9

Talia turned 9 months yesterday.
To celebrate, she started by standing up
in her crib to greet Mom and Dad. That
was a first.
For breakfast, she enjoyed fruit with bits of
muesli, a No. 3 food. Another first. Because
Talia knows the importance of chewing well,
the meal took a bit longer than usual, but, as
you can see, it was a big hit.


After a bit of shopping, Talia had lunch at Pin Kaow.
What a great place. They offered her some milk but
Talia decided to stick with her apple juice.

Later, when Talia got sleepy, they played a soothing lullaby
to calm her. The food was good, too.

Back home, Talia put on her first pair of walking shoes...


... and gave them a test run.
"Are they still on down there?"


Those shoes go well with her basic blue.


When Dad arrived home, Mom made
a special cake to celebrate. Rum raisin,
sure to be one of Talia's favorites.
[Ed. note. Yummy!] They saved you a piece.

Holiday Outing

A brand new park opened just down the road last week, so
Talia went by yesterday to check it out.
It's a huge park; two baseball diamonds, two soccer fields,
four tennis courts, two basketball courts. And even a
horseshoe pitch. Undoubtedly, Talia will be using
all those facilities in due time. But this day, there
were other points of interest.

In the big kids' (2 to 5 years) area, there's a neat slide.
The adults (more than 5 years) expressed some concern,
so Dad and Talia inspected it from just one end...


... while Talia greeted her public.


There is also this cool Splash Pad with
water shooting up and falling down from
just about everywhere.


The adults thought the water might be
too cold (are you seeing a pattern here?) ...


... so Dad and Talia wandered through it
without getting (too) wet.


The adults were OK with the
swings, so here, Talia got the full ride.


Actually, this was Talia's second time on a swing.
The first time was about two months ago. The moment
was captured by Cousin Anjelica. (Thanks, girl!)


Then, Talia challenged her Dad to a game
of tic-tac-toe*.


Whew! Time to relax a bit in the shade
with Mom.


Hope everyone had a great holiday.

* The game was delayed for a while when
it was discovered that, even on tip toe, Talia
couldn't quite reach the top row.

Talia Gets Ink

It's getting hot here; over 100 for a couple of days now. No problem
for Talia. She just heads out for a shady block party in her new,
svelte stroller


Mom, Dad, Mami and Papi were there, as well
as a purple dinosaur which is NOT Barney.


Talia made new friends. Here she is with Kathleen.
Love those earrings.


And this is Heidi. She has four boys
but is popular with the girls, too.


And Talia had fun with all the activities. She
went on the Dino Bounce, in Dad's arms.


She got her first tattoo (which came off in the pool,
darn it, as you'll see later).


She got a balloon dog. And tried to improve it
just a bit.


Now this photo is significant because we don't have
lots of grass over here and this was the first time
Talia had a chance to inspect it up close. Softer than
the carpet, with lots of blades to explore.


Then, back home to cool off on the newly
christened SS Talia. She loves the water and
gleefully approved this vessel.


Her little, uh, make that muscular, legs were
churning at top speed under the water. But she
still had energy for plenty laughing and
splashing.


"Now, bring me that horizon!"

Mother's Day

"Wishing all my Moms a great day"
Talia Pearl