Cecil

Perhaps the highlight of Rory's Thanksgiving trip to California (see more details below in the previous posting) was meeting Cecil and having a dog in the house as her constant playtime companion. By the third day, we were treated to Rory's high-pitched calls for Cecil (pronounced "Shey-shil"), which we've captured on video. You've got to check it out, although don't tell Pippin. He's quite jealous right now.
Cecil and Rory, who is showing off her Thanksgiving dress.
Cecil just licked Rory's face, which sparked this gleeful laugh of delight.
Rory did a pretty good job of only petting Cecil "gently".
(I won't be surprised if Rory grows up thinking that the word for "animal" is "gentle" given how often we have to rein in her enthusiastic petting.)
Cecil was a good sport, but occasionally he had to retreat to a safe place ... I just can't understand why that happened to be on top of my feet!

Thanksgiving 2007

Rory celebrated the second Thanksgiving of her young life in California with her Nonna and Pops. The journey began with Rory's 18th flight (not her happiest one, unfortunately). We landed in San Francisco Airport, where Nonna picked us up and drove us (in a Prius, it's California after all) to Palo Alto. La Maison de Pops was in the midst of light renovations, which meant that the living room was largely vacant, giving Rory a wonderfully open playroom of her own! In this picture, Rory takes a spin in the laundry basket (once again, a reminder that kids can turn anything into a toy or game).
Nonna and Pops had lots of toys and books and blocks awaiting Rory in her playroom, and she would rush into the room after each meal with shrieks of delight. Perhaps her favorite toy, however, was a little polar bear who Nonna had leashed for Rory.
Rory walked her polar bear around the house endlessly.
On Monday, Rory hung out with Emma, whose parents are friends with Rory's parents.
Emma was very generous with her toys, and Rory enjoyed a fabulous afternoon.
Rory walked the Stanford campus, picking up a new t-shirt at the bookstore.
Clearly, mommy is hoping that these pictures influence Rory's college choice someday.
While on campus, Rory met Miranda, who is Nonna's colleague in the Office of the President and an avid fan of Rory's blog.
Rory could not resist making a trip to REI with her Pops (who is on the board and enjoys a killer discount); she scored a new winter jacket.
Another thing that Rory enjoyed doing while at the Katz abode was playing the piano. She's a natural.
Rory spent a lot of time outdoors, visiting the duck pond at the children's museum (pictured) and hanging out at several parks.
Finally, however, Thanksgiving arrived, and Sarah and Nonna and Steph (a family friend) prepared an amazing feast!
Rory secured her place at the table early, and she dug into her turkey with abandon. (Unfortunately, our picky eater didn't crave much else, aside from the pumpkin pie.)



"Dad, don't bother me now, I'm feasting!
After dinner, Rory was treated to a tradition that her mommy enjoyed when she was a little girl ... "Pantaloon"!
Unfortunately, Rory's patience was not as well-tuned as her mommy's, who enjoyed her father's bedtime ritual gleefully.
The wonderful week came to an end with Rory's 19th flight. Fortunately, it was a much better experience that the cross-country flight that began the journey. As you can see here, Rory and her mommy turned into vegetables in front of the DVD player.

Rory at 15 months

Rory had her 15-month check-up today, and aside from the streptococcus bug that her mommy gave her, she left with a clean bill of health. At 31.5 inches, Rory is in the 90-95% percentile for height. And, at 20 pounds and 2 ounces, she is in the 10-20% percentile for weight. We caught Rory's strep throat early, but her mommy has been suffering since Saturday (under the mistaken impression that she had the flu).

At 15 months, Rory is gleeful, frequently bursting out with laughter and using her new favorite word: "wow!"

At 15 months, Rory is inquisitive, exploring the world around her and learning new words each day.

At 15 months, Rory is goofy, taking delight in the everyday things that surround her, from tupperware to bags.

At 15 months, Rory is already a clothes horse (thanks to her mom and her many generous friends and relatives), who likes to strut her stuff. (No, I've not given her keys to the car yet.) (Although, talking about cars, we are getting a new one on Saturday to replace our 10-year-old Jetta, which failed state inspection due to the $1,000 in repairs it needed! Instead, we're investing that money into a Mazda3 Hatchback, a sporty little car with room enough in the back for our growing family.)

Should I be worried that Rory is already scheduling "lunch dates" with boys? Can someone do a background check on little Garrett?
Doesn't it look like Rory is sheepishly admitting to some trans- gression?... "Okay, which of you kids needs a diaper change?"

Fun with Bags

On this video, Rory has an awful lot of fun playing with a bunch of shopping bags. Wouldn't it be great if we all found such joy in such commonplace items?

Pippin Gives Us a Scare

Perhaps if we had remembered Pippin's reaction to Rory's homecoming from the hospital, we might have thought to look in Tim's underwear drawer when we couldn't find Pippin earlier today. Pippin frequently tries to escape the house when we open a door, and so when we couldn't find him this evening anywhere in the house, we assumed the worse, that he had sneaked out. Tim searched throughout the neighborhood; Sarah hooked up the baby monitor outside so that we could hear his meows when he returned from his adventure. We were heart broken, but we were convinced that he was scrappy enough to survive the night. But as Sarah was pulling the covers over her head, she heard a thumping from the drawers. Inside, was Pippin! Apparently, he had sought refuge after a little spat with Rory earlier in the day, and Tim had closed the drawer without noticing that Pippin was inside! Our boy was safe and sound.

Pumpkinville

On Saturday, Rory took her parents to Pumpkinville, a production of the Leesburg Animal Park. The autumn weather has turned chilly, which means Rory is sporting her pink koala fleece (a gift from our friend Michelle). As fate would have it, the outfit allowed Rory to blend in with the other furry animals, and quickly drew the affection ...
the billy goat, Rory's favorite four-legged animal after (1) Pippin and (2) all dogs.
Rory said "hello" to her old friend, and she asked if he could introduce her to his barnyard friends.
Unfortunately, we weren't quite sure what to call some of the animals, like this antelope/ camel/ deer thingy.
You could just hear Rory asking: "Can I get some of what you're eating?"
Rory tried to join the sheep family, but her pink wool made her stand out from the herd.
The hay that the animals were eating was just a prelude to the "hay raising" experience that Rory would have at Pumpkinville.
Rory spotted the hay ride, and she insisted that we take a spin around the farm.
Then, Rory pulled her parents up to the top of the great hay slide!
Rory screamed with delight as she slid past the barrels of hay (with her snack cup clutched firmly in her hands).

Even mommy got in on the action!
On her last trip down the slide, Rory held her daddy's hand, but otherwise slid unassisted.
And if the hay slide wasn't enough! Rory took one look at the moon bounce, turned to her daddy and said: "Go Dada, Up a, Up a!"

So, into the moon bounce went Rory and her mommy.

Rory had some second thoughts once she was inside.

But she got the hang of it after a few bounces.
It turns out that mommy had even more fun than Rory in the moon bounce! It took quite a lot of coaxing (and the promise of apple cider) to get her to come out.

Halloween 2007: Year of the Ladybug

On Halloween, Rory joined several of her friends for an evening of trick or treating ... at the same house, over and over again, while her parents drank wine and beer with the other parents on the porch. Maybe some day, Rory will actually know that trick or treating is an activity that takes you from door to door. But until then ...
... we'll keep the kids contained. Is this ladybug having a good time or what? (That's Gretta in the foreground, dressed as a bunny. Rory is chatting with Rache. In the previous picture, Rory is riding with Paulo and Dahlia.)