Birthday Girl

Marni finally attended her own birthday party (a mini-party due to Passover)! Last year's first birthday party was a bust due to Marni's nearly month-long fever.

This year she was in good health and great spirits. She even blew out her own candle.

Passover 2008

The Brooklyn Shepards and the Natick Shepards and the Salem Kennedy/Shepards all trekked to Farmington to attend the Kaplan Family Seder. The last time we attended was 2005. Pre-Marni.

The day was spent at the hotel swimming pool. Stella in water-wings and Marni in a tube. Later, Marni and mommy took a nap and Stella, Nana and I all went shopping and found a Dairy Queen.

At the Seder, Stella was super good and sat all night in a chair next to Nana Bev. Marni was good, but a handful. The chicken was good too.

Popcorn Man

This is "Popcorn Man".

An original Stella production. The materials are dry-erase marker on white board. She named it herself.

Beddy Buddy

It'll be a little more than a year since Stella graduated to her "big girl bed". Since then it has been pretty common for her to get up in the middle of the night and "request" that she come upstairs to sleep with us. This occurs usually between 1 and 3 a.m. I will hear the door open and will go down to retrieve her.

This became a regular routine during August of 2007 when she could just walk out of her room at the cottage and into our room. I would then get scared to death when I opened my eyes to find her staring at me.

When we returned to Brooklyn after Labor Day, the routine continued and I decided not to fight it. I realized that eventually she would stop doing this and I would miss having my beddy buddy.

Well... over the past few weeks Stella has begun to sleep all night in her big girl bed. It's getting more and more unusual for her to wake up and come upstairs. I miss her, but now I can cuddle with Lisa all night without a little one between us. And besides, Stella is a major snorer!

Biker Chicks

Lisa and I have each bought a new set of wheels. Bicycle wheels. These new mean-machines are tricked out with the hottest Park Slope bike accessory... kid seats!

Lisa picked up her bike yesterday and inaugurated it by riding home with Stella. Later, she gave Marni a spin around the block. Both girls loves it although Stella's first comment was that she was a little scared. Marni's first comment was one word... "faster!".

A typical night

Most of my posts deal with a special event or happening or thought. Well, what about just a regular ordinary day? What's that like?

Most week nights I get home between 6 and 6:30. The girls are usually done eating by then and are playing. When I come in they both shriek "Daddy!", run over to me, and give me a hug. Then, back to playing.

Eventually, I am down on the floor with them, roughhousing. This involves picking them up, throwing them around, chasing them, or being jumped on by them.

The video above shows a typical few minutes of activity leading up to bath time.

Overheard #5 (Stella)

Marni has a promising future as a proctologist.

When in the tub with Stella, Marni will often get a little devilish. If she is sitting down and Stella is standing next to her, Marni will sometimes attempt to stick her finger up Stella's tushie. This will, in turn, tend to make Stella jump a mile!

Stella finally tired of this and, upon becoming the victim of another Marni tushie-attack, screamed out at her "Marni! Stick your finger up your own tushie!"

Overheard #4 (Stella)

Stella's latest obsession is her height.

"Look how tall I am" she says as she stands up in front of you. "I'm getting bigger, bigger, bigger!"

"When I get this much..." (holds up 5 fingers) "...I can eat gum!"