Hey there Peanut –

You had a jam-packed day of adventures today! We started this beautiful sunny and seventies day at Rochester’s Public Market. Even though most of Rochester had the same idea, we had a great time buying all kinds of fresh, locally-grown fruits and veggies: grapes, blackberries, apples, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, rhubarb, cherries, brocoli and some homemade bread and wheat rolls. You taste-tested many of these things as we walked! : )

After we got home, you and Daddy headed out to your Gymboree class. I think because it was both Memorial Day weekend as well as a beautiful day, you had the WHOLE place to yourself. You helped throw the parachute up and down with Daddy and the teacher.

After a 1.5 hr nap, we headed out to our first family trip to Seneca Park Zoo. We saw leopards, owls, eagles, wallabees, wolves, an ocelot, lizards, polar bears, tigars, cougars, monkeys, a rhino and penguins… just to name a few. Your face as you watched these amazing creatures was priceless!! It could be best described as “AWE.”

With huge eyes and a growing smile, you watched as the tiger eat a HUGE piece of meat. The elephants were definitely a hit with you, but hands down, your favorite animal was the sea lion.


You watched it under water in a gallery for a long time. It would swim RIGHT by you and make you jump, and after you realized what had happened, you would giggle. We kept trying to entice you away to see other animals, but you did not want to leave.

We had some snacks before we left and then headed for a quick shopping trip. After that, we ate out at a Red Robin. By the time we drove home, we were all POOPED!

Happy Dreams Baby Girl! Thanks so much for all the adventures of the day!
I love you Peanut,
*Mommi

Today was your two-year old doctor’s appointment.

You are right on track!

Weight: 26.8 pounds
Height: 33.75 inches
Head size: 47.75 inches

You stood by the wall to have your height measured like a BIG Girl!! And you were so great about letting the physician’s assitant listen to your heart, check out your ears, and look in your mouth.

The only big changes include a switch from whole milk to skim, drinking more out of a big girl cup, and a bedtime routine that involves a slightly more limited amount of Mommy/Daddy snuggle time so you can do it by yourself.

You are growing up BEAUTIFULLY!! Nice work!

Today we continued our celebration of your birthday… We had a VERY busy day!

We started by heading over to Aunti Judi’s and Uncle Jim’s for a photo shoot – A New York Times phonotogrpher took pictures of our friend Laura taking pictures of you. They are doing a story on amateur photographers. The story is expected to appear in the business section of Sunday’s paper… we’ll have to keep an eye out.

As a bonus, the St Patrick’s Day parade went right down the street outside Judi & Jim’s new home. We got to watch it from their balcony!! You loved waving to everyone… so much so that you continued to wave to everyone you saw on our drive home! 🙂

When you woke up from your nap, your house was full of people here to celebrate your birthday! We had a wonderful time finger painting…




And eating pizza and ice cream cake…


Opening presents…

And laughing!!



You openend a gift box from your Grandparents Tatro – how fun! We watched your new Elmo video and headed to bed. After a half hour of snuggles, you crashed.

Can you tell from the pictures that you had a wonderful day?!? Like Daddy said, I think this special time with your friends was the best present we could give you!
I love you Peanut Butter!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday our Miss Maya!
Happy Birthday to you!

You had wonderful phone calls and greetings from so many people who love you to pieces!! As one example, Mark and Bi sang you a wonderful birthday serenade/cheer in Portugese.

What a wonderful day we had together! Let’s see… here are the highlights:

1. Mango for breakfast and present-opening from Grandma & Grandpa and Auntie Amy and family…





2. Playtime with your friends at daycare

baby in a box

3. I brought in all the fixings to make homemade mini-pizzas as a celebratory lunch. Daddy made the dough last night. Thank you Daddy!

[We had a practice round for the pizza-making last Sunday – What a great time! Check out our first family homemade pizza:

4. After a good 2-hour nap, Daddy and I picked you up, and we all went swimming at the YMCA. We had the WHOLE pool to ourselves! We giggled and played and had an awesome time!

5. After quick baths, we went to Friendly’s for your birthday dinner: mac & chees, “franks,” applesauce, corn, pear and milk. And, of course, ice cream!


