Ursula at 17-21 months- enjoy!
To return to Ursula's current pictures click on the bear.

June 21 Ursa (she has started to correct us ... I guess Ursula has too many syllables) discovered the salty pleasures of the deli pickle this week after spurning them for an entire month. And for the time being everything tastes better with a fork - even grapes, which need to be forcibly threaded onto the tines. Her universal request phrase is "Nummy, nummy, nummy?!!"[s]

"All I remember was getting drunk on apple juice and Botan rice candy and I woke up this morning with a tattoo of this here monster truck. Right here. On my tummy"

Brave, brave Grampa Jerry loans his glasses to Ursula.

Grampa points out the boats cruising past the Spinnaker at dinner.

Methodically trying on all the sunglasses within her reach for an entire half hour ...

Ursula rehydrates before exploring her nudist tendencies at Tilden Park.

June 7 I read somewhere that the beach would be more fun if I can engage my toddler in collecting interesting objects in a bucket. So we were at the beach today and Ursula was losing rocks left and right from her bulging fists. And there I was offering a bucket, pleading, ooo look at this awesome bucket, look! I can put rocks in the bucket and carry the whole thing! I was entirely unsuccessful. [s]

Burying a foot in the sand at Muir Beach after dumping a few scoops into her lap (in other words, straight into her diaper).

Practicing spelling "Ursa" with charcoal on the rocks.

June 6 Yep, we been married 3 years now...and with baby #2 on the way this leads us to the scary conclusion that we'll have approx. 8 kids at our 10 year mark. (we're kidding)

We celebrated the traditional anniversary gift of leather in the most San Franciscan style...(not that, dirty mind)...Susan made me an Ipod Case :)

We're back from the Zoo...it was a free day and we almost wish we had shelled out the cash on the normal day. Thousands of kids screaming, running and bumping. Ursula really enjoyed all the excitement and was completely at ease in the petting zoo. Other kids left balling and screaming scared from the goats and sheep, but Ursula acted like a trooper; even pretending to care that the overweight animals NEEDED to eat. [e]


"Here you go, Mr. Hungry Alpaca. You must be starving"


"come here kitty, kitty, kitty" (these are meerkats)


Meerkat hangin out at the beach


mating season for the penguins...they must be showing off for the gals?!


"Oh no, that's a big lion"


Ma puhs (purse)


nice photo from mom taken at the Conservatory


Learning how to walk down stairs like a big girl. (note:showing baby #2 on mom)

June 2 Whenever we get out of the shower....Ursula goes into the chant "I'm naked, I'm naked!!"...hopefully she'll drop this line in the presence of others...[e]


Veggie Corndog! (yes, we must be overly supporting the corn/soybean industrial subsidy complex)...if you want to see the future of cheap gasoline...rent this depressing video "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash"

No, this isn't a Richard Serra in our living room. Ursula loved her new box so much we let her play in it before a bath...she went inside and went potty. Hence, we are air drying before we further recycled it.

May 27 Run Puku Run! Ursula has found what she calls our cat's "belly button" and we are alarmed (she likes to poke at our true belly buttons). We resorted to locking him in other rooms and are concerned, what if this new discovery has been occuring for a couple of days? Hoping this trend goes away quickly...

Check out some new videos (corn) and (shapes) [e]

May 24 Ursula gets very excited about "cake" (pancakes), which she pronounces in her best southern-belle accent. She also loves to run around Home Depot shrieking, with terrified parents trying to steer her away from oncoming loads of 2x4s and people sawing plywood in half.

We are so desperate to hear her say that she loves us that we are prompting her word for word. The handy thing about this age is that she will dutifully repeat everything, even "I" ... "love" ... "you." [s]

Attractions: kites, wind surfers, and a mouthful of sand.

"These keys must fit in here somewhere ..."

We found excellent Vietnamese food on Clement street.

May 21 Gosh, I can't stand bad webhosting companies. Yes, we haven't had access for a couple of weeks and apologize for not being able to give you pictures and words.

Ursula has turned into a little wordsmith. Her latest accomplishments include: cloud, sky, airplane, moon, sun, triangle, circle, square, red, blue, pooiiple, yellow, green etc.

She loves screaming BUS! whenever she sees an SUV (which is every five seconds). Also fun is to slap mom in the face...we have no idea how to stop this... [e]


Corn!


