Coloring Skills

Bridget got a new coloring book and some large crayola crayons about 2 weeks ago.

For the first week, all the pages she colored looked like this:


A few days ago I was cleaning up the living room and stopped in my tracks. She had left her coloring book open to the page she was last working on - where she was clearly trying to color in specific items instead of scribbling across the whole page.


What a difference a week makes, it's amazing to see her motor skills developing.

Jam Session

I was going through old emails and found these pictures from Nonna. These are all of Bridget's friends at daycare. Judging by the length of her hair and the clothes she is wearing, I think these were taken sometime in fall 2008.

Here is a picture of the Marina Daycare Band - from the left we've got Bridget, then Leanna, next is Nikki, and Mierko is on the right. In the very back in the bouncy seat is Elaina.


And here is a cute shot of Bridget and Leanna. Leanna is 3 months older than Bridget. Watching these two interact is a lot of fun - especially when they fight and then make up! If we ever have a hard time getting Bridget to come to us at the end of the day, all we have to do is ask Leanna for a hug. Bridget's competitive streak comes out and she'll come running!

The Halloween Kitty

We decided to avoid San Francisco this weekend due to the Bay Bridge closure which has backed up traffic all around the bay. Instead we stayed in Marin and took Bridget to a local mall.

She was excited to get dressed up in her "kooshka" cat costume and her trick-or-treat bag.


Our first stop was, appropriately, a pet store where our shy kitty got her first piece of candy.


She continued to be shy in other stores but she quickly realized that candy makes everything better.


Soon her confidence was up and she was getting candy left and right.


We also ran into some other "kooshkas" - Leanna and Nikki (her friends at daycare) and Nonna (her daycare provider). Unfortunately Bridget did not recognize them outside of Nonna's house. This is Leanna in the picture, along with Julie the dog, and Bridget did not know it was them!

Pixie Park Halloween Parade

(This is the first official post from Nathan's blogger profile)

Today I took Bridget to the Pixie Park Halloween Parade. It is an annual event put on by a local co-op park that our friends Whitney and Dennis belong to. This was Bridget’s first chance to make a public appearance in her "kooshka" (kitty) costume. It was a little hot so she only wore the top and not the matching pants.

















Here is Bridget posing behind the stereotypical Halloween Cat (black, just like Bridget’s cat, Panzer).

















The local Fire Department (City of Ross) was also there. Bridget was very interested in the Fire Truck.
















She also had a chance to get inside of the fire truck and they gave her a very cool City of Ross Fire Hat.
















The weather was a little warmer than expected so Bridget changed out of the kooshka costume but she kept the Fire Hat.


















Bridget then found the Sith Lord Darth Vader (AKA Finn). Finn is Whitney and Dennis' son who is almost 5, and their daughter Fiona (dressed as a purple witch) was also there. Bridget says "Finn and FEE-ona" are her "Fwends!".
























Then to complete the day there was a kid project table where Bridget created a glitter Halloween mask. Dad is still cleaning up the glitter. And when we got home mom questioned whether I took Bridget to the Halloween Parade or to San Francisco.

B is for Bridget

I realized after I wrote yesterday's post about initials that I haven't posted any pictures of my new tattoo.

When Nathan was taking the picture of it today, Bridget ran up and struck the same pose...I couldn't have staged that if I tried!

The tattoo experience happened during a work trip to Austin in September (the same trip where I got Bridget's pink boots). I never really envisioned myself getting a tattoo, mostly because I never had anything that I cared about so completely and unconditionally until our little girl showed up. But now that I have one I am really happy with it. I went with a stylized "B" for Bridget. It's a good thing it didn't hurt as badly as I anticipated - because I basically committed myself to getting another tattoo if and when we have another child!

Initials

How cute are these initials that I found on another blog?







And how serendipitous that Bridget's initials happen to all be in the same color pallette? We're thinking about transitioning Bridget out of her crib and into a toddler bed at the beginning of the year. When we do that, I will be looking for cheap ways to update the decor of her room. I'm thinking these would look really good printed and framed on the wall.

You can go here to find your own initials, almost all the letters are there now.

Stand Off

We had an epic battle of wills on Sunday morning. The issue at hand was an uneaten bite of pancake. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but we had asked B to take "just one more bite" before we got dressed and headed off to the Pumpkin Patch. She was having none of it, and it quickly became an issue of power and not just an issue of uneaten food.





Bridget is very independent, and we love that about her, but certain times we need to remind her who is in charge. The whole ordeal easily took 30 minutes. We both stood our ground, but mommy ultimately won out. Guess who Bridget ran to as soon as she finished her bite and it was all over?