Mother's Day started on Saturday afternoon when Scott, Jonas and Pete planned a few hours at the spa for me, Katie and Jess. A surprise for all three of us, we were thankful for our girl time! On Sunday, Scott and Catherine went to Noah's to get my favorite coffee and a tasty blueberry muffin to start my day. Then I learned that they had been shopping at Tiffany! Our nickname for Catherine is "The Bean" and in honor of that, they bought me a Bean necklace. Such a special and sweet surprise! In the afternoon - off to the A's game to celebrate Green & Gold Style followed by a BBQ at the Drains. Enjoy - we did!

P.S. To see more photos of Catherine at her first A's game of the season with her friend Jack, click here.

Post-Bath Bliss

We have some new words! Catherine has been saying "Hi" for about two weeks and toward the end of last week, she added "Bye!" to her vocabulary. She always accompanies these words with a wave but she seems to think that "bye!" is something that is said at any time of day: while reading a book, while bathing, while crawling around on the floor...! She has been saying "Dada" for quite a while and on Monday when Sarah walked in the house she said, "Hi, Mom!" while waving. Finally, just today she dropped her bottle and added, "Uh-oh!" Tonight that was the word of choice, edging "bye!" into second place. Did we say "finally"? We know it's just the beginning of this little chatter bug's vocabulary!

Dinner Time

Sometimes dinner is so good, it's worth rubbing all over your face!!

rocking out with dad

Dance Jams!

Monterey and Easter Trips

Last weekend we took a mini-vacation to Monterey, where Catherine spent some quality time with all of her fish friends. We even took a side trip to the 18th green at Pebble Beach so she could start practicing in anticipation for next year's U.S. Open. On Easter we went to Aunt Joan's house, where "the Bean" got to hang out with her cousin Elle and participate in her first Easter egg hunt. Fun times! -

Taking a Stand

Dad got a gift card, and with that gift card, Dad bought a new video camera. Catherine took the opportunity to show off her standing skills for her new and expanding audience..... This is pretty common for Catherine these days, continually bouncing from one object (or parent) to the next....

Catherine the Quick

With each passing day, the little lady gets a bit more confident in her crawling strides, and she can go longer and longer distances without stopping for a break. Of course, when Mom is at the end of the hallway with a camera, there's an added motivation....

Redevelopment

The first recorded evidence to suggest that Catherine might one day be a talented architect - or at least skilled in the art of demolition!!

Turkey Who?

Today was Catherine's 9 month appointment with Dr. Lam. She was very excited to see her doctor and show her how she can stand and giggle. She weighs 18lbs 13 oz and is 2'5" tall. That is one tall and lean bean!

What was most exciting about the visit was that her friends Tom, Tom, Tom and Tom's two sisters (Tamalia and Tamalia) showed up to make sure Catherine had a ride home. What nice turkeys!

The Tiny Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I found this leprechaun reading about sushi and drinking green milk this morning. She likes to be culturally diverse in her celebrations.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The tradition lives on (see last year's eggs)! This year the French Guy surprised me with eggs in bed. French Guy also looks a heck of a lot better first thing in the morning hence no photo of both of us! Bean is still asleep as I type but I'm sure by the end of the day there will be a photo of her here, too! Hope everyone has a little green today...

Catherine made some new friends!

A rainy day turned into a sunny day at Academy of Science in San Francisco! Catherine loved seeing all of the fish and all of the people (of course)!

Cat the Crawler

The little lady is on the move - no one can stop her now!!

Some January shots with our new camera

Ohh, the life of a baby....pose for photos, pass out from exhaustion. Pose for photos, pass out from exhaustion. It's just so tiring!!

Holidaze....

Guess who fell behind in updating her blog?! Yup, it was Catherine Hannah!! It's been a great few weeks that started with a party in Monterey for Catherine's Great Aunt Joan and gave us a chance to hang out with Aunt Megan, Uncle Toph, and Cousin Elle. A week later, Catherine boarded a plane and flew to North Carolina to celebrate Christmas with the Bolands. After searching for weeks to find Santa Claus, where did he finally turn up? In the Charlotte airport, of course. Catherine shared some quality time with Jolly ol' Saint Nick in a rocking chair in front of a Jamba Juice. Inspired by her visit with Santa, Catherine fulfilled one of the oldest Christmas traditions around - she dressed up in a Santa suit and rode a giant wooden giraffe.

After opening presents on Christmas morning, Catherine got the chance to hang out on the back porch with her cousin Spiderman! (known also as Aidan)

Back home in California, Catherine was up to her old tricks, mugging shamelessly for the camera. She wishes you all a Happy New Year, and she's looking forward