

Vita burrito!

Wish I had more time to post pictures... Ciao for now!

Ups and Downs: The Week That Was

2011-08-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

The week started off well enough. Anabelle has been happy and sweet, enjoying exploring the world all day, and sleeping well at night.

Vita was really excited to have her fingernails painted for the first time.

And she also was invited to a pool party, which she loved. Here's Vita on her way to hit the pool.

Then it hit. Vita and Anabelle both got stomach bugs at the same time... with opposite symptoms. For about 24 hours it was pretty brutal. Here's Vita with her barf bucket.

In addition to the stomach bug, Anabelle's two bottom front teeth chose THIS exact day to break through her poor little gums.

Needless to say, neither of the girls were feeling good or at their best... but Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito just happened to be in Santa Cruz for a visit that has been on the calendar for a while. So... we made the best of it and we still had fun.

Teething crackers helped a bit.

The following day everyone felt a little better, and we went to the local aquarium.

Although we were feeling a little better, we missed nap time and some of us got a little grumpy for a while. Vita got all dressed up in a yellow princess dress for a photo shoot, and then changed her mind and didn't want to be in any of the pictures.

We decided to start taking a few pictures just with Anabelle (who was wearing a matching yellow princess dress), and eventually we coaxed Vita out for a few shots.

Here's a GREAT one of the girls with Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito.

We tried to take a nice one of the four of us as well, but we were too squirmy.

The next day, we headed over to a local state park for a little walk and a picnic. Here we are standing in front of a cross section of a redwood tree that was over two thousand years old when it fell in 1934.

Everyone was really back to their normal happy healthy selves, and we had a great day.

Colors

2011-08-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

These girls add so much color to our lives. While this statement works really well as a metaphor for all of the joy and chaos of raising kids, I actually mean COLOR in a very literal sense. Look at the outfit Vita picked out for herself today, complete with bracelet, anklet, scarf and hat.

Here's Vita (in her new cozy boots) in front of the chicken coop. This picture is actually a couple of weeks old, taken just before we painted the chicken coop yellow and white.

We let the chickens free range in our yard a lot, but when they are in their coop Vita likes to feed them grass through the wire, and they eat right out of her hand.

Anabelle has been getting some time in the sandbox lately. She's not sure what to make of it. She loves playing in the sand, but inevitably she will try to eat some, and make a terrible face. I guess it doesn't taste very good.

Speaking of color, we got this play tent at Ikea and the girls love it.

We used to have novels and art books on these shelves, and muted natural colors in the living room... but the whole house is more colorful these days. Look at this happy smile! Anabelle loves colorful toys.

When Anabelle wants to be picked up, she climbs up my leg and puts her arms up. How could anyone say "no" to this?

Or this?

Vita continues to create more and more art, and she seems to be more excited about the process than the product. Here is a picture of a princess, with green fingernails and toenails, with a wild hairstyle, underneath a rainbow, next to boxes of jewels.

Here is a jewelry box that Vita made out of an egg carton. I love the colors and the composition.

And look at the clasp! What a cute little detail!

I have no words for the cuteness of this picture.

Anabelle has been sleeping more predictably these days, which is great. She has just a few short naps during the day, but she usually sleeps (almost) all the way through the night, waking only once. She loves to clutch onto a soft piece of fabric when she sleeps.

As Anabelle learns to self feed a little bit... trying to use the spoon, and eating some finger foods, it's getting much harder to keep her clean.

In other news, Anabelle just went to the doctor on Friday for her 9 month check up. She got caught up on her vaccinations, and had a little toe prick to check her iron levels (which are fine by the way). Two shots and a toe prick... and NO TEARS! So Anabelle is as healthy as can be, and although I can the silhouette see her two bottom teeth under her gums, she still has no teeth.

Focused

2011-07-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

The girls have been very focused these days, demonstrating levels of concentration that surprise me. Vita has been very focused on her artwork. She loves coloring pretty pictures in a coloring book, cutting things out with scissors, and gluing things (cotton balls, googly eyes, plastic jewels, etc.) to decorate her art. She especially loves doing this all by herself with no help. In fact, the other day she was concentrating so much on her artwork, that when dinner was ready Vita asked us to go ahead and eat without her, because she really wanted to continue coloring and cutting, and didn't want to be interrupted to eat!

Here's a stack of projects drying.

Anabelle has been very focused as well. Lately she's perfectly content to keep herself occupied for what seems like a VERY long time for a baby (over 30 minutes at at time) just building her fine and gross motor skills (otherwise known as trying to get into everything in a plot to destroy and consume the entire world). Anabelle can reach up to the second shelf in the girls' room, and up to the third shelf in the living room. She can stand up by grabbing hold of anything (including scaling the walls) and is starting to try to stand on her own... just for a fraction of a second at a time. She also is now crawling "properly" up on all fours, as opposed to her previous style of slithering around.

Anabelle still doesn't have any teeth, but I'm convinced she's teething and those teeth are on their way. If I keep saying that, one of these days I'll be right.

The girls continue to have lots and lots of fun playing together. Vita is still sweet and gentle with her baby sister, but it's really fun now that Anabelle isn't quite so fragile so they can interact and hug and play more and more every day.

Sisters and Other Fun Stuff

2011-07-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

Sisters... playing together. Life is good.

Here are a few other scenes from our day to day life.

Playdates, Chickens, and Danger Babies... oh my!

2011-07-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

I realize I'm a bit late to post these, but many of the following photos were all taken last weekend on the 4th of July. We started the day like so many others... with a nice bath. The girls LOVE taking baths together. Vita washes Anabelle's back, and Anabelle splashes her little heart out, grinning from ear to ear.

Once we were all clean, we sported red white and blue outfits.

After a nice morning at a local park, watching a small bike parade (which we'll participate in next year), we headed back home with no particular plans. We were thrilled to learn that one of Vita's friends, Maddie, was available for a play date. Vita was so excited at the notion of entertaining a guest. Here she is setting up a tea party.

Vita and Maddie had lots of fun with the tea party, and of course splashing in the kiddie pool.

There was even some interpreting dancing and synchronized swimming.

Ernie joined in the fun.

Anabelle and I spent a lot of time lounging in the shade.

We've been enjoying the chickens. Can you believe how big they are already? It's fun to let them "free range" in the backyard. Watching Vita chase the chickens could keep me amused all day, and you know what? She caught one! I wouldn't say our chickens are very affectionate, but they don't seem to mind being held and pet.

These days, Anabelle is so active. Most pictures I try to take of her end up like this... because when she sees the camera she heads towards it and tries to grab it and play with it. The pictures also end up blurry because the autofocus can't keep up with her.

Anabelle is also very curious, and crafty, and has a knack for finding the most dangerous thing in the room (and making a beeline for it). Her newest obsession are electrical outlets. We have outlet covers, but I think we might need better ones as she is getting close to out smarting and over powering them. She also tries to head over to the floor lamp to knock it over, or she heads over to Roomba (the robot vacuum) to turn him on. Throughout all of this, she'll always have a great big smile on her face... unless you dare to remove some kind of hazard that she wanted to play with.

So, we need to plan an entire level of babyproofing that exceeds anything we ever needed with Vita.

Who, me?

The best part of this time in our lives is watching the girls play with each other. They really love each other, and it's such a joy to watch their relationship develop. Here is just a glimpse of that... 17 seconds of sister time. When Vita lavishes this kind of attention on Anabelle, she gets so happy that she seems like she's about to explode.

Lovely Summer Monday

2011-06-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

The weather has been beautiful. Look at the scene that greeted me when I got home from work on Monday at 5pm. I'm so glad it's summer, and I'm hoping for many more lovely summer evenings just like this one.

Once we were back inside, Vita started drawing. Vita drew a picture of a squirrel, and she was so excited about how it turned out, that she said "Look mom. I didn't even know I could draw a squirrel but I tried it and I DO know how to draw a squirrel!"

Super Push Ups

2011-06-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

Anabelle is strong. Really strong. Ok Anabelle, drop and give me twenty!

Days of Adventure

2011-06-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

Every day is an adventure around here. Sometimes, the adventure is discovering a new book... like Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Some days, we play and play and play... until we literally crash.

Even Vita crashes out from time to time. Every once in a while when we think she's old enough to skip her afternoon nap, she decides to take one voluntarily.

Anabelle sometimes pulls the covers over her head when she's sleeping.

None of us are immune to mid-day crash naps.

Teething is quite an adventure. Sometimes, when Anabelle is teething, she chews on EVERYTHING all day. (OK, that's every day.) But sometimes, Anabelle also initiates games of peek-a-boo, where she will cover herself up with a blanket, and she'll pull the blanket down when you say "Where's Anabelle?"

Sometimes, the adventure is learning new skills. Anabelle is pulling up on everything these days, and is SO CLOSE to crawling. SO CLOSE.

Some days the adventures are like fairy tales... Vita often pulls out her box of dress up clothes and makes up her own fairy tales, with very interesting plots. This particular fairy tale was called, you guessed it, the princess and the monkey. Princess Vita saved the baby monkey from a dragon.

Today we had a special adventure. Vita and Ernie had a Fathers Day kayaking voyage in the Monterey Bay. They had a blast!

And after dinner we celebrated with a Fathers Day cake!

(PS - in the background you will see that a balloon we got at Disneyland, almost a month ago, is still going strong. Seven dollars may seem expensive for a balloon, but the girls have played with it every day for a month and it's still going strong!)

Summer Vacation Part 2: Disneyland

2011-05-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

The day finally arrived. DISNEYLAND!

I have to start out with a story. Everything was going smoothly. Vita had gotten a good night sleep the night before and ate a good breakfast. We left early and got a great parking space. The diaper bag was packed with extra changes of clothes, snacks, diapers, etc. We slathered on sunscreen. We loaded everything out of the car and took the tram from the parking lot to the main gate. We paid admission, walked through the gate, and proceeded to open up the stroller and get going... and what did we discover? As it turned out, the stroller did not have the straps that hold the baby in place! I must have taken them out to wash them and I never put them back in!

Let me back up to tell you about the stroller. I bought the stroller when I was pregnant with Vita because I assumed I needed one. However, I NEVER used it... not even once. I tend to use a sling for a baby, and once the baby learns how to walk they walk on their own or we carry them. We're just not stroller people I guess. I saved the stroller because I knew I would have another baby but I still hadn't used it with this baby either. I was about to get rid of the thing when I remembered we were going to Disneyland and I figured this would be the one time we'd want a stroller. So really I held on to the stroller for three years just for this one day, and when we arrive at the front gate the stroller doesn't have an essential part and cannot function.

