tuesday

I came home from work on Tuesday to these photos John had taken. I love seeing these shots of their daily shenanigans.

first rain boots

neighbor Sean helping John knead dough

(and Annabelle making her own dough in the background)

christmas tree farm: from the holga

play house

We inherited a little slide and play house from neighbors on our street that moved. Annabelle now has quite the little play area in the backyard. She was very surprised (and happy!) to wake up from her nap to find them waiting for her.

first candy cane

discovery museum

John took Annie to the children's museum on a rainy day last week. He said that she was a sweetheart, handing out balls to other kids.

"good luck crane"

It seems like Annabelle is learning at least one new word a day. I've been meaning forever to write down her first words. Here they are as best I can remember, mostly in order.

book
ball
dog
bocce
shoe
hat
delish (for delicious, always preceded by 'Mmmmmmm')
oops
dance
nose
ouch
ear
toes
dough
bobo (for diaper, pee, or poo)
eye
boo
door
flower
kipper (yes, kipper the dog)
bubbles

Today she was working on "kiss" and "sticker".

Christmas Trees

Our friends and neighbors Brent and Erin invited us to go to a Christmas tree farm in the Santa Cruz mountains to get our tree this year. It was the first time we've gone to cut our own tree, and I think it's our prettiest tree to date!

And John got to demonstrate his sawing skills.

Thanksgiving

This is the best one of Annabelle and Owen I could get before my camera battery died. Annabelle had fun showing Owen her toys, and now that Owen's becoming quite the walker, they had fun running around the house together.

rocking horse

Annabelle's Bep and Pake brought this rocking horse all the way out from South Dakota for Annabelle's second birthday. It took her a while to warm up to it, but lately she's been wanting to ride it all the time.

You might have guessed that 'boo' is one of her favorite new words. Also on the top of the list is 'mmmm, delish!'

grocery shopping

hula hoop with neighbor Soon Hee

origami

John found a great origami book the other weekend at the flea market. He and Annabelle have been having a lot of fun with it. They'll sit at the table together, each with a piece of paper, folding animals and airplanes.

jumping is contagious

bean bags

A while ago I made bean bags for Annabelle. I've been trying to think of fun, indoor things to do since we'll be outside less as the days get shorter and colder. So far we have a few fun games we play- we balance them on our heads, throw them across the room, or gather up an armful to throw up in the air on the count of 3. John's requested I make a mini bean bag for a pallino for indoor bocce on rainy days. Now if I can just get around to that before the rainy season is over...

happy 35th birthday, John!

trick or treating

the swedish chef and the chickens

Annabelle and Owen had a fun time trick or treating Sunday evening on our block.

Annabelle happily playing with her candy- this was right before she realized what the little, colorful packets contained. After she realized that all she wanted to do was to try to open them.

Giraffe vs. chicken for control of the car.

at the table

About a month ago John updated Annabelle's high chair so she could sit at the table with us. We've really been enjoying it, and so has Annabelle. Now it's a weekday routine for Annabelle to sit at the table and color or play with puzzles while John fixes lunch.

at Hidden Villa

2 year check up

Annabelle had her two year checkup today, and everything went well. She's 25 lbs and 35 inches, which is the 25th percentile for weight and 75th for height. She was able to stand on the big scale for the first time- much easier than trying to convince her to sit still on the baby scale :-)

birthday cake

Annabelle was very excited to see balloons on her birthday cake. They're one of her favorite things, and she calls them 'ba-woosh'.

John found Annabelle a chalkboard easel for her birthday.