Maggie's Big Day Out

We spent some time with Ambra & Reese today at the park. Reese is 18 months old, and just the sweetest munchkin! I think Reese & Maggie are both on the same (slow growth) hair plan. Maggie was content nibbling on the grass & digging her fingers into the dirt while Reese cruised the jungle gym. It's hard to believe that Maggie is going to be up & running around in no time. She is perfecting that crawl fairly fast...

After our visit with the Wellbeloveds we headed over to Merrin's house to celebrate her 1st birthday! What a crack up! All the kids crawling & running around... begging for cake time. Maggie was so entertained by all the kids just doing their thing around her. All she wanted to do was find her way into the middle of all of Merrin's toys & put them in her mouth, drool on them a bit & sing to them. Check out the video of Merrin eatting cake for the first time. Not quiet sure what to make of it, but I imagine she will quickly learn.

Grandma Leu Visits Maggie

Joel just drove off to the airport to drop off Grandma Leu, and we are real sad. It was so wonderful to have Carol here for the past week. It's always so hard to have family spread all over the country, so we cherish our times we have together. And with Maggie growing up so fast, we crave, more than ever, family time to share her. She is just such a little lover & all you want to do is stand on top of a small mountain & tell the world the news!

Joel & I just took our first overnight without Maggie, thanks to Carol. We spent the night up in Sonoma with Shawna & Chad at the Farmhouse Inn, www.farmhouseinn.com. Our room was really, really luxurious... we had a HUGE jacuzzi tub, a wood burning fireplace & even a sauna. Definitely a new hip spot to stay in wine country, and your right in the heart of the Russian River Valley which has always been our favorite area up there.

We had a fabulous dinner at the restaurant, tasted some great wine at various vineyards (and brought a decent amount home!), and enjoyed just being an adult for 24 hours. You kinda forget what that's like at times! I think one of our highlights, besides eatting & drinking our way through wine country, was the candy shoppe in Healdsburg... 'I like your sleeves... they're real big!' (a quote from napoleon dynamite)

Maggie LOVED her time with Grandma Leu. Everytime Carol walked in the room Maggie just lit up & started kicking like crazy. She adores her Grandma. We kept Carol busy with trips to the fabric stores, a picnic at the Conservatory of Flowers, shoe shopping in the Haight, a visit to Joel's pharmacy & Lavish, dinner at Lupa & 6:30 AM WAKE UP calls thanks to the bright eyed & bushy tailed mz Maggie! It IS her best time of day.

We are looking forward to our midwest trip to Fond du Lac in June. It will be fun to introduce her to the rest of her family. Hard to believe, but I imagine she will have perfected her crawl by then & will be everywhere!

Pfeiffer's Move to Madison

It still feels like a bad dream... the pfeiffer family moving to Madison, Wisconsin. A play date with Avi seems like a phone call away, or that Jill & Jacob will be at the next group gathering. It's tough having close friends move, it's like family moving. I guess we are forced to plan Maggie & Avi's college experience so that they attend the same school. They certainly shared their early days together, and I hang on to the idea of them reuniting! We will miss the Pfeiffers, in SO many ways... and that Smokey Joe!

Visiting Nana & Papa

Maggie & I just got back from a trip to Nana & Papa's in Florida. Maggie was a terrific traveler between all the planes, trains & automobiles... and the 3 hour time change. We were extremely excited to spend a week in sunny Naples, it was a much needed break from all the rain we have been getting out in San Francisco.

Maggie LOVED swimming in Nana & Papa's pool everyday, and enjoyed listening to Nana play the piano before bedtime. She just might be the next piano player in our family, she certainly has the long fingers for it! We spent a good amount of time on her tummy, learning how to get up on those knees. I think she might crawl before she sits up on her own.

Katherine & Liam joined us for a few days at the end of our stay. Liam just adores his cousin Maggie... 'Aunt Whissie, where's Maggie?' And that Liam, he is just a little lover at 2.5. They grow up too fast!!!!