Holiday Card 2008

Here is a sneak preview of our holiday card this year. We took this photo today while we were out Christmas tree hunting - yes, hunting. We drove down to the Santa Cruz Mountains and cut down a tree ourselves! After picnicking with Shelley, Tony, Lucy, Jen, Scott and Beck, we set out with saws into the "woods". We put up the up the tree in our living room and added some ornaments - including the foam-core and cotton-ball sheep I made when I was about 6 years old.

We ended the day with a last-minute trip to see the Los Altos Festival of Lights parade - a homespun parade that was pretty fascinating to Alita. There were about a dozen marching bands from local schools (Alita seemed to like the drummers). Alita's favorite parts of the parade appeared to be the Bay Area Siberian Husky Foundation (she woofed enthusiastically as they pulled some kind of makeshift wagons down State Street), and the people dressed up as sheep in the Little Bo Peep skit. She "baaa-ed" after them for several minutes after they passed by.

On the beach in San Diego

Alita loves to swim!!

The problem with blogs is that every time you post a photo, it looks like the photo was taken on that day. This photo was actually taken back in October when Ben and Alita joined me in San Diego for a conference, and then we stayed the weekend with Becca and Luis in La Jolla and played on the beach. Alita loved walking into the waves, getting hit by the waves, and being in the water as much as she possibly could. She is a true water baby, not afraid of the water at all!

June 2008 in Sayulita, Mexico

This photo was taken back in June... notice that Alita has very little hair and few teeth. We used this photo for our invitation to her first birthday party because she was holding up her finger as if saying "I'm one year old".

Thanksgiving 2008

Alita celebrated her second Thanksgiving a few days ago, and entertained everyone with her new words, "awawawa" (avocado) and "oooohhh-rash" (orange). She enjoyed her turkey and stuffing. It was great for mom and dad to have a few days off from work to do some runs around the Dish, take a trip to the duck pond, and go Christmas tree hunting! We also enjoyed spending some time with Rachel, Will and Carina, whose antics kept all of us in stitches. Carina waved her arms enthusiastically every time she saw Alita and shouted "ahhh-ahhh-ahhh!" Alita enjoyed pointing out Carina's features, such as her eyes, head, and toes.

Fall 2008

A late summer day at San Gregorio Beach

We took Alita on her first backpacking trip to Ebbets Pass

Alita took a swim in our kiddie pool on her first birthday









Kir finished the Lake Tahoe Marathon



We took a trip to Medford to celebrate Nana's 89th birthday and to visit cousins. Avrahm (24 months) and Alita (13.5 months) took a splash together



Hiking on the PCT in Castle Crags State Park

Alita's first words

We have been trying to keep track of Alita's words as they come out... but it's a little tough to discern exactly when something is a "word" as opposed to just a repetition of a sound. She says things like "cheeees" when we feed her string cheese but also says it when we feed her yogurt. She pants like a dog when she sees a dog, and she responds enthusiastically with "ooh-ooh-aah-aah" when asked what a monkey says. She even does a two-tone "hee-haw" when asked what a donkey says. Other fun words/actions:
- blowing kisses goodbye
- finding her bellybutton
- playing peek a boo behind her hands
- "awawawa" = avocado
- "teees" = trees
- "ay-toe" = tomato

Today Ben and I decided to start a blog to keep track of everything that happens in our lives.

As we were driving back from our first weekend-away-from-baby backpacking trip in Desolation Wilderness, we started talking about how we want to capture all of the events, moments, and memories of Alita's first year(s), so we are launching our very own blog.

Two days in Desolation Wilderness was just what we needed. We bagged Mt. Tallac, we hiked until our hips got sore, and we drank wine out of a box while we watched the clouds roll across the mountaintops. We spent one night in the backcountry at Aloha Lake, a breathtaking and enormous lake in the heart of the wilderness.

Meanwhile, Alita played with Grandma and Grandpa Saenz for two nights and with Grandma and Grandpa Tobey for one day.