Fortunately, we're all good sports, so we abandoned the stroller to the lost and found, and headed into Disneyland with a three year old, a six month old, a diaper bag... and our own two arms. We were on a mission. We were going to have a magical day no matter what. We didn't let it slow us down at all, and in fact it made us quite nimble when trying to maneuver through crowds.

Right inside the gate, we met Goofy and stopped for a photo.

We headed into Fantasyland first, where they have rides for the younger kids. Can you spot Vita and I getting ready for Dumbo to lift us into the air?

There were many rides that even little Anabelle could ride (with assistance). Here's Ernie getting her set up on the Merry Go Round.

The girls rode together and exchanged silly smiles.

Never one to pass up a photo op, we walked into this teacup.

Vita loved meeting the characters even more than going on the rides. Here she is meeting her two favorite fairies, Videa and Tinkerbell.

Vita was excited to meet the princesses also. She got her face painted in preparation.

They asked what two colors she wanted. Can you guess? Pink and hot pink.

There was a long line to meet the princesses. Anabelle napped in my arms, and Vita made herself quite comfortable as well.

First Vita met Ariel, who she greeted with a hug.

The next princess (Sleeping Beauty?) was Vita's favorite. In fact, I thought she might explode with happiness when Sleeping Beauty said Vita looked like she was a princess too.

Finally, Vita met Jasmine, and they danced together for a little while.

Of course, no trip to Disneyland would be complete without meeting Mickey.

By the way, Anabelle was such a trooper. She did great all day! She didn't cry once (unlike certain other members of our party). She was able to go on lots of rides, she napped and ate like a champ despite the noise and distractions, and she loved everything! I had braced myself for the worst, especially after we had to ditch the stroller... but everything went great all day!

Here's Vita posing with Winnie the Pooh...

And Tigger too! (Unfortunately these two shots are blurry.)

We got to Disneyland at 8:30am, and Vita finally crashed at around 6:30pm. She was asleep within five minute of starting the car, which is a good thing because we drove from Disneyland all the way back home to Santa Cruz after a very full day. As you might expect, the girls slept great through the seven hour car ride, and somehow Ernie and I managed to stay awake and get everyone home safely.

Summer Vacation Part 1: LA

2011-05-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

It's hard to travel far with a baby, so our summer vacation was a drive down to LA to visit Grandma Marianne, Grandpa Vito and Uncle Pat and to go to Disneyland. Vita has been very excited about all of this, and you can see her in the picture below getting ready to meet princesses.

Once we got to LA, Anabelle got acquainted with Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Vita got some baseball lessons from Uncle Pat.

And had a nice chat in the shade with Grandma Marianne.

We also spent some time just hanging out in the front yard. Some of us were even hanging from trees.

Vita helped Grandma Marianne make dinner, and it was delicious!

And they enjoyed some snugly time as well.

Next, we went to the Natural History Museum. Here are Ernie and Vita checking out some dinosaur bones.

And whale bones, too.

The museum also had an insect zoo. Check out this tarantula!

Next post.... DISNEYLAND!

First word? Mama!

2011-05-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

I believe it's time for few updates about Anabelle and her rapidly developing skills and personality. Anabelle is getting more mobile every day, and is practically (but not quite) crawling. She rolls and pivots and pulls and drags herself across the floor with the palms of her hands... whatever it takes to get the object she's after, or to hide from us. She's always scooting herself underneath the furniture, as you see in the picture below. Actual conversation: (Ernie) "Jenny, have you seen the baby?" (Jenny) "Have you checked under the couch?" She's such a silly girl! Maybe she'll be a cave explorer when she grows up.

She's also happy and giggly almost all the time. She sits up, and tries to stand, and she loves to play with anything and everything. She loves her toys, but she also loves anything else just as much... such as a crinkled up piece of paper, a sock, a cell phone, or anything dangerous or expensive.

Finally, she's starting to get close to talking. In fact, she's saying "mama", and even though she might just be exploring how to make sounds, or mimicking the words we say, I like to think she does know what she's saying, and I'm counting this as her first word especially since she says mama a lot now (particularly when she's hungry). She also says "gaga" "baba" "lala" and a few other silly baby babble sounds.

May Days

2011-05-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

These days, as Anabelle gets bigger, knows how to sit up, rolls all over the place, and is almost crawling, she is much less fragile and Vita gets to play and interact with her more. They hug and play and laugh all the time.

Anabelle looks so cute in Vita's old hand me downs. These pajamas bring me right back to Vita's baby days and I remember so many snugly bedtime routines in these. This developmental phase, right around six months, is SO much fun.

Anabelle is also starting to expand her vocabulary of noises. Although she still loves blowing raspberries, she's also starting to say things that are a little closer to words. Lately she loves making "g" sounds, mostly "ga ga ga ga ga..." Anabelle is also eating more new kinds of foods, and we try a new food every few days. She loves to eat.

Do you see the puffy, swollen gums inside this mouth? I think a tooth is starting to work it's way out, and it's keeping Anabelle up a lot at night lately.

Vita has as much fun with Anabelle's toys as she does with her own. She loves to show Anabelle how you're supposed to play with things, and Anabelle loves to watch her big sister. In fact, I don't think there is anything Anabelle loves more than when she has Vita's full undivided attention.

This Sunday, Grandma Victoria came over with an old friend of hers and we all had a blast.

Here's Vita doing Jacky's hair.

Finally, our BIG news is that we just adopted four baby chicks, just a few days old. They are so sweet, and they already have distinct personalities. You can already start to see who is at the top of the pecking order, which chick is smartest, and who's the sweetest, too. From left to right, they are: "Heart Pumpkin" (named by Vita), "Lucile" (named by Jenny), "Skeeter" and "Professor Cluck" (both named by Ernie).

Here's a close up of Lucile.

And another of Professor Cluck, looking quite distinguished indeed.

Fun in the Backyard

2011-05-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

It was a warm spring weekend here in Santa Cruz, so Ernie and Vita decided to have a camp out in the backyard on Friday night. Here they are setting up.

Ernie and Vita built a campfire, toasted s'mores, and had a great time. However, it wasn't quite warm enough for Anabelle, so Anabelle and I stayed inside and had a cozy and snugly night of our own. Here's our view of the backyard setup.

On Sunday, we filled up the kiddie pool for the first time this season, and headed back into the yard for more fun. Anabelle wore this cute little swimsuit that Vita once wore... and seeing Anabelle in this same suit (and same hat) was like going back in time to Vita's baby days.

After a few hours splashing and playing, we had some watermelon in the shade. The perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Six Months!

2011-05-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

Anabelle is six months old! I can't believe how quickly these months have passed, and something tells me it's not about to slow down any time soon. Do you notice anything different about Anabelle? That's right, she's sitting up!

We've been having so much fun with Anabelle. We always did, but the last few weeks have been particularly incredible. We are really enjoying watching all of her milestones and developments, and her smiles and giggles... and we realized that this is the month we missed out on when Vita got sick. Now, we get to enjoy this developmental phase with Anabelle for the first time, and it is completely delightful!

Ditch Days

2011-05-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

Now that Anabelle has begun to go to daycare full time, Ernie and I took the opportunity to each take a special "ditch day" with Vita. On Monday, while Anabelle and I went to work, Ernie and Vita headed out to Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey. It's a great park with a real train, a hedge maze, swan shaped boats, and really big fun play structures. It was a little drizzly outside but they had a great time.

After their fun morning at the park, they warmed up by getting a late breakfast at a local diner. Vita ate chocolate chip pancakes, with hot chocolate with whipped cream!

On Tuesday, while Ernie went to work and Anabelle went to school, Vita and I headed out to a local mini zoo called Happy Hallows. Vita loved the merry go round.

Actually, Vita loved ALL the rides!

At the petting zoo, Vita got to pet some cute little goats, and they ate some food right out of Vita's hand.

Vita insisted on posing with this frog.

Then it was back to the merry go round a few more times before we headed back home.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

We started out the Easter weekend by coloring some eggs. Next year, we'll hard-boil the eggs first... but never mind about that. We had a great time dying the eggs, and applying glitter, and they turned out beautifully.

Next, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt and Vita got to meet the Easter Bunny! Many of the kids were shy around the Easter Bunny and some even ran away screaming, but Vita was thrilled. Later in the morning, when the egg hunt began, Vita got a little shy and hesitated while some of the other kids grabbed eggs, but then we found a secret hiding spot and Vita came home with a little bag of her own candy filled eggs.

On Easter morning, Vita woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had hidden even more eggs around the house, and left her a basket filled with treats and toys. Vita found all of the eggs, even the eggs that were way up near the ceiling.

Here is Vita enjoying her bunny ears and pinwheel.

Anabelle looked on with much excitement.

She was the cutest little Easter egg of all!

Sunshine and Solid Food

2011-04-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Now that Anabelle is almost six months old, she has started solid food. It's been fun having her at the dinner table with us, and she seem to like food... especially banana.

We're making the most of the sunny weather, and checking out new local parks. These pictures were taken at our new favorite park.

Anabelle and Vita love to play together, and as Anabelle gets older, she's much more interactive and they have more and more fun.

Sadly, Anabelle's time with me in the office is coming to an end, and next Tuesday the 26th, she'll be in daycare full time. For the past several weeks, Anabelle has been easing in to her new daycare routine, and she's doing great. She goes to school in the morning, and spends the afternoons with me at work. I'm really enjoying having her with me, and I think she's having fun too. Here's Anabelle with some of her work buddies.

Spring Is Here!

2011-04-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here and the weather has been wonderful! Here's a happy picture of Vita and some of her friends at school.

Vita picks the most interesting outfits to help her dad with the yard work. This one is very Devo. Don't you think?

Our neighbor snuck up and took this cute shot of Vita and Ernie planting some flowers.

Meanwhile, Anabelle is interested in everything these days. Here she's trying to leap out of my arms to check something out.

Vita and Anabelle play together all the time, and Anabelle is always interested in what her sister is doing. Vita is showing Anabelle how to play with this toy.

Here's Anabelle cuddling with her dad.

With all this beautiful weather, we've been spending some time outdoors in the backyard just playing and relaxing. It's wonderful. Ernie even swept all of the spiderwebs out of Vita's playhouse, which really made the day seem like the first day of the season, and the start of lots of beautiful happy afternoons playing outdoors.

Anabelle posed for some pictures in the shade...

But after all of the rain we've had, Vita was having so much fun she didn't want to stop playing long enough to have a picture taken. Here's an action shot.

Caught you!

Weekend with Grandma M and Grandpa V

2011-03-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito came for a visit. Anabelle showed off her monkey suit.

Here are the girls with Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito.

And more happy pictures below.

Grandpa Vito sang to Anabelle, and she was completely mesmerized. It was very sweet.

Then, Grandpa Vito and Vita played a game of catch. Vita laughed so hard!

