Month: April 2007

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Last weekend when it was raining and gloomy outside, Zach had the idea to take Taylor roller skating. Zach and I both really like to skate and we thought it would be fun to try and get Taylor out on wheels, so off we went to our local roller rink. When I was growing up, I spent many hours at the Golden Skate in San Ramon and it was really a blast from the past to go back there. Shockingly, almost NOTHING has changed there. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they still have the original carpet! They actually had skates in Taylor’s size, so we rented her a pair and the three of us headed out onto the rink. We just did a short few loops around with us basically holding her up the entire time. Taylor wasn’t as keen on the idea of skating as we were. I think part of the problem is that the skates are so heavy! Each skate probably weighed as much as one of her legs. Well, live and learn. Maybe in a couple of years she’ll be ready.

T.J. has started doing puzzles lately and she’s getting pretty good at them. It was a really interesting experience to try teaching her how to do them because in the beginning she struggled so much and then little by little she got better and better. Usually trying to teach her things is much slower – it took her so many months to learn how to walk and talk, but with the puzzles I could watch her improve over the course of a few days. It’s very exciting to watch her figure things out, especially now that she can talk. I can actually listen to her reason through a problem – amazing!!

We had an incredibly busy week, with one activity after another. First, Zach went out of town to Italy for work. We thought about having Taylor and I go with him, but ultimately decided that it would probably not be the best trip for a toddler. Instead, we kept busy with relatives and friends. Grandma C.R. came into town for a bead show and stayed with us for a couple of days. Taylor really enjoyed spending time with her granny and C.R. got really good at reading T.J.’s new favorite book, “Fox in Socks”.

After C.R. left, we went off to my parent’s house to stay for a couple of days. On Saturday night, I put Taylor to bed and my family was all sitting around the table when we heard a noise. Suddenly, we heard a little voice say, “Out of bed!” and there was Taylor standing on the stairs. We were all totally amazed and shocked that she had managed to climb out of her crib, but I think Taylor was more astonished than anyone. I brought her back upstairs and I asked her to show me how she got out, so she hiked her leg up to the rail and pulled herself up, then she launched herself over onto the floor. It was not too graceful, but got the job done.

On Monday, Taylor and I flew off to Arizona. We visited with our friends Ava, Ella, Heather and Trey. At this point, Taylor was a little bit homesick, so she wouldn’t let me leave for more than about 30 seconds at a time. Still, she managed to have a great time playing with Ella and Ava. As we were driving away T.J. said, “Ella. Ava. Fun.”

Our next stop was driving up to Prescott to visit with Linda, Gene and Toby. We had a quick visit, but it was great seeing the family again. After a long drive, Taylor started to relax a little when she saw Linda’s kitty Bella . Then we went to Gene’s and T.J. and Toby played and played and played. It is so fun to see the two of them together – they make a great team. At one point, we were driving in the car with the kids in the backseat and Toby had his foot in Taylor’s lap while she played “This Little Piggy”. Taylor would touch one of his toes and say, “What dat piggy doing?” and Toby would tell her. All in all, it was a great trip!

Taylor hosted an Easter Egg hunt this past Saturday. We were really pleased with the turnout, since it was threatening to rain all morning. Quite a few of her friends came out with their families and we had a really great time. It was so much fun seeing everyone, especially those that we don’t get to see as often as we’d like. I think we’ll definitely try to make this an annual event.
Here are some pictures from the hunt:

Our friends Julie and Lorenzo also took some great pictures and posted them here.

Sunday was more quiet around here – we just tried to wind down around the house. The Easter bunny did come visit, though, and left Taylor a basket in the bushes in the backyard. Later on, we went to my parent’s house to have Easter dinner. Taylor spent some time exploring the backyard with her grandpa Paul.

Easter Sunday:

Taylor was in the bathtub the other day and she pointed to a shampoo bottle and asked, “What dat is?” I said, “That’s a bottle of shampoo”. She pointed to another bottle and asked, “What dat is?” and I said, “That’s another bottle of shampoo”, then she looked at me and exclaimed, “two ‘poos!”. I love this kid.

Taylor made her very first pie – butterscotch. Here’s a shot of her enjoying a slice:

HAPPY EASTER!!