Rock Me Amadeus

Who knew you could headbang to Mozart?


The Babe tries her hand at playing the piano.

Copycat

Hi Marah

The Babe got a doll as a present recently and, because of its hair, we call her Ms. Marah. Hi Mazza!

Exploring With Momo

The Babe loved hanging out with everyone over the holiday. She especially loved exploring the house with her Momo.

Playdates

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Babe got to have a few playdates with the babies from Chicago. On Saturday morning, we headed over the Varelas where a playdate had been arranged with several families.









On Sunday, Laura and Sally came over to play. Sally loved the cat scratching post - would it be weird to give a baby one for Christmas?

Thanksgiving

This is what Thanksgiving is all about...

Brrrrrrr

Winter time here in SD means sub 20°C temps and time for the flip flops to be put away (I am doing my best to hold out on that one). After the Babe saw how the little ones roll in Chicago, she decided it was time for a winter hat. As for shoes and socks, we're working on it.

Ready to brave the cold:


Look Ma, no socks!

Welcome Home!

On Sunday, Aunt Seiko arrived safe and sound back from her tour of duty in Iraq. The whole family and our friend Craig greeted her at the airport. Of course, Aunt Seiko was most excited to see the Babe.

Stand In The Place Where You Live...

The Babe has started to stand up and does it whenever she gets a chance. Soon enough, she'll be walking and getting into even more things that she shouldn't.

The Taming of the 'Do

Mama and I have been trying different methods to tame the Babe's wild hair. I think the headband is the winner so far.

Skunk Tales

About a year ago we had a pesky little skunk who took up residence under the house here on the farm. I had a heck of a time barricading it out of the crawl space and eventually had to resort to cinder blocks and metal cages. We heard some noise out back tonight and went to investigate. Look what we found...it's back!





We were eventually able to wrangle it up:





Happy Halloween!

Eleven is the magic number

That's how many days 'til Aunt Seiko comes home from Iraq (for GOOD, we hope!). As you will see, The Babe is quite excited about it. She got busy and made a sign for her Aunt Seiko today.

She's gettin' good with the markers:


We got a bunch of warm winter clothes (yes, it gets "cold" in San Diego too :)) from Lola today, and The Babe wanted to try one of her jackets on:

Happy Birthday!

The Babe has a special message for four of our friends (Neal, Rebecca, Kristen, and Whit) who celebrated their birthday yesterday. We translated the spelling of your names just in case you can't make out the Babe's writing.

Family Night Out

This weekend, the whole family went out to dinner with some neighbors to a new local restaurant called Urban Solace. It was nice to get out for a change, and we finally got someone else to take a picture of the three of us together!
Here is the Babe, enjoying her coaster.

Hoping to minimize trips to Dr. Nykaza...

The Babe has three teeth, going on four, so we're trying to get her used to brushing them. So far she loves it, because she basically gets to suck the water off of the toothbrush and then gnaw on it. With any luck, she won't have to make as many trips to the dentist as Mama had to growing up! (Not that I didn't love Dr. Nykaza :) )




More Photos

I Heart Craigslist

We have had good luck with Craigslist recently. Today, we scored a high chair in excellent condition for the Babe for $40.





The Babe demands more food!

Daddy's #1 Fan

The Babe enjoys clapping and dancing along to my guitar playing...check out the video:

Full Metal Jacket

This morning the family headed out to the Marine Corp Recruit Depot as I was participating in the Boot Camp Challenge with some co-workers. Two teams from work had been formed with the losing team buying the winners some lunch. The Babe had a great time hanging out in the grass and playing with her friend Nia. Meanwhile, I was running through a 3-mile obstacle course with Drill Instructors yelling words of "encouragement" along the way.

Izzy says "Drop and give me 50!"


The two competing teams from Active.com


Dad celebrating the win a little prematurely at the beginning of the run


Nia and the Babe


The winning team

Podium

Over the weekend of the 22nd, the family went on our first camping trip with the Babe! It was our yearly trip to Hurkey Creek State Park in Idyllwild, CA for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin Mountain Bike Race. Even though I was killing myself in the bike race, the weekend was really all about the Babe. She had a great time hanging out with everyone and slept really well in the tent with Mama. In the end, the StinkingWeasels.com finished on the podium in third place.