Pink Moods

What kind of look is this?! This is the "do not photograph me!" look. Right after this shot was taken she turned away and would not face me until I gave up photography completely. That's a stick of mozzarella string cheese in her hand in case you were wondering.


Actually, I just pretended to put the camera away. I shot this next one from the hip and she was none the wiser.

As a side note, a couple hours before this picture Erika was down for the count with a 103F fever. Amazingly enough, she responded well to acetaminophen and sprung back to life requiring both an apron and a wide-brimmed hat.

Swimming class

Sunday morning means toddler swim class! Erika is very good at the back float pictured here. She really dislikes climbing out of the pool. Why can't daddy just lift her out and place her on the edge? Climbing out is very inconvenient and bothersome in her opinion.


Erika and I both enjoy the bonding experience of swim class. Although I suffer soft-tissue damage at nearly every encounter with her, I think it's well worth it.

After swimming, we always go to CrossRoads Mall in Bellevue and have Thai food. Erika is hooked on Phad Thai with chicken. She and I share a plate and it is lots of fun. Jackie tried to photograph Erika feasting on noodles, but the camera batteries were spent at the pool!

Tulip season

Yes, we found the camera!

Camera? What camera?

Please excuse our blogging haitus. Seems that mommy lost touch with the location of our camera. I'm sure she'll find it. Right?

Easter weekend

Saturday was very busy. We went on the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Erika, consistent with last year, did not like said event. She could not be coaxed into hunting anything. She does like putting candy in a basket and then dumping it out. Wearing the basket as a hat is optional.

The Hayatsus spent the morning with us, so we dyed eggs, and even frosted cookies. As you see, Erika tries everything... except the egg hunt.

Squirrel Time!?

Today we celebrated Squirrel Time. This is a new spring holiday invented by Erika's friend Takara. In this first picture, Erika puts her arm around Takara who is reading a book aloud... more or less. Squirrel Time events are pants optional.


Earlier this week, Erika enjoyed a pony ride!


Erika also obtained a tiara which she would only wear as a visor. Then I stepped on it accidentally. Oh well. I'm sure there will be another.



In this fourth picture, Erika sits in her car seat. The car seat is in the living room because I was doing some maintenance and adjustment to it, but she insisted on using it as a lounge chair and watching cartoons. Buckling and un-buckling are great fun. Each stuffed animal has it's turn. Her favorite animal, named Meow-meow, appears exhaused in this picture. Also that blanket freaturing Strawberry Shortcake is called "Strawberry doh-doh." All blankets are doh-dohs of one kind or another.

Spring-ish weather!

Erika's friend Takara came for a visit. They ate an entire container of raspberries, some crackers, and washed lots of rocks in the wading pool which is not in this picture.

Road trip to Portland

Sometimes the best part of a trip is the return home. Although the "digging" exhibit at the Portland Children's Museum is cool.

Erika's important work

Erika has lots of important things to do. For example, she needs to watch Hello Kitty video clips on youtube.com. She also has a pink Hello Kitty stamp which fortunately washes off. And she also likes to play with shredded paper. yay!

Erika's Bus trip to the Aquarium

This past week was a fun one with at trip to the Aquarium. To add some excitement, Erika and I (Jackie) took the bus to downtown Seattle with our friends Bethany and Takara. Here Erika enjoys the bus trip with a breakfast bar and no car seat. You can see Bethany's knee in this shot. Takara is an old pro at bus rides and did not deign to appear in any of the pictures commemorating Erika's first bus ride.

Erika's favorite exhibit - the touch tank. Here she demonstrates the proper way to wake up the various echinoderms such as star fish by gently splashing the water.

One of the few shots of Erika's face I was able to get. She loved looking at the various exhibits and did not understand why Mommy kept asking her to look at the camera.

Mortal Kombat Theme with Hello Kitty Montage

Erika *LOVES* this video. Crank up the sound and enjoy what we get to listen to a million times. Actually, it is kinda cool if you are a nerd... or are 2 years old.

Hat and no hat

Sometimes you feel like wearing a hat. Sometimes you don't.

Typical Sunday

Sorry for the gap in blogging, but nothing has been going on. No storms, no excitement, nothing interesting.
Anyway, in this picture we see Erika in her crib. She has never slept in her crib, but now that is has been moved out of her room she is drawn to it. Here she is burrowed in, pretending to sleep.