Ursula spotted the Rabbit in this interesting sculpture at the CCA MFA show.


Photomontage crazy!


She liked this installation a little too much


All ready for a studio visit...

May 10 A couple mornings ago Ursula's temperature sky-rocketed and she had a febrile seizure. In a panic we took her to the ER where she underwent all sorts of unpleasant tests, eventually revealing that she was fine. Or at least had an undetectable virus and a new phobia of doctors. Apparently febrile seizures in 1-5 year-olds are pretty harmless, except to parent psyches. It was the first time I'd been conscious in an ambulance and I kept alternating between frantic concern for my baby and "darn, I forgot the camera."

We are thankful for the information that the ER doc and pediatrician gave us and hopeful that Ursula's new stethoscope will change her mind about doctors. She's already been checking her bear's ears with a flashlight. We later had a conversation about how we were so scared *-*-*-*-l-e-s-s, to which Ursula sang out "ABCs!" Now I'm just hoping that the alphabet doesn't start out with an "s" and an "h."

Ursula is fascinated with the burping phenomenon so we are now campaigning to introduce "excuse me" into her vocabulary. Most of the time she just tries to fake a burp and then announces it proudly, insistently, until we notice and acknowledge it. I swear that is not what her parents do.

We are having all sorts of conversations. Yesterday it was,
S: Do you want to go get daddy in the car?
U: No.
S: You want to read that book instead? (Good to Great - business management ... not exactly filled with pictures)
U: *giggle* (that means yes - she spent about a half hour clutching and perusing that book, in the car, on the way to get daddy) [s]

After a brief conversation (in Babblese) the panda bear and rooster chicken decide to "hug!" ... and then "kiss!"

May 4 Our apologies for not updating this week. Ursula is taking her college finals and doesn't have time to update. Actually, that story is partially correct...
She was leaving the college library yesterday afternoon with mom and overhead a student conversation. Needless to say, Ursula now has perfect diction and context for the word 'fahk'. Dad takes total blame for introducing this word into the house...Ursula was on top of another table and mom gently placed her on the floor...she replied 'fahk, fahk, fahkkkk'

More pictures and videos after school is over...we promise [e]

April 27 We are very disappointed to report that Ursula has learned how to use a zipper. We know that a number of other toddlers her age reached this milestone earlier, but we were particularly happy to have at least one tool to keep her separated from danger and mischief. At about 11:58am yesterday instead of carrying her pouch of crayons over to mama for help opening it, she figured she'd just try the zipper. Today she gleefully unzippered her Travel Pouch 'O Goodies. I now have to rethink my entire purse since my Tylenol, coins, and chapstick are no longer safe inside their zippered compartments. [s]

We have 3-d scans of Ursula's little sister this time.

April 22 We took a drive up to the Headlands and had a screaming baby at the open house. Needless to say we didn't see everything and scampered back to a Mall; a place where babies and breeders are most welcome.

We think there's a pheromone released by the Container Store...it attracts parents looking for quick fixes to for the dirty house. We're hooked- just like we were addicted to Ikea (before babies). Hopefully it's a couple of more years til' hobbling into the Cracker Barrel. [e]


aah, a summer wheat beer!


Ursula finds dad's new art project


payback sucks...after wooing and smiling when she played with the spices months ago...we are paying the price this week. Here she opened the container herself and dumps a large container of Ginger into make believe stir-fry. She's also gotten to the bayleaves, basil, allspice.

April 15 Besides repeating Every word from us...she has taken up climbing up any type of furniture. A bloody lip didn't stop her from later identifying a 'triangle' for the first time today. She also knows her circles, squares and purses (pusses). Daddy has finally 'been' allowed to comfort her when she gets a booboo...an even better comfort is a rice crispy treat!

Happy Nor'easter...to our friends and family back east. It was a little chilly today at 60 degrees. [e]


A good place for a nap


She got really frightened on the swing (is this a trend with toddlers?)


She refused to crawl through the Gaussian Blur.


"Thanks mom and dad, I needed special day at the park"


Ursula can crawl up onto the couch on her own now, which really gives us the willies. One arm rest is particularly appealing as a launch pad. But usually she likes to just scoot onto the seat and proclaim herself an adult, which is pretty much what's going on here.

Easter Brunch at the Hotel Nikko with family. Ursula takes a sticker break with a set the credit card company was thoughtful enough to send along. One mini credit card even had a ladybug!

