Nothing makes me happier than seeing the girls be so sweet with (or about) one another. A few months ago, I wrote about how loving these sisters can be, and that behavior is certainly continuing. When I picked up Avery from Elena’s yesterday, the first thing she did when she got in the car is look at Zoe’s (empty) carseat and ask, “Where’s Sisser?” (I assured her that we were on our way to Zoe’s school.) And if Avery wakes up before her sister in the morning, she’ll point to Zoe’s door in anticipation and eventually greet her with a big hug – like below.

-M

The other night, Zoe and I were chatting and somehow found our way to talking about God. When I asked her what she thought God looked like she told me:

Well, I think he is a big round magical ball that no one can see. And he can look at us, so he must have an eye. Actually, he has a second eye but there is a patch over it. So actually God is a pirate.

I can totally see it!

-Jon Q

It’s official: I’m a San Franciscan. That’s what went through my head yesterday afternoon, when I encouraged the family to go to the zoo in the rain. (“Oh, it’s just drizzling,” I told Q.) I used to hate being out in the rain/fog/cool air, but after 13 years in the Bay Area I guess I’ve gotten used to the grey, 55-degree days. And my kids – true San Francisco natives – are fine with them, too!

-M

As I’ve referenced in my last few updates, Avery’s favorite thing in the world is her little baby doll. (The doll was actually a gift to Zoe from her Florida relatives, but Zoe has graciously allowed her sister to adopt it.) On any given day, Avery can be seen strolling, carrying around, hugging, kissing, feeding or reading to her doll, and her new thing is to go through the house calling, “Ba-bee, where are you?” when her doll’s whereabouts are unknown.

Here are a few shots of Avery and her BFF from this weekend.

-M

Zoe, Zander and Miles don’t get together as often as they used to, but we still have the occasional playdate – like on this past Friday, when Zoe’s school was closed and the boys came over. Zoe was incredibly high-energy, but Avery was a bit more tentative: holding on to me for most of the morning, and refusing to smile during a mini photo-shoot. But she showed little hesitation when it came to eating a chocolate cupcake – a little treat in honor of Xavier’s recent birthday.

-M

Dan stopped by to watch Zoe for me the other day, and Zoe later reported that they played “baby” together. From the looks of a picture he texted me, though, they also made time for making funny faces!

-M

Zoe said a few things this weekend that made me and Q laugh out loud. Saturday night at dinner, Zoe announced, somewhat out of the blue, that a girl in her class was allergic to cats. Then, a few minutes later, she innocently said, “I don’t eat cats.” Q and I had to fight back our smiles as we explained that you can be allergic to things in the air (like cat hair), not just things that you eat.

Then when she was drawing a butterfly the next night, she said she was going to give it a nose and nostrils. “Nostrils are silly,” she commented, and I followed up by asking if she knew what nostrils were for. I was hoping she would say they’re used for breathing; instead, she responded, “For holding boogers.”

-M

Much to my unhappiness, Avery was given a lollipop as we left the carnival this past weekend. (I try to keep this stuff away from her – there’s no way I would have let Zoe have a lollipop as a toddler – but it’s hard to do when there’s an older sibling around. Not to mention a more-relaxed dad.) On our car ride home, I tried to take the half-eaten treat away from her – with no success. First she whined and pulled her hand away; after watching me try a few more times, she decided it was a game and broke into a big smile.

Please tell me how I can take anything away from this face!

-M

Because I had to work on Friday, I took today off. My plan was to spend the day with Avery – if it wasn’t raining we were going to meet friends at a playground and then have brunch and do some shopping. Sounded pretty great – but someone had other plans for me. When Zoe got home from the carnival yesterday, she said she had a sore throat – and it turned out she had a fever, too. Obviously she wasn’t going to go to school today.

And, so, I cancelled my plans, dropped off Avery at Elena’s (in an effort to keep her away from Zoe and hopefully prevent her from getting sick) and came home to be with Zoe this morning. I was a little bummed about the prospect of doing so last night (kids have a way of ruining plans, I grumpily – and selfishly – thought), but Q put me in my place. Spending the day with your daughter is never a bad thing, he told me – even if it isn’t exactly how you had planned it.

He was totally right, of course.

Instead of the playground, brunch and shopping, my itinerary today included a movie, art projects, books – and a whole lot of mom-daughter bonding. Zoe is a really easy patient (this girl does not take after her mom when it comes to tolerating pain – that’s for sure!), and I’ve actually had a really enjoyable day. Zoe and I rarely get to spend a Monday together, and so I’ve embraced our time together – and I’ll worry about rescheduling my (er, I mean, Avery’s) playdate for another day.

