earthquake

I just experienced, for the 2nd time in three years, the eerie feeling of an earthquake. At first, you think you're getting dizzy, and reach out to stable yourself on something. But then you see everything else moving around you, and you realize it's not you. I was at work. There's comfort knowing that I didn't make this up - that others felt it too.

Anyway, the magnitude was 5.8 and the epicenter was in L. A. (Chino Hills). We're ok, and all is well at home. It just makes you realize not to take anything for granted.

Click here for more info and a map. This is now bookmarked in my 'favorites'.

PS - you know you've lived in SoCal for too long, when after assessing that everyone is safe, I think, "wow, the surf is really gonna be up this afternoon!" :-P

Who is this child, and what happened to my baby?!

Anyone for tea?

two bugs in a rug

On most days, Emma and Parker play well together. She rolls the ball to him, he drops it and rolls it back. Kinda like this:

Added bonus: if you listen closely towards the end, you'll hear emma toot!


cooperative parker from Eeks on Vimeo.

But on other days, he is stingy with his love, and doesn't grace us with his attention. Kinda like this:


grumpy parker from Eeks on Vimeo.

9 month stats

I'm a little late posting these, since the emster is closer to 10 months old, but better late than never!

We had our 9-month appointment a few weeks ago and it went very well. No shots, hooray! She had her anemia test, all is well. She weighed in at 18lbs 6oz (37th percentile) and was 27.5 inches long (42nd percentile). Shrimpy over here is still in her infant seat, and probably will be for another three months! Hey, at least we're getting our money's worth. :)

She also scored very well on her 10-month ASQ infant development survey - receiving a 100% score for problem solving! You go girl! (she gets that from her dad)

Her favorite thing to do right now (besides standing/walking) is READING. This girl looooves books. We read lots of different kinds, and she likes them all. There's usually a stack we go thru every night before she goes to bed. She especially loves 'Goodnight Moon', 'Pat the Bunny' and the pop-up books. I hope she developes the same love of reading that I had as a child.

Someone's getting a little artsy fartsy over here

Just sharing the favorites that my photography class decided on from this week. :)

Party tricks

I am finally able to capture all three of em's latest tricks on camera! This one's for you, mom.

Oh, and Parker loves the camera as much as emma does. He HAS to be in all the shots. :)



Party Tricks from Eeks on Vimeo.

Princess TuTu

Just another one of mommy's silly photo shoots. This time we had a purpose. As part of this week's photography class homework, I needed to experiment with my exposure compensation function. Not technically stellar photos, but I think she looks pretty cute. I just wish I could get her fingers out of her mouth!

(Oh, and mobile-baby-in-a-tutu pictures are REALLY hard. I broke a sweat taking these!!)

not camera shy

Lately Miss Em's favorite activity is crawling, pulling up, and cruising along furniture/toys, etc. She really likes her LeapFrog table because she hits a button and little lights and music start. The minute she hears the music, she starts dancing. It's so cute - kinda like a dolphin swimming (if you can picture it).

Of COURSE the minute I try to catch it on video, she doesn't do it. So you won't see it on this clip, but the ending just goes to show you her second favorite thing: the camera.



camera face from Eeks on Vimeo.

Happy Independence Day!

I don't think we've ever crammed in this much fun activity in one weekend! I don't have pictures of everything, but we had a neighborhood parade, a BBQ at a friend's house, breakfast with a co-worker, swimming in the baby pool, dinner at the neighbor's and some good naps for both of us. Whew!

Our neighbors, Pascal, Barbara and Sophie (2yrs) made the centerpiece of the neighborhood parade - a giant George Washington float! It was a huge hit!

At our friend's BBQ, Emma was particularly sweet on Kyson. She was trying to give him a kiss in this picture! :)

The BBQ was basically a big playdate. Lots of babies within months of each other! From left to right: Hutton (1yr), Audrey (9mo), Winter (7mo), Emma (9mo) and Ky (9mo).

Emma is showing Kyson her favorite book. She tried to get his attention the whole time, and he was just fascinated that she could crawl.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da

This one's for you duda.


da-da from Eeks on Vimeo.

standing proud

"Hey mom! I'm a big girl now!"

"I can't believe I used to fit in there!"

"How about....I pull everything out and you put it all back?"

9 months!

Wow, my baby is 9 months old already. She's acting more and more grown up each day. I enjoy watching her explore her surroundings and learn new things every day. She's a blast. I can't believe she's been out for 9 months after being in for 9 months! :)

She also crosses her legs all the time, it cracks me up.