something to talk about

We made the journey over to the wilds of El Sobrante last weekend to pay a visit to Freya. She and Cassidy had fun racing around and playing with her vast array of toys.

Our little bear is really growing from a toddler into a child. The language explosion is pretty wild to watch - every day he has some new word or phrase to surprise us with. His memory is also amazing; he can recite passages from his favorite books, or go and grab them off the shelf if we throw out a memorable line. Soon he'll be repeating what we say, which means that Holly and I need to be a lot more vigilant about our potty mouths.

nice new outfit

Submitted for your approval, our son the fashion plate. Not surprisingly for those of you who've seen both Holly and I dress, he (wisely) takes his wardrobe cues from his mom.

repeater

Cassidy's life has a definite rhythm and constancy these days. He seems to do well with a routine, and has no problem doing the same thing over and over again. Some of the things he likes:

Lots of reading. "Green Eggs and Ham" is a new favorite, usually accompanied by his gleeful shouting of the title: "Green! Eggs! Haaammmm!"

He's very into doing flash cards of letters and shapes. (I promise, we're not drilling him here.) Some mornings he insists on doing this before having breakfast. He recognizes and can say all the letters, and can count to 20.

Balloons always get a big smile.

Feet are apparently something to be marveled at and displayed whenever possible.

Looking cute and modeling new jammies is a lot of fun.

hey ladies

As threatened promised, here's some more pictures of our Hawaiian trip, featuring Raina, Keelee, and Jody. Cassidy was very impressed with them, and had a great time playing in the ocean, seeing fish, and adventuring around.

blue hawaii

For Spring Break this year, we took Cassidy to Hawaii for a few days to visit our friends Todd, Jody, Raina and Keelee. It's a long trip for a little guy, but he was a trooper. Here's the first batch of photos - more to come once all the appropriate releases are signed.

Cassidy had a lot of fun racing around and playing in the ocean. He impressed the locals with his toddler fashion style, which also helped protect his very fair skin from the sun. He had a great time playing "tug-of-peace" (as Holly calls it) with Howie the chihuahua, and got a new stuffed turtle to boot. The zoo in Hilo was cool, and had lots of birds and other tropical animals. But by the end of the trip he was ready to be home, where Grandma Rachel left a welcoming note for him.

tv eye

Life continues apace for our young hero. He continues to enjoy all of the standard two-year-old things: balloons, swings, being scary, modeling Chinese fashions, and careful study of his feet. In the middle, we can also see the effect that television (which he rarely sees) has on Cassidy. Note the drool running down his chin -- if you look carefully, I think you can see his brain leaking out his ear as well.

back to life

So we have all finally (mostly) recovered from the lingering cold that brought us to our knees last week. Cassidy is back to his sunny self (sick toddlers are not much fun) and is pleased to be eating at the table now, rather than in his high chair. We also finally got a chance to belatedly celebrate Grandma Rachel's birthday with some book reading and a trip to Golden Gate Park.

Also, as you may notice, we sheared Cassidy's flaxen locks. Don't worry - they grow back.