Vita also read lots of books with Grandma.

And a great time was had by all.

What Anabelle Has Been Up To

2011-03-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

Anabelle has been quite busy lately. As you know, Anabelle comes with me to work, as employees in my office can bring their babies until the babies are six months old. Here's Anabelle with her "work buddies" Kourtney and Jahir. Yes, none of them are smiling, but just getting three babies to look at the camera at the same time is kind of a small miracle. Anabelle loves playing with her work buddies. They smile and coo and share toys. It's pretty cute.

Anabelle has also slowly started to ease into her daycare routine. She has been going to "school" two mornings per week for a few weeks, and she's doing great! Next month she'll go half time, and she'll work up to full time in daycare in May. It breaks my heart to think I won't be able to take her to work with me forever... but fortunately her daycare is REALLY good. She is happy and engaged in daycare, and I know I'm leaving her in good hands.

Anabelle has been trying really hard to start crawling. You can't tell in this picture, but she has her knees up under her belly and she's pushing herself forward. She also pushes up really high on her hands sometimes, and does a few other things that look like complicated yoga moves. She's determined to be more mobile, but I'm in no rush for that!

Anabelle has a favorite toy. This dog she is holding is actually a toy Vita used to play with, and Vita has no problem sharing her old baby toys. Anabelle absolutely LOVES this toy doggy. She gets so excited that she sometimes flaps her arms like a bird.

She also loves sitting up in this Bumbo chair. She's getting pretty strong, and pretty soon she'll be able to sit up without one of these supportive chairs.

Anabelle has a beautiful smile that can light up a room, but I love all of her facial expressions. This is the face she makes when she wants to eat, and I'm taking too long to feed her and she has about five seconds more patience before she's going to completely freak out. Isn't it a cute expression?

We recently borrowed a friend's high chair. When we pushed this up to the table, Vita said "now we can all eat together like a family". Its amazing to think that in just one more month we can start to introduce solid food.

And finally, Anabelle is a good sport about dressing her up in absurdly cute outfits. Look at my little monkey!

Vita in Action

2011-03-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

It must be birthday party season. Vita had a birthday party to attend last weekend, and two birthday parties to attend this weekend. Two of the three birthday parties have been held in a local gymnastics studio. The kids get a "tumbling" lesson, and basically get to play on all of the fun equipment for about an hour, followed by lunch, cake and presents. Vita LOVES the gymnastics studio, and went straight for the balance beam. Perhaps gymnastics lessons will be in her future...

Here are a couple of action shots. They are all blurry, as Vita was running around trying everything out. She had a blast. Here she is climbing across a bridge.

Here she is rolling down a slope.

And here she is with her friends, playing with pool noodles.

Vita's ballet classes have now ended. Here's a picture of Vita bolting down the hall... the very same hall that she found so intimidating on her first day of class. I'm really not sure how much "ballet" Vita learned, but the class was a great experience for Vita, who was really brave in a large class full of older girls (Vita was the youngest kid in the class). I think it was an empowering experience for her.

Here are a couple more pictures from the last day of ballet class.

So cute!

And taking a bow.

In other news, Vita has been drawing some really amazing pictures lately. Vita is really making images, and the best part is that each picture has a story. Here's Vita with one of her pictures from last weekend. Vita said that this was a picture of a monster with spikes on his back, and he's carrying a baby monster, and even though they look scary, they are nice monsters. The monsters are dancing underneath a rainbow.

Anabelle is doing great too, and I'll do an Anabelle post tomorrow with all of her updates. I can't believe she's almost 5 months old!

Pajama Party

2011-02-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a Pajama Party. Grandma Victoria came over for dinner... and after dinner we changed into our pajamas and ate popcorn and cookies while watching Mary Poppins.

Meanwhile, Anabelle keeps growing. Although she is only 4 months old, she is wearing 9 month old clothes.

Look how big she is compared to our rocking chair!

Anabelle is STILL a bit congested and has a little cough, and she also seems to have her first tooth coming in. Nevertheless she is in pretty good spirits considering the circumstances, and she is having a blast with her new skills, including rolling, wiggling, grabbing objects and putting them in her mouth, kicking wildly, and generally being less of an observer of life and more of an active participant.

Mother Daughter Daughter, Daughter Daughter

2011-02-21T20:34:00.001-08:00

My mother and sister often get together for a "mother daughter daughter" day. Now that I have two daughters of my own, I think we need a new name because "mother daughter daughter, daughter daughter" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

Its the beginning of a long weekend, and Vita and Anabelle happily await our visitors. I love this picture!

Here's Aunt Mary with Anabelle.

And Grandma Marianne with Anabelle... good times and smiles all around.

Vita came home from ballet class to see our guests. She was exhausted. Even after a nap she collapsed into our arms for more snuggling and a bit more sleep before she had the energy to play.

Grandma Marianne brought some clothes and Vita loved trying them all on.

Here Vita and Ernie are busily making structures. Vita is making a bridge. Later she added a ladder to the middle of the bridge.

Mary was ending a week long business trip, and was a little bit tired. Vita got a blanket and pillow for her, and even something to snuggle with.

Vita shushed anyone who tried to talk while Aunt Mary was napping. It was pretty cute.

All day, Anabelle wasn't herself. I thought she was cranky because she wouldn't nap. Every time I laid her down for a nap, she'd turn over in her sleep (a new skill) and wake up to find that she was on her tummy. While I'm sure the lack of sleep didn't help, it wasn't the whole story. Just as the day came to an end and Aunt Mary and Grandma Marianne drove off, I took Anabelle's temperature and found that she had her first little fever. Anabelle spend the rest of the weekend pretty miserable, with a stuffed up nose and low fever. Poor thing. She seems to be on the mend now, just in time to return to work with me.

Vita and the Fish

2011-02-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

It's a classic story that I'm sure every parent knows.

As a reward for good behavior (perhaps you noticed the Chart of Greatness in a previous post) we wanted to get Vita a small gift. Vita wanted a kitty, but we thought a goldfish would be better as a first pet. We thought we'd simply get a goldfish, a bowl, and some flaky food and that would be that. Cheap and easy. Of course not.

Vita picked out a black Moor goldfish, and named him Dorothy. As soon as we got home from the pet store, we started to research goldfish. It turns out they don't do very well in bowls, and if you had one in a bowl you'd have to change its water daily. So naturally, less than 24 hours after getting the fish and the bowl, we were back at the pet store to get a full aquarium set up, and a friend for Dorothy, a traditional goldfish that she named Snuggle Monster. Here's Vita with Dorothy and Snuggle Monster.

Within a week, Vita was already pretty bored with the fish. Oh well, at least Anabelle seems to like them!

At the Office

2011-02-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

Anabelle has been doing GREAT in the office with me since I returned to work. She has been so happy and easy going and she naps better in my office than anywhere else. She sleeps over 4 hours in an 8 hour work day. She also has made lots of friends. Honestly I feel so lucky every day. How many people get to look down from their keyboard and see a baby sleeping in their lap?

Or look across the desk and see a baby jumping happily in a jumperoo?

Sometimes when it's really quiet and I think she's still asleep, I turn around to look in the bassinet behind my desk and see that she's been awake and playing quietly.

And then I get big smiles!

Sometimes Anabelle even plays literally right on top of my desk. (Of course, I wouldn't leave her unattended in such a place even for a second, especially since she can roll over now!) She loves to be right on my desk playing with toys, watching my fingers as I type, and looking up and cooing to greet anyone who walks by. Talk about a dream job. I just wish I could have her with me forever.

Back to regular posting???

2011-02-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

Blogspot simply isn't happy if you include more than about 10 photos in a post, and my last post had over 40 photos... which is why I couldn't format it or even add text. I just spent the past hour trying to fix it but it only gets worse. That simply won't do, so I might have to start posting more regularly, although I don't know how I'll be able to find the time!

Here are a few photos from the beginning of this month. In the second photo down, Vita is making a bed for Anabelle, like she's a real life doll. Vita is SUCH a sweet big sister, it makes me so proud! Also, Anabelle has been doing great in the office with me. I love having her with me all day, and she's making lots of friends. She naps better in my office than she does at home (perhaps because it's nice and quiet) and she's in such a great mood during her waking hours.

More to come, perhaps sometime soon... but I really need to figure out how to get blogspot to behave.

January 2011

2011-02-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

NOTE: BLOGSPOT IS EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, AND I AM UNABLE TO FINISH FORMATTING THE LAYOUT AND WRITING THE TEXT. HOWEVER, YOU MAY STILL TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES THAT WILL BE IN THE JANUARY POST. NEXT WEEKEND (OR MAYBE SOONER) I WILL TRY AGAIN TO FINISH WRITING THIS POST AND FIX THE LAYOUT OF THE PICTURES SO THAT IT MAKES SENSE. IN THE MEAN TIME, ENJOY THE PICS AND PLEASE PARDON THE MESS / CRAZY LAYOUT AND LACK OF TEXT.

December 2010

2010-12-29T11:53:00.000-08:00

After Vita's birthday weekend, we started to get really into preparing for Christmas. Here we all are doing our best to pose for some Christmas pictures, but most of them didn't come out because we are all very squirmy and at least one of us was blinking or jumping or moving or crying in just about every shot. These two were the only salvageable photos.

Also throughout the month, Anabelle's personality has REALLY started to blossom and she has become much more smiley and easy going.

Anabelle is also rapidly developing new skills. In fact, Anabelle rolled over for the first time at only 6 weeks old! It took her a couple more weeks before she repeated this feat, but now she occasionally will roll from either her tummy to her back or vice versa. Anabelle seems to focus on one new skill at a time. There was one week where she focused on rolling over, one week where she seemed to add a lot of new sounds to her "vocabulary", and one week where she really focused on her hands (holding and batting objects, and getting her fingers into her mouth).

She also loves toys.

And she loves being part of the action and just watching whatever is going on.

A few days before Christmas, we had a visit with Grandma Marianne, Grandpa Vito, Uncle Pat and Aunt Mary. Here's Mary with the girls.

And here is Mary and I having a dinner time hug with Vita.

On Christmas Eve, gifts were exchanged, and Vita received LOTS of really wonderful gifts. One of the first two gifts opened were this red velvet dress (which Vita wore the rest of the day) and this princess tea set (which Vita played with all weekend long).

Vita was so overwhelmed with all the fun that she took a two hour nap in the middle of the day!

Here's Vita opening one of the other gifts that was also a big hit... a music box with hearts on the outside and a ballerina on the inside!

Vita opened gifts with a knife (from her tea set) just like her dad does.

Later, Vita got everyone involved in a tea party.

And Vita even got Grandpa Vito to smile for the camera.