April 8 The Easter Bunny visited and left a number of plastic eggs full of raisins and cheerios for Ursula. It didn't take her long to figure the game out and she was looking for eggs for the rest of the day. We then told her about symbolism of rabbits and superfetation, but it just wasn't as interesting as Plastic Eggs! That open! That have treats!

We then got gussied up and had a wonderful brunch at the Hotel Nikko with family. We don't get many chances to put a dress on Ursula and had our oh-my-gosh-toddlers-are-so-cute-in-dresses moment. Thanks for inviting us Aunt Nancy! [s]

On the hunt for eggs.

Ursula tries to figure out how to open one of the eggs. The cheerios and raisins around her are evidence of other successful egg investigations.

"Oh, is that what I did when I tried to draw with Elmo?" (it wiped off...thankfully)


She likes to arrange the groceries


Two pacifiers are better than one

April 2 It is an indignity that no pregnant woman should be subjected to. My husband is on a diet. So in the morning when he hops on the scale to see how much he's dropped, I hop on the scale to see my poundage inching up toward his - my shorter, less muscular poundage - soon to surpass his. Keep in mind that my husband is a man that has historically lost weight on his fabled Krispey Kreme diet - meaning that's all he had to cut out of his daily regimen. This time he is successfully losing weight stocked up on Easter candy and weekly pints of Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. He's 34. He's past the age when that should be possible. It's not fair. [s]

You may be wondering why these photos always show Ursula on daddy's back. Well, for one thing the backpack carrier makes, er, my butt look big. And it also slows me down to a slug's pace. Eric turns into a golden retriever excitedly bounding up and down the trail. Taking off that pack is like giving him a shot of espresso while chained to a slug. Within about ten minutes he begs to put the pack back on just so that we can go faster. So there you have it - I'm usually entrusted with the water, snacks, jackets, and camera, while Eric saunters up the trail at a human pace with Ursula singing about "buggies" (ladybugs). I'm pretty sure that by the time I'm 7 months pregnant we'll have to find an extra toddler to strap to his back to slow him down to my speed. [s]

On a trail break at Point Reyes Ursula decides to pretend she's a deer, hidden in the forest ... but we still manage to find her. It must be the navy peacoat.

The start of today's trail featured a log favored by sunbathing alligator lizards.

Momma's computer screen after Ursula discovered how to climb up and stand on the chair, repeatedly stabbing the keyboard.

March 30 OMG school's almost done and the whole family can get a camping trip in. With #2 (we don't have a nickname for the upcoming baby) on the way, we feel the need to camp once before we are homebound with the newborn pattern starting all over again. Repeat after me: eat, pee, poop, sleep, cry, eat, pee...

Ursula is beginning to throw some cute sentences together. "I am a cow" and 'That's big apple"...are a couple of memorable ones. She has also learned to drag her little chair over for a step-stool. This is how she can reach the unsafe objects on the tables. {e}

Eric discovered a way to dissaude Ursula from eating the catfood. One of his coffeebeans had fallen to the floor and sure enough, Ursula came across it, thinking it was contraband catfood. From the other room we heard her quietly sneaking around the kitchen then suddenly sobs and "ick! ick!" She ran out the kitchen spitting bits of coffeebean out of her mouth, nearly inconsolable. [s]


Single white female looking for hunting partner and friend to enjoy the outdoors...


"I always knew I could find you out there...my new hunting buddy" (we don't really hunt, but are considering taking up fishing [s])


This picture was on the camera...file under "my wife is weird"


Ursula inspects the trail at the Mt. Burdell Open Space Preserve (here's the trail map - we didn't make the whole 1600' elevation gain ...)

You can see the fog we escaped from San Francisco encroaching on our hike.

The agony and the ecstasy of the crayon.

Although Ursula really enjoyed this meal she was giving garlic kisses for two days.

Mar 19 Dad's laptop is RIP. It survived among many things- Ursula pouring coffee into the keyboard, several wonderful innovative PC viruses, dust from woodshop in Montana, a couple of small drops in backpack at airports, two dead RAM chips, a refurbishment, and about 75,000 chess games. We'll miss the old boy. The story is another way of saying that updates on this site will be postponed for at least a week. Sorry! ...

