So many cool toys at Yvonne and Trevor's!

Francesca hears The Grinch That Stole Christmas

Read by Meadow.

Happy New Year's Eve

We are at a party! Luna has the best toys!!

The kitchen is a big hit!

Sweet kiddos with mama

Happy New Year's Eve Eve!!

Synchronized tongue stretches!

We are having fun this morning.

Good morning Thursday!

I like cars and bananas. And yes, that's a protein shake mustache.

What do you mean, there's no more shake?

Alligators?! Wow!!

Elephants, too-- so many animals, so little time!

Delight

If it wasn't raining, who knows how long we would have stayed at the
zoo lights. . .

Sweet siblings in any light. . .

More zoo lights 2011

That's her zoo ticket that she's clutching in her hand.

Frosty lights!

Oooh, eagles! (view from train)

Blaize is super excited about the train as well

Francesca is smiling so hard it hurts!

We are about to go on the zoo train (it's Zoo Lights!)

Elmo and Blaize

Getting outside on a sunny Christmas afternoon (with Grrly)

Park news!

They are renovating our little neighborhood park! ((Hopefully his
means the return of baby swings!!))

Pasta for Boopooh

Kitchen and Leggo fun!

Blaize is excited too.

Merry Christmas!

5 minutes to go before present opening begins!

Jingle bells!

The tune on Zona and Allan's singing Christmas card kinda got stuck in
our heads...

Wheeee!

It's Christmas Eve and all is well, we are grateful!

Pink little girl

Very cozy slippers, very happy face

"The House That Mouse Built" excerpt two

". . . Here is Wooly Bear, small but bold, who scared the bumblebee,
black and gold, who stung Mousetta. . . "

"The House That Mouse Built" excerpt one

I wrote a little blog post for Think Out Loud (we have a Behind-the-Scenes show blog that we post Staff Picks and other extra stuff on) about how cute Francesca was "reading" this book that Nana and Pawpa got for her when they were here. It really is great.
http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/blog/staff-pick-house-mouse-built/

"This is the house that mouse Built.
This is the cheese, tempting and sweet,
set out in the house that mouse built.
Here is Mousetta, fast on her feet,
who stole the cheese, tempting and sweet,
set out in the house that mouse built.
Here is the bubblebee, black and gold,
that stung Mousetta. . . "

Blaize loves his Christmas card from Zona and Allan!

Daddy is proud to announce Blaize's new step record is 168 steps!!

The girls in their fancy dresses

We just got back from the 'Content Creators' party at OPB. (That's
radio, TV and online in English...)

Astoria View VIDEO:: 21 seconds

Notice the little tug steering the ship 100 times it's size. These tugs escort the ships all the way up to Portland if they go that far.

Sweet little napper

A brisk morning in Astoria

Daddy and the kids with Mom's friend Pat by the Columbia river.

ABCs VIDEO: 26 seconds

So much fun

In case it wasn't totally clear, Francesca is a natural. She was the
youngest by a good year, also.
(I welcome your comments!) Daddy hopefully got some video, to be posted soon!

Shepherd and sheep

I think Francesca stole the show.

Cutest. Sheep. Ever.

OMG. Are there any words for this, really?

Francesca sheep and shepherd number two

Backstage

Sheep and shepherd getting ready for our big Christmas pageant entrance!

Leaping gymnast!

A visit to John and Don's!

This was as close to a group picture as we could get. Note: Stella the
kid-friendly cat is sitting in John's lap. Gorgeous downtown highrise!

Blaize attemps stair decline - VIDEO: 2:43

Every once in a while Blaize heads for the stairs to go down. He's fairly competent going up but not down. He practices by climbing up AND down on couches and other furniture and objects.

Also of note, Blaize has a new record of 32 walking steps achieved at the home of John and Don last night.

Three dresses on Francesca!

With freshly trimmed Christmas tree in the background!

Headstand! At least a 9.5 if not a 10!

Another bold breakthrough in the foam pit!

First leap off the platform!!!

X marks the spot in gymnastics class

We are Portlanders!

Adriana took Blaize and Francesca downtown to see the giant Christmas tree.


Photo credit: Adrianna

See me? I am petting the doggie!

Blaize is hugging Girly

Did you hear about Blaize?

He walked 18 steps! He's really walking now -- it's so exciting!!

This is a fruitcake for Mommy

Mommy, Francesca, Baby Lilli and Baby Lilli's Mommy, Toni

We went to bring food to new mom Toni who works with Mommy Allison. Lilli's daddy Matt took the picture. They are supercool and had many things to entertain Francesca, including blocks, coloring supplies and a music box.

Francesca and the Foam Pit (of fun, not despair)

Good morning!

Francesca says, I love you!

I like baths!

This guy fought tooth and nail to stay in the bathtub.

Bath head!

Sweet baby after a bath. Note the hair, Daddy and Mommy had fun trying
to capture from the right angle. (We didn't really get it,it was more
amazingly tousled than you see here.)

A sweet threesome

Feeding Girlie is great fun.

OK, so, about imaginary friends:

Boopooh as you know, is Francesca's imaginary friend. We thought Kiki
was also Francesca's imaginary friend. This, however was incorrect.
Kiki is BOOPOOH's imaginary friend. And a new character, Dahdoh, was
introduced today. He is KIKI's imaginary friend.

Very serious

There's a red alligator in the white car. We need to go see it. Also,
the car is locked. Additionally, there is a red alligator in the blue
car. It is also locked.

Peek-a-boo

Peek-a-boo or peek-a-poo?

Francesca had a great time seeing Midsummer Night's Dream. She loved
the dancing and the live orchestra!
(Blaize enjoyed a good 10 minutes of the dancing and then had a blast
crawling around in the lobby doing his own version of grande jetes and
pirouettes.)

Francesca gets her program signed by the Queen! (Her favorite character!!)

Francesca takes her family to the ballet!

Dancers with the Portland Ballet pose with Francesca and Nana.

Sweet little grandson

Breakfast in yellow

My baby is one year old -- I can't believe it!