Snow Days

We are enjoying this unusual amount of Christmas holiday snow. We had somewhere between 3 and 4 inches of snow Monday morning. Dan really wanted to make a snowman, but unfortunately the snow was a little too powdery. Snowballs just turn to snow spray. We layered up in all our knit winterwear and played in the snow at the park. Sequoia really enjoyed it. She liked it even more when we got back home and she got to have some warm hot chocolate.

It is sunny today, but very cold. It is in the 20s and will get into the low teens or even single digits tonight--plus more snow and freezing rain on the way. Hopefully it doesn't delay our holiday plans too much. Meanwhile, enjoy these wintry photos!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a success this year--we actually ate on time! Dan's turkey was fantastic, I found a stuffing recipe that is definitely a keeper, and Margaret's pies were divine as usual.













Sequoia wasn't too interested in the turkey feast since she was on her eating nothing but cereal, fruit, and cheese phase. Dan also kept us all entertained with many balloon animals and a special Thanksgiving wreath. After a day of Sequoia play and eating lots of food, the three of us fell promptly asleep around 8 pm.


We had a great Thanksgiving this year, and a great preview to how wonderful the Christmas holiday will be with Sequoia this year. Last year Sequoia slept through many of the holiday festivities, and when she was awake she was still learning how to walk. This year is going to be so much fun! Sequoia is now talking up a storm and she loves playing and running around. We are also looking forward to getting together with Sequoia's cousin Addie so the two toddlers can play together.
Here are lots more pictures from Mark and Margaret's (Papa and Gamma) Thanksgiving visit.

Reading with Daddy

Sequoia has been having a ton of fun with her Daddy. He has been making her balloon animals every day, and she loves the funny voices he uses to read her books. She now thinks all cows are Scottish. She knows most of her library books by heart and likes to say a lot of the words with us. Sequoia can now count up to fourteen, but she likes to skip seven and eight (she thinks it's funny). She also has started showing a big interest in letters. She likes us to write out letters for her and spell out words for her on her blocks. She also likes surrounding herself with all her animal toys and bears and having tea parties. She has named one of her bears Teddy (the cream one in the pictures) and carries him and her Dolly around everywhere. Such a fun girl!

Check out these new pictures of Sequoia playing with balloon animals, reading books, having a tea party and showing off her puddle-stomping boots!

Happy Halloween!

We had a spooktacular Halloween! Sequoia helped us carve her first pumpkin. She thought the goopy insides were neat and liked squishing it between her hands. She then went through two costume changes before the day was over. First, since she had seen Daddy dressed like a pirate (a Bookaneer to be exact), she wanted to dress up like a pirate too. We both think that her pirate picture is awesome--you can see features of both of us all blended together, even more than usual. Later that night, she got all dressed up in her fairy costume so she could match Mommy's woodland sprite costume. She helped hand out candy to trick-or-treaters and then visited with all the costumed math peoples. She was also thrilled to see baby Natalie! We all had a great night, and Sequoia was even in bed at a reasonable hour--even after creating a patty-cake song distraction and sneaking a handful of candy corn and swindling half a Kit Kat from her pal Dan Wang.

We hope you all had a great Halloween too! Enjoy these cute Sequoia pictures =)

Sequoia's Great Adventures

Sequoia has taken us on some great adventures this past month. She makes sure that we get our physical activity in by leading us on daily walks to either the park or the mall. She is definitely queen of the castle at the mall's play area. She loves the slide and has figured out many different ways to slide down in order to keep it interesting. We've also had some great Sesame Street finds at the various second-hand stores in the area. I'm not sure how much fun she has while we're there (Mommy has a blast), but she likes the goodies we find. On top of all this local fun, we've also managed another zoo trip recently. Sequoia had a great time, and even managed to swindle an Oreo cookie from some nice grandparents while we were walking around. We've definitely been enjoying this very outgoing and opinionated little one, or as Sequoia would say, we're 'totally' having fun!

