Film

Some pictures from the most recent roll we had developed.

Construction

Our street is a particularly busy one (we see at least one fire truck go by a day, and many times they are stopping right in our block to do their business), and now that we live on the first floor of our building we get to see things happening up close and personal. The kids, Nico and the Pilling clan, were mesmerized by the work crew outside laying down new asphalt. They watched for a good 20 minutes engrossed by the goings on outside our window.

Fireworks

The biggest successes of the night were, no crying and lots of clapping.

Two birthdays and an anniversary

Mike's birthday and mine are five days apart, and then 12 days later we celebrate our anniversary. So, this year I turned 30, Mike 31, and we celebrated 5 years of being married. Mike threw together a little surprise party for me. True to form I was late to my own party, but in my defense I had not idea there were people waiting at our house, and was I really going to skip out on dessert on my birthday?

That weekend for Mike's birthday we went camping at Sunset beach down around Santa Cruz. It was a slow (hot) relaxing weekend filled with s'mores, sand, hotdogs, strawberries and popcorn.

17 and 18 months

Wow this blog has been woefully neglected! We have been having lots of fun, going places, seeing things and doing new stuff. I did take Nico's 17 and 18 month pictures, so I guess I better put them up before she turns 19 months!

I did Nico's 18 month pictures right after she woke up from a nap. I guess she was not all the way awake.

Outside of church. I think this was one of the last Sundays before Nico went into nursery. Hooray for nursery!

16 Months

Nico is really at a great age. It's fun to she what she picks up and the new things that she tries. Her personality is showing more and more. If I had to sum her up in 3 words, they would be independent, fearless, and sassy. But I don't have to, so I would also say that she is very sweet and good at listening.

Some of the new things she does are:
- Jumping. Can only get both feet off the ground at the same time for a split second but she tries.

- Climbing. She loves climbing on anything and everything. Couches, chairs, ottomans, bookshelfs, and even boxes. She will climb on the ottoman and run off into our arms.

- Talking. She is a little chatterbox. Most what she is saying is still indistinguishable, but she is always pointing at stuff and I think asking what it is. She also make car and animal sounds, like a dog, cat, and cow.

- Reading. She loves reading books. She even has her favorites. Sometimes she'll just sit there with a book and pretend that she is reading.

- Listening. She'll bring us things when we ask for them (if she wants to) and will put things in places when we ask.

- Making friends. She loves to be out and about. She always climbs into her stroller hoping we'll take her out. When we are out, she likes to make eye contact with people and say hello.

- Eating. She eats whatever we eat in most cases. She isn't afraid to try new foods. She also has developed a preference of wanting to feed herself with a spoon or fork instead of letting us do it which always turns into a mess.

- Being funny. I think that Nico thinks she is funny. She's always trying to get us to laugh or smile at her and she's not afraid to ham it up. My favorite is when she will pretend to eat. She will take her food, put it in her mouth, and then pull it out really quick while closing her mouth and making a biting noise. She has a smile on her while she does this.

If this post hasn't already established it, we are very proud parents. Nico really is wonderful and we are grateful to have her in our lives.

Crissy Field

We had some great weather last month, and one afternoon we took a drive over to Crissy Field and just strolled around. I love how close everything is in San Francisco and how beautiful it can be.

Easter

This year Nico was old enough to actually be able to participate in Easter. On that Saturday before Easter, we went to Golden Gate Park with some friends and did an Easter egg hunt. And by hunt I mean place eggs on the ground and watch the kids find them. Nico didn't quite understand the concept, so she would walk around, pick up an egg, and then put it back down on the ground. In the end only one egg went into her basket.

On Sunday morning we gave Nico her Easter basket. I think that her favorite toy was the paper grass that was used for filling. That afternoon we went down to my parents' house for Easter dinner, and our good friends the Thomas came along. We tried another egg hunt in the backyard with better results. We used chocolate eggs, and Nico would pick them up and take a big bite out of them, foil and all. I had to chase her around to make sure she didn't swallow all of it.