Later that night, Vita left cookies by the fireplace for Santa, and she kissed each cookie. We all went to bed hoping to get a visit from Santa and listening closely for the sound of reindeer feet on the roof.

On Christmas morning, Vita woke up early and climbed into bed with us, wondering if we could all go to the living room together to see if Santa had come. Vita discovered that Santa had left gifts and had filled the stockings too! Here's Vita emptying out her stocking.

When it was time to open the gifts from Santa, Vita looked at the boxes. None of the boxes looked like they contained a scooter, and Vita said she thought Santa must have forgotten to bring her one. Luckily, Santa DID bring a scooter and Vita was so excited we couldn't even get a picture of her with it. Vita was scooting through the house like a pro all morning long. Here's Vita with a new knit Santa doll.

We ended up having a quiet and relaxing rainy Christmas day. Vita and Anabelle played with their toys all day long. Here's Anabelle playing with her new mirror.

One of my favorite memories of this Christmas is the stomp stomp stomp sound of Vita's feet as she ran through the house going from one new toy to the next all Christmas day.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too, and wish you all a healthy and happy 2011.

Vita Turns Three!!

2010-12-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Vita turned THREE years old. I can hardly believe it. When Vita arrived at school on Friday, there was a big Happy Birthday banner just for her. We also brought mini cupcakes for Vita's friends to share.

Back at home, Vita spent some time reading Christmas books while waiting for Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob to arrive for a birthday visit. Vita's favorite Christmas book is The Night Before Christmas.

Once Joan and Bob arrived, the silliness began. Here's Bob, Vita and Ernie with silly hats.

Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob also got a chance to meet Anabelle for the first time.

Anabelle, as you can see, has been taking cuteness lessons from her sister Vita. The other day I said something to Vita about how beautiful Anabelle is when she smiles and Vita said "Mom, Anabelle is beautiful all the time". Awww. Anyway, we caught some of those Anabelle smiles on camera.

And smirks, too.

And pure joy!

The next morning was Vita's birthday, and she put on a cute birthday outfit and struck a sassy pose.

Vita can spell her name, and she's working on learning how to write her name, too. Vita wrote this with very little help from Ernie.

We were so excited all day waiting for the birthday party to begin.

Finally, at 2:30, a REAL fairy arrived to attend Vita's birthday party. Since most of Vita's friends arrived late, Vita had the fairy all to herself for a while, which was fun. Vita LOVED the fairy.

Here are a couple of shots of the birthday party in full swing. All the kids had fun, and they all loved the magic show, the puppets, the balloon animals and the face painting that Fairy Ember provided.

After the fairy flew off on her dragon, we sang Happy Birthday and had cupcakes. Vita blew out all the candles like a pro! (Don't let the broccoli fool you... Vita had THREE cupcakes at her party.)

All the kids were having so much fun that everyone stuck around for an after party in Vita's room and at her play kitchen. Here's Vita with her best friend Cleo.

Once everyone left, we had a quiet dinner with Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob, and then we opened presents. Here's Vita opening Joan and Bob's gifts which included a beautiful cradle for Vita's doll. The cradle was handmade by two artists that Joan knows. It's truly a one of a kind piece and will become a family heirloom. I still need to get a better picture of Vita with the cradle, but she loves it.

Here's Vita with Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob at the end of a very full day.

The next morning, Vita stumbled out of her room to watch some cartoons. She asked that we bring her cradle out to the living room so her doll could watch too.

We also played with balloons and ribbon. I love the smile in this picture. It's so authentic!

Soon, Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob stopped over for coffee on their way up north and we said our goodbyes.

Later that morning, Vita finally was able to open the gifts from her friends who attended the party, from her parents, and more. Wow, this girl sure had a lot of gifts.

The first one she wanted to open was the gift from Anabelle, and then she gave Anabelle a big hug.

Just when we thought all the birthday fun was behind us, a box arrived in the mail from Vita's Aunt Judy with all kinds of treats including a big sister book and LOTS of Disney princess play clothes. Vita was in heaven playing with all her new play clothes! Naturally, she's also wielding a sword. No princess should be without her sword.

That's it for now. I've got to go write some thank you cards! I'll do another big post after Christmas. Until then... take care and Happy Holidays!

November 2010

2010-12-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

As November began I had just gotten home from the hospital with Anabelle. As luck would have it, Vita got a flu right away and Ernie spent the entire three weeks of his paternity leave sick... and found out he had pneumonia the day he returned to work. So most of the month of November was spent like this, with all of us crashed out and exhausted most of the day. Of course, we still managed to have some fun while resting up and recovering in our sick beds and the "nests" we built around the house. Anabelle and I both (miraculously) managed to stay healthy through it all, despite the lack of sleep. Well, I guess somebody was getting enough sleep. In those early days, I have a lot of pictures just like this. Sleeping newborns are so sweet, and I wanted to memorize every detail of her face, even the tiny baby eye boogers and chapped lips. Like I said, lots of sleeping baby pictures. In fact, I took over 1,000 pictures in November! And to think some people say that second babies are photographed less. As the weeks went on, Anabelle started to sleep a little less and stay awake a little more. She also discovered toys and this same play mat that Vita used to play on.

She loves to play on here with her sister, and she watches her sister in awe. Just look at how tiny Anabelle is next to Vita's foot! Lately I just can't believe how big Vita is getting!

Vita loves playing with Anabelle too, and she has been such a WONDERFUL big sister. Vita is so sweet and so gentle with Anabelle... and she's helpful too. Vita helps with Anabelle's baths, diaper changes, puts blankets on Anabelle, and helps out in every conceivable way. Just the other day Anabelle woke from a nap crying. Before I could even get to Anabelle, Vita was hovering over Anabelle's bassinet singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and saying "Don't worry little Anabelle, mom will be right back."

Anabelle is starting to enjoy tummy time, and has been demonstrating some impressive neck strength.

We've also had visits with Grandma Victoria.

And visits with Grandma Marianne, Grandpa Vito, and Aunt Mary.

We had a mellow Thanksgiving at home, and when Vita was asked what she was thankful for, her first answer was "pears", and her second answer was "baby Anabelle". Later that weekend, we got our Christmas tree and started getting ready for Christmas. Here's Vita helping to put a star at the top. We still can't use many of our most fragile ornaments, because Vita doesn't seem to want to leave them on the tree.

And through the whole month, there has been lots and lots and lots of wonderful snuggle time and play time with Mom and Dad!

Finally I leave you with this. On the day Anabelle turned one month old, I put her in a shirt that is sized 12 months. Each month, as she grows, I will take a picture of her in this same shirt. Right now the shirt is way too big. However, once she's a year old I bet it will be too small. On her first birthday I'll put the pictures together so we can watch her grow at a glance in one month intervals. (This is a cute idea I stole from a friend.) Here's the one month picture.

Stay tuned for another post in the next few days to see pictures of Vita's 3rd Birthday and our visit with Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob!

October 2010

2010-11-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

We spent the month of October having lots of fun getting ready... getting ready for Halloween and for a new baby. Every day at school, Vita was engaged in Halloween books, art projects, songs, and sometimes she'd come home from school painted up like a pumpkin, a ghost, or a bat. This was the first year Vita really participated in the enthusiasm leading up to the holiday, because she remembered last year and she couldn't wait to go trick or treating again. We went to a pumpkin patch. Can you find Vita in this picture? She blends right in. At the pumpkin patch Vita climbed through the straw maze. We carved pumpkins, and Vita got to enjoy pulling out the squishy goo inside the pumpkins and got to design her own jack o lantern. (Unfortunately, it rotted before we got to take a picture of the finished product.) Vita has also been performing her own one woman shows... where she sings and dances and makes up stories, etc. Here are two links to one such performance. We call it Vita's Opus, part one and two. At the end of part two, Vita looks up at Ernie and I and says "now let me see YOUR dance".

Vita's Opus Part One

Vita's Opus Part Two

Finally, on Friday October 29th at 3:52 pm Vita's little sister was born! Anabelle Lauren Hardy weighed 9 lbs and 15 oz, and was 21 inches long. She's a big, healthy girl with a full head of curly brown hair and beautiful grey blue eyes. We are so thankful that she is finally here with us! Anabelle's birth kicked off an action packed weekend for Vita. On Friday at school, Vita participated in a Halloween parade. Grandma Victoria attended the parade since I was busy going into labor... (therefore, I don't have pictures of the parade). Later that evening, Grandma Victoria took Vita to the hospital to meet her brand new baby sister. It was a stormy night, but when they arrived at the hospital, Vita said to her Grandma... "Today is a beautiful day." Awww.

Here's Vita getting a first look at her baby sister Anabelle. Vita has been so gentle and so sweet with her little sister. She always wants to give her hugs and kisses and hold her, and help cover her with blankets, etc. She's doing a really really great job. That night Ernie and I stayed in the hospital and Vita had a sleepover with Grandma Victoria. They had a blast. The next day, Vita attended a birthday party at an indoor heated swimming pool for a classmate who is turning 3. Vita and her dad had so much fun in the pool, that Vita didn't want to get out of the pool at all (even to eat pizza and cupcakes)! She was the very last one out of the pool. We've got to get her in some swimming classes! After the pool party, Vita and dad came back to the hospital and we all checked out and headed home with the baby. Here's Vita at the hospital, holding her baby sister for the first time. Also, here's a cute little video of Vita saying how Anabelle is happy because Vita is holding her. So cute! When Halloween rolled around on Sunday, Vita dressed up in two different costumes. First, she was a pirate... Then she was a scary green dragon! Here she is all ready to go trick or treating with her dad and some neighborhood friends with kids around the same age. And here's an action shot of Vita waiting her turn to say Trick or Treat. With the festivities over (for now), we're gearing up for a few quiet weeks of just hanging out at home bonding, enjoying lots of sweet moments like this one... two sisters checking each other out and getting to know each other.

August / September 2010

2010-10-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

I know that it is inexcusable that I haven't posted in two months, but I'm still going to use the old "pregnant and tired" excuse anyway. Happily, I won't be able to use that excuse much longer. Also, I really do expect you'll get a very good post for October with Halloween pictures of Vita... and hopefully introducing you to her baby sister! Hmmm, I'll probably have to rename the blog as well. So summer has been rolling along, and I don't have nearly as many pictures as I would like. Nevertheless, here's just a little taste of our August and September. Our veggie garden has been a big success this year. Although it has been neglected and mismanaged, we have harvested lots of cucumbers, zucchini, and tons and tons of tomatoes. The basil and mint have been nice as well. Vita absolutely LOVES tomatoes and frequently requests them for snacks. We've also made lots of tomato soup. Here's Vita harvesting tomatoes in the garden. I like the idea of her having some idea of where food comes from... that fruits and veggies grow from plants and trees, and they don't come from "the store". Also, the novelty of growing and picking her own veggies makes them even more fun to eat.

