Hey Bert!

Actually, it's the iBert. Peter recently bought a bike to ride to work and this weekend he fixed up my bike and then bought a seat for Claudia. As you can imagine, she loves it. We get a commentary of the ride - the dogs in the parks, the green lights, the water in the river. Believe it or not, it doesn't get in the way of Peter pedaling or steering.

Note the driveway - it's finally complete!

btw - clicking on most of these pictures opens a larger view of the picture...

Claudia's vocabulary is growing daily. I'm more amazed at the concepts she understands. The other day she wanted to do some painting and I asked her if she wanted me or daddy to supervise her. She said daddy, so then she went to Peter and asked "Daddy will you supervise me?"; Peter asked her what she meant by supervise and she said "Will you watch me paint?"
Her latest non-toy toy is a digital thermometer. She places it on different things (including us) and then looks at the numbers and says something like 45-6 or 55-8. It's funny!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had a small gathering of just the three of us for Thanksgiving. We had the staples: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberries and rolls. Oh, and wine. The weather was pretty nice for late November - in the low 60s. We went to the Japanese Friendship garden earlier in the afternoon to feed the koi fish and ducks. Then a nice walk around the neighborhood after dinner. Only a little bit of football. I think I'm saving my annual football viewing hours for Saturday's KU/MU game. I figure I ought to watch at least one KU football game during this odd so far undefeated season. That's assuming of course, that they show it on the west coast. Most people out here haven't heard of Kansas or Missouri.

Another nice visit from the Nelsons

The Nelsons came to visit for a couple weeks. Claudia had a great time with her Gralu and Grandpa (and likewise). They (w/ Peter) went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and to Santa Cruz to see the Monarch butterflies; and we all made a trip to the SF zoo.

Claudia really enjoyed helping Gralu make goopy rolls. The rest of us really enjoyed eating the goopy rolls.

Happy Halloween (finally!)

We only trick-or-treated up and down Cleaves but Claudia still managed to bring home lots of treats. Here she is trying out a reese's peanut butter cup. Later she ran around the house until she finally dropped.

She's a monkey...Peter pointed out later that the ears should have been more on the side of her head. She was often confused for a bear until people saw her tail. The banana she was carrying didn't last long.