Fun Sunday

Today we went for a bike ride. Casey was VERY excited and wanted to wear her "bike hat" in the car. She kept making the sign for bike and she can even say bike now. But she fell asleep just before we arrived at the parking lot and suddenly she was no longer an eager customer. I was ready to turn back but Eric was the one who had to pump the tires and load the car and he said let's go. As soon as she got on the bike, well, as soon as the bike started moving, she was squealing with joy and saying "Mommy bike!" "Casey bike!" "Dada bike!" She said hi and waved to everyone we saw (mostly people passing us...) and even said "neigh" to the horses we saw along the way.

When we got back to the parking lot there was a small crowd watching a horse get his shoes removed. Another horse was pulling a carriage. There was some tiny new musuem opening and there we were. So we got some free cookies and lemonade, and then pet and talked to the horses, and we had ourselves one happy little girl. She wasn't afraid of the horse at all.

Then we went to Gymboree for a bit, got bagels, played with a dogdog, and only had to drive a little extra on the way home to get her to fall asleep for her nap. When Casey woke up, she and Dada removed the baby gates on the stairs. She can walk up alternating feet without holding on. She also walks down without holding on, which is a little stressful to watch, but she sits down if she starts to lose her balance. Luckily it's only a half flight of stairs. I think climbing stairs is one of her hobbies, she practices all the time.

Davina and Tyler brought food over for dinner and so Casey spent the evening showing off and being silly. She topped off her Sunday with whipped cream for dessert. Fun day.

Party preview

Today we met some friends at the park where we're going to have Casey's birthday party. I think it's gonna be a fun party. Kids, make sure you bring a towel and a change of clothes!

Road trip

After daycare on Wednesday, Katie's mom Marie and I took the girls to the park across the street. And so, not surprisingly, on Thursday evening the girls were pointing expectantly at the park. So I gave them the next best thing and let them sit in the driver's seat of my car. They had a blast. Eating snacks, putting on sunglasses, giggling, reading books. Just like a real road trip without leaving the driveway.

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When they got to their destination, they got out and found a lemon tree. Casey couldn't quite reach the lemons so she would point them out and Katie would pick them. Teamwork. One of our lemons has bitemarks in it. I guess Casey thought it looked like an orange.

Summertime

Casey's friends Kyle and Cami came over for dinner last night. We brought her table outside and they all managed to sit there for the whole meal, although it was a short meal. It was nice because they could spill all they wanted and I didn't have to worry.

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Casey said she wanted to go to the potty so Veronica sat with her in the bathroom (for quite a while) and finally she earned an M&M. The single M&M was followed by the sign for "more more more" and yelling of "mo mo mo". I hope she caught that the M&M was a reward but I'm not sure.

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Suddenly before we knew it it was 9pm (an hour past her bedtime). She fell right to sleep but it ended up being a rough night.

Hiya!

We met the girls at the San Francisco Zoo today. We went to the children's zoo and got there in time for the animal stampede. All the kids have to yell "yeehaw!" (Casey yelled "hiya!") and then the goats parade out and the kids all get food to give them. Little girl is much braver than I am. I screamed a few times because they are all around you, pushing and looking for food, but when she started imitating my screams I figured I should try to get a grip. Then she got to brush the goats, ride a tractor, and hang with her friends. One day we'll get them all smiling in the same picture.

The day after

We were going to meet everyone for the fancy hotel brunch buffet on Father's Day and we were in our flurry of getting ready and Casey put her pink sandals on DogDog. She was a bit upset when we didn't want to bring an extra pair of shoes along with us, but really we have enough to carry these days. At the restaurant we saw Sophie and noticed that Casey wasn't the only one who wasn't ready to put her party shoes away. They danced and played and read books on the stage. Casey always makes sure that if she has a book, Eric and I have one too. Sometimes she takes ours and gives us one of hers. She even makes sure DogDog has one. Every day.

The last picture is of her favorite stairs at the hotel. She tried hard to reach the rail. A couple of times she'd lose her balance and have to sit down. Then she'd go back to the top and start over.

Casey's first wedding

The morning of the wedding we walked around an outdoor mall with Eric's friends from college. We saw a sidewalk chalk festival and came across a water spray area that Casey loved. Then we went to a farmers' market and there were a LOT of dogs there so she had a great time. In the car on the way back to the hotel she put DogDog on her head and did the sign for "silly". (Second photo)

Eric was the best man. Casey and I got a seat on the aisle in a row with Eric's friends. As soon as the wedding started Casey saw Eric and started yelling "Dada!" and wanted to run after him. I realized that I had no way out except for the aisle and the bride was coming soon, so everyone shifted down one seat and we sat on the other side where there was some grass to play in. But I put her down and she was ready to run up to the front. We had to go hang out in the reception area. Every time she seemed to be calming down I'd walk her back over toward the ceremony and she'd start up again. You can see in one of the pictures she and her date Ethan were hanging out with the band.

Afterwards everyone was telling me how great she did and I wasn't sure if they were serious but then realized it was because they hadn't heard her throughout the ceremony. I guess they didn't see her either because she wasn't there for most of it! We watched from afar when we weren't climbing steps or hanging with the band.

She partied all night and learned to tap dance from 3 year old Sophie (Ethan's sister) who learned her moves from the movie "Happy Feet". There were some beautiful hiking trails / rock steps that you could climb to see waterfalls and gorgeous views. Casey's party shoes must have been more comfortable than mine because she wanted to climb the stairs over and over. Unlike me, she wants to do the uphill and not the downhill. I had to carry more than 20 pounds down rock stairs with high heels! That was the extent of my exercise that weekend. I was hoping hard for Eric to come rescue me and luckily he arrived just in time.