We also recently went to the San Jose Children's Museum, which was a lot of fun. We hadn't been there in about a year or so, and there was so much more Vita could do. She had a blast. Here's Vita behind the wheel of a real fire truck.

Just look at the expression on Vita's face as she turns the wheel and watches an airplane fly over her head. You can actually see the wonder and excitement of learning.

Here's Vita inside a very big tire.

And naturally, Vita loved the "splash zone" and ended up getting soaked from head to toe. Good thing we brought a change of clothes. Note to self: Next time, splash zone should be the LAST thing we do on the way out of the museum.

There was even a construction related exhibit with Bob the Builder.

On Labor Day Weekend we decided to "camp" in the backyard since I wasn't really up for a real camping trip this year. We pitched a tent and filled it with pillows and blankets. We started a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Ernie and I were surprised to learn that Vita didn't like the smores. She wanted her marshmallows "raw" and without any chocolate or graham crackers. Oh well, more for us. Here's Vita in front of the tent.

And Vita inside the tent...

And here's Vita first thing in the morning when we woke up in the tent. Looks like Vita didn't sleep very well, but we did have fun!

That's all I have to report for now. Stay tuned at the end of October for Halloween pictures and a new baby sister for Vita!

July 2010

2010-08-15T19:56:00.001-07:00

I know... I'm really late posting about July. To make up for it, here's a really long post with lots of pictures. :) July was a fantastic month. It all started out with Ernie's birthday, and Vita had a blast at her dad's party. Her favorite part was leading the group in singing the Happy Birthday song and helping him blow out the candles. Oh, and the cake was pretty good, too. Shortly after Ernie's birthday, Ernie had to go out of town on business to a glassblowing convention in Texas. He was gone for almost a week, and Vita had never been without her dad for so long. Just when Vita was starting to feel sad and miss her dad, a mysterious package came in the mail... from her cousin Waverly, who generously handed down to Vita some princess dresses she had outgrown. Vita has been having SO much fun playing dress up, as evidenced below. Here's Vita as Snow White. Here's Vita as Cinderella... and there was a bunch more in the box, including Belle and a beautiful pink princess dress, but I didn't manage to get pictures of all of them. The dress up clothes also renewed Vita's interest in dresses in general, and she wanted to try on some of her dressy dresses also. This month, Vita also got a fun new toy that she plays with almost every day. She LOVES these Tinkertoys. There's just nothing like open ended old fashioned toys. I had these when I was a kid, too. Here's Vita hard at work on her very first creation (a robot). Look how proud she was when she was all finished! Here, she's holding the robot's hand. Vita also got a visit from Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito! We had a lot of fun that weekend, playing tee ball, reading books, playing in the backyard, and just hanging out. Here's great shot of Vita and Grandma Marianne. I only got one shot with Grandpa Vito and it was blurry (sorry dad). We've had all sorts of backyard fun including helping Vita get a little bit more familiar with the bike we got her for Christmas last year which was way too big at the time but finally fits. Tea parties are always a favorite too. A couple of weeks ago we headed down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with some good friends, using free passes loaned to us from some other good friends. We had a great time! Here's Vita and I with with the jellyfish. Vita making friends with some strange characters. And a shot of Vita with her dad and our friends Mike and Jackie. Towards the end of the month, we switched bedrooms to give Vita (and her soon to be sister) the bigger bedroom while Ernie and I will have the smaller room. Ernie and Vita's Grandma Victoria worked really hard painting the room a beautiful and subtle robins egg blue... and Vita helped out a little bit too.

The room came out great, it's really beautiful and Vita loves it! Next month you'll get some pictures of Vita in her new room. Until then, enjoy the remainder of the summer!

June 2010

2010-07-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

June has been a lot of fun over here in Santa Cruz. As you can see, Vita continues to help dad with his many projects. We've been having lots of summertime fun in the backyard. And Vita is enjoying making castles and "dragon houses" out of boxes and couch cushions and blankets and other available resources. Sometimes the castles have secret doors and windows for sneaking up on people. In sad news, Vita's beloved preschool has closed down effective June 30th. (The property owner evicted the school so they could tear down the building and build an auto parts store there instead.) Vita has made so many wonderful friends and loves the school and the teachers, so we have been dreading the closure of the school ever since we heard the news last month. To celebrate on the last day of the preschool, all the teachers and kids got together at a local park and had a goodbye party. Here's Vita with her favorite teacher. And here is Vita with her very best friend from the old preschool. They had been in the school program together since Vita was 6 months old and her friend was 3 months old. At the party, Vita went down the biggest slides she has ever seen. This park has really amazing slides, and Vita charged down these slides without the slightest hesitation. She was having SO much fun! We'll have to come back here. This shot of Vita climbing up the stairs is intended to give you a general sense of just how big the slides are. Despite the sad news of the school closure, we're really excited about Vita's new preschool, which she started today. The new school is bigger and has better facilities, provides more activities, has a wonderful group of teachers and kids, and after just one day, Vita already loves it! When I picked her up from school after her first day today, she didn't want to come home, she wanted to stay and play with her new friends! The teachers all indicated that her first day went really smoothly, and that she was socializing and playing, and drawing, and ate her lunch, and had a good nap, and was happy as a clam the whole time. I'm thrilled, and so relieved! The new school is only able to take Vita on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for now, but she will be able to attend full time (5 days a week) beginning on September 1. In the mean time, Vita is fortunate that her Grandma Victoria had recently moved up to Santa Cruz, and Vita will be spending the day with Grandma Victoria every Tuesday and Thursday in July and August. Vita is having a blast with Grandma, and we are so very thankful that she's available (and willing) to help out until the new preschool can take Vita full time. Here are some pictures of the fun Vita is having at Grandma Victoria's house. Here's Vita getting ready to water some plants in the garden. And here's Vita enjoying the shade of an umbrella.

Today, of course, is Vita's dad's birthday. You'll have to wait until the July post to see how we celebrate. Until then, enjoy the summer!

May 2010

2010-05-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

According to the memory stick in my camera, nothing happened in the month of May. Not a single picture was taken. Inexcusable, I know! Thankfully, I was able to pull a few shots off of Ernie's phone. As it turns out, quite a bit happened in the month of May. Most notably, Vita's Grandma Victoria moved up to Santa Cruz from southern California, and is living right in the neighborhood! Yay! We planted a little vegetable patch. Vita loved getting her hands dirty... digging in the dirt and putting the tiny plants into the holes in the ground. And then, well... somehow, Ernie came into the possession of this hot little number. It's a miniature hot rod / go cart with some parts dating back to the 1930's, and Vita has been helping Ernie to restore it. She's having a blast. Perhaps you noticed the tattoos all over Vita's arms? Last weekend we decided to start potty training, and we've been giving out temporary tattoos for successes in this effort. It has proven to be a very effective incentive, and as you can see Vita is doing really well.

Disneyland!

2010-05-04T20:07:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Vita had her very first trip to the happiest place on earth... and it was everything we hoped it would be. We went on about 10 or 12 rides, which was more than we expected. Most of the lines were very short (5-10 minutes) and some of the rides that we thought Vita might be too little for she was able to ride. Here's Vita on It's a Small World. We got the front row of the boat, and Vita couldn't keep still. She kept standing up and pointing at everything. The merry go round is always a favorite. She loved the rides, including the rocket ship ride in Tomorrowland that I thought might be too fast for her. There were just two rides that ended up being a little too scary - Mr. Toads Wild Ride and Pirates of the Caribbean. However, Vita kept her composure the whole time, held on to her mama very tightly, and simply informed us afterwards that she was a little scared. No tears at all. She was very brave. When it was time to meet some of the characters, I expected Vita would probably be a little shy and might even be intimidated, but that wasn't the case at all. In every instance, Vita went right up and hugged EVERY character, spoke with them, gave them kisses and high fives, and finally said goodbye when it was time to move on. Here we all are with Mickey. Here's Vita with Minnie Mouse. Minnie was Vita's favorite, and she just kept hugging Minnie for so long that we had to let Vita know it was someone else's turn with Minnie.

Here's Vita and mom having a tea party at Minnie's house. (Did you see Vita's cute hat?)

We also met Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger and Vita was walking on clouds the whole time, grinning and laughing and clapping. The picture with Eeyore is my favorite picture from the whole day.

On the way out, after shopping for some toys and some candy on Main Street, Vita had a chance to meet up with Goofy.

Vita did great all day, despite hot weather, lack of sleep (and no nap at Disneyland)... she just kept going and going and going. We got there at 10am when the park opened, and we figured Vita would crash around 2pm, but she kept going strong until about 6pm when finally started to get sleepy. We carried our happy little girl out of the park and headed back home to Santa Cruz directly from Disneyland. As you might expect, Vita was sound asleep before we even made our way out of the parking lot.

April 2010

2010-05-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

April was a really fun and really busy month. It started with a visit from the Easter bunny, and a basket of treats! Easter turned out to be a rainy day (so no egg hunt) but we made the best of it and had fun anyway. Here's Vita taking her first bite of sour candy. She made a funny face, but she said she liked it and she wanted more. These pictures may seem like repeats, but we just keep going back for more and more fun at Gilroy Gardens and Vita loves it every time. We went on a cloudy day with a few sprinkles and there were hardly any lines at all, it was great!

Vita did her best to keep up with her dad's popcorn consumption.

And we found new rides at Gilroy Gardens that we hadn't been on before.

Vita's favorite was this miniature version of a merry go round. The horses were small enough that she could ride all by herself with no parents holding on to her. She really loved the "tiny horses".

We finally started to get some good weather, and we headed outdoors for some fun splashing in the water.

We also got back into painting, and that has become a favorite activity again.

We had some fun visits as well, but I didn't do a very good job taking pictures. Vita's Grandma Victoria came up for a weekend visit (no pictures) and we ended the month of April down in Los Angeles visiting Grandma Marianne, Grandpa Vito and Uncle Pat (just one picture, below). All in all, a WONDERFUL month of April, with lots more fun to come in May... including a visit to Disneyland (post coming soon) and Grandma Victoria will be moving to Santa Cruz!

March 2010

2010-04-03T20:34:00.001-07:00

Vita managed to have a great month this March (despite the fact that her mom has been tired, and nauseous, and grumpy through the first trimester of pregnancy). We had a wonderful visit with Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan. Just look at these great big smiles! We had adventures in the park, up the coast, and in our own backyard. We tried on pretty dresses. We rested and snuggled. And we prepared for Easter by dying eggs and then painting them with glitter.

I can't wait to see what the Easter Bunny brings for Vita tomorrow morning!

