I can express no kinder sign of love than this kind kiss. /William Shakespeare/

Naddie is 7 months old now and every day she has something new going on.
She is now giving kisses and claps (thanks to her auntie Lisa) and sort of waves at people when someone (mostly in a store) is talking to her or smiling at her. She is still not crawling but she can push herself backwards while laying on her back, just like a little worm.
She is also eating more complex food creations like chicken with jasmine rice and pureed apricot and she just tried yogurt today. I got plain organic yogurt and mixed some pureed fruit into it (so that there is no added sugar) and she loved it. Puma also wanted to have some but unfortunately it was not his lucky day.
Yesterday she spent her afternoon with her gramps and they watched all the neighborhood dogs playing with one another. NO, we are not buying a dog!!!

She is stacking her blocks and takes her toys out of the box we keep them in and keeps taking them out when I try to put them back. She also just got her own set of car keys and she drives me crazy with them as it is not only keys but a "remote for the alarm and starter" and what have you. She loves it so much though that even if I wanted I could not take it a way from her.

As mor-mor predicted the downtown starbucks already knows her and everyone goes "gugu" when she is in there. We also have our favorite barista who might be doing some baby sitting for us. They just have this connection. I mean Naddie and her. (Summer lady we still miss you though and you can never be replaced!!)

We are still planning to visit New York and Boston and hopefully introduce her to my side of the family. If so, we will just have to send you all a greeting card to say hello!!! WE JUST LOVE N.Y. !!!!!

We have visited Naddie’s great grand parents this weekend. She had so much fun playing with Gramps on the floor and looking at Granny’s flowers outside.She also got to play front of the largest mirror she has ever seen. You can check her out just by clicking on the video clip to the right!!!

Sweet home California...

So, we left Vancouver, WA on Saturday morning. Our flight was great and Naddie did great. She slept through take off and landing and was absolutely fascinated with the inside of the plane.
She is also adjusting quite well to the "new" house and the surroundings. We just finished setting up her room and trying to figure out what theme we are going to decorate it with.
She has met so many new people this past week that even an adult would be overwhelmed.
On the 4th we took her to the Huntington Beach parade (that is the biggest parade west of the Mississippi) and she was absolutely mesmerized by all the commotion.
She also had her first POOL experience. You know, as a parent you have the nightmare that something will go wrong, that life will throw something in your face and than she will hate it forever. And that is what happened!!! Literally!!
We were in the pool for about 5 minutes with lots of adults and kids surrounding us and than, what happens?? A leather football hits her right in the face.
Not me, not our friend Sharon not even the teenager right next to us (who by the way was the original target) but Naddie. I was mad!! However Naddie did not even peep. No cry, no tears. I guess it won’t scar her for life.
She seemed to like the pool and the water and kept splashing herself in the face.So, we will be back.

Dream of California.....

A quick update on what is happening?
We are moved out of our house and Will is heading down to sunny California on Monday early morning with Rick. Naddie and I are following him on Saturday the 30th.
We are staying with Mor Mor, Laura, Brian and Ben. Naddie is taking this whole move just fine but it is a bit overwhelming. She is now sitting on her own and plays with Ben's blocks. She loves playing by herself and does not like to share anything.
She also just had some avocado the other day and she absolutely loved it!!

Me and my look-alikes...

http://www.myheritage.com

Oh, its the final count down....yea

Here we are. Three more weeks left and the craziness began.
We are already boxing stuff and getting ready for the move to California.
We have moved so many times, one would think it is in our pinky by now.
Well, it is, we just never had to move with a baby!
Naddie is spending her weekends with her teacher and friend Summer from day care so that we can get ready for the movers by the 22nd.

We also have a great big news. Here is part of the email that was sent out to the Boston College sociology department.

"I am thrilled to announce that one of our PhD candidates, William Wood had just won the ASA 2007 Edward Shils-James Coleman award for the best student paper in theory. This is a very competitive award, with honorable mentions going to students at Yale, Northwestern and UPenn. The announcement is below. This award is given to a paper which makes a "profound contribution."

This also means that he has to attend a conference in New York in the first week of August so we will all be there to cheer for him when he accepts the award. (I wonder if they will take it a way from him if we cheer...?)
We are very proud of him!!! He is not only getting this award that week, but finishing up a chapter in his life I know he is ready to get done with.
He will be defending his dissertation in Boston and finally get his PhD.
From that on we can all just call him Dr. Wood.

We were also discussing the cab question in New York and realized that we have no idea how to take a cab with a baby? Do you have to have a car seat? Can they just sit on your lap? How does it work?
Is there anyone out there who has the answer to this question?
Just let us know!!

Just call her the over achiever...

*Let's see. For the first time we have visited the Zoo this weekend with Kara and Lyric. It was quite a trip. Not only the heat but the crowd and the time we spent at the place made Naddie and I pretty overwhelmed by the end of the day.She slept through most of it but loved the Polar Bears. We were able to see them while they were swimming in the water and Naddie was mesmerized by the sight.These great big bears look so gracious while they do a little water ballet.

*On Monday we found out that Naddie is one of the STUDENT OF THE MONTH at her day care. I guess she is already an over achiever at age 6 months. Can you say GEEK?So now I am looking for a sticker for my car that says: "PROUD PARENT OF THE STUDENT OF THE MONTH. KCDC"

*She is also eating additional food now. We are giving her Sweet Potatoes and Green Pees. Loves them!! She is also a mess when we are feeding her, but why is mommy here if not to do her laundry?

*Naddie spends a lot of time in the "Donut" at day care (it is a pool of pillows shaped like a donut) to help her lower back get stronger. She also gets to keep some toys in there to play with. This morning one of the little boys (won't name names) was trying to take something from her and she fought for it!! She was screaming kicking and even pushing! She obviously does not like to be bullied.