Happy Valentine's Day

A day late and a dollar short, as they say...but if you saw the state of my house right now you would commend me for blogging at all. The dismantling and packing up of our abode continues: a flurry of boxes and tape and a little one who tries to unpack the boxes as soon as you fill them. I wonder what she thinks is happening right now. Her toys and clothes are slowly disappearing into big brown boxes and each day there is increasingly less space to play in here. We forge on; she is a great sport about it.

We had a sweet Valentine's Day. The Friday before we went out to a fancy dinner with my parents and Isota behaved perfectly. It helped that there happened to be live music that night so no one would care if a small child decided to, say, sing "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" over and over at a louder-than-normal volume. And then yesterday there were lovely gifts from Dad and a lunch date/last hurrah at our favorite pizza joint here. Now I am going to go water my roses and enjoy these last few moments of naptime with a delicious piece of chocolate. Or three.

And I, I Will Survive

Sheesh, what a week. So after Sody was sick the rest of us all fell like dominos: me then Joe then Grandpa. Somehow Grandma mostly managed to avoid The Illness (stomach bug, virus, who knows what it was? I will spare you the gory details) and I think the worst is all behind us now. Whew. Beyond feeling icky, the big news in these parts is that we are moving! Again! Yes, folks, it's time to once again make room for yet another entry in your address books for us. (Perhaps you should start writing those in pencil...) Destination: back to our beloved East Bay. When: two weeks. Question to ponder: what's worse - moving with a one year old in tow, or with a newborn like we did last year? I'm going to vote one year old, but time will be telling very shortly. Will report back with the results. Over and out.


i love this chair because i can get in it all by myself


gettin' bored


"stop taking my picture, mama!"

Buggy

Sody caught a bug so we are taking a sick day today: staying in our jammies, downing the Pedialyte and setting up shop in the living room with about a thousand blankies and pillows. There is a lot of cuddling going on today. Here is what it looks like:

Monkey

Isota has really started climbing up on things as of last week. I am not sure if it is the recent Gymboree classes (thanks Beth!) that have inspired the acrobatics, or if it is just her age...but it was kind of shocking the first time I left her contentedly playing on the floor and then turned around - literally, five seconds later - to find her sitting in the big green chair. Whaaa?? When did you learn to climb up in the chair?? And the couch? And the ottoman? She does look rather adorable, like a miniature grown-up chilling in the chair and kicking back with the tv after a long day of work/play/mastering the art of drinking from a cup. The best part about it, though, is the look of satisfaction that comes across her face when she gets herself up there. It's this smile she smiles just at herself and you can just tell how proud she is. Hang onto that feeling, Sody-boo. Always be proud of your accomplishments, no matter the size.

Hi Dad

Kissing is Fun

They Say It's Your Birthday...Yes, Again.

If anyone is keeping score, Isota had three First Birthday celebrations this year. #1 was the East Coast party with family and where Sody got her first-ever taste of delicious sugar and fat laden supermarket bakery cake (my personal favorite naughty food). She ate a whole piece and yes, loved it. Duh. The second celebration was her actual birthday here, in which we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory with my parents and the waiters brought out a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a candle in it. Sody looked SO confused about why these people were singing to her. She kept trying to pick up the whole ice cream scoop with her hands and shove it in her mouth. Pretty priceless.

The third and final celebration was this past weekend: her first Real Birthday Party. The kind where you invite over kids and friends and get everyone hopped up on sugary treats and the birthday girl gets to rip open presents. In all honesty I have been thinking about and planning her First Birthday for weeks and weeks – ok, more like months and months, you got me. It is just such a milestone and even though she is too young to remember and really get it, the birthday thing is a big deal. Maybe more of a big deal for us right now, but still a big deal. Plus, party planning and thinking up menus and spending days baking up goodies is all so far, far up my alley…this is truly my idea of a good time. You should have seen the semi-elaborate themed dinner parties I would have in college – Indian Dinner Feast where I made people wear bindis, or Fifties Housewife Night with pot roast while wearing heels and pearls. Etc. What can I say, it’s a sickness. Sody is staring down a future childhood of weird birthday parties, I am afraid.

Anyway, the birthday party was a definite success. The food worked, I think everyone had fun, I made too much candy but that always happens. The party was small enough that we got to hang out with everyone but big enough that it felt festive. Sody got to eat more cake and play with some bigger kids (her favorite thing) and get more practice opening packages. The highlight was the rainbow layered birthday cake – six thin crazy bright layers of cake separated by buttercream frosting. I literally jumped up and down when I cut into it and realized it turned out. Thank you to everyone for your presence and for the presents and for your love in celebrating our baby.

Happy Birthday, Darling Girl. Party season is finally, officially OVER!

Christmastime

Already feeling like Christmas was ages ago so it’s time to get these pictures up here. Our holiday was fantastic. Basically we spent half of December in New Jersey with Joe’s family. My parents came out for a few days too, so everyone could be together for the baby’s first Christmas. It is always great when we go back for a visit, always hard to leave and come home…but all of that is tenfold with the baby in tow. I am starting to realize how much I truly love big families – Joe has four siblings, FYI – and all the love and camaraderie and teasing and shared meals and chaos and noise and late night talks that come with them. There is always someone to hold and love and play with Sody, always someone to hang out with, always someone to entertain you. Sometimes it feels like utter craziness, too, but it’s the best kind possible. And it makes you even more appreciative of peace and quiet when that comes around!

It was a little more magical in NJ this year, too, because we happened to be there for a huge snowstorm. We bundled up our little lady, made a snowman one day, sledded around a bit and had tons of cocoa when we came back in. It was all very Norman Rockwell. We also discovered Sody loves eating snow – even when her hand was so cold it hurt she would keep going.

So, she had her first snow and first birthday cake (we had a little East Coast pre-birthday celebration for her, along with her Aunt Courtney on her birthday – thanks for sharing the date Courtney!) and first Xmas, where she was spoiled with treats and with love and with family. It was a beautiful trip, one we wish we could make more often. We love and miss you, Mom-mom and Pop-Pop and Cory and Courtney and Jason and Angelina and Ryan and Cousin Ryan and Grandmom and Grandpop and on and on and on! (I told you Joe has a big family.)