Sunday morning breakfast. Erika no longer tolerates her booster seat. She would rather kneel on a regular chair then use the booster. She also will only drink milk out of that green and white thing with the crazy straw.

Apparently this is not funny

For the first time, Erika seemed to be aware that mommy was not laughing with her, but at her. Not everyday does Jackie witness a green juice gotee! Anyway, little tiny feelings are indeed percolating up there somewhere.
Erika's language comprehension is rocketing forward and although she cannot carry on an entire conversation, she constantly surprises us. For example, just yesterday she correctly pointed out a saxophone. Suddenly she knows how to say saxophone? This is not a word we have been teaching her! She picked it up from the Baby Einstein Meet the Orchestra DVD. It turns out that she also knows Drums, Cello, Bass, and Basoon. Those will come in handy when she tries out for pre-school I'm sure. Still no piano.

Northshore Gymnastics Center Party

Erika's toddler group had a group birthday party at the Northshore gymnastics center. There were lots of thing for little kids.
Here Erika and Isabella set the standard for not only sharing but also cuteness.


The sea of foam blocks was a big hit. It is about 4 feet deep, so you are just floating on these blocks. Kids must go in bare feet since this thing eats socks like you would not believe.


Back at home, Erika shows how to properly relax while watching TV. Yes, she is suspended between her toy chest and the couch. And for the record, she can reliably count to 4 now. She can also say please, thank you and excuse me among other things related to cats and poopies. I'm not sure how she came up with "excuse me" since we did not try to drill that into her as we were focusing more on the please and thank you concept. Obviously she picked it up somewhere; correctly using it twice as I blocked her flight path.

Meow-meow make the poopies video

Happiness is a giant strawberry in January

The California strawberrys at the grocery store are incredibly good right now. The ones in the summer were cheaper, but not so yummy. So I guess you have to wait for winter to get good fruit? Anyway, these are amazing, and Erika has eaten her weight in Strawberrys since yesterday. "Bigger strawberry" is her request. She will not settle for a small one if there is one bigger.

Freak storm #3 and faux poo

It snowed again. No one knows why.
At least I have a snow shovel this time.
And we have electricity!


Erika, for her part, is taking all this odd weather in stride. In fact, what better time to strip naked and insist on potty training a stuffed cat? In this picture, she appears shy, but that's because is about to stop whatever cute thing she was doing and demand to see the pictures the camera has not yet taken.

Anyway, this is her new potty seat. Tonight she spent an amazingly long time shouting "Meow meow poopies!" at the top of her lungs. She paused only to insist on wearing nothing but her diaper before starting a fresh round of meow meow poopies. It's my job to make the cat produce effort noises. Erika will then deposit faux poo in the bowl. Usually crayons or strings of beads. The cat must then inspect his work and ask daddy to clean the bowl out (Dump!) and start over.
Erika was so enthusiastic, that Jackie was unable to take a brief nap upstairs because of all the scatalogical tom-foolery. She came down to take this picture.

Erika adjusts to being two

Erika has just learned the joy of taking off her clothes. I'm sure this will be quite embarrassing for her as a teenager, so I took lots of pictures and video in anticipation of that day. Just leave the diaper on. Please.


Erika helps daddy build a shelf-like thing. This week we visited our favorite store in the whole world- Ikea. There is no need to pay to go to a children's museum if you have an Ikea. Same efftect. But everything attaches with the L-shaped hexagonal tool. I hate that tool.


Sometimes you just have to drink your carrot soup right from the bowl.

Christmas 2006

Aunt Kimi visited us this year for Christmas and we had a very good time. She even assembled this ellaborate scooter for Cupcake. I have never seen such a complex thing for a toddler. It took all our skill to make it work. As for the scarf, I'm not sure how that came into play.

Erika enjoys sitting in this red box. She received lots of stuff for the holidays, so thanks to all of you out there for thinking of her. She has so many toys I have to clear a path through the living room with a snow shovel.

Erika expects her stuffed cat to ring in the new year by playing a tiny trumpet. She also expects me to make trumpet noises for extended periods of time. Sadly, this trumpet ornament will be lost.