February 2010

2010-02-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Now that Vita has moved into the "pre-school" from the "baby room", she had her first real Valentine exchange at school this year. All the kids decorated special bags, and passed Valentines out to all of their friends. When the kids were decorating their bags, each child had a choice between a cars and trucks theme, or a princess theme. Every single boy chose cars and trucks, and every single girl chose princesses... except Vita who boldly decorated her Valentine bag with cars and trucks. Here's Vita on her way home from school on Valentines day loaded up with all her goodies. She had a great time! At home, we dumped it out and started eating the chocolates (of course). Later that same weekend, we headed down to Orange County to visit family, and to celebrate the life of Vita's great-grandfather James Kerr, who passed away recently. We had a wonderful visit and it was so nice to see everybody. Here's Vita in a new flower outfit from grandma Victoria, having a blast with all of grandma's toys. Vita with aunt Jen.

Vita with grandma Victoria, and two of the three play cupcakes that were given to her by her other aunt Jen. She loves these cupcakes!

Here's a sweet shot of Vita saying goodnight to her cousin Dan. Awww.

Vita and grandma Victoria also had a dance party! Check this out, and here's more if you can stand it.

I love how serious Vita is as she munches on her raisins in this picture. This picture was taken over two hours after Vita was supposed to be in bed. Does that explain the devious grin?

Recently we got Vita a magnadoodle, because she loves to "write" and we don't always want her to have pens (which can make a big mess). Honestly, she seems to like pens and "writing" more than crayons and "drawing". Also, it's pretty neat that she can hold the pen properly, when most of the kids in her class hold a pen with their fist. She loves the magnadoodle.

This last weekend, I had my very first night away from Vita... I met up with my mom and sister in San Luis Obispo, and Vita and dad stayed home and made puppets and played in the backyard. They had a great time together, and I returned home to a happy daughter and husband, a clean house, and a freshly mowed lawn. I should go out of town more often! Today Vita and I spent the whole day together to make up for being apart yesterday, and we had a blast. We planted some rosebushes and some herbs, got REALLY messy in the backyard, and laughed and laughed and laughed. Good times. PS - Vita has some news for you... SHE'S GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!

January 2010

2010-01-31T21:23:00.000-08:00

I've decided to continue to keep this blog going, although I'll just be updating on a monthly basis. January has been a nice mellow, rainy month... and I haven't been taking many pictures these days. I'll work on that next month, and hopefully I'll have a HUGE February post to compensate for a short one this month. On my birthday this year, Vita and Ernie made me some special cupcakes. Here's a video of Vita helping to mix the batter while singing me happy birthday. When I finally woke up that morning, Vita walked in the room and sang the birthday song and handed me a card she made herself. She was so proud and it was really cute! Later that day, we went to the beach and we even went on the merry go round. You can see the joy on Vita's face! This silly hat was a stocking stuffer from Ikea. I love Ikea. We've had some pretty incredible storms this month, so whenever the sun comes out we try to take full advantage of it, and we often head back to the beach. These days Vita LOVES the beach, but it's so cold we have to bundle up and stay away from the water... and even then we can't stay long. I can't wait until summer time when we can really have fun building sand castles, splashing in the water and soak up the warmth of the sun.

And finally, your moment of zen. Here's Vita dancing to some jazz.

The Big Day... Christmas!

2009-12-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

On Christmas morning, Vita actually slept a little bit late... all the way to 6am. When she finally woke up, she saw that Santa had come and left presents under the tree. Vita went right for the presents and started unwrapping. Ernie and I sat in our pajamas eating gingerbread and drinking coffee and watching the joy unfold. Although this was technically Vita's third Christmas, she didn't really understand much about it before so somehow this felt new and exciting, like our very first Christmas, and it was so so so much fun! We didn't get good pictures because we had to use the flash, and because Vita was too busy looking at the new toys to be bothered with looking at the camera. So you'll have to take our word on it... that she was beyond thrilled. However, we didn't always get the reaction we were hoping for. Like in the picture below, she's not really looking at her new bike, she's much more interested in the piece of take in her hand. The bike is still a little big for her, so we're going to re-introduce it in a couple of months. Here's a picture of Vita with her new dollhouse, which she loves.

And finally, Vita in her new home-made play kitchen.

Twas The Night Before Christmas, 2009

2009-12-24T21:23:00.000-08:00

It's the night before Christmas, and while Vita sleeps in her Christmas pajamas on her Christmas pillow, Ernie and I are sipping limoncello and getting everything ready. Presents are under the tree (and tucked behind the chair). Underneath that unassuming white sheet is a very sweet dollhouse that we think Vita will LOVE. Vita is also getting her very first bike! Also, tomorrow morning we are unveiling Vita's new play kitchen for the first time. Vita did see it briefly, but then Ernie swapped out the legs, painted it, added the burners, and lots of the other details. It's beautiful!! The finishing touch for the new play kitchen are the pots and pans that Mema Joan played with as a little girl, which she sent to us recently. Ernie did such a wonderful job building the play kitchen that it inspired me to dust off the sewing machine and try my hand at making Vita an apron, dishtowel, potholder and oven mitt. Considering that these are the first things I have EVER sewn, I'm really happy with how they turned out... flaws and all. I'm so excited for Vita to wake up! In the mean time, while have been eagerly awaiting Christmas morning, we've had a few other fun activities as well. Vita's preschool put on a little Christmas sing along for the parents. It was great! Well, you can just imagine... it was like herding cats! Vita, who is the youngest member of the preschool (having recently transitioned from the infant room) got to stand right in the very front of the three rows of kids. However, she tended to turn her back to the parents and face the other kids, and she wandered off and started playing with toys about a dozen times during the 20 minute show. In this picture, I like how Vita is the only one smiling and everyone else looks like they are giving hard looks. She loved playing with the maracas! Then, we bundled up and went to Gilroy Gardens holiday lights event, where they open the park up in the evening for rides, a fireworks show and other fun events. The merry-go-round was still Vita's favorite thing.

And the race cars were a close second. Look ma, no hands! What a daredevil.

That's it for now. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures on Christmas morning as Vita discovers all the presents under the tree. Hope you are are having a happy and magical holiday season! XO, Jenny

Getting Into Christmas

2009-12-13T18:53:00.000-08:00

We are really getting into Christmas over here. As soon as Vita's birthday was over, we got the tree, hung the stockings, put up the lights, and started decorating the house. Today we put on a pretty Christmas dress and attempted to take some cute holiday pictures by the tree. Unfortunately we're both very stubborn, and Vita refused to keep still and I refused to use a flash (being that I love natural light). So the results are a bit blurry, but they are still sweet. Christmas is so much fun with a kid! We're having a hard time waiting to give Vita her presents. Since it was a cold and rainy day today, we brought out the construction paper, paint, glitter, glue, pipe cleaners, egg cartons, and all kinds of fun art supplies to make some ornaments for the tree. Vita painted some pretty bell ornaments all by herself, but her favorite part was sprinkling on the glitter. Vita was so proud to present her dad with an ornament she made just for him. Afterwards it was time to clean up. Vita is a really good helper. While we were making ornaments, Ernie was working on Vita's play kitchen. It's almost done! In fact, we brought it in the house and Vita LOVES it. We'll get some pictures of it soon, but I didn't manage to capture that before Vita read her bedtime books (twas the night before Christmas) and fell asleep on her Christmas pillow. Good night.

TWO!!

2009-12-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Vita turned two years old! Although I took the day off work, I brought Vita in to daycare for a short day because I knew all the kids would sing and make a big deal out of her birthday and I didn't want her to miss out on that. When I came to pick Vita up at 10 am, she was having so much fun she didn't want to come home!

Little did she know that when she returned home, she would find that the house was decorated with streamers and balloons, and that a party hat and presents were waiting for her. As soon as she walked in she yelled "HAT" "BALLOONS" "BIRTHDAY"!

And the balloons were so much fun it took her a little while to notice the brand new unwrapped Tonka dump truck just waiting to be played with.

Soon, Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan arrived for dinner... followed immediately by cake! I love Vita's face in the soft lighting of this picture.

Vita did her best to blow out the candles but needed just a little help with that part.

After dinner Vita opened up more presents. The next day, we headed to the San Jose Children's Museum, which was lots of fun. I thought most of it would be for older kids, but really it's perfect for toddlers.

Look at Vita's smile in the mirror.

In the bubble room, I think Ernie had more fun than Vita.

I'm glad that Vita does not seem to share my fear of heights.

Back at home, we changed into clean clothes and got ready to go out for sushi. While we were at the restaurant, Vita was getting antsy so I took her over to where a jazz band was playing. Vita was moving along to the music and having a great time. I asked Vita if she was dancing and she said "I'm rocking out, mom." I don't think Vita appreciated an interruption in her story time with Mema. Later on, there were even more presents... as Santa came a little early. Vita loves this ladybug towel, and insisted on sleeping in it last night.

All in all, it was a great birthday and a wonderful visit with Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan.

And Vita didn't want to say goodbye, so we had lots of last minute hugs and kisses.

Almost Two...

2009-12-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

The gifts are wrapped, the streamers and banner have been hung, the cupcakes have been baked (but not yet frosted) and Ms. Vita is fast asleep in her bed. I can't believe when she wakes up she will be two years old! This year, Vita knows it is her birthday and she has been looking forward to it. She knows she is about to be two years old, and it will be her birthday, and there will be singing and cake and Grandpa and Mema, and presents, and fun. At the end of the weekend, or early next week, I'll do a post with lots of pictures, but for the mean time I wanted to share a little bit about what's going on with Vita right now on the brink of two years. Vita has been reciting her alphabet for months now, she knows her colors, and she is getting better at counting. She can count all the way to 20 but she usually skips 4 and 5. Vita is speaking really well and her vocabulary increases much faster than we can keep up with it. She speaks in 5 - 6 word sentences and sings entire songs such as C is for Cookie and Ring Around the Rosie. It's so much fun to be able to really have a two way dialogue, and it's very helpful that she can tell us what she wants and needs. Vita is becoming very independent and wants to do everything herself, or she wants to help us. It's fun to come up with ways to get her involved in day to day tasks like cooking and cleaning. Vita is pretty good about putting her toys away, putting dirty clothes in the hamper, putting on and taking off various articles of clothing and shoes when asked, etc. She has also been helping out with pulling weeds in the backyard, and helping with preparing her breakfast. The biggest change going on in Vita's life right now is her transition from the infant program to the preschool at her daycare center. For the past 18 months or so, Vita has been with the zero to two crowd, and with a wonderful wonderful staff of teachers that we LOVE. However, it's now time for her to expand her horizons and start attending preschool with the older kids. Although she has spent some time with the preschool teachers we were a little concerned the transition might be tough for her. Over the past couple of weeks, every day Vita has spent a little less time with the infants and more time with the preschoolers. She seems to be having a great time and the transition has been smooth. She's even napping well in the new group. In fact, it's only been a week since she has spent the majority of her day with the older kids, and she surprised me today by asking to use the potty (and then using it successfully)! I think she's watching what the older kids at school are doing, and learning from them.