Here's some new pictures with some of Sequoia's new outfits and a hat I just knit for her (well it still needs edging, but finished enough...)

Sequoia at the Park

Princess Sequoia

Dressed in royal purple finery, Princess Sequoia directed her subjects on proper bead measuring and crown wearing. After a long day of play and hat changes, our Princess finally fell fast asleep, stretched out on her royal pillow and mattress.

Enjoy these pictures of her Highness!

More of Sequoia Doing Cute Things

Sequoia Dancing with and Walking Her Duck

Along with walking her duckie around the house, she also likes to play a game where we chase her with the duckie. When we finally catch her, she plops down and has the duckie kiss her toes and belly.

Sequoia Doing the Gymbo Dance

New Adorable and Amazing Sequoia Videos

Sequoia Yoga



Sequoia Counts to Five (well, actually two to five)

Summer Friday at the Zoo

We had a great Friday in Portland this weekend. We spent the day at the zoo (which has become our annual anniversary trip). It was a nice clear day, which turned out to be a little too hot in long pants, but it there were a lot of shaded places to stop along the way. We got to peak at the construction of the new Red Ape Reserve and the new Lion enclosure and it all looks very exciting for next year. Sequoia really loved all the animals and really got into spotting them this time.

On our way out of town we stopped by the Old Spaghetti Factory, which we found after only one short block of backtracking (we're bound to find it on the first try next time). We got a table upstairs which overlooked the river. It was really nice and Sequoia loved her spaghetti and meatballs and my minestrone soup. Sequoia fell right asleep once we were back in Eugene. It was a really fantastic day.

We took a million pictures--please enjoy! Some of the first shots are from the last couple weeks. As you can see from the pictures--Sequoia really loves Elmo and Ernie a lot. =)

Sequoia Looking at Addie

Sequoia loves looking at Addie's blog. She asks to look at it at least once a day (usually much much more). We think it is so cute how she says "Addie!"

16 Months

Sorry that we haven't had a chance to post anything new for a while. We're still getting the hang of both of us being in school at the same time. Sequoia is adjusting fantastically. She does early morning activities with Daddy and evening time with Mommy, with all of us spending our afternoons together.

Sequoia is doing all sorts of amazing things now. She can say over 70 words now, ranging from animal names and sounds to colors to food to more abstract things like "why?". She is currently working on learning "please" and "thank you" and says them both with very adorable smiles. She has also started following directions pretty well, and understanding simple explanations for various whys. She is also becoming more proficient with a spoon and fork, but we still have a long way to go in technique and neatness. Sequoia has also started asking for specific things when she wants them which has made our jobs a little easier, but a little harder at times. She loves playing with bubbles and getting dressed up with her sunglasses and purse. We're just absolutely enjoying all of her wonderful new toddler antics.

We also recently were able to make a quick visit down to California for the 4th of July weekend. We had a wonderful time. We spent all day Saturday up at Pinecrest Lake for Mamoe's (Margaret) birthday. We had a great time visiting with everyone there--Ma and Pa, Chuck and Claire, Jemiah and Serena, Sissy and Mike, and Auntie Katy. Sequoia loved the lake and had so much fun splashing in the water along the shore. Daddy and Mommy also got a chance to go kayaking around the lake with Jemiah and Katy.

On Sunday we spent the day with Katie's family. We had a great time visiting with Poppie, Dad, Kelly and Kevin, April, and Signe. Sequoia got to open some fun presents while we were there. The activity box from April has been a huge hit. She thinks it is hilarious as seen in the laughing video. She's also been having fun trying to push the mice around the track from Kelly and Kevin. It was a great visit both days. We wish that we could have stayed longer, and are looking forward to our next trip down.

Here are some recent pictures of Sequoia having fun.

New Sequoia Videos

Sequoia Laughing with Daddy



Sequoia's New Peak-a-Boo Game

Naptime with Daddy

Sequoia took her afternoon nap on her daddy's shoulder. It was too cute! Enjoy these peaceful pictures of Sequoia along with some showing off her destructive and goofy nature.

