What a smile!

Mali has one BIG smile.

Budding Artists...

Roan drew his first railroad track recently...















And here is Mali's first drawing. She drew the circle and then said "ball-ball". The line she drew later.

Portraits (October 2008)

These portraits were taken at Mali's school - Little Wonders.

More of Halloween 2008

Here are some pictures from the Halloween party at Little Wonders...












Jan and Roan did some pumpkin carving...









Here are a few shots from trick-or-treating. Unfortunately Mali had a bad day and was going to bed when Roan headed out...

Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico (October 2008)

We spent a fun-filled 8 days in the sun in Mexico (just north of Puerto Vallarta) with Mandy's parents. It was a beautiful location right on the beach, complete with multiple kids' pools. Mali and Roan were in heaven.

Note: there are a LOT of pictures here, but given we took over 800, it's a small sampling :).

Trip to the Pumpkin Farm

Here are some pictures from our first trip to the pumpkin farm for the Halloween season.

September 2008

There are three albums this month. Roan started preschool this month at First Presbyterian Church in Burlingame and goes two days a week by himself!











Mali started Little Wonders as well and attends once a week with one of us.









Here are some miscellaneous shots from the month. As you can see Mali's very into doing everything we do - flossing, dressing, using the potty...

August 2008

Mali is doing her best to keep up with big brother and has been turning out new words nearly every day. At 14 months, she's up to 20 or so now including mama, dada, roan (which is nearly always yelled...hmm, wonder where she gets that from?), up, go, kkk-kkk (kitty-cat), shoe-shoes, banana, Dyl-dyl (her best friend, Dylan), cheese, hi, bye-bye, ball-ball (ball), and ga-ga (garbage). She loves to give kisses and hugs and loves to eat (she got all of her teeth by 14 months!). She's also very in to trying on our clothes and shoes!

Davis McLean Wilson has arrived!!!

Mandy's brother and sister-in-law had their first baby today. He arrived more than 6 weeks early, but still managed to weigh in at 4 lb 12 oz and was 17 1/4 inches long. Congrats Ryan and Sheryl!!!

July 2008

Here are a few shots from July.

What's a monkey's favorite word?

If you listen closely, you can hear Mali saying "banana" at the end of this clip...

More Dancing!

Two monkeys...


Mali going solo...


Mali perfecting her moves...

Mali's WALKING!!!

Here is some footage from Mali's first real week of walking!



Mali walking and screaming (this is a must-see!)...

There's Some Dancing Goin' On...

Mali grooving by herself...


The monkeys dancing together...


Roan doing his spin moves...

Roan's FIRST Haircut!

Roan got his first haircut ever (he's only 3 years, 2 months, and 6 days old) this weekend. We forgot the memory card, so this was taken with my phone, but you get the idea.

Every Girl Needs Sparkly Shoes

In celebration of Mali's new skill (walking...almost!), we got her her first pair of shoes. Not only sparkly and just plain adorable, they're great first walkers, too (really!).

Mali - Thirteen Months

Mali turned 13 months on July 9. She's working very hard on her walking (taking anywhere from 2 - 6 steps at a time) and also on language. Some of her favorite words right now are "bye-bye", "ball", "kkk-kkk" (kitty cat), and her absolute favorite - "shoes".

Double Vision

Who's enjoying their strawberry more? Both are around 12 1/2 months.

Half Moon Bay - July 2008

We spent a morning on the beach over July 4th weekend with our friends Irene, Aadil, Benjamin, and Darius. It was a little chilly, but nice.

June 2008

Here are a few miscellaneous shots from June. Mali had her first taste of strawberries this month and couldn't get enough.

Amali's First Birthday!!!

Amali's First Birthday - June 9, 2008
Amali turned ONE on June 9!! We had a couple little parties for her. We had some friends over on the weekend for a barbecue and then she had a playgroup birthday party on her actual birthday. She was rather unimpressed by most of the festivities, though she loved her gifts, including her own baby doll.

Train Watching June 2008

Train Watching June 2008
Jan and Roan spent another day watching trains in San Francisco.

May 2008

May 2008
Here are a few miscellaneous shots from May. As you'll see, Mali got very into pulling kleenex and wiping her nose.

Train Watching May 2008

Train Watching May 2008
Jan and Roan spent a day traveling up to San Francisco on Caltrain and wandering the city looking for more trains, "choo-choo buses", trolley cars, and anything with wheels.

Roan's Last Day at Little Wonders (May 2008)

Roan's Last Day at Little Wonders
Roan and I spent two years at Little Wonders going once a week for a couple of hours. It was sad to say good-bye (although Mali will be attending next year). Here are some pictures from his last day and graduation!

Mali in Music Class

Here's a brief clip of Mali in music class at age 12 months...

