10 Years

Happy anniversary to us!

First Day of School

Don't worry Lola. It will be fine .... eventually.

Djeda

For the last two weeks of Baka's visit, Djeda Pero came to join her. It was his first time meeting the girls, so you can imagine how happy he was!

He brought a fresh batch of goodies for Nina. A loved knitted outfit (made by her great-aunt), necklaces and bracelet. Some of those were probably supposed to be for Lola, but what are ya gonna do?

Djeda Pero also brought some of his children's workbooks, and Nina spent no time creating her own game out them.

He has also been putting Lola to work, dangling toys in front of her encouraging her to do her commando crawl across the floor. She is getting quite strong as she tries to drag her little body to get the toy and vigorously stuff it into her mouth.

Baka has been keeping our stomachs happy these several months, and Nina is eager to help out, stretching and cutting the dough for pita or mixing up the batter for palačinke.

Baka and Djeda leave tomorrow to spend some time up in Calgary with Stefan and Filip. We will miss them very much!

Swimming

We have been so much enjoying our pool this year! It is fabulous. The water is heated to a pleasant 86 degrees so even when it isn't too warm out we can still enjoy the water. And on the hot days, well, just nothing beats it! Nina has taken grandly to the water. Her favorite activity is jumping into the deep end with flair!

She jumps in and then swims about three or four feet to me. If you can call it swimming. It is mostly just wild flailing of her arms and legs, but its does seem to propel her in a forward direction. She can even lift her head grasping for breath before continuing on. So much fun!

Lola watches on eager for the day she can join in.

Here is the whole gang on a lovely post-World cup, 4th of July weekend swim.

I think it is a toss up who loves the water more, me or Nina.

July also means the Los Altos Art & Wine Fair. Face painting, glitter tattoos, and rides, what more could a little girl ask for? And we thank the organizers for placing one of the wine booths right next to the kiddie area. Like!

Once again, Lola is sidelined.

Nina bumped into one little girl from her class, and so they rode a few rides together. It was so adorable, them holding hands eagerly, but very patiently, waiting for their turn.

Ah, too bad.... my find at the fair is hidden behind Lola's head.

Big Smile

Ok, this is what I was talking about!

Now that's a smile. Lola has started to get very excited when she watches Nina. Yesterday, Nina was doing her usual gymnastics (at the dinner table), and Lola just starts laughing and laughing at her and flapping her arms. So adorable!

As you can see below, Lola's manual dexterity is improving everyday. Just this morning, she was playing on the bed while I was doing a few things. I walked by her, and her paci was in her mouth. She must have popped it in all by herself!

Double Fisting.

Lola can now easy roll from her back to her belly and then back onto her back. She has also started to scoot backwards. In the space of about 20-30 minutes, she went from here....

around in a big backwards arc to here ...

Of course, it can be rather frustrating for her especially when there is a toy she would like to get. You can tell she is trying and trying to get closer to it, but she just keeps inching backwards away from it!

Baka still has a few more weeks with us. I am not sure what we are going to do when she leaves. As you can see, Lola is nowhere more calm and peaceful than in her arms.

Finally a bonus shot...

Winding down for bedtime.