She finally got to wear her party shoes

Friday we went to the Children's Discovery Museum (or something like that) in Salt Lake City. It was so impressive that I don't like the San Jose one anymore. They had a huge waterplay area, a climbing wall (!), a grocery store where kids could stock the shelves and shop and work the register (see the background in the car picture), cars, a gas pump, a farm, a row boat, and more. It was amazing.

Of course Casey went right for the car. She also worked the cash register with her assistant DogDog and then played with the water table. That's the beginning of it in the third picture. Casey was the only kid there who could put the pingpong ball into the very top and watch it slide down. It pays to have a tall Dada.

That night we went to the rehearsal dinner where Casey got to wear her party shoes out of the house for the first time. She ran around like a crazy girl and got lots of attention. We were in one room and the adjoining room was empty. The rooms were attached at both ends, so Casey used it as her personal track and did laps. Eric and I each stood on one side so I wouldn't have to run through the room more than necessary. She also got her first M&Ms. Eric's friend kept feeding them to her, getting her so hooked that she still screams and points when she sees the little silver heart-shaped boxes they came in.

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We gave Howard's friend Todd a ride back to the hotel after dinner. Casey hadn't met him yet. When we were in the car she pointed at me and said "Mommy" and pointed at Eric and said "Dada" and pointed at Todd and said "Hmmm??" She cracks me up.

Dirty DogDog

We were in Salt Lake City for a long weekend for Howard and Amanda's wedding. We arrived just in time for Howard's kickball game. Casey enjoyed cheering for Howard's team (and sometimes the other team, oops), hanging out, and running around in the grass with DogDog and other actual live dogs. DogDog used to be entirely a house dog, but now he goes just about everywhere. Eric and I call him Dirty DogDog now.

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Afterwards we went out to dinner with Howard and his brother and dad at an Italian restaurant. There was music playing and Casey was standing on the booth dancing and then she pointed at Howard's brother. The message was pretty clear. DANCE! Michael obliged. Then she pointed at Howard. Then his dad. His dad tried to get out of it for a couple of seconds but soon the whole family was dancing in their chairs. Casey was cracking up (laughing with them or at them, we'll never know).

Bike

On Sunday we went for a bike ride with Davina, Tyler, Lisa, and Dusty (Dusty is Lisa's bike). Casey loves riding the bike. The first half hour she kept looking over and smiling at me and saying "Mama" and doing the sign for bike (same hand motion as Wheels on the Bus). Then after a half hour we stopped to turn around and head back and she started crying and signing "all done". Uh oh. Luckily that just meant it was naptime. She slept the whole way back. I guess she'd already seen the beautiful scenery once... . Eric got a great workout, riding a mountain bike with a 20 pound weight on the back and trying to keep up with us on our road bikes. Well, really he could only keep up with me. I figured out the exact recipe to slow him down to my speed. Now I have to figure out a similar recipe for hiking.

Then we all went out for lunch and Casey managed to climb into the high chair by herself. She climbed up the rungs on the back and then stepped into the seat. It was pretty impressive.

Later that day we took Casey next door to see Deanne. Every single time we enter or leave our house, she waves and says "HI!" to Deanne, even though Deanne usually isn't there. It's really cute. Eric and I took off to see the new Indiana Jones movie. When we came back Casey wanted to show us all the stuff she'd been playing with. She had a great time. Busy girl.

Beep beep

It's not too late

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Fahrvergnügen

How come it never seems that fun when I'm running or driving? Casey always waves at her fans when she drives the car. Sometimes with both hands.

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Her favorite thing while we're driving in my car is for CarDogDog to help drive. She hands him to me and does the sign for car and I have to put him on the steering wheel and she squeals in delight and does the sign for dog and then the sign for car. She has a special squeal that is reserved for dogdogs and bellybuttons. Sometimes CarDogDog and CarKitty share the driving.

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New pix of the girls are added to the post below.

Weekend

Eric added new youtube videos to the post below. (Now you see why I thought only grandparents would make it through to the end.) I don't want you to think he only had to chase her a couple of times. And don't forget to click on the arrow for the first one (which is not on youtube). I think that's the funniest. You can hear the people at the next table cracking up too. In one of the later ones I ask her how old she is and she says "doo". Then I ask her name and you can kind of hear "Casey" but she was very focused on her ice cream and her sprints. Before she learned to say her name we taught her sign language for it. In the class I took they said to take the first letter of your kid's name and put it on your heart. We went around the room and practically everyone's kids started with C, so they all had the same name! We decided to personalize hers - you make a C with your hand and squeeze your cheek with it. She squeezes her cheek (sometimes ours) and says "CASEY!" really fast. It's so so cute. Sometimes when she wants something she'll squeeze her cheek and say "CASEY!" I'll keep trying to get it on video.

Friday we went to Happy Hollow with Ava and Ashley and their moms (Susan and Karen). The girls had so much fun. We tried hard to get a picture of the three of them together, which was hard enough, but even more challenging was to get all of them looking at the camera at the same time. The girls rode the dragon train and played on the little playgrounds and rode some rides. They were so busy we never even made it to the zoo. Of all the things to do there, Casey and Ashley found a little patch of dry dirt with a small pit in the middle and planted themselves there. Geez, they coulda done that for free!

Saturday we went on a picnic at Ridge Winery, which has beautiful views, gorgeous flowers, and picnic tables. Casey ran all over the place and couldn't get enough of the ramp and stairs near the entrance. She'd say hi to people as they were leaving and anyone who was friendly on the first stop got another hello because she'd run up the ramp and meet them closer to the parking lot. See the picture above of her tasting her first kumquat. It was sour but she made a face and then asked for "mo". We saw lots of lizards and hiked up the hills. Occasionally we'd even go to the table for a bite to eat.