-M

Zoe and Avery got dressed up as princesses – again – for Zoe’s school Purim Carnival yesterday. Among the highlights: the weather (somewhat miraculously, considering what it’s been like here lately, the sun came out), the craft room (where the girls made crowns and ties), and Zoe’s friend Leo, who came up from Palo Alto to join her at the event.

-M

As Q mentioned below, a big work event prevented me from going to the Purim celebration at Zoe’s school yesterday. (“I’ll think about you during school today, Mommy,” Zoe told me as I left the house. Sniff, sniff.) I asked Q to take a lot of photos, and he delivered – but my first thought when seeing the one in her costume was, “For real? Zoe looks like she’s ten years old in that picture!”

Can someone please tell me when my baby turned into such a big girl?!

-M

If Avery is anything like her sister (who loves these quarterly milestones), she must be excited that she’s officially one-and-three-quarters today!

What she’s like these days? Very communicative. Though she still isn’t as verbal as I remember Zoe being, Avery has no trouble telling us what she wants (there’s a lot of hand-grabbing/pulling and pointing going on, especially in the kitchen) – and she has picked up quite a few new words (like “apple,” which is what she stubbornly calls oranges) and phrases since my last update. She’s often waving/saying bye to things (“Bye-bye, birdie,” we hear a lot, and “Bye-bye, sisser” is what she says to Zoe when we arrive at Elena’s each morning), and when she thinks it’s time to leave the house, she’ll grab our coat or shoes and call out to us, “Let’s go!” She often pats the seat next to her and tells me or Q, “Sit down!” When she drops or can’t find something, she’ll look at us, throw up her hands and ask, “Where go?” and when she’s done drawing, she’ll wave the piece of paper in front of us and say, “Ta-da!”

Speaking of drawing, she has a real fondness for scribbling and making “pictures,” and Elena sends her home with little crafts – usually smiley faces or little animals glued onto popsicle sticks – at least once a week. (She’s obviously very proud of her work; whenever I pick her up, she takes my hand, walks me to over to where they’re hanging and points up). Other favorite things: playing with her baby (whom she often feeds and even reads to), reading her numbers book (she takes particular delight from the page of ten babies), and literally doing whatever her sister is doing. She’s also, as mentioned earlier, very into birds – whenever she spots one outside or through the car window, it’s quite the event.

More good stuff: She’s still very loving, especially with her sister, and each night before it’s time for bed she runs up to Zoe for a hug. She continues to come out of her shell and get comfortable with others, too. Dan and Jenny babysat last weekend and said she was fairly easy, and she has become quite friendly with several teachers at Zoe’s school – even giving one a hug recently. (“She likes you, Mary,” I told her. “Avery doesn’t just hug anyone!”)

The not-so-good stuff: She can be quite the little diva, crying and acting out in dramatic fashion if she doesn’t get what she wants or if we don’t understand what she’s trying to tell us. Her new thing is to go to the corner, arch her back and stick out her stomach and full-on pout when she’s unhappy. She’s also been throwing things a lot more often – which has earned her a few one-minute time-outs in her crib. The only good thing: She knows what she’s doing is wrong, and she always picks up what she threw after her time-out is up and we’ve talked with her.

In terms of physical stuff, she is the height (35.5 inches) that Zoe was when she was two. (We had an official measurement this morning – see below.) Her eyes are still dark grey and her hair – which we so patiently waited to come in – is delightfully curly. I am officially the only straight-haired girl in the family!

-M

This morning Zoe got to dress up and celebrate Purim at her preschool. Mommy had a big event at work so Daddy got to attend on his own. If you remember, last year Zoe dressed up as a cat but this year she went as a little princess for the festivities. Check her out below…

Jon Q

Our not so little princess on the way to school:

Princess arriving to class:

The Purim march:

Princess sitting with friends:

A few recent photos that haven’t made it to the site…

-M

It’s always nice to hear your baby say “Mama,” but in recent weeks Avery’s use of the word has made me especially happy. She started saying it differently – her voice rising on the second syllable, as if she was asking a question – and find it I terribly sweet-sounding.

We were fooling around with the camera while in the car the other day, and I was lucky enough to get this new “Ma-ma” on video. When Zoe saw the end result, she agreed it was cute; “She just wants to make a song of you,” she said.

-M