Hello Peoria

8-26-01: Jessica took a trip on Tuesday to Peoria, IL. She was a star once again on the flight and slept for most of the flight to Chicago and then again on the flight to Peoria. She stayed overnight with Gail and Gabrielle Healy. She visited Gabrielle's school, Peoria Academy and then went home to play with Gabrielle for the rest of the evening. Wednesday, Mommy and Jessica visited Gail at work at Bergners, went to Peoria Academy to pick up Gabrielle and then went to Bloomington for dinner with Colleen, Delaney, McKenna and Greg Davis. Jessica and Mommy stayed in Bloomington and Gail and Gabrielle went home to Peoria. Mommy and Jessica made chile rellenos for the Davis' on Thursday and ran a couple of errands during the day. Thursday evening, Suzy Hwang showed up to spend the weekend with us. Friday, the girls all went shopping during the day and then we all went to Colleen's sister's house for dinner. There were many kids at the BBQ and Jessica had a good time. Saturday, Suzy drove Jessica and Mommy back to Peoria to visit with Suzy's Mom, Nana and Pop Pop Monoson, Barb and Dave Walvoord, and then Saturday night, Jessica had Agatucci's pizza and went out to Canton for a fish fry with all of Mommy's buddies. It was a very full day, but very fun! New tricks this week included the beginning stages of crawling on her knees and making a clicking noise with her tongue.

I think I wet myself when we did that plaster mold - too funny!

8-19-01: Sunday, Jessica went to the Beach Chalet brew pub for lunch with Mark Viglianco, Aunt Tracy, Mommy and Daddy. She went out to the beach and ocean after lunch with Daddy. Everyone tried to help Mommy to do a plaster mold of her feet after lunch, but the effort was unsuccessful. Everyone but Jessica had a very good laugh. Tuesday, Jessica and Mommy went to Costco with Ed de Maar and treated him to early birthday lunch at Denny's. Jessica sat in her highchair through the entire meal like a big girl. Tuesday night, Uncle Matt A. came by and made Duncan house vegetarian chili, which was delicious. Sue Marston also joined everyone for dinner at Duncan. Wednesday, Chuck Gutro came by for an early evening visit. Uncle Matt A. joined in for dinner and later on that evening, Mommy and Daddy instituted a new bedtime ritual with Jessica which included nummies, a song (we would prefer to read a book, but Jessica insists on eating the book and won't allow us to continue with the story - we hope this habit subsides soon) and an infant massage. Jessica didn't like the massage very much that first night, but has enjoyed it more and more every night. Mommy and Daddy have been trading off putting Jessica to bed with the new ritual which is working out well. Jessica now sleeps in her own room and doesn't need nummies all night long. Thursday, Jessica and Mommy went to Houston's Restaurant for lunch with Aunt Tracy. Jessica got to visit Uncle Dan's before lunch. Thursday night Jessica slept the entire night without needing help from Mommy to get back to sleep after waking once for 30 seconds. Mommy didn't sleep very well though because she checked on Jessica several times during the night out of habit. Friday, Jessica, Mommy and Daddy went to dinner to celebrate Gentry Stanley's birthday. Jessica was very tired during dinner and Mommy and Daddy decided that she has passed the stage/age of being taken out for a late dinner (8:00 pm) because she can no longer sleep in public places. She is very distracted by noises now. Friday night was a real setback in the bedtime ritual/sleeping situation. Due to her not getting to sleep at a decent hour, she (and Mommy!) had a horrible night Friday with night waking every two hours or so. Saturday, Jessica met Aunt Erin's Mommy and friend, Tomar the Judge, along with Uncle Matt and Uncle Dan for breakfast at Savor in our neighborhood. Jessica did fall asleep during this mid-morning meal at the restaurant after having some breakfast herself. During the afternoon, Mommy and Jessica attended Liz Treynor's baby shower and had a very fun time with the other children. Saturday night, Aunt Tracy and Uncle Nick babysat Jessica for the first time while Mommy and Daddy had their first date since Jessica was born. They went out for dinner and came home in time to put Jessica to sleep with her bedtime ritual and then watched a movie with Aunt Tracy and Uncle Nick. Jessica slept very well Saturday night and was back on track with all her new sleeping accomplishments by sleeping through the night without waking once (she was exhausted!) New tricks this week included pulling herself to the standing position on her changing table, moving from the sitting position to her stomach via a position that can only be described as half crawl, half squat, habitually sticking out her tongue (especially when you stick your tongue out at her), and she gave Uncle Dan her first kiss on Thursday at his office. He was very surprised!