Roan's Third Birthday Party

Roan's Third Birthday Party
We held Roan's birthday party at a local park this year. Roan was not in the best of moods for his party (not helped by the fact that Mom and Dad would not let him open presents OR eat cake in the first 5 minutes) and at one point announced that he wanted "all of the people to go home". After some pizza and cake, he came around. He had a race car cake, as you'll see, and he even "raced" the cars on the track to everyone's amusement.

Roan's Third Birthday at the Zoo

Roan's Third Birthday at the Zoo
We had a mini-celebration on Roan's birthday at the zoo with some friends. As you'll see, we went to the zoo to see the train, as usual.

April 2008

April 2008
Mali turned eleven months on May 9. Where did our baby go? She's nearly a toddler - pulls up on everything and cruises a bit. Her favorite game is to pull up on Roan's train table and pull everything down before someone can stop her, which obviously causes her brother great distress. She started signing this month ("more" and "all done"), she waves good-bye and says "bye bye". She also tries say "kitty cat" (which sounds like "kkk kkk") when she sees Uncle Ernie or pictures of cats and she calls her lovey (Lola) "Na ya". She's already pretty good at drinking out of a cup by herself and is starting to feed herself using a spoon. She got really good at crawling on all fours this month, but still resorts to slithering when she wants to go really fast. She still loves music and loves to dances (see videos). She LOVES to eat and can out-eat her brother at nearly any meal. She also loves balls, and she's quite good at throwing the ball back and forth with anyone who will oblige. She also got 2 of her molars.

Little Wonders
Roan's really growing up these days, too. Here are some pictures from Little Wonders, the co-op program we have attended for the past two years. He will "graduate" from the program in May.

A little dose of Mali love

Roan Singing and Reading

Dancing Buddies

Roan and Gavin are showing off their moves...

Mali Giggles

Wheels on the Bus

Roan, where's your tail?

Mali really loves to dance

Here's Mali showing off some of her dance moves as well as her new skill - signing for "more", and petting her lovey "Lola".

Mali gets her Groove On

Out of the way, bro, I need to dance!

Houston Trip - April 2008

Houston Trip - April 2008
I took the kids to Houston to visit Grandma and Granddad, as well as some good friends. Here are some photos.

March 2008

March 2008
Mali turned nine months on March 9. She figured out how to push up to a sitting position and also how to pull herself up to a standing position in her crib. We discovered this new skill after she'd been screaming for several minutes and we went in to find her nearly falling over the edge with no idea how to get down. We moved her mattress down right then!

Mali, the Egg, and the Attitude

Check out the swipe she takes at her brother in the first few seconds...

2008 Playgroup Easter Party

Playgroup Easter Party 2008
Here are some pictures from our playgroup Easter party (thank you, Kate!!). It mostly turned into a photo shoot of Mali with her eggs.

February 2008

February 2008
Check out those teeth!!! Mali turned eight months on February 9. She changed a lot during her eighth month - she became a pro at sitting up (she only falls down when her brother knocks her down, which happens on an hourly basis), clapping, talking more (ga ga, ba ba), and she got SIX new teeth (for a total of 8 teeth)! She's become very strong-willed as well and get's absolutely furious when you take something away from her (like "real" food, plastic baggies, cords, toys in decreasing order of reaction).

Roan is a full-fledged talker these days and also claims he no longer needs a nap. Instead, he spends his "quiet time" reorganizing his dresser drawers, trying on his rain boots, dressing GG (his giraffe) in underwear, and flinging puzzle pieces throughout his room. He finally figured out this month that he can take his own shoes off and of course performs his new trick at odd times (such as when we're eating dinner out).

Bear Valley Ski Trip - March 2008

Bear Valley - March 2008
We headed to the snow with our friends Irene, Aadil, Benjamin, and Darius in March. Turned out to have a lot of snow that weekend, which was beautiful, but the kids were a little intimidated. So, here are some pictures mostly from inside our cabin :).

Train Ride with Gavin

Train Ride with Gavin
Roan took a train ride with his buddy Gavin to get breakfast.

Mali and the Bonnet

The Bonnet
Here are some photos of Mali (reluctantly) modeling the beautiful bonnet that Grandma made for her.

January 2008

January 2008
Mali turned 7 months on January 9. During her seventh month she started "army" crawling which opened up a whole new world for her and created new anxieties for her brother.

Mali Crawling Stage 1

Shake that Booty!

The Caveman in the House

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007
Grandma and Granddad came to visit for Christmas. We went to see the Christmas lights on Eucalytus in San Carlos again. Roan could barely wait to open presents and even had some practice opening one of Daddy's gifts a couple days before Christmas (while no one was watching). It was Mali's first Christmas of course and she enjoyed herself even though she was sick.