Downward Dog with a Fancy Hat

So maybe Matilda is getting more out of the Mom and Baby Yoga classes than I imagined... Here's her downward dog (or is it plank?) position.  I think that barefeet may have been a better, less slippery option. 

Tulips

We sometimes feel like we are raising a lizard who likes to test each environment with her tongue before proceeding...

Our little pink-capped tulip in the tulips.
Andrew felt like the flowers accentuated his manliness.

Not bad for a self-portrait...

Lots of Visitors in April

We've had April rain showers and even snow showers...  and we were showered with visitors.  (Even visitors in town for a shower.)

Uncle Justin and Matilda enjoyed reading Lyle the Crocodile after he braved the long delay from SF...

Grandpa Jack came in for a drizzly weekend that included touring the Olympic Sculpture Park, creating a spaghetti dinner, and enjoying the finest brewed coffee around...

And Maren came through for Mollie's wedding shower... and because she was a bit sore that she didn't make the cut on the last blog visitor posting -- here she is twice!

Developmental Milestone: Almost Rock Steady Sitting

This is the newest in her repertoire.

What noise does a giraffe make?

Turns out, we're not really sure, but here's Matilda's best guess...  This video also showcases a MBJ original onsie. Wow!

Roll-a-nator!

After a few days of practice and lots of grunting... Matilda's newest skill (in Andrew's words, "it's a big girl move") is rolling over.  It's been fun to watch her do this under controlled circumstances, however when she ends up crying at 4 am with her head wedged in the corner of the crib, we can't help but wonder when she'll learn to roll back the other way...

Almost 5 months

Here's the 3 of us -- heading into Matilda's 6th month.   Currently 1 out of 3 of us has mastered the art of intentional (volitional?) placement of toes into mouth.   This is actual, not metaphorical... 2/3 of us have occasionally and inadvertently placed the proverbial foot in mouth.  Mmmmm...

Grammy's Nanny Tenure

For the last couple of weeks of March, Grammy was in town from Chicago -- celebrating holidays like St. Patrick's Day and Easter, rejoicing in Matilda's achievements like rolling over and finding her toes, and allowing us to work without worry and even to go out on the town (twice!)

Daily reports included the reading of fine literature (seen here with I Love You Through and Through), smiling with large dimples, hanging out with the purple elephant and its fascinating trunk, chewing and drooling on sets of rings, multitasking in the exersaucer, and generally having a grand old time.  All of which make it even more fun to come home at night.

Palo Alto

We traveled to Palo Alto and the Stanford chapel for Amy's wedding (one of my friends from the Stanford swimming days) in mid-March.  This was the first time that most of us in the class of 98 were reunited in nearly a decade -- so great to see Michelle (and her almost 1 yr old daughter Katherine), Evi-Lynn, Amy, and Becky (although we didn't have to travel to California to see her)...  Lindsay's in Stockholm, so we let her have a free pass on this one.

Becky dips into the infant Tylenol stockpile... and said that the 4 or so dropperfuls that she took didn't taste "that bad" -- at least she didn't spit it out like most kids do.

We also got to have breakfast in Menlo Park with Heather, our Stanford water polo hero, to celebrate her recent 21st birthday.  Go Cardinal!

St. Patrick's Day

Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, soda bread, Irish coffee, shamrock fruit tarts and lots of folks with Dutch ancestry marked Matilda's first St. Patrick's Day.  I'm pretty sure she had a good time. It was also Grammy's first day as Nanny-o-matic... They both did terrifically.  (And even handled 5 (or maybe 6) phone calls from Mommy at work with grace and ease...)

Sweet Dreams

This little one is amazing, even when she's sleeping.  

Or maybe it's especially when she's sleeping...

ABQ

Matilda wanted to meet her Great-Grandparents, so we decided to take a trip to Albuquerque to see family. All four generations had some tasty meals together and Matilda enjoyed spending time with her progenitors.

200th Seattle Brew

As long as we're marking Matilda's developmental milestones... I thought we'd mark one of our own -- our 200th pot of coffee brewed in Seattle. (As determined by the number of filters that we've used in 4.5 years.) Yum. And developmentally appropriate for age.

Big Matilda visits Big Sur

We had perfect weather for a cruise down the coast through Big Sur. Matilda enjoyed the waterfall at Julia Pfeifer Burns state park and lunch at Nepenthe, a restaurant perched on the edge of an 800 ft cliff. Excellent view!

Carmel-by-the-sea and Monterey

After Santa Cruz, we spent some time around Carmel and Monterey. I had some work to do (presenting at a conference), but otherwise we tried to keep it more of a vacation than a business trip. We spent some time at the nice restaurants in Carmel, with Matilda snuggled in the Moby carrier.



There was a trip to the famous aquarium in Monterey....




And a drive through the Pebble Beach area on 17-mile drive.

Banana Slugs

After visiting Ano Neuvo state park, we continued to wind our way down the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Cruz. The famous boardwalk and amusement park weren't very lively due to the winter weather, so we ventured inland to a state redwood forest for some hiking through the huge trees. We also toured UC Santa Cruz and made a stop at the Mystery Spot since the bumper stickers seem ubiquitous. The illusions were fun, but we'll pass on the bumper sticker for now.






The real mystery is: How does Matilda sleep so much?

Ano Nuevo State Park

After our departure from San Francisco, we proceeded down Highway 1 to Ano Neuvo state park, which is one of a few accessible breeding grounds for the elephant seal. These huge creatures can grow up to 16 feet long and weigh nearly 2 tons. Once they haul their heavy bodies up onto the beach, they spend over a month fighting, breeding, and nursing pups. Our little pup remained quiet in her carrier throughout the visit, fortunately!

Alcatraz Redux

Day 2 in S.F., we took a family trip to Alcatraz - first time for some, a repeat for others. Fortunately, no sea sickness for Matilda.

San Francisco

Margaret and Justin just got a new California King bed... Matilda approved.

The M brigade: Aunt Margaret/Moo and Matilda.

Cousins and First-Cousins-Once-Removed... Heather and Sarah West representing the PAC-10.

Dinner at Tres Agaves
Steve's a natural, even if you wouldn't know it by this picture.

3 months old

After a big celebration of Matilda's 3 month birthday (actually, the days have started to blur together) we noted that there's some fun video footage, and we decided to put a couple up on the website, even if they are out of order from our vacation recaps.

This one highlights the Friar Tuck hairdo:



I personally like the cheerful noise at the end of this one:



That's it. California postings to come... think really really large elephant seals on beaches.