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.

December 2007

December 2007
Mali turned 6 months on December 9 and celebrated the occassion with her first real meal - bananas!! She took to the spoon like a champ and certainly had been wondering what took us so long. She also worked more on sitting up and being just too charming. She also perfected rolling over from her belly to her back this month and figured out how to roll back the other way on her sixth-month birthday (which drew quite the celebration from Mom who was tired of waking to the screams of help when she rolled to her back in the night).

Some of Roan's favorite phrases for the month included "it's too big" (which is the reason he provides for almost any situation), "i sorry", "too many", "sir taco hat" (as in Thomas's Sir Topham Hat), "what's happening, Daddy?", "I want to make a deal, Mommy" (apparently Mommy has made one too many deals with Roan, deals which usually involve a cookie in exchange for getting in the stroller or car, putting on his shoes, getting dressed, etc.), and "I want someting" which is followed by him rifling through the snack drawer - a habit which has earned him the title of Little Granddad (Granddad shares Roan's snacking habit).

November 2007

November 2007
Some of Roan's favorite phrases this month were "last sip" (which he likes to announce everytime he takes the last sip of milk or juice), "all of deez" (all of these), and "play choo-choos with baba, mommy?". He was very into playing with uncle ernie (games which Uncle Ernie doesn't always fancy) and with Mali and he also became very silly.

Here are a few photos from November.

Maui - November 2007

Maui - November 2007
Here are some pictures from our trip to Maui with our friends Irene, Aadil, Benjamin and Darius. Roan and Benjamin are the same age and great buddies. Unfortunately Roan didn't care much for the ocean (hence the frown in most of the beach photos) but he loved the pool.
As Roan's a bit of a home-body right now, his mantra throughout the trip was "I wanna go 'ome". One of his other favorite new phrases was "all dem" (indicating he wants us to gather all of his trains and bring them with us). Amali had a great time and enjoyed snoozing on the beach.

Amali Month Five

Month Five
Amali got her first two teeth this month! She also started sitting up (with a little help from pillows) and had her first plane ride. Not too many shots this month - they're mixed in with the other albums.

Halloween 2007

Halloween 2007
Here are some photos from Halloween. Mali was a strawberry and Roan a firefighter. Roan was sick and although he eventually amused us by putting on his costume, we never actually made it trick-or-treating.

October 2007

October 2007
Here are some miscellaneous photos from October.

Atlanta Trip

Atlanta - October 2007
Mandy and the kids went to Atlanta this month to visit Uncle Ryan, Auntie Sheryl, Grandma, and Granddad. The highlight of the trip for Roan was undoubtedly riding in Uncle Ryan's "hot rod" and he also had a great time perusing his car magazines. We also took a trip to Stone Mountain, where we of course rode a train, and also went to the Georgia Aquarium.

Pastorino's Pumpkin Farm - October 2007

Pastorino's - October 2007
Here are some photos from our trip down to Half Moon Bay to a pumpkin farm. The main attraction was riding trains of course.

Amali Month Four

Month Four
Amali has been working on socializing this month. She absolutely adores her older brother and thinks everything he does and plays with is facinating and everything he says is just hilarious. Roan is still quite fond of her, but he does get a little annoyed when she tries to "play" trains with him by destroying his track. She also insists on touching him if he's nearby and that can get a little old from time-to-time for a two year old!

Perry Farms - October 2007

Pumpkin Farm October 2007
We went to Perry Farms to see the pumpkins and enjoy a hay ride with Roan's Tiny Treks program. Roan had a blast seeing the tractors and the train and even enjoyed the pumpkins a bit.

September 2007

September 2007
Here are some shots from the month of September. Some of Roan's favorite new phrases include "I missed you Daddy", "Come back, play choo-choo's mommy", "Daddy's at the oppice (office)", and "I going check baby" (indicating he's about to bolt into her room while she's sleeping to make sure she's okay).

Amali Month Three

Month Three
Amali is already using her hands quite well and can manipulate toys to keep herself entertained. She's particularly interested in our food and has become famous for throwing our dinner plates on the ground. She loves to talk and smile and she even rolled over from her belly to her back this month.