Volume One

We recently got our first printed copy of Bella Vita, the book. Here is the front cover, and a bit of a preview of the body of the book. Everything in this blog in Vita's first year is included in the book. Also, the book has a couple of letters I wrote to Vita on a quarterly basis, that I did not include in the blog. I was a bit disappointed in quality of the photos... they are darker than they should be, and not crisp. However, it's nice to have all of Vita's photos documented in one large (216 pages) book. My plan is to continue to create a book to document each year - but next year I'll use a different company. Anyhow, I thought the grandparents would be happy to know that copies have been ordered for you, so you'll be getting your own copy very soon! You can relive the good times... the bad times... And then more good times!

Definition of Cute

Look up "cute" in the dictionary, and then see if you can find anything cuter than this. I dare you.

So like I said, I'm taking advantage of Vita's sudden interest in having things on her head, by playing with hats and bows and headbands. I couldn't decide which one or two pictures were cutest so I'm just going to upload tons of pictures. Enjoy.

Back to Work

After being unemployed a whopping 2.5 work days, Ernie found another job. It's really remarkable with all the layoffs here in Silicon Valley, and unprecidented competition in the job market! So, Ernie is back to work on Monday. Obviously we're thrilled that Ernie found a job so fast, but we're also kind of sad that he didn't get more time off to be Mr. Mom and hang out with Vita. These pictures were taken on Friday, Ernie's last day of being unemployed. Looks like they made the best of the time they had. Incidentally, Vita continues to love hats (especially Dad's hats), and she puts them on her head all by herself. She even keeps them on long enough for photos to be taken. Considering her history of hating hats and tearing them off immediately, I'm taking advantage of this with lots of hat pictures. (More pictures of stuff on Vita's head to come momentarily... in another post.)

Double Whammy

We've had an interesting week this week, with a bit of a double whammy. 1) Vita got a mild version of chicken pox in response to the chicken pox vaccine. The doctor told us that was "quite rare", and I told her that the word rare had officially lost all meaning. 2) Ernie got laid off on Friday. But it sounds worse than it is. 1) Vita is already better, as the vaccine induced version of pox is much milder than the "wild" form of the illness. 2) Vita and Ernie get to spend LOTS more time together! I'm actually kind of jealous. So, we'll be battening down the hatches and reigning in our extravagant lifestyles a bit, but we've prepared pretty well for this type of situation so we'll be A-OK. In the mean time, we enjoyed a beautiful Santa Cruz weekend! First, here's Vita selecting a book from her library. She LOVES books, it's great! She'll pick out a book and bring it to you and climb into your lap. She also looks through books independently. I can't believe how light her hair is getting. You can't tell, but this is a picture of Vita making a clucking sound. It's a new favorite thing to do. She's also saying "ut oh" a lot. She'll drop something, and then she'll say "ut oh". On Sunday when Vita was deemed safe to be in public, we had a great picnic with some great friends. Naturally, we squeezed in a bit of a photo shoot. Every time Vita would see me turn the camera on she would take this hat off. Nothing like a baby in beret on a sunny day. She's really got a thing for hats lately.

Aquarium

This weekend we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to celebrate my birthday. Vita really liked looking at all the interesting fish, and she even got to touch a sea cucumber and some other tidepool dwellers. (No pictures of Vita's reaction to the slimy fish, unfortunately...)

The best part had to be the jellyfish. Amazing.

To top it off, it was a beautiful, clear 75 degree day.

After a very full day, Vita slept for the whole ride home.

Happy New Year, Indeed

With Christmas behind us, we've had nothing to do but enjoy some much needed time off together. Vita has been LOVING all of her new toys. December in California can be brutal. Sometimes, it gets downright nippy and Vita has to wear a sweatshirt at the park! But I suppose we're pretty lucky to be able to enjoy new sandbox toys in the middle of winter. Here's Vita and her dad, reading a bedtime story.

SO CUTE!