Getting Ready

It's almost Christmas! Lucy got a pretty new turtleneck, just in time for the holidays. Thanks, Grandma Sally!

Sounds of the Jungle

Lucy has started imitating animals. These are our favorites, as you can tell by our delighted giggles. It's okay to treat your daughter like a show pony, right?

Aren't You A Little Short?

Happy Halloween!

We had a great day, capped off by Lucy's first Trick or Treating. Very exciting for everyone, especially for those of us who eat candy.

Our friends Lauren + Brendon gave us this costume for Lucy when she was born and we've been waiting to break it out ever since.


Sarah had the brilliant idea of testing out the wig on Lucy for the week leading up to Halloween, that way she'd get used to wearing it. It worked! Sarah is a genius.

Here's Lauren + Brendon with their twins, Brady and Jordan. It's crazy how much Brady looks like his Dad, while dainty Jordan is the spitting image of her Mom.

Jason gives Wes the sky-high view of Trick or Treating.

Marion and Steph are two of our friends who had their kids the same time as we did. We're incredibly lucky to have all of these tremendous people in our lives.

To The Grove

Lucy has some special visitors this week.

Lee + Steve, Sarah's folks, flew into Burbank yesterday. And what do you do when you hit LA? Go shopping at The Grove, of course.

Steve's watching Lee get Lucy dressed for the day. I caught the ladies' reflection in the mirror, that's why it's all artsy. Or perhaps nonsense-y, depending on your take.


Sarah and Lucy explore the alleyways of The Grove, an outdoor mall in Hollywood. I'm pretty sure Lucy tried to slip away and get her ears pierced.


Why yes, that IS a banjo orchestra playing "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?" in the middle of the Farmer's Market. Why do you ask?


Steve + Lee teach Lucy the finer points of teetering and tottering at the park.


Our sweet girl likes to dance from time to time, whether or not the banjo orchestra is playing.


Finally, a casual moment with the family.

Happy Halloween!

Momma's Birthday

I made a short movie for Sarah's birthday. It's Lucy's first year in five minutes, give or take. Hope you like it.

Walking in LA

Nobody walks in LA.

Our little lady has started walking! A little. I think her record to date is seven steps. As Chris says, she walks like she's "just had abdominal surgery", which is true. I think she still prefers the faster and more efficient crawling, but every day she does a little more.

The Good Doctor

Oh, kindly Dr. Shapiro, you are so good to us.

Lucy had her One Year appointment yesterday and it went very well. She's 30" long and weighs 24 lbs. 12 oz. I love watching Dr. Shapiro deal with Lucy; he's got three kids of his own and always smiles.

Now She Is One

She looks pretty happy, right?

We turned Lucy's car seat around and she seems to like it. There's a lot of giggling and cooing going on back there, I don't remember her doing that when she was staring at the head-rest.

No walking yet, a couple of tentative steps but nothing in a row. Lucy's Year One doctor's appointment is on Friday, so we'll get an update on height & weight, plus probably girth & torque.

Movies From A Party

Lucy turned 1 yesterday, which makes no sense to me. Is the sky red? Do the dead walk amongst us? Hmmm. Anyways, a few moments from yesterday.



The tail end of "Happy Birthday", immediately followed by Lucy applauding her applause.



A sweet moment with Lucy & Derek.



Finally, Daphne sings a birthday song.

Bathtime POV

This is what I see every night when Lucy's done with her bath.

Capturing the Dance

Lucy has this little shoulder dance that she does, I've been trying to capture it on camera for two weeks now. It may be The Cutest Thing I've Ever Seen. Stay for the end, it comes around again.

A New Game

Lucy and Chris discover a new game to play while Sarah, on the phone with her Mom, narrates the action.

Talking

Lucy, on the heels of walking, says "Mama".

Walking

Lucy, with the help of a baby-walker from Michael & Tracy, takes her first steps! Sarah, Lee, and Steve celebrate.

Giggle Bed

Today Is Our Independence Day

We had a great Fourth of July today. We went over to Birdy's house (well, Steph & Bob's, too) and hung out with Daphne (aaaaaaaaand Andrew, I guess).