Little Gamer

Cute Spoon Eating

Sequoia just keeps getting cuter and cuter! She now has a total of eight teeth with her new top molars. She has been putting them to good use eating anything and everything she can get her hands on. She really likes some strange foods for a toddler--things like rhubarb, fennel, and broccoli. She currently has only one food that she dislikes, peaches--she won't touch them.

We are finally using our baby monitors! In preparation of Mommy's return to school in a couple weeks, we've started an earlier bedtime routine. She is starting to get the hang of having her last late night snack, brushing her teeth, the last diaper change, pajama time, story time, and then sleepy time. She now goes to bed awake and falls asleep in her bed pretty much on her own. This is very different from the mommy=mattress situation we had before. So of course, Dan and I are using this quiet time to grade papers, do homework and housework--eventually we'll find time to relax.

Enjoy these pictures of Sequoia's silly faces and her cute purple toe toes.

Miracles Do Happen!

Yes. This is Sequoia sleeping on her own in her own bed with Dolly!

This is Sequoia feeding herself breakfast with a spoon and making very little mess!

Sequoia is growing by leaps and bounds! In the past week she has added new words to her vocabulary (including PaPa, tree, pretty, otter, bird, purple, toast, and crunchie), she started dancing with her feet (it looks like some form of tap dancing), she has a new way that she smiles where she scrunches up her eyes and gives a big grin (yet to be caught on camera), she can feed herself with a spoon (as long as the food she's eating sticks to the spoon), and as of last night, she is sleeping on her own in her toddler bed. She is also very opinionated, and is very melodramatic if she doesn't get her way, or if we don't respond fast enough to her whims. Wow!

She is going through a large growth spurt (or she will soon be the size of a whale...) as she is eating constantly. She has her three normal meals plus six to seven snacks. This is good since she was almost too tall for her infant car seat, but didn't weigh enough for her next car seat. Now she is in her new fancy forward facing car seat which she finds very comfortable and much more interesting. Around the house she is now tall enough that she can reach up and pull things off the edges of the dinner table and nothing in or on the dvd racks is safe.

We rearranged our bedroom and converted her crib to a toddler bed yesterday. We are proud to say that she actually slept in it the whole night! She woke up about five times, but I was able to get her to fall back asleep rather quickly each time. She did get in bed with us around 7am for morning nursing, but she did sleep on her own for almost 8 hours (not counting the momentary wakings of course).

So many new and wonderful developments. This is definitely one of the many magical times! Enjoy these new pictures!

Thank you Grandpa!

A few weeks ago, Sequoia, Dan, and myself all came down with a horrible stomach flu. Sequoia bounced back the next day, but Dan and I were pretty rough. So wonderful Grandpa jumped on a plane to Eugene and helped take care of all of us. It really made a wonderful difference in our recovery and Sequoia had a great time with her PaPa (her name for her Grandpa).

So here are some pictures of the two of them having fun making dinner together. Really, really thank you Pa for taking such great care of us!

Springtime Stylin'

Spring Break

We had a wonderful Spring Break with Grandma and Grandpa (and even a fun visit with Auntie Katy). We ate great food, had wonderful visiting, Sequoia showed off all of her talents, shared Sequoia hugs and kisses, and spent a rainy/snowy day at the Portland Zoo. It was a wonderful time. We can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa again (she has been carrying around their picture as a substitute in the meantime).

Check out these pictures from our great visit!

Big Beautiful Brown Eyes

Dancing with Daddy

Sequoia was dancing with Daddy while I made dinner, and then she fell asleep on his shoulder. These are such sweet pictures of our little one with her happy daddy!

Sleepy Time

Sequoia took a short nap with Dolly the other day. It was so cute that I had to take a picture and share it with all of you!