Lots of socializing

8-12-01: Jessica, Mommy and Daddy had dinner with Michele and Berkeley Barnett in Oakland on Sunday night. We had Zachary's pizza and Sweet Inspirations for dessert and a good time was had by all! Tuesday, Ed de Maar came up for the afternoon and we made dinner together. Uncle Matt A came over for dinner as well. Wednesday, Jessica and Mommy went down to Palo Alto to pick up Daddy's guitar from the repair shop and we had lunch with Daddy and Uncle Matt A. Chuck Gutro stopped by Wednesday night to spend some time with Jessica before his dinner date. Thursday, Uncle Matt A. came over for pizza night and an Unreal Tournament extravaganza that Daddy had planned for his "Unreal" friends. Friday, Jessica and Mommy went estate sale shopping with Kristen and Madeline Rafa. We all had lunch at Einstein's Cafe and ran into Aunt Erin and Uncle Matt B. randomly. Chuck Gutro came over for dinner Friday night before hitting the town. Saturday, Jessica, Daddy and Mommy went down to Sunnyvale to visit Niles, Kammy and Kowsik Guruswamy. It was our first time meeting Niles and Jessica really had a great time and was very interested in the tiny baby. Saturday night, Jessica attended her second of Aunt Erin's performances. She actually saw Aunt Erin dance this time and watched her pieces in between nummies. Jessica was very interested in the bright clothing and classical music and squawked out loud once out of sheer excitement. After Aunt Erin's piece, Mommy and Jessica left the performance early (due to the squawking which would have continued had we stayed) and went to Aunt Erin and Uncle Matt B's house for a party. Jessica fell asleep until about 11:15 pm when she woke to find the entire apartment full of people. She cried, but hung on until Aunt Erin blew out her candles on the homemade birthday cake that Uncle Matt made for her. It was delicious and we all headed home right afterwards for a good night sleep.

Goodbye Miracle...

8-5-01: Jessica said goodbye to her favorite animal when Miracle was put to sleep on Sunday morning. Miracle was the only animal that Jessica was allowed to come in contact with and they loved each other very much. She tried to cheer Mommy and Daddy up with three new tricks on Sunday - stuck her tongue out very far mimicking Mommy and Daddy, learned to pull her diaper tab open (dangerous!), and drank water out of a squirt bottle (subsequently out of a baby bottle and also a sippy cup.) Tuesday, Ed de Maar came up and took Jessica and Mommy out to sushi lunch and then we went home to make pizzas for dinner. Ed, Aunt Tracy, Uncle Nick, Uncle Dan, Mommy and Daddy all had pizza at Duncan and then played poker. Wednesday, Jessica went over to Aunt Kate and Lucy's house for the afternoon while Mommy went and got a manicure and pedicure. Jessica checked out the swings at the playground and loved them. Thursday, Jessica and Mommy went to Sue Marston's house for the afternoon and evening. Sue made us dinner and we watched two movies. Friday, Jessica, Lucy, Aunt Kate and Mommy went estate sale shopping and then had lunch at Aunt Kate's house. Jessica, Lucy and Mommy went to the playground again for an afternoon of swinging and playing in the sand. Friday night, Jessica, Mommy and Daddy went to Cafe Ethiopia for a celebration dinner in honor of Chris Rucker and his fianc�e Bitsy. Saturday, Jessica, Mommy and Daddy went for a long walk in the afternoon around the neighborhood and then had dinner with Uncle Nick, Aunt Tracy and Uncle Dan. Jessica's other new tricks this week were pulling herself up to a standing position by holding onto the side of her crib, inch-worming around the bed, and throwing things repeatedly onto the ground.