Happy holidays!

It's been a while since our last update, and Leila's been very busy. Here's a brief summary of her past month:

Buying garlic in action at the Wegman's in the Strong Children's museum. In Rochester, we are REALLY devoted to our local grocery store, and train kids young:



We had 15 people over for Thanksgiving. Leila particularly liked all the cranberry sauces.





Tryptophan!!!



Uncle David and Aunt Lauren!





Distributing rocks as presents at the Highland Park Conservatory:



Mommy and Daddy pretending to be adults for once at a Rochester Amerks game (amazingly, they won!):



Join us tomorrow for the continuation of a neverending series of many, many pictures of snow!



----------------
Now playing: Adam Sandler - The Chanukah Song
via FoxyTunes

A snowy Thanksgiving. . .

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and hope all of you enjoyed the holiday as well. Rochester had its first significant snow fall this week; snow materializes every time we host Thanksgiving. Today's pics will be posted shortly, but here are some from our recent trip to NJ:









----------------
Now playing: Dan Bern - Thanksgiving Day Parade
via FoxyTunes

Leila's feeling blue

Well, actually, she helped Mommy and Daddy vote Blue, helping to pull the lever as we voted in a new President (and a new Representative in Congress as well...). Here's a shot of the happy family after Leila's second major act of voter fraud.



Note Leila's sticker:



She voted in the presidential primary as well, in case you were wondering.

----------------
Now playing: Lyle Lovett - Election Day
via FoxyTunes

Wake her up when September ends

Leila has been enjoying October, as evidenced by the leaf-gathering exploits we showed you in the last post. Here's some video from the past month, featuring additional cuteness...

Baby, you can drive YOUR car

Asked a girl what she wanted to be

She said baby, can't you see

I wanna be famous, a star on the screen

But you can do something in between



I told that girl I can start right away

When she said listen babe I got something to say

I got no car and it's breaking my heart

But I found a driver and that's a start



----------------
Now playing: The Beatles - Drive My Car
via FoxyTunes

Halloween is almost here and Leila has already attended her first costume party:











We went to synagogue to celebrate Sukkot. We made pizzas and ate them in the Sukkah and Leila and Josh got a chance to shake the Lulav and Etrog.

The Great Pumpkin. . .

Uncle Michael came to visit this weekend and we had a busy day visiting an Alpaca Farm and a Pumpkin Patch . Leila smiles every time she sees the pumpkins on the front porch so she definitely enjoyed the outings.











This unassuming bush on the corner of our property turned a great shade of red this week:


----------------
Now playing: Raffi - Five Little Pumpkins
via FoxyTunes

Catching up on our adventures

Around the house:


In the Adirondacks:




At Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY:

You've got to crawl before you can...

Leila's birthday has inspired her to new developmental milestones:



----------------
Now playing: Greg Brown - Walkin' Daddy
via FoxyTunes

She's a Watermelon?

L had her 1 year checkup and weighs in at 17 lbs 1oz and is now a whopping 28 3/4 inches (that's 50% for height!).

So far she is having the wonderful ones and has been in good spirits. She is not quite walking on her own, but will now walk while holding our hands.

Here is our Birthday Princess:

First Birthday Party

Leila's first birthday party was quite the shindig, with family, friends, and a bunch of our neighbors all showing up to celebrate the occasion. She's now got a full week to enjoy all the new toys while waiting to turn 1 (she was born on 9/8/07, remember... the party was scheduled for this weekend because her dad just started teaching). Here are some snaps of the birthday girl, enjoying a good faceful of cake and other party stuff:









----------------
Now playing: They Might Be Giants - It's Not My Birthday
via FoxyTunes

These are a few of my favorite things...

New friends...


and puppies...


and swimming while naked...


Mommy...


and daddy...


and getting cupcake'd...


----------------
Now playing: Sound of Music - These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things
via FoxyTunes

A busy weekend

Leila and her parents had a very busy weekend. On Saturday, we all went to the Renaissance Faire in Sterling, NY, where Leila decided that Olde Worlde food was definitely her thing, after eating a good bit of turkey leg along with half an apple turnover:



After that, we went to see a joust



and introduced her to the legendary Don Juan and Miguel, though we suspect some of the more risque jokes during the show may have gone over her head:



On Sunday, it was off to Perinton Park around the corner from us to see Ruby Shooz play some oldies in the park:



Quite the weekend!

----------------
Now playing: The Byrds - Renaissance Fair
via FoxyTunes

One good tooth deserves another

In the past week, Leila has doubled her dentistry, and now has all a person could want for Christmas, we suppose.

Here she is showing them off crazy-style:

Less crazy-style:




And now for her close-up:


Plus, hanging out on July 4:




----------------
Now playing: The Chipmunks - All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
via FoxyTunes