Who knew that kids like watermelon this much? Perhaps I was the exception to the rule, I can accept that. But geez, they were putting that giant fruit away.



Yes, that's Lucy standing up by herself. She's been doing it for a few days now, but today was the first time Poppa was quick enough with the camera to capture it.

Yes, her foot is caught in the Whole Foods bag.

Yes, she quickly was back on her buns.






Lucy and Birdy share some books. They're good like that.

Happy 4th, from the Tall-nards!

Summertime and the livin' is easy...

I think Southern California is a nice place to be a kid.

June was so cool and lover-ly which means a lot to us folks who live in the Valley were it's usually pretty dang hot by this time of year. So, we've had some great outdoor time--going to a park most days (LA has got a million of 'em) for the swings (Lucy's fave) and going on hikes on a trail near our apartment (she loves riding in the baby carrier on my back). It's a pretty nice place to be a mom and a dad too, I guess. We're feeling very lucky.

A few days ago, Lucy stood by herself for a few seconds. We looked over and she was just sort of...standing there. She's done it a couple times since so we're just excited for the walking! She seems ready to get goin'. She also high fived me again in the car today like she'd be doing it all her life. Pretty cool. She's still saying "Poppa" to Chris and "bye-bye" sometimes. Stay tuned.

More June photos

It's ice cream season!
Lucy seems to enjoy ice cream, smiling and making pouty faces.

Put 'er there

There's a new cool kid on the block.
Lucy high-fived us the other day. I think that qualifies her as a cool kid? Soon she'll be smoking cigs that she keeps rolled up in her sleeve. Watch out, people. I've also included a picture of Lucy's Sister From Another Mother, Alice (Michelle's daughter). She was born in April and she's the greatest.

At The Park

It's been a while...

Hello blog, my old friend.
I fell off with the posting for a while there! Lucy has done a lot of things in the past month: more crawling, cruising around our living room, waving, clapping, saying "Poppa", giggling, hanging out with friends, seeing family in Chicago, eating ice cream, swinging on swings...oh, the list goes on and on.

Crawling and Such

Lucy travels pretty quickly, as demonstrated here.

Tickles + Giggles

A little something extra. It's a longer video (about 2 minutes), so get comfy.

Waking Up to Stand

We just went in to Lucy's room to wake her up from her nap and found this. By the way, in the video I say, "It's Friday, May 5th" but I'm wrong. Today is Tuesday. Poppa gets confused sometimes.

She Stands!

This is pretty amazing. Lucy's been doing this for a few days now, but this is the fastest it's happened. Normally there's more struggling and grunting involved. I happened to be sitting next to her, I'll try to get another one from a little further back.

Almost nine months old...

She's a funny little lady. I really didn't expect her to be so dang funny. I knew she'd be delightful (because c'mon, her parents are delightful, am I right?) and I knew she'd be a genius (heh), but I am so surprised at how often she makes me laugh. Sometimes, she gives me this look where her head is pointing down and her eyes are cast upward and then she smiles a little. She has a wry smile. Is that even possible? Probably not. But I'll just live in that illusion for a bit...
I'm just going to put up a bunch of pictures we've taken recently. It's been too long since I've done that.

Giggling

Sixty seconds from today.

Lucy & Peter Cottontail

Happy Easter, everybody!

We took Lucy to the Media Center Mall with Lindsay & Iz and had some glamor shots done with the King of Spring, the Easter Bunny.

I feel like you can see a change in Lucy with this shot, from infant to little girl. Bless her tiny heart, every time I look at a picture of her I go back and start at the beginning and look at all of them. She's eight-months-old today and I feel like she was born yesterday. Awwwww, look at that kid! She's delightful. I'm so grateful to have her and her mom in my life. What a lucky guy I am.

The Swimsuit Competition

She sure is a looker, ain't she?

Lucy's sporting the latest in fruit-time swimwear. She took a dip in a friend's pool (thanks M+P) and did great. Hopefully that's foreshadowing because she starts swimming lessons next week. That's crazy, right? She can't walk or talk but she can do the butterfly stroke? I never thought of myself as a "crazy, California type" but perhaps I am. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to print up more of my "Go Green" hemp-ink bumper stickers (for bikes).