Thankful

2009-11-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving, we had a very short but very fun trip to Southern California to visit family. First, we went to Venice to visit the Panetta family. We had a delicious meal, and lots of fun with everyone. Unfortunately... I didn't get many pictures, but here's one group shot. Vita doesn't look very happy in this particular picture, but she had so much fun and really loved being the center of attention. She also received some great presents (which she also loved). One of Vita's presents was a holiday dress that we tried on over her pajamas. So cute! Look for some pictures by the Christmas tree with this dress on in a few weeks when we get our tree. Next we went to Orange County to see the Kerr family. Vita is cautiously checking out the BIGGEST dog she has ever seen. Vita toured the house and loved seeing Grandma Victoria's art, especially this penguin.

We went to a beautiful park and had a nice walk.

The park also had the biggest playground Vita had ever seen.

Here's Vita with her great grandfather Kerr.

And with her aunt Jennifer (actually Vita has two aunt Jennifers..., and her mother is a Jennifer also, so this gets confusing).

Grandma Victoria made Vita a diorama for a birthday gift. She loves it!

Back at home, we've been relaxing and enjoying the rest of our weekend. Today, Vita tried out one of her other presents... a kite! All in all, this has been a wonderful weekend and a good reminder of how much we have to be thankful for.

Next weekend, of course, is Vita's second birthday... including a visit from Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan! Then Christmas is right around the corner. So much to look forward to!

Horsing Around

2009-11-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

Ever since Vita fell in love with the merry go round at Gilroy Gardens last weekend, she's been spending a lot more time on her rocking horse. She has so much fun riding her horsey, and she gives him hugs and kisses, too.

Here's Vita shoveling sand in the backyard with her own little shovel. She's actually a great helper! She helps me pull weeds and everything.

This is what you get when you ask for a silly face.

Pretty eyes in this shot.

In other news, Vita got her first haircut on Saturday. I had planned on taking pictures, but Vita insisted on sitting on my lap so I didn't have my hands free. She did great, though. And with her hair a bit shorter, it's much more curly (and gets less tangled) in the back. Finally, Vita is starting to get excited about her birthday, which I can't believe is less than two weeks away. She knows she will be two years old, and that there will be birthday cake and balloons, and a visit from Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan!

Gilroy Gardens

2009-11-15T18:59:00.000-08:00

Today we took Vita to the Gilroy Gardens theme park. The park was designed to be educational and to promote an appreciation of horticulture. In fact, one of their slogans is that they are an amusement park where the trees are taller than the rides. The park is actually quite beautiful, with fun rides geared towards VERY young children, nestled amongst trees and a lake. We had a lot of fun. The first ride we went on was the carousel. Vita LOVED riding on the horses, and talked about it all day. It was definitely her favorite ride.

But there were LOTS of rides that Vita went on. Here is Vita and I riding inside a worm in an apple.

There were barely any lines. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes to get on a ride, but I did take this picture while we were waiting for the boat ride.

Here's Vita on the boat. On some of the rides, Vita looked a little concerned, and I wasn't sure if Vita was having fun or not... but then when each ride was over, she said AGAIN!!!!

Vita was able to ride some of the rides all by herself, like this race car.

And this fire truck.

As much fun as we had on all of the other rides, and the boat, and in the various gardens and playgrounds, Vita just kept talking about the horses so we had to make sure we took one more ride on the carousel before we went home.

We had a blast, and something tells me we'll be going here often during the next year... (season passes - yippee)!

Tickle Torture

2009-11-06T19:09:00.000-08:00

I promise we don't torture her with tickles... very often. But for some cute laughs, check out this video.

The year Swine Flu stole Halloween

2009-11-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

Since we last posted Vita has had a busy couple of weeks. First, Vita had a very quick visit from Grandma Victoria.

Then, Ernie started back at work (hooray!) so Vita went back to daycare full time. That same day, Vita came down with a bad flu that the doctors think was probably THE flu (swine flu). We'll never really know for sure, because they didn't bother testing her. However, she had the highest fevers of her young life, and for a very short time she was doing some crazy shallow breathing and her lips looked a little blue-ish. Surprisingly, Vita was in very good spirits during her flu. Ernie pitched the tent in the living room and filled it with blankets and toys. For a while we turned the tent into a "dolly hospital" and Vita made little beds for all of her stuffed animals. She wiped their noses, and pretended to give them medicine and gave the kisses on their boo boos to help them get all better. It was pretty cute. Although Vita was better in time for Halloween, Ernie was battling against Vita's flu, and I was nervous I might be coming down with it, so it was a VERY mellow Halloween. First, Vita dressed like a ladybug. But that was a little bit too big and I thought she might get cold.

So for Vita's pre-school Halloween Parade, and for Trick or Treating on Halloween Night, Vita dressed like a skeleton princess... with a skeleton jumpsuit and a princess skirt. (She LOVES this princess skirt.) She had a great time, and even though she was too shy to say "trick or treat" at some of the houses, she ALWAYS said "thank you" when someone put candy in her bag.

Here's a couple of pictures of Vita at school.

And here's Vita at home getting read to go out trick or treating... and sneaking candy from the dish!

Fall in the air

2009-10-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

The days are really getting crisp here in Santa Cruz, and fall is in the air. Vita keeps growing by leaps and bounds. The pants I hemmed for her just 3 weeks ago are getting too short already and I'll be taking the hem out. Wow. Her vocabulary grows faster than Ernie and I can keep track of. She loves singing songs - the ABC's, Three Little Monkeys, and C is for Cookie are her favorites. She's starting to count, and check this out... Vita can swing on the big kids swings now (instead of those bucket seat swings for babies)!

A couple of weekends ago Vita had a little visit with Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito. Here are two really sweet shots with Vita and Grandma Marianne.

I know it looks like Vita is on the surface of the moon... but these rocks are our "front lawn". Hey - at least it doesn't need to be watered.

In preparation for Halloween, we headed out to a pumpkin patch. Vita was scared of the pumpkins last year, but now that she's almost two years old, we thought she'd love the pumpkin patch. Wrong. I don't know if Vita remembered the "barking pumpkin" from last year, but for some reason she wanted nothing to do with the pumpkin patch.

Mom, can we go now?

When we got home, Ernie was sent on a mission to pick up some pumpkins. Now that the pumpkins are here, on our front porch, Vita loves them. I guess it's just when the congregate in large groups that they can be a little intimidating. Anyway, I think Vita is going to love pulling out the pumpkin guts and getting messy (but we're saving that for next weekend).

If you know Vita, you probably know that she loves to eat. She also thinks she's entitled to everyone else's food as well (especially mine). When Vita finishes her food, she looks over longingly to see whats on my plate, and she gives me this look.

And then, if I still haven't responded to her cues, her hints get a little less subtle.

This weekend, we had a quick visit with Vita's Aunt Jennifer, Dan and Nevil who were spending the weekend on the coast. We headed out to an event to celebrate the return of the monarch butterflies who migrate through the area, but it was really cold so the butterflies weren't really moving around. Still, it was great to see everyone.

And now, I think the blog is just about caught up!

Vita's Car

2009-09-29T20:16:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine recently loaned Vita two very cool toys. There is a horse that can bounce or rock (and makes horse noises) and the car pictured below. Vita enjoys bouncing on the horse... but from the moment she saw this car she could not get enough. It is the first thing she asks for in the morning and the last thing she mumbles before finally falling asleep at night. Vita loves for Ernie or I to run around and push her in this car. The only problem is that she doesn't ever want to get out. EVER. This is one VERY happy little girl!

M.I.A.

2009-09-20T19:55:00.001-07:00

Perhaps you're asking yourself where we've been. The truth is, we're all happy and healthy and having fun (busy busy busy), but I just haven't been taking many pictures this last couple of weeks.

This is kind of a lame post, as I just have one picture to share. Here is Vita and Ernie at the County Fair. We had a good time, but Vita really didn't like getting close to the sheep, goats and pigs. She clutched on to us tightly, and repeated "no more sheep!" and "dirty! messy!". Actually, she's right. They really were pretty dirty and I can't blame her for not wanting to pet them. However, the people watching is always spectacular at the Fair, and there was a fun puppet show that we watched as well. Also, I was amazed how many animals Vita was able to accurately name.

In other news, Vita is really mastering some of the play structures at the local parks. She is climbing ladders, swinging, heading down slides, and having more and more social interactions with other kids. It's really fun to watch!

Before I sign off, I just have to admit that working, being a mom, and other distractions are getting in the way of my blogging. Originally, I had planned on keeping this blog until Vita turned one year old but when her birthday came and went I kept on going. However, the blog has just about run it's course now. I will continue to blog intermittently (not every Sunday) until her second birthday. When Vita turns two, I will retire this blog, but I will open a flicker account so you will you still be able to see the latest and greatest Vita pictures online. In fact, the only thing you won't have is my witty commentary, and I doubt anyone will miss that!

Labor Day with Aunt Mary

2009-09-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Vita's Aunt Mary came up for a visit. We took a walk in the redwoods, we played in the backyard, and had lots of fun. For our walk in the redwoods, Vita wore a really cute new fall outfit, including a tweed skirt, cable knit tights, and mary jane shoes. It was so cute we had to do a little photo shoot. "OK Vita, let's do a nice studious back to school picture." "Good, now how about a sassy little twirl. Perfect!" But since it's not technically autumn yet, when the weather warmed up Vita wore this cute summer sundress and hat for some more outdoor fun.

Good Clean Fun

2009-08-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Vita's Grandma Victoria came up for a visit. Despite the heat wave, we had lots of fun. There's a reason that Vita is looking at the ground in front of her, with an expression of concern. Look what popped out of the ground RIGHT in front of us! This park had a couple of bold gophers who made repeated appearances. Vita watched with amazement. Vita swings so high!

Vita's froggy pool broke just in time for the heat wave. We played in the shade in the backyard with Vita's sand and water table for a while... until Vita decided to sit in the bucket of water and smear wet sand into her arms, legs, belly, neck, armpits, hair, etc.

She's been getting so dirty when she plays outside. Here's a picture from last weekend that didn't make it to the blog. This picture was taken in the middle of an outdoor tea party where Vita made "coffee" out of mud.

Later, on Sunday afternoon, Vita loaded up all of her stuffed animals in the bed.

Vita loves her baths, but when she's having fun playing she doesn't want to be interrupted. "No No NO!"

