A few cute pictures

Here are a few random (cute) pictures of the little one:

Learning to use a fork










Mommy takes me swimming


Uncle Myron comes over for a photo shoot (a few of our favorites) - more on Myron's flickr album





At the Solano Stroll with Emma (Melia's kissing pal) and her parents (Anna & Bjorn)




I must have been very, very tired....

A Tale of Two Tigers

You see, before you become a parent, you just don't understand how an inanimate object can be such a treasured obsession (yes i did say obsession) for a young child. Melia received a stuffed tiger from her cousins many months ago and to this day she can't be without him - she needs him to comfort her, she needs him to hug, she needs him to hang out sometime, she needs him so she can suck her thumb and most of all she needs him to sleep. So once you realize that your child would be unable to live another day without such object, you realize that all hell would break loose should that child misplace or god forbid lose said object.

So what does a smart parent do in this case? Well, you buy an identical backup of course!! Though in some cases the child can outsmart you and realize it's not the same. Well Krista was at Barnes and Noble one day and was walking out when she spotted the famed "Tiger" and quickly purchased one. We thought that Melia would get confused by seeing both tigers at the same time, but she quickly realized she had two of them now and was thrilled. At first she didn't have a preference but over time she has come to realize which one is her real tiger. And as you can see in the pictures, one of them is quite loved (warn) and even sits an inch or so lower. But she still happy to use the backup if need be.

Ah, to be a child again and have something in your life that just makes you feel whole......

Uncle Les took me to the Dodger game

Aunti Mel wanted to do something special for Uncle Les' 60th birthday party. So she rented a big box at Dodger Stadium for all of his friends and family. I was lucky enough to get to go.

Here are some pictures from the event. Unfortunately the best ones are missing: (Uncle) Tommy Lasorda giving me a big hug and kiss (oh yeah!) and seeing me and Auntie Beccah together on the jumbotron- TWICE!




Cake...the best part!

WHy do they keep doing this to me?

Everywhere I turn, my mommy and daddy are sticking me inside of something. Is it really that cute?

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day Weekend we met some parents and their kids at Lake Temescal for a picnic and some fun in the sun.

The weather has been just amazing over here. And little Ms. Melia has something to say about the heat.

Turns out Lake Temescal was clothing optional for the little rascal and her friends.





Melia and her friend Lucia "hang out" together.


Melia is going to kill us for posting these in about 10 years.
I just LOVE that bum!

Too cute!

Slip-n-slide stairs

This one is really friggin hilarious. Apparently Melia and mommy had been practicing this early in the day but daddy didn't know that. (August 7, 2008)



And here's just a cute picture with Melia in her sparkly shoes.



See below for many more recent updates....

Shoes, shoes and shoes

Melia has this fascination with shoes for some reason. It doesn't matter what they look like - they don't have to be cute or girly - if she knows they go on your feet, she wants them on your feet.

This time (July 23, 2008), she actually put both of my shoes on all by herself - it was really hilarious.

She's a dancing queen

Melia was dancing like mad to Ziggy Marley and I just had to shoot this (July 21, 2008).



Melia and mommy were making me dizzy while taking this, so hopefully you don't get sick too!

Misc Pictures

Here are some misc pictures from a couple weeks back (July 19 & 20, 2008).

First we have Isabella's 1st b-day party and Melia learning how to swing a bat for the first time.

This is just a silly one where I got her to keep Tiger on her head :)


Melia didn't waste any time learning how to climb after learning how to walk. At one point, she pushed this walker up against the baby gate and proceeded to climb on top of it and was almost able to pull herself over the gate. Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were not happy about it.


Melia using her new walking skills to walk the big ball around.

More walking practice - plus bonus mommy footage

Ok, here are a couple more videos of Melia learning to walk (July 19, 2008). The first one is of her walking with her lion. The second one is of true walking steps finally caught on video. It only took her about 2 days to get really comfortable and brave walking on her own.








And I just couldn't leave this one out. Who knew that Krista had another talent - playing the "recorder"

Some of Melia's first steps

Ok, we're way behind on getting some updates out there.

So here are a couple videos of the first day Melia was learning to walk (July 14, 2008).


Whoops, u-turn - maybe I'm not ready for this yet :)

From white trash to intellectual

This is just too cute. I call it "white trash: compliments of Vitaman D whole milk". Melia has this new thing where she sucks in a mouthfull of milk from her sippy cup and then spits it out all over herself (and me if I'm holding her). She did this right as I was putting her in her high chair, so she got stripped down and got to eat in her diaper.














Then the next day, we look over and see this:

Painting the house...

Well Krista and I braved the world of house painting once again - 5 years after our first lovely experience (ask us if you don't know what we're talking about).

Here is Melia making sure they are doing a good job. She was keeping them entertained with "Hi!" and of course the upside down wave.

Melia's first words

So Melia has 2 words so far.... The 1st one was "mom-ma" and the 2nd one is "Hi!". You can watch her practicing below.

Here's a picture of how Melia is often sleeping..... too funny!

Melia officially turns one!

Well, Melia did it. One year ago today she was born. Unbelievable! We had the perfect day. Melia's Grammy came up to help celebrate in the festivities. Here is what Melia had to say about her birthday:

First was breakfast at Sunnyside Cafe with Mommy, Daddy, Grammy and Atcha, my super cool nanny. It was great fun! I ate everything on my plate: pancakes, eggs, cheese, and banana. I'm such a good girl!













When we came home I got to open a few presents and I talked on the phone to Grandma and Grandpa- although I didn't say too much.

After naptime and a yummy lunch we went over to Memorial Park and had the best time on the slides! The weather was amazing, it was about 85 degrees at 5pm!













After dinner came the best part: CAKE. Mommy made a delicious chocolate mousse cake. Can you tell I enjoyed it?














Here is a funny video that Grammy took of me.

See the full length feature movie here!

Its about 10pm now, time for bath #2. Hey, I am wearing a french goatee!










Boy, I clean up well, don't I? Happy Birthday to me!