Mar 14 We are just tuckered out...too much walking around. We took a short excursion to the Coast Trail up from the famous Cliff House...and we got seduced by seeing dolphins and headed down 500 stairs to the beach. Ursula had a blast with all the sand and rocks. And we found more of the beach when we stripped her down for bedtime...

She is learning her letters and numbers quite quickly. We could guess that she can verbalize half of the alphabet with her plastic and foam letters'...walking in Target this morning...she spontaneously yells "eight! eight!". Sure enough, there was '.88' on a little sign. [e]


Picking some rosemary for dinnner


Doing the fashion show with her new petticoat...the cat and her ran in and out of the tent all morning


Please send spelunking equipment in case we get lost in this new 4/6 person tent. {Eric is trying to cope with his big-tent-phobia - feel free to share any stories you have on why a family of 4 might want a larger tent, at least for a few years, than our old 2-person half-dome [s] }



44 Years ago, Alfred Hitchcock was probably shooting a scene for The Birds on this exact spot. (we ate fish for dinner just in case)


Ursula plays the game, "Where did Ursula go?"..."There she is!"...she actually shortens the game into "Go" and "She-ass".


Walking slowly around the fountain at the Inn at Occidental


Ursula didn't quite like this young Bassist's riffs at the Critter Cafe in Canyon, CA....a shout out to Miss Adeline!


Our little town, so small, so delicate.

Mar 10 Happy birthday Mimi and mommy! Ursula wishes her best to your special day. Our household is close to snot-free after recycling the cold that is a real hit across college campuses. Spring Break is here and we can finally get outside and let Ursula see some nature. She is going stir-crazy and has learned to RUN down the hallway full speed.

Don't forget daylight savings...which must be the silliest invention...do you think toddlers and milking cows could care about the time switch? [e]


A new hike and Ursula gets a chance to play with some new rocks on top of Mt. Tamalpais.


Rocks are still winning over vistas.


Ursula, you are "on notice"!

Mar 4 Big cold with no sleep. And this weekend is the best weather ever. Ursula is a faucet of snot with rotations of eating, sleeping and complaining. She would only sleep if on mommy's chest....making the evening easy for one of us. We took a nice family hike up to the Sibley Volcanic Preserve...Ursula even had the chance to hike and scramble herself- although she stopped and played with rocks a little too often. [e]


Morning sickness all around...


Mile long stare as some friendly dogs come over the hill

This is the part we miss when hiking without a toddler ... those incredibly fascinating rocks. Future geologist inspects either chunks of lava from this ancient volcanic area ... or gravel trucked in for the path.


Bar the windows...here comes Paleolithic Girl. During this photo she was shrieking rock! Rock!


We thought this was a good spot to stop to look for the Teletubbies. But Ursula decided the rocks were more interesting.

Feb 27 New attempts by Ursula in counting and singing her ABC's (abc video)


She was excited to have a big supply of rocks to throw...(don't worry, dad is just off to the side and will take the blame when she breaks your window)

Feb 23 Ursula's favorite new song is What I Like About You by The Romantics because it has a good dance beat. Der Kommissar is pretty good too. I Know What Boys Like by The Waitresses and Da Da Da by Trio are a little tougher to dance to, but I Want Candy apparently rocks. ... her mother has been downloading cheesy high school music on iTunes. [s]


General Electric helps out in several aspects of society from polluting the Hudson River- to building triggers for nuclear bombs- to taking baby pictures- isn't their slogan "We bring good things to life"?
Gramma Kay asked why our expected baby is smoking cigarettes in the above picture...


She placed her animals in the back-pack...just in case she wanted them for the afternoon hike.

Feb 19 With a sprint she ran towards the ocean and dad was barely fast enough to stop her from having a big 'bath'. Ursula was screaming doggy all afternoon after seeing a dozen canines jumping in the ocean near the Golden Gate. It took a while to get all the sand out of her diaper and feel bad for the itch she must of endured in the car ride home.

Oh yeah, we are expecting another baby in September...yes, mom is having extra morning sickness and wondering if the stories are true that it could mean a boy or twins...(oh boy) [e]


On the wrong side of the wall...'I hear doggies and water'


"Dirty....Dirty..." well, we have her trained to think dirt is not a pleasant thing...she finally gets her chance to play with the Kitty Litter.


And she gets bored and makes a run for it...


Just in time...


Ok, we have to keep the bathroom doors shut now...


Did you miss the last couple weeks of pictures?