The Princess of Entropy

Lenna our Lenna, here she is very proud of spilling her Cheerios. Every meal is an opportunity for finger painting and splatter art. Her favorite word right now is "fish." She carries the fish and bird identification books with her all over the place. She communicates her wants and non-wants very well, but not quite verbally yet. She says "yah" and nods when she agrees, and says "no" and shakes her head, and points and gestures. The only food she asks for by name is, you guessed it, "fish" (the cheesy goldfish crackers). Otherwise, she stands in a certain place and gestures, like if she's hanging from the fridge, she wants juice, from the cabinets by the dish rack, water, etc. She's getting pretty good at drinking from a cup, and is a regular pro with the fork and spoon. I had a wonderful Mother's day! Papi made me a delicious frittata, and Lenna made me a card with flowers on it at school.

We've been going to Ft. DeSoto on Friday evenings lately, to watch the sunset and have a picnic dinner. Lenna loves roaming around in the dunes, and always wants to be in the ocean. She's taking swimming lessons at USF, so I think she's getting comfortable in the water.
In our herb garden...

Almost 18 months

I hope everyone is enjoying the springtime up North. We've had a fun few months, but it has been a challange to keep everyone healthy through flu season! What is Lenna up to? She continues to enjoy drawing and any kind of craft activity. She also loves to be outside, picking wild flowers and giving them to everyone around her. We see the beginnings of imaginary play (the morning we had tea with Oso and Manatee). Her teachers at school are great and they having her in their class. Soon she will move up to the 18 to 24 month-old room where she'll be back with her friend Valentina. Here are two photos, the first is Lenna sleeping on Papi's sholder at an Easter brunch, and in the second she is playing on the beach when Gramma Kate and Grampa Kuff were here visiting in March. We had a great two weeks with them! Gramma Kate was amazing, taking such good care of Lenna during another bout of the flu while we were in Orlando for a week. Thanks Gramma Kate xxx ooo eee.

Winter time

Where did January go? I'm not sure. Everything is going well, Lenna is growing and learning. She says several words these days, including Mami, uh-oh, Papi (that one was Iuri's birthday present), baby, agua (first spanish word), up, ducky, no... I'm sure there a few I'm forgeting. She is very active, loves to climb everything, and pushes her step stool all over the house so she can investigate and pull stuff off of the countertops, tables, shelves, etc. She loves to draw and paint. There she is at her new art table in the photo above. Below she's playing in the snow in Door Co. after Christmas.

Happy Holidays

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all are enjoying (or surviving) the holiday craziness as Christmas approaches. We are enjoying the cool, comfortable weather - I love Florida winters. Here are a couple photos for you. The first is Gramma Kate and Lenna from the end of October when my parents were visiting:

We went to Mati, Stanley, Paul and Nico's house for Thanksgiving! Thank you Tosello's, we had a great time in Texas!

And here is one of Lenna with Abuela Matilde! Iuri's Mom was just here staying with us this week, it was so wonderful to spend time with her. She took Lenna on walks everyday. Here they are together at the park:

Lenna loves both her grandmothers very much! Here is one more photo of her, she's wearing one of the cute dresses that Abuela Matilde brought for her. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Lenna turns one!

Hi Family and Friends,

Well, a full year has passed since we became parents, and what a year it's been. So much fun. Lenna is doing new things every day; she's walking now, and says both "Mami" and "Papi." We've had a little drama with the weaning from the bottle... she let us know precisely how she feels about the whole business when we found one of her loathed sippy cups in the trash can.

Here are a few photos for you, a couple from the pumpkin-choosing expedition, and a birthday photo. We hope you are all well and that we'll see many of you over the holidays!

Lenna By the Sea

Lenna is 11 months old today. Here's a photo of her playing in the Matanzas Inlet tide pools, our budding phycologist. We went to St. Augustine for a wedding a couple weeks ago, and gramma Kate and grandpa Kuff came along to spend time with all of us. It was a fantastic weekend.

Ten months old

Here it is Labor Day weekend already; I can't believe the summer is almost over. Lenna is up to all kinds of mischief lately. She's standing up using minimal assistance from walls, furniture, our legs, etc., and is starting to cruise from one thing to the next. She'll walk pushing something with wheels, but she prefers to crawl (fast).

Favorite activities include shredding napkins, digging in potted plants, and playing in the toilet water (yes, we've taken care of that now). She also started day care at the end of August, and seems to be enjoying her new friends and teachers.

Hope all of you are well as you ease into September! xxx ooo eee