While Zoe and Q were at the game Sunday afternoon, Avery and I stayed home and played. It’s not all that common for Avery to be at home without her sister (as I’ve mentioned in the past) – and it felt really nice to spend so much quiet, uninterrupted and one-on-one time with her. As I told a friend later, the house seemed so quiet with just Avery – and making dinner and putting to bed just one kid felt like a breeze!

-M

With nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon I asked Zoe if she wanted to go see the new Cars movie or if she wanted to go to a baseball game. Without hesitation she said baseball. Needless to say I was a bit proud of my 4 year old daughter so we took off for AT&T Park and had a great time. I see many games in our future!

Jon Q

Catching a quick ride on the outfield slide:

Checking out the Bay:

A quick hop on the cable car:

We’re winning! High five Lou Seal:

Picture perfect day:

Last night at bedtime I started to put socks on Avery, who looked up at me and said, “No, those are Sister’s.” She was right (I often get the girls’ socks mixed up in the wash) and so I fished through her drawer for another, smaller, pair. I know Avery is two now, and her talking is no longer a new thing, but I was still impressed – and taken aback – that she was able to be so communicative and helpful to me. I forget sometimes how fast Avery’s mind is developing, and that in many ways she’s more like her sister than a baby now. And while those things still make me sad/sentimental at times, I’m also pretty excited to have two helpful little girls running around the house. (And maybe this is a sign that Avery should start sorting laundry with me!)

-M

Before the party started on Saturday, Avery serenaded me with her rendition of Happy Birthday. Later, when it was her guests’ turn to sing, Avery seemed a little confused and grumpy. (I don’t think she quite understood what was happening.) But trust me, she had tons of fun during the rest of the party – as you can see from the last video.

-M

Avery’s San Francisco birthday party was yesterday; this one had a bouncy house and lots of cupcakes, and Avery had a blast. A big thanks to Safta and PopPop, and to Aunt Jenny for all the help!

-M

I’ve mentioned before that Avery gets quite excited when she first sees Zoe in the mornings: It’s common for her to call out “Sister!” and run up to her with a big hug. Here was the scene at about 7 AM today.

-M

It’s been unusually sunny and warm here lately and to celebrate, Zoe’s camp had “Beach Day” on Tuesday. (The kids got to wear their swimming suits and flip-flops, and during the day they got soaked by an inflatable whale-shaped sprinkler and played other water games.) As we walked in that morning, one of Zoe’s girlfriends, whose mom told me talks a lot at home about “Zoe Brownie,” showed Zoe her swimming suit; before I knew it the girls had run off together, hand in hand. Zoe barely said good-bye to me, but it only made me smile – I was just glad she was having fun.

For a parent who works outside the home, there’s no greater feeling than knowing your kid is having a blast – and enjoying summer – when you’re at work!

-M

Zoe is pretty much fearless at amusement parks – she goes on all the rides she can (even the semi-scary roller-coasters) – and I’m thinking that Avery might wind up being the same. Though she was a bit serious and clingy at the start of the day on Sunday, she didn’t complain or hesitate about joining us on any of the rides – including the log flume, where she got drenched. She also seemed to particularly enjoy the Junior Jump; while it’s somewhat difficult to see her in the video below, I love that you can spot her little hands in the air and hear her laugh.

-M

As Q mentioned below, the four of us – plus Dan and Jenny! – went to Great America to celebrate Father’s Day and Avery’s birthday. (We did it last year, too – we’re big on tradition.) We got some really fun pictures; my favorites are Zoe demonstrating that she’s “OK to ride,” and Avery going for Snoopy’s cookie. (And, yes, Avery did indeed pass out before we left the park. I think this is the first time – ever! -that she’s slept in her stroller!)

-M

Before we trekked to Great America yesterday (pictures coming soon), we celebrated with Avery by singing and opening a few presents. And, quite appropriate for the day, she had a lot of fun playing with one of her gifts: a toy birthday cake. (I’m happy to report, also, that we can now add “cake” to her growing vocabulary.)