And this is how our nightly games of hide and seek begin.

This weekend, Vita also broke the toddler concentration world record. Grandma Victoria brought up a handmade diorama and Vita simply couldn't get enough of it. She played with it for over an hour, just labeling all of the things inside and exploring every inch. When it was time to go to bed, Vita hugged it, and said good night and "I love you" to everything inside the diorama. It was sooooooo sweet, and it is her new favorite thing. I don't have any still photos (yet) but I do have some video. Unfortunately youtube is not wanting to upload my video so I might have to add that later on.

SF Zoo

2009-08-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Vita had her first visit to the zoo! We had such a fun day. I was really impressed by how many animals Vita was able to name. In fact, when we were watching the lions someone walking by mistakenly referred to it as a tiger and Vita pointed and said lion. Also, Vita roared at the lions. The lions were unimpressed, but I thought it was pretty cute. I think Vita's favorite animal was the giraffe. The only thing Vita did NOT like was the petting zoo. She was interested in looking at the goats and sheep from afar, and imitating their noises... but she did NOT want to touch them. I can't really blame her.

This is by far the best picture of the day. Hey Vita, what sound does a grisly bear make? GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Clean Air

2009-08-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we headed south to Monterey to escape the smoke from the Lockheed Fire and breathe some clean air. We had a great day on the beach! Vita loved playing in the giant sandbox and got to watch lots of boats, birds, and dogs... and even collect a pail of rocks. She's still unsure of the water at the beach, and clings to us very very tightly even when we just put our toes in the water. When it got too cold and windy at the beach, we went to Dennis the Menace Park to play in the playground and have a picnic lunch in the company of several geese. Lately, Vita has been more outgoing at the local parks. Typically, even with lots of kids around, she does her own thing... and maybe just watches some of the older kids. However, this weekend Vita approached older kids at the park and joined them in their play. She was so engaged in playing with and watching the other kids, she never even looked back to see if we were close by. It's so much fun watching her discover the ability to socialize!

E.L.M.O.

2009-08-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend the weather was PERFECT. We had a lovely lazy weekend... so lazy that I did not take any pictures. Ooops. Since I have no pictures, I offer you this news about what's going on in Vita's world. Vita loves Elmo, and I am pretty strong in resisting many children's characters but I am no match for Elmo. First of all, I don't even know how Vita learned about Elmo. We never had any Elmo stuff, nor had Vita ever seen any Sesame Street in her entire life. One day, in Target, Vita points and screams ELMO! I asked around at her daycare and they didn't introduce Elmo either. Where on earth did she learn about Elmo? I'm convinced they put something in the prenatal vitamins that programs children to be drawn to Elmo. Now that she knows and loves Elmo, he's everywhere. You can't get down any aisle at Target without encountering him. There are Elmo clothes, Elmo toothbrushes, Elmo crackers, etc. Ernie and I started to give in a couple of months ago, and we now have an Elmo puppet, some books, etc. But any time we talk about something that Vita will want right away (like bubbles, grapes, and other fun stuff) we use the age old method of spelling things out. Here's where the evil genius of the Sesame Street marketing team knocked me off my feet. I asked Ernie where the E. L. M. O. book was, spelling out the word... and Vita looked up and shouted ELMO! At first I thought Vita had perhaps already memorized the spelling of that word... but then I realized that when you spell Elmo, it sounds the same as saying Elmo, especially if you spell it quickly. (Try it, you'll see.) Wow - the Sesame Street marketing team is so much smarter than me, I am completely out of my league, but I will not surrender. I'm fighting back against Elmo by bringing back some of the classics from my pre-Elmo childhood like good old fashioned wooden toys, and charactors that don't refer to themselves in the third person (like the Muppets). Take that!

August Heat

2009-08-02T20:13:00.001-07:00

The weather was finally warm enough to play in the kiddie pool. Vita couldn't even wait for me to inflate it. She was in there playing while I blew it up. Hurry up, mom! Splash! Vita was so happy she even stood up to give the froggy pool a kiss.

Vita likes to play a game called "sneak up on mom and pour water on her back". This is loads of fun, even though Vita has a thing or to she still needs to learn about being sneaky. Anyway, Vita will fill up her little sandbox shovel with water, and "sneak" over to where I am in the yard. By the time she gets to me, most of the water has sloshed out.

However, when Vita succeeds in coming up behind me and pouring some water on my back (or feet), and I shriek with surprise, Vita laughs hysterically.

Moooooommmmm, quit it - I want to run around and play!

You're In

2009-07-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

Congratulations for making it into the the new "protected" site. I apologize if you had to set up a google account... I'll wait until Sunday for an official weekly post, but here's a bonus picture just for putting up with the security hassle. Here's Vita sitting on her piano reading books.

Sorry I'm Late...

2009-07-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sorry to keep you waiting on an update... However, I've been working a lot of extra hours at work lately, and I just haven't had the time to update or to add the security features. I have all of your email addresses, and I'll add the security next week (hopefully). In the mean time, here's one more unsecured update. On Friday afternoon, as Vita was napping, Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito were heading over for a short visit. Vita was SO excited to see them! Grandma brought over a few gifts, including this (nearly life sized) Dora doll. It was a big hit. We played outdoors in the sun, kicked around a soccer ball, came inside for dinner, and then called it a night very early. The next morning, Vita was up early and was waiting and waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to come back over and play. (Sorry, Vita... not everyone wakes up at 4:45 am, so you're going to have to wait for a little while.) Here's Vita and Ernie waiting by the window. When Grandma and Grandpa got here the next morning, we all took lots of pictures. Vita is used to posing for pictures (although it's getting harder to keep her still even for a moment). Isn't that a pretty top and bow?

Then, Vita likes to look at the picture in the little screen in the camera.

Vita and Grandma and Dora had fun playing patty cake, singing nursery rhymes (especially the really dark and creepy ones), and reading books.

This book, which Vita's cousin Dan gave her a year ago (back when she was in the hospital) was a little advanced for her at the time but it has become a new favorite.

After a few more pictures, Vita ran around screaming in pure excitement for at least 30 minutes straight, until Grandma and Grandpa had to head out for San Jose (at which time Vita instantly crashed for a nice long nap).

Thanks for a fun visit!

Before I go, I also wanted to share some of what's new with Vita. Vita is obsessed with the alphabet. She loves the ABC song, and although she can't sing it all the way through, she knows the beginning (ABCDE) and the ending (WXYZ) and a few random letters in the middle like J M S and sometimes V. Vita has learned the manipulative power of saying "please" in her cutest sweetest voice. How could you possibly deny such a polite child of more grapes or blueberries? However, she thinks that if she says "please" she should get EXACTLY what she wants, right away, no matter what it is. Vita is also learning to count, and learning colors. Finally, Vita has been enjoying stacking blocks more than ever before. Last week, for the first time, she built a tower of blocks that was taller than she is! Of course I tried to capture it on film but by the time I got my camera on, she added that one last block and the whole thing came down.

Placeholder

2009-07-19T20:32:00.001-07:00

No regular post this week, just a placeholder so you don't have to go two whole weeks without any new Vita pictures. :) If you haven't seen the post below, please note that next week I will be adding some security to the site. If you want to continue to be able to check in every now and then, send me your email address so I can add you. Next week before I post I'm going to enable the security features. If you don't send me your email, you will no longer be able to access Vita's blog. See you next week!

Changes are Coming

2009-07-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

I have decided to add some security to the blog, so that only certain people (friends and family) can view it. I will need to specifically identify the email addresses of those who can view the site. If you would like to continue to have access to Bella Vita, please send your email address to me at jennypanetta@hotmail.com, and I will get you set up. Don't just assume that I already have your email. Thanks!

Weekend with Uncle Pat

2009-07-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a whirlwind visit with Vita's Uncle Pat. We started off at the park, kicking a ball around the field and playing in the swings. After Vita's nap, we bravely headed right into the crowds at the boardwalk. Uncle Pat always likes to visit the vintage Donkey Kong game at the arcade. This was Vita's first experience with Donkey Kong... but I have a feeling she will be returning to this location. While Pat spent some time in the arcade, we went out to the beach to kill some time. And Vita watched the taffy being made at the candy shop.

We had a great time together, but all too soon it was time to say goodbye.

Long July Weekend

2009-07-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

We had a long and wonderful Dad's Birthday / Fourth of July weekend, with some friends, a BBQ, a meal out, some good ice cream and apricots right off the tree. Vita especially love the corn on the cob. Here's Vita helping me to check on the squash. Is it ripe yet? Standing in the flower bed modeling one of her lovely summer sundresses. And of course, sand and water never ever gets old. In other Vita news: Vita has discovered her rebellious streak, and she says "NO" and "MINE" as defiantly as any other toddler ever has. But her vocabulary continues to grow and amaze us. She learns new words every day; on Friday Vita learned "Bruce Lee" and "pizza". Awesome! To top it off, Vita is now climbing up and going down the big slide at the park all by herself (as long as someone spots her on the way up). Got 40 seconds? Check out what the static electricity does to Vita's hair when she gets to the bottom of the slide! Pause it at exactly 38 seconds. By the way, the screams you hear are happy screams. :)

Family BBQ

2009-06-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to LA for a family barbecue. My sister hosted the event in her home, and there was great food and great company and everything was fabulous... except poor little Vita. Vita had a rough day on Saturday, and was really in rare form. It was a perfect storm of lack of sleep, teething, a low fever, a new place and a lot of people, and it added up to a grumpy little girl. Although Vita was really not herself on Saturday, we did manage to get a couple of pictures of Vita with Aunt Mary. Vita finally had occasion to wear one of her new sundresses made by Mema. The picture below is a little blurry, but the smiles and laughter are great! Finally, Vita crashed and had a (much needed) Saturday afternoon nap with Ernie on the couch. The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Vita was back to her typical happy demeanor. Mary took us all to Griffith Park to take a walk through a bird sanctuary.

After the bird sanctuary we headed over to have a look at the ponies. Vita preferred to watch them from afar.

After checking out the ponies, we headed over to Griffith Park's little train ride. Here's Vita with her grandparents waiting for the train to arrive.

I'm not sure who had more fun on the train... Vita or her aunt and grandparents!

It got to be very sunny and warm at the park, and although we had hats and were slathered up with sunscreen, we headed back home to Mary's to spare Vita's delicate skin from temperatures we just don't see very often up in foggy Santa Cruz.

One of the highlights of the day was this pinwheel from grandma Marianne. Perhaps the best $2 ever spent. Vita still can't get enough of it, and she looks pretty darn cute toting it around everywhere!

Many thanks to Mary for planning and hosting this summer barbeque - we hope it becomes an annual event!