Aven's New Skills

Our bright little monkey amazes us daily with her new "superpowers".
With her upper-body strength (thanks Dad) and her long limbs (thanks Mom), she's started to drag herself farther and farther across the floor.
But in the last few days, Aven has also started to crawl. Not great distances, mind you. But itty bitty bursts of mobility.
She is quite proud of this partcular skill.
Here she goes!....
BANG! Okay, she still needs some practice.
Aven contemplates what went wrong.
And then she's up again ... and smiling! In other superpowers news, Aven is repeating "Da Da" quite consistently (although not always directed at Daddy). She also loves to wave good bye when prompted by someone else's gesture, and she has even repeated "bye bye" a few times.

Really Rory

Rory and her Daddy were hanging out on Sunday morning, and he couldn't resist taking a picture of his little princess.
And this princess is also honing her technological skills! Here, she hunts for all of the letters of the alphabet on Daddy's computer.

Ballet Teacher

Rory loves her weekly ballet lessons at Del Rey Dance, and she is quite smitten with her ballet instructor, Mary Strum.

The Ballerina, Day One

After months of playing ballerina dress-up, Rory finally convinced her parents to sign her up for a real ballet class. She had her first session of Creative Movement last week.
After class, Rory showed off some of her more graceful moves. The best part of ballet class, according to Rory: her pink leotard and tights, and her real ballet shoes, which she wore around the house all weekend.
Rory was so excited about ballet class that she didn't mind in the least that Mommy couldn't come into the studio with her (no parents allowed). She marched right in without looking back. Mommy, who has some experience in these things after 14 years of ballet herself as a child, was impressed at how well Ms. Mary, Rory's teacher, seems able to teach ballet in a way even a 3-year-old can understand--as you can see here.
If ballet doesn't work out, Rory can always go to work at the Advisory Board. Tonight, she announced that when she grows up, "I want to go to Mommy's work and work with Mommy forever." Which Mommy thinks would be pretty nice.

Rory also is figuring out some other things about grown-up life. Tonight, she also told us what she knows about marriage: "When boys and girls get married, they sleep together. That way they are not lonely in bed." We think she meant that completely literally, but is she precocious or what?

Sisters, Part 4

Love and giggles.
Friendly competition for the spotlight.
Clowning around for the camera.
Bemusement that parents ... are parents (who take pictures, interrupt their fun, etc.),

New Year ... And The Kids Rule

We hosted some friends on New Year's Eve, but it was clearly the kids who partied like it was 1999.
Riotous music. 2% milk (not that fat-free crap!). Skull-and-cross-bone dress (courtesy of Aunt Jenny!).
Yes, there were adults at the party too ...
... not that the adults did any good (note the crooked picture, the boys playing dice on the floor, and Rory describing the mohawk she plans to get).

Christmas Eve 2009

On the night before Christmas, Rory and Aven excitedly awaited the arrival of Santa Claus. (Here are last year's shots.)
Despite a home full of Christians, it was the Jewish mother who packed her family into the car and drove them to Catholic Mass.
I couldn't decide which shot I liked more, so I posted them both.
Here's last year's shot, sans Aven.

More Christmas Week Pictures

Opa and Grandma give Aven a Christmas kiss.
The girls show off their Christmas bracelets from Aunt Jenny.
And speaking of Aunt Jenny, she got a few giggles out of Aven.
Allen did quite a lot of multi-tasking this Christmas. Here, he configures Grandma's new computer and babysits Aven.
Rory's new straw proved a hit with the grown-ups too. Wait, was it really designed for beer?
So proud that she finally has a little hair, Aven was sporting a new hairdo.
On our way home, we stopped at Aunt Janet's to spend time with our extended family, including Rory's Great Grandmother, who taught Rory a thing or two about dominoes.

Christmas in Vertical

Christmas Morning 2009

On Christmas morning, Rory and Aven wait downstairs while Daddy ensures that Santa has indeed delivered the goods.
Oh, did he ever! Christmas 2009 had begun! Once again, we celebrated at Grandma's house (literally over the river and through the woods).
Rory was quite amazed that Santa would leave behind perfectly good cookies, but she was delighted that Santa described her as "nice" in his note.
Rory and Aven enjoy their news Adrionick chairs as they amassed their gifts around themselves. Yes, Rory was pretty excited ... by the princess wrapping paper, the princess dress, and the princess shoes.
... And tinkerbell. Thanks Uncle Allen!
Rory and Daddy played with her new wacky straw.
Rory was quite taken with her gift from Aunt Chelle. For the rest of the day we had to address Rory by her new name, "Rose Flower Garden".
Aven also had a good time with the gift giving. Okay, really just the gift unwrapping.
Our cutie!
Ohh, something new to stick in my mouth.
Here, Aven admires her Big Sister's fashion sense, especially those new princess shoes.
And just so Rory wouldn't have to choose between the life of a princess or fairy, she earned a new pair of wings. For a reminder of last year's Christmas morning, click here.