A contracter at Chris' work gave him tickets to Monday night's Orioles game so we packed a million snacks to appease the girls and headed up to Camden Yards. We had some extra tickets so fellow grover Steve and his fiance joined us. Nitrate overload. I had no part in this.

At inning 6, we moved over to an empty-ish area so the girls could run around. We were still in foul ball territory though so Chris and I, okay mostly me, were in hyperactive hyperdrive every crack of the bat. I just wanted to be close enough to get between the ball and my kid's head, you know. And it's not like you have a lot of time to get there. Stressing me out just remembering it. Anyway.

We left during the 8th inning. The O's were losing. It was way late for the girls. We got out to car and realized Anna's pink Oriole monkey, Markakis, was still watching the game...(She had just got him at last week's game and he is her new VERY FAVORITE EVER stuffed animal.) So, Chris took a little jog, returned with the monkey and we went home.

Welcome, summer weather! Welcome warm sunny days, the smell of sunscreen, the salty taste from kissing your sweaty kids, sleeping with your feet sticking out of the covers, the snowball stand...summer, I just plain love you.
To celebrate the wonderful sunshine, we went to the Baltimore Zoo with Chris' parents on Saturday.

Here is a Chinese Alligator and a volunteer who incorrectly thought the language barrier was suitable to keep gator and child apart. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I liked the fence.

Checking out the giraffes.

Sisters.

Best way to view the kudus (or whatever those African gazelle type things are that are on every single crossword puzzle...)

Lily pad hopping.

Playing Pooh Sticks.

Anna inside an Oriole's nest and a good lookin' Orioles fan.

Tortoise shell.Anna brushing a headless goat. Just kidding. It had a head; just seeing if you were paying attention.
Well, now that I've spent most of the girls' nap posting these pics for you, kindly leave a comment as to what's for dinner this week. Okay, back to my list...enjoy the weather! =)

Got out of the shower to this:I didn't even know she could open the fridge...

This is Birdland.

Chris and Anna at the Orioles' game last night.

They went with Chris' dad and our good friend JT. I stayed home with Sonja, who went to sleep ten minutes after they left, so I had almost 6 hours to myself! I was pretty excited about it for the first hour...then I was ready for them to come home. I'm a people person, I like the people. Or more so, a Chris person. I like my evening hang out time with the man. However, with screen support from Steve McQueen, I left off my couch slumping and put some time into projects.

Anyway, I need to log an update on Sonja:

We had her one-year check up last week. She isn't on the chart for weight. We feed her ice cream every night.

She is walking around a bit, but still crawls everywhere. The most I've counted is five steps in a row. Her first tooth- bottom right- came on tax day. Her second- top left- came three days later. The other five are bulging the seams. She'll have a whole smile by next week.

She says- Hi, Mama, Dada, Anna, All done, Help, GROWL (what does the tiger say?), Duck and quack quack. Her main form of communication though is a series of whines and "Eh" sounds.

She is a mama's girl. On Sundays, I stay with her in the nursery for the sake of everyone.

She is Anna's constant follower and part-time antagonist. They do play well together 75% of the time. The remaining quarter is usually Sonja trying to take everything Anna looks at. Sometimes vice versa.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, this little girl turned one...

The girls woke up in the morning to surprise Easter baskets. I was even surprised- Chris put them together on the sly. He's the fun parent like that.

Anna sporting the new stuffed animals, bunny slippers, training pants...

After church, we photo documented.












Then the girls went down for naps and we set up for birthday...
Sonja woke up from her nap and saw THIS! And clearly was elated.
Oma and Opa joined us for a sweet little party time.












(My dear cousins, THANKS for the matching water bottle, but silly REI sent it without water in it. I was marginally disgruntled...and threw something of a small fit.)


The fringe benefits of sibling birthdays. After dinner, Sonja was mildly alarmed by the fire on her cake. Going for a handful.

Not happy about the gooeyness and the fact it didn't come off her hand. Such a girly girl...

And finally, with some forced hand to mouth action, she tasted it, and things were alright.

So Happy Birthday Sonja! We think you're great.

(And you are currently calling from your crib...)

I will post more, often, later.