Her Daddy's Girl

On Thursdays we normally go to Gymboree for Sequoia's class, but since she is still a little sick we decided it would be best for the other kids if we stayed home instead. Sequoia had other plans. Around 5:05 pm (which is around the time we usually leave the house for her class) she walked over to her car seat and started shaking it back and forth and babbling, obviously letting us know that we were running late for class. Dan and I looked at each other--she couldn't possible know that it was Thursday, could she? Well, she wanted to go out, so we put her socks and new big size 5 shoes on and packed up my purse, and we headed out to the mall to walk around.

When we got to the mall, we left the stroller in the car since she insists on walking everywhere. Dan set her down on the ground and held her hand while we started our lap past all the stores. She started window shopping, but she didn't seem too interested in anything in particular. Then she smelled chocolate in the air, and quickly made a beeline for the Euphoria Chocolate store. She ran in the store and started looking over their chocolate truffle selection. We spent about five minutes in the store looking at various chocolates before we could pull her away to walk the rest of the mall. She's definitely her daddy's little girl--chocoholics all round =)

Sequoia's 1st Birthday!

It's hard to believe that our little mastermind is a whole year old! We didn't do much for her birthday since we've all been sick for the past week, but we had a little party with just the three of us. After a little visit with Grandma and Grandpa over the web cam, Mommy whipped up some lasagna and chocolate cake for birthday festivities. She absolutely loved the chocolate cake.

She got some great presents for her special day. Grandma made her a special sleepy time dolly that she now carries around everywhere (we even put dolly to bed at night and she can't wait to say good morning to her dolly). She got some pretty new dresses and outfits too.

We had her one year check up with her doctor today, and everything, aside from her little cold, looked great. She's about 18.5 pounds and 29.5 inches tall (20th percentile in weight and 65th in height), so she's tall and skinny. She also got a new book from her doctor today, which already has some great teeth marks in it.

We hope you enjoy all these cute birthday pictures of our adorable girl! Thank you to everyone for sending birthday wishes.

Walkin' Series

Duck Walkin'
December 26, 2007


Lion Walkin'
January 10, 25, and 27, 2008


Workin' on Walkin'
January 14 and 26, and February 11, 2008


Christopher Walken
March 31, 1943


Super Walkin'
February 15, 2008

Sequoia playing in the snow...

and eating it too!

Almost One Year Old!

I Love Grandma and Grandpa!My hair is so spikey and cute!

Eating snow with Daddy is so much fun!

Check out my new big girl car seat and Mommy's new hairdo!

We can't believe how close it is getting to Sequoia's first birthday. She is almost walking (random steps here and there for the time being). It is kind of like big foot--we can't seem to get it on film.

Aside from almost walking, she is starting to understand a lot more words, she can see the difference between cats and dogs now, and she can put things in boxes instead of just emptying everything (even though the emptying activity is still her favorite)--on top of all that she can also drink fairly well out of a cup! Lately she has also started crawling and walking around the apartment with blocks or her teething ring in her mouth roaring--it's hilarious--and she wants to be carried around so she can point at things so we can tell her what they are called. Now she can say Daddy, Momma, duck, cat, dog, dat (her word for that when she wants to know what it is called, or if she wants something that she can't reach), toe, and down. Plus she loves clapping, so anytime she does something exciting (like throwing a block) she claps for herself, and she claps along with people on tv shows.

We have been going to Gymboree for about a month now, and she loves it there. She does pretty well with the other kids and mommies, but the sight of any other daddy makes her cry. We love how none of the toddlers in her group have normal names--the only other girl is Monroe, and then the boys are Brody, Cole, Seth, Jackson, and Justice--can you tell that this is Eugene?

Well, we are having a great time with Sequoia and watching her master all of her new tricks--which also includes being tall enough to climb on top of the coffee table by herself (she's about 29" tall and 20 pounds). We miss all of you and are looking forward to upcoming visits during Spring Break (we don't expect any snow then). Enjoy these pictures in the meantime!