first word

lily has uttered her first word (recognizable to adult ears, anyway, and not in some strange "baby language").  and the winner is...doggy!  lily has a love for maggie the wonder pup that maggie definitely does not reciprocate.  in fact, maggie runs away every time lily gets too close.  partly because lily has not learned to be "gentle" when petting her (grab-and-pull is more lily's style), and partly because maggie liked the family dynamic the way it was before lily made an appearance (so for all those who told me not to worry about maggie and lily not getting along, i say unto you, ne-ner ne-ner--i do have to worry about it).

but it is cute to watch lily squeal "doggy" and get so excited about seeing maggie.  it isn't as cute watching maggie get the look of fear in her eyes and run away.  hopefully someday there will be a meeting of the baby and canine minds and they will get along.  maybe when the grab-and-pull stage is over.  whenever that might be.  

terracotta warriors (i can't even tell you how excited i was to see this exhibit)

when i was eight years old, i learned about china's terracotta warriors.  it is one of the things that put me on the path to studying history.  i've always been fascinated by them, and have always wanted to see them, but trips to china are suuuuper expensive.  and then i found out some of the terracotta warriors were on exhibit at the asian art museum in san francisco.  so, i took the birthday money my grandma sent me (thanks grandma!), hopped on the train with lily, and went to the city to hang out with my guys (and crossed something off my tourist to-do list; win-win!).

over 8,000 warriors, each and every one of them different from the others, were found in the emperor's tomb, along with close to 1,000 chariots and horses.

a kneeling archer; you can see the tread on the back of his shoe.  the attention to detail and life-like nature of the figures is astonishing and amazing.  i can't even describe how intricate everything is.  

this guy is supposed to be holding the reins to a chariot.

i mean, come on.  a terracotta horse, and he looks like you could just hop on and take a ride.  

the general.

replica of one of the chariots found in the tomb.

 below are some of my favorite things from the permanent exhibits in the museum.  i think the section on india was my favorite.  but really, it is a beautiful building with great exhibits and is easy to see in a couple hours.

the elephant carriage.  maybe that meant is was drawn by an elephant, because there weren't any elephants depicted on it.  but it was gorgeous and intricate, and i kind of want one.  

chinese jade bowl with french filagree handles (gold and gems).  the juxtaposition between the two cultures was fascinating.  

a men's bowler hat made out of bamboo (from the 1800s).  and someone actually wore it.

since lily and i were in the city, i hooked up with my sil, kati, and lily hung out with her cousin, ellie at the park across from the museum.  such a fun day.  

stalking the pigeons.  they finally had the sense to go over the fence so she couldn't chase them anymore.  

i know it looks like they're playing, but lily is really stealing her cousin's pacifier.  

you know it's a good day when the baby is wiped out at the end of it. 

step by step (ooooh girl...)

i bet you have the new kids on the block song stuck in your head right now.  your welcome.  but in other news, we have a walker on our block!  lily took her first step on april 3rd and a few weeks later was actively walking.  she has pretty much given up crawling and mostly uses her legs to chase after the animals.  i'm sure they are thrilled.

naptime

this afternoon, lily read herself a story, walked over to me and put her head on my shoulder.  so, i picked her up and put her in her crib for a nap.  she just laid there without any problems.  lily literally read herself to sleep.  i couldn't be more proud.  i hope this is how naptime goes every day.

love

can i tell you how much i love these ladies?  it's always a good time when they're around.  i'm excited for our meet-up next year.  

the sleeping lily saga continues

i need to put a camera in her room just so i can capture the sleeping-position process.  lily comes up with some good ones.  

if you look closely, the only visible thing are her toes.  she somehow managed to pull the blanket entirely over herself.

just sit and sleep.

the ostrich sleeping method

like a drunk in an alley corner.  she pulled the blanket off the side of the crib to make herself a nice little nest.

she just can't face her public...or let go of her bottle.

viva las vegas!

i have an incredible group of girlfriends from my days of living in long beach, and since most of us have since moved away from the lbc, we have been getting together once a year for a girls weekend.  this year we met in sunny las vegas and had an absolute blast.  karaoke, shopping, wandering, people watching...the good times were endless.  it is wonderful to have a group of friends that, no matter how much time has passed since we've seen each other, we pick up where we left off.

the mob experience is a must-do.  insanely entertaining.

stairway to heaven...?

well, hello nyc!

reppin' the lbc with snoop dogg (or snoop lion?  are we taking that change seriously?)

the neon sign museum (aka boneyard).  endlessly fascinating.  i loved it.  although it got so hot my iphone turned itself off and had to cool down before i could use it again.  who knew that could happen?

the whole gang; carrie, vanessa, patty, wendy, shaine, sarah, meredith, sharon.

we saw a drag show (that is a guy!) and it was (mostly) insanely funny.  oddly, the worst and most boring part was the headliner.  go figure.

patty needed some appropriate vegas headgear.

our lodging for the long weekend.  

the sky heading while flying home.  so pretty. 

san francisco fun

my parents came to san francisco last week to chaperone a group of kids from the high school they work at, so lily, kevin, and i hopped on bart and hung out with them for a couple days.  it was nice to wander the city and just have fun.  lily had her first interaction with a group of drag queens (we were in a shoe store and they just fawned all over her; they thought she was the cutest thing.  i can't help but agree.); i just wish i could have found a way to discreetly take photos of them.  but the encounter was hilarious.   also, there are so many great, old buildings in the city, i could just take photos of them all day.  i have a serious geek-addiction to historic buildings.

first trip on the "train"--riding bart to sf

lunching at cheesecake factory

mom & dad

napping, and still rocking the fedora

hearst building

union square

they don't make streetlight posts like they used to

kevin's favorite place

see--old building addiction.  i might need a 12-step program.

lily hanging with grandma

it was a long day.  but a fun one.