-M

Today we both had Avery’s second birthday and Father’s Day. We ended up going to Great America amusement park for the day to celebrate and had a blast. But before the amusement park I got an awesome Father’s Day gift…a brick! But not just any brick, a Giants World Champions Walk brick which will be located in the plazas of AT&T Park. Here is what the brick will look like when you come and visit us in San Francisco:

Was a pretty fun day. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

Jon Q

After I spent time with a friend’s newborn recently, Q asked me if I was feeling sad – or yearning for a baby. My surprising (and refreshing) answer was “no.” While I can appreciate the specialness of caring for an infant, the truth is that in many ways, having an older child is much more rewarding and fun. And though I’m still sentimental about my second baby growing up, I’m also loving this phase. (How can I not go nuts over this face?)

Avery, for the most part, is terribly fun to be around. She loves to smile and laugh (she’ll often look up at me, half-asleep, and smile as I’m singing to her at bedtime), and she always wants to be around people. She can be very considerate and helpful: If her sister is crying, she’ll come over with a concerned look and ask, “What happened?” Numerous times during the day she’ll run up to me with my phone, because she thinks I need it. She reminds me to get my coat (and sometimes gets it for me) as we’re leaving in the morning, and she likes to hand me my towel when I’m stepping out of the shower. (I remember Zoe doing the same thing, too.) Just the other day she accidentally drew on a chair; without any instruction she ran to her room, got a wipe and returned to the chair to start cleaning it. (I’m happy to report that the pen came out.)

She’s talking more and more – she’s always telling elaborate “stories.” Her vocabulary is growing at a fast clip; the exciting thing is that she says words now that she didn’t say just one month ago. And she is using more sentences: “Hold my hand, ‘kay?” she instructed Zoe the other morning as they walked into Elena’s. She asks “What’s that?” constantly, and as Zoe did at this age, she likes to point out when something is hers (“mine”) or her sister’s (“Sister’s milk”). Her recognition skills are also getting better: She can identify many more objects in her books, though she still calls many fruits “apple.” And if you ask her the color of something, she’ll almost always answer “yellow.”

A funny story related to talking: I recently did an exercise where I had her repeat things I say. “Can you say Mommy?” I asked, and she answered, “Mommy!” “Can you say Daddy?,” I asked, and she answered, “Daddy!” “Can you say Zoe?” I asked, and she answered, “Sister!” That’s still what she calls Zoe.

She loves music – she’s often singing (Happy Birthday is still her favorite; she’s going to be really confused today when we sing it for real) and clapping when she hears a song. As I type this, with music in the background, she’s actually running in circles, dancing, squealing and clapping – having a blast. We’re going to the amusement park to celebrate today, and I commented to Q that we don’t even need to. This is the stuff that makes her most happy!

As for the less fun stuff: Avery is known to throw a small fit if she doesn’t get her way, and she still uses a very high-pitched squeal for things as minor as her sister trying to kiss her. (Let’s just say her dramatic squeak continues.) There is also a downside to her wanting to be around people all the time: She can be very clingy, whining if Q or I don’t pick her up, and crying when one of us leaves the room.

Lastly, her growth spurt continues: At her two-year check-up on Friday, we were told she was close to 32 pounds and 35.75 inches tall. She’s about the size of a 3-year-old.

As tomorrow approaches, I can’t help but think back to what we were doing – and what was about to happen – two years ago. Oh, how things have changed since my first picture with Avery!

-M

When Zoe was a few months shy of her second birthday, we took during our trip to Maui what turned out to be one of my all-time favorite pictures of her. (The photo, below, is now framed and displayed in our living room.) A few weeks back I took a photo of Avery wearing the same dress – and, while the location is different, the feeling of the photo is very much the same. It’s not easy to get a a serious (but not grumpy) shot of a toddler, and I’m so happy I captured this particular expression, in this particular dress.

-M

Zoe started noticing shoes at a young age, and it looks like Avery is following in her footsteps. Yesterday morning I was dashing around the house in a gold-colored pair of sandals (ones that Avery had never seen before) when she pointed down and said, “Nice shoes!”

Yes, Avery – and also a nice way to start my day!

-M