Drumroll, please.

Diana had her one-year check-up this morning (a bit belatedly), and here are her statistics:

In the category of weight, the judges awarded her a 22! (That is, 22 pounds, 1 oz., which puts her at 75% for her age.)

In the height category, Diana scored 29.5"! (Seventy-five percent for her age, once again.)

And in the cranial capacity category, Diana came in at 85% with a score of 46.5 cm.

So, Diana is doing great. Cute and clever, she can perform all of the tasks a one-year old should be able to perform.

Her sister was also quite cute. After every check that the doctor performed on Diana she would bounce on the balls of her feet and quip, "My turn! My turn!" She wasn't even disuaded when Diana got her shots. The funny thing is that we got basically zero cooperation from Amelia when she had her last appointment. She wouldn't even stand still to be weighed or measured. I guess this goes to show that Amelia only really wants something if Diana has it...even if it's a shot in the leg.

Lisa

Back to the trees

Yesterday, we all went into the mountains to get away from it all among the giant California sequoias. Amelia loves going out to see the trees and asked before we had left the park if we could do it again tomorrow.

I was sorry to tell her that the trees were too far away to visit every day.

But, we all had a very lovely time in the redwood forest (as usual). And, of course, the drive was great in my new car. Maybe one day we'll own a second home in the mountains, but that is probably a ways off. (Mommy may need a real job before we start buying any second homes.)

As a funny side note, when we asked Amelia what she did Sunday (as we generally do before she goes to sleep) she spent quite a bit of time talking about all of the wonderful things she saw on t.v. that morning. Oh brother! This girl watches FAR too much television.

Lisa

And your mother dresses you funny.

I wheeled the girls down to Starbucks again this afternoon so I could get some exercise and the girls could get some fresh air. Amelia was in her Tinkerbell dress, which she asked politely to wear earlier in the day. She also requested her sunglasses on our way out the door. They didn't match her dress, but they did match her black shoes - which she had put on the wrong feet.

I guess I didn't realize how odd my daughter looked until she started dancing in the store. Still, everyone got a kick out of both girls, who were both adorable in their own way.

Looking at this photograph of the two of them, they look like spoiled socialites spreading rumors and gossip over tea.

(Actually, Amelia looks an awful lot like Match Game's Brett Somers to me.)

Lisa

P.S. On a serious note, I heard Diana say "doggie" twice yesterday when seeing one on a Baby Einstein DVD. I also found her trying to put on one of her shoes this evening, which was awful cute. My little baby's growing up so fast!

Look who's one today!

Happy birthday to baby Diana who turns one today.

Today, Diana got her very own piece of chocolate cake and she loved it. Amelia helped her blow out her birthday candle. Amelia also helped break in Diana's new toys after helping her open her gifts.

What a good big sister.

In fact, if we hadn't stopped her Amelia would have had all of Diana's gifts open hours before it was time for cake. We were laughing about the fact that Amelia had pulled some of Diana's gifts out of their gift bag when she suddenly unwrapped another gift and asked that we open it so she could play.

She is still learning to be patient.

We all love Diana and Amelia. They're both beautiful, smart and funny girls.

Lisa

We're going to need a bigger boat

Today I successfully test drove Diana's new red wagon. Both girls sat in the wagon and enjoyed themselves without incident while I walked to Starbucks. This might lead to many more walks - and I could certainly use the exercise.

Diana and Amelia have a lot of fun playing together. The only time Amelia gets impatient and upset is when Diana plays with a toy or a book. Regardless of whose toy it is, if Diana wants it, it's Amelia's. If Diana is playing with any toy or looking through any book Amelia immediately decides that she desperately wants what Diana has and tries to snatch it away from her.

So, we're still working on sharing.

At the same time, if Amelia has a cookie and I ask her to share it with her sister, she always breaks off a generous piece and hands it to her. In many ways, Amelia is a terrific big sister and Diana is beginning to imitate her actions. I guess that's how both girls found themselves in Amelia's toybox.

Lisa

Maybe it's in the genes

Recently, mommy has been doing a number of handyman jobs around the house. I have hung shelving for storage and conducted basic maintenance on some household appliances. Amelia and Diana, who are ever helpful, are always eager to help out. I enjoy seeing Amelia handle tools and try to work with them, but it is excessively difficult to complete any project with two young children nearby.

Another thing that Diana has been working on is walking (click here to see Diana in action). I have seen her take as many as five steps today. Daddy remembers Amelia learning to walk very quickly after taking her first steps. I'm sure that will be true of Diana as well.

Lisa

Almost done

Amelia and Diana are almost done with swim class, and I have to say that I am relieved. Both of the girls love playing in the water, but the classes are at lousy times for us. Diana almost never gets her suggested two naps in, and I have to skip fairly important outings to buy, say, groceries as a result of our schedule.

But tomorrow is our last swim class for the summer. Next summer I'm sure the girls will be even better at swimming and things will go more smoothly.

Diana, as you can see, loves playing in the mud while her sister attends class.

One thing I will miss is sharing a cookie and coffee after class. Actually, we only share the cookie, not the coffee, but we have traditionally stopped at Starbuck's on our way home from swim class.

Gymnastics class will continue for Amelia. Today, she did great in class. She followed the teacher's instructions and did a terrific job with everything. After class we had our traditional Chinese lunch. Amelia asked for chicken chow mien, as usual. I ordered sweet and sour pork because I get tired of watching Amelia drink sweet and sour sauce as if it were soup. It seemed reasonable that if she loves sweet and sour sauce she should love sweet and sour pork.

Heck, she likes pork.

Shortly after I gave Amelia her first bite of pork it ended up back on the table. She looked at it and said to me, "I spit it out." Yes, I can see that Amelia. I requested that she please not spit food out in restaurants in the future, if she could help it.

I guess that even though it's logical that a girl who loves pork and sweet and sour sauce would like sweet and sour pork, it doesn't always hold true.

Of course, I hate garbanzo beans but I love hummus. I guess that's almost the same thing.

Lisa

In cars

On Amelia's first birthday we bought her a forward-facing car seat. She was a tad under the required weight, but we thought it would be very exciting to let her sit facing forward in the car on her first birthday.

We had every intention of doing the same with Diana, but car trouble fouled our plans a bit. You see, the larger car we own that is normally driven by mommy with the girls in tow, no longer has a working air conditioner. At some point the air conditioning just decided it would no longer work and conked out. Trips to swim class in the afternoon were miserable, so daddy and I switched cars. Now I have the car with air conditioning, but this car is so much smaller that our usual car seats don't fit well in the back seat.

So while this was not our intention, Diana is getting to sit in a forward-facing car seat a little bit earlier than she otherwise would have. She seems to love it. Amelia likes it as well. From time to time the two of them will hold hands in the back of the car. Amelia even shared a box of animal cookies with her sister while we were on the road without much coaxing from me.

And now we are looking into buying a new car. Our first thought (really my first thought) was that we should buy a minivan. But after test driving a minivan, that handled great and had many wonderful features, I decided that a minivan would just be too big for us. What does the future hold as far as automobiles go? Only the Shadow knows.

But just in case we get a wild hair and decide to turn one of our current vehicles into a down payment, daddy and Amelia have spent some time outside washing the cars. Amelia is a great helper and it was a lot of fun for mommy to watch her work. She would dip her sponge into the bucket, wash the hood a bit, wash the passenger side headlamp, wash the front tire, then return to the bucket to begin the process again.

We have two very good girls.

Lisa