tai's first b-day parteee

today we headed up to holly park for dottie's buddy tai's first birthday party. she had a terrific time playing with her friends and an even more terrific time sampling the cupcakes. i am thinking she has a sweet tooth like her mother!

minestrone

thursday we went to anna's for a lunchdate/playdate with aida and zayneb and marie and siena. dottie had good fun with all of the girls! i must say it was a little hectic to have all of that kid energy in one room. i don't know how people do it with 4 kids! anna made a lovely minestrone and grilled cheese sandwiches for all of us and we had a little picnic in the living room. zayneb was so sweet she kept on giving dottie lots of hugs and kisses.

target.

no explanation necessary...

mudflap...GONE!

dottie's hair had been getting a little out of control in the back and still kind of short on top so i decided to take the plunge today and give her a first trim. mindy and allie were over to assist. it turned out very cute (though might need a touch up here and there after her next bath) and i am hoping that very soon the hair on top will catch up with the very fast hair growth around the back. soon she will be sporting cute little braids and pigtails i hope!

daddy, we miss you...

cars are fun and all but dottie is really missing her daddy! chuck is coming home tomorrow after being gone since last wednesday. dottie is very excited (and so am i)!

pebbles & bambam

as i said in the last post, we had a fabulous time visiting our friends in LA this past week. while we were down there, we decided that carter and dottie were kind of like pebbles and bambam. carter is really physical and dottie is a little more on the philosophical side! we were also glad we waited until now to get together because the kids actually played together and had fun together. at one point they played tug of war with dottie's monkey and they were both laughing hysterically at each other. if one was into something, the other had to check it out. dottie was also very excited by this massive gorilla (we called it a monkey because of her love of monkeys) they had that was a gift from a friend when carter was born. check out these pictures to see it....

it was also great fun seeing our friend michelle while we were down there! she came over to cathy's for an evening and brought us the most delicious cupcakes from a bakery called Lark. if you are ever in silver lake in LA, you simply must try the plain vanilla cupcake with the buttercream frosting. it is really to die for!

carter and dottie

dottie and i had a blast in LA with carter and cathy. here is a picture of the 2 of them kicking it on the couch. (will post more later this evening or tomorrow when dottie is asleep!)

off to L.A.!

dottie and i are heading down to LA tomorrow to visit our friends Cathy, Carter (who is 1 day younger than dottie), and Andy (we are also happy to be seeing michelle while we are down there!). chuck is going on his annual snowboarding trip for 6 days so i thought we could have a little fun while he's gone. i will post pictures when we get back on friday!

lunch at lulu's

this afternoon, we were fortunate to be invited to basak and lulu's for lunch. not just any lunch, a turkish lunch of turkish meatballs, a delicious soup, and a lovely desert to top it off that was all made by her mother who is visiting from turkey with her father. we had a lovely day and dottie and lula had a great time playing with each other. here are a few pics of the afternoon.

grandpa bill

grandpa bill had been out here for a visit...mainly for work but he managed to sneak a little bit of playtime in with us too. dottie has been loving having her grandpa here and got a little hang out time with him tonight at dinner. here are a series of shots of dottie trying to feed him, kiss him, and stick her hand in his mouth. the last one is of dottie with chuck, her grandpa, and a good family friend and business partner, david noshay.

weeeeeee!

it has been beautiful in san francisco for the last couple of weeks so we have been taking full advantage of the weather by going to the park regularly. we met up with penny and malcolm and some other friends at the park yesterday for some fun. this picture is of dottie and malcolm doing one of their favorite activities....swinging!

a budding artist...

tonight i went to the movies with allie (saw slumdog millionaire which i HIGHLY recommend!) and chuck was on daddy duty. he took both kids (milo included) on a walk, fed them, and then taught dottie a little about drawing with a crayon before bed. what do you think about her first masterpiece? chuck decided to draw one too, hmmm.....

dottie's first birthday party

this past weekend we had a little party at our house in honor of dottie's first birthday. we had a good showing of dottie's friends big and small and the party was very fun! click here to see some pictures of the party. unfortunately we didn't get too many pictures of dottie with her friends so i am sorry to anyone who isn't in the pics.

the grandparents come for a visit...

this past week, my parents were here for dottie's birthday. we posted many of the pictures we had of her birthday and the party but here are some more of the rest of the week. we had a fabulous time and they were a HUGE help watching her while i wend to my studio AND helping get organized for the party. dottie already misses them!

sneak peak...

yesterday we had a little party at our house in honor of dottie's first. we haven't uploaded all of the pictures yet but here is a sneak peak (party dress and all!)...

first steps!

we have yet to get it on video but for the record, dottie took about 7 steps without falling today for the first time. she has been gradually taking a step here and there but this was the real deal. go dottie! (we will try to get it on video and post it tomorrow!)

happy 1st birthday dottie!

dottie turned one today!!! she had an eventful day... her buddy isaiah came over for a visit, she played with her grandparents, we went shopping for a party dress (found a cute one thank goodness!), swim class, and then back home for present opening, dinner, and cupcakes! it is so hard to believe that it has already been a whole year since she was born. each and every day of this year has been an absolute joy. happy birthday sweet dottie...

it's a tie!

this past sunday, penny and i threw a baby shower for our friend marla. during the shower, chuck took dottie on a fun outing to the local library and then for lunch at a local mexican restaurant for chuck's favorite, chilequiles. at the end of the shower, they were sweet enough to stop by and say hello. i think the real motivation wasn't to see me...dottie wanted to see her pal malcolm. he and his brother wyatt have some really fun toys. this is one of the first times that malcolm and dottie have really played together and interacted which was cool to see. they are about 4 months apart and now that malcolm is totally on the go, there is nothing stopping them from palling around.

dottie and dad

this past saturday, the three of us spent the day walking around san francisco together. the weather here is unseasonably warm so we were able to eat outside and just stroll for hours. at the end of the walk, we stopped by a new skateboard park that chuck had been interested in checking out. not quite sure what dottie thought of the skateboarders but she was pretty mezmerized by them. here are some pictures of dottie and chuck at lunch and at the skate park.

we meet again

dottie and i hadn't met up with the mom's and babies from our mom's group since mid december because of all of the craziness of the holidays. we were happy to see many of our friends this past friday up at holly park. how cute is little liam in his cap?

easy rider

if anyone knows where to get a baby-sized american flag helmet, please let us know.

fishies

this past weekend we went to the california academy of sciences for a visit. it was great though i must say the crowds of people made it a little less enjoyable. dottie was a little taken aback by the floor to ceiling aquariums at first and held on tight when checking out the fish. by the end of the visit she warmed up to them and was waving to them and wanting to get closer and closer.

risky business

a week ago, we went out to buy some gifts for friends with birthdays and showers coming up. we tried these shades on dottie and chuck ended up having to buy them because she so smiley and cute when she put them on. don't you think you might have bought them for her too....?

siena turns 1!

our friend siena turned 1 last week and they had a lovely party this past saturday for all of their friends. siena was adorable in a hot pink velvet outfit with bangles walking around chatting to anyone and everyone. if you are interested in seeing more pics, click here.

kickin' it

chuck, dottie, and i went to hayes valley yesterday for a little apres christmas shopping. after lunch and shopping we decided dottie needed a little playtime so stopped at this cool climbing structure. because she can't really climb yet, she kicked it in this hammock...