Many times today, people asked you hold old you are. You proudly said “TWO!” and held up one finger. At dinner, you practiced holding up two fingers. It was so wonderful to watch you work so hard to learn:

6. Then, since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to stop by Barnes & Noble to play with the choo choo train and see if they had the new VeggieTales lullibye CD. They DID! And it was much cheaper than we expected. AAAND it happended to be STORYTIME! You sat in the middle of the stage until it got started… The 20-30 people sitting around the stage looking up and you didn’t seem to bother you. I think you are going to be one fantastic public speaker!

We got to hear two readers read two stories:
Pirates Don’t Change Diapers
by Melinda Long, David Shannon (Illustrator)

Bubble Bath Pirates
by Jarrett Krosoczka

And we sang songs!
And we made a treasure map!

7. We came home and read some of your new books, listened to your new nighttime CD, and crashed!

What a WONDERFUL day!

Check out the great time you and your friends had making pretzels at school!

When I came home from work on Friday, you greeted me at the door with giggles and kicks and an enthusiastic presentation of this sign. What a GREAT DAY!!

I found out Friday that I was selected as a Knowles Foundation Young Scholars Research Fellow. It basically means that my research proposal was chosen, and this group is going to give me $110,000 to do my work. They will also provide me some great mentorship along the way. I will be released from teaching responsibilities for the 2007-08 school year. I am SO excited, so grateful!

Thanks for the wonderful, enthusiastic celebration, Peanut!! Life is so fun with you!!

Happy Valentine’s Day Peanut!

Check out today’s weather report:

February 14, 2007 8:26 pm — Mother nature’s Valentine’s Day gift to Rochester today was snow and more snow, accompanied by traffic delays, airport lines and a lot of shoveling.

As a result, daycare was cancelled and I got BONUS TIME WITH MY BABY!! How cool is that?!?!

Here is a quick summary of our wonderful day:
First, you and I shopped for balloons to surprise Daddy when he went to work tonight. After we shared some yogurt and other breakfast foods we bundled up for our adventure at the Strong Museum. We had the WHOLE museum ALL TO OURSELVES. I counted 4 other kids in the whole place when we got there. They were having a Valentine’s Day celebration – a big doggie called “Biscuit” (much bigger than Mommy), many different games, special arts and crafts, and the coolest thing ever – the (REAL) post office was there. We decorated a postcard for Daddy and the post office woman put a stamp on it and postmarked it right then and there! This is how the museum described the day’s events:

14 Wednesday—Valentine’s Day Party, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s puppy love! Meet Biscuit, the beloved canine from the popular children’s books. Hear Biscuit’s Valentine’s Day and other tales of love at 11 a.m., 12 noon, and 1 p.m. Play special Valentine-themed games; create a Valentine’s Day collage; and have your face painted with hearts, puppies, bunnies, and more. Decorate a postcard for your sweetheart and have it stamped and mailed by the U.S. Post Office.

You wanted a heart “tatoo” but you couldn’t bring yourself to it… You wanted Mommy to get this one to see what it was like.

You played a game in which you threw small basketballs into a basket and amazed everyone. You have amazing coordination for your age! It was fun to watch you! I think you made 5 baskets out of 6 tries (maybe it was 6 out of 7). Impressive – better than I could’ve done.




We came home and had lunch. I had to go into work when you went down for your nap. When you woke up, you and your Daddy played with play dough, magnets and your new Valentine’s Day book. I came home and we all went out to play in the snow a bit. You and I giggled and giggled – and we went over to say Hey to our neighbor Susie. After dinner we opened our Valenine’s day box from Grandma and Grandpa Tatro, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to open the box from Grandma and Grandpa Luehmann as Daddy had to run off to work.

KO la Kok!

This was the wonderful pillow Grandma & Grandpa L sent you – you love it!

After dinner, you and I played upstairs and you made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt. What a wonderful day!!

I love you my little Valentine!

Thankgiving Day 2006
We got to help Auntie Judi and Uncle Jim’s cristen their new home. What a treat!

Who was all there? Besides Uncle Jim, Auntie Judi and their son CJ (and dog Madison), Eleana (a graduate student at Warner) and her husband, Jarod, Bee and her mother, Marie, Raffaella and her two sons, Luca and Madeu and the three of us!

We had turkey and tofu, tons of vegetables, and many different kinds of deserts! You played with everyone there!

You, Daddy & I made:
*2 cranberry cakes
*2 apple pies, and
*13 creme brulee deserts for Thanksgiving!! Whew!!

And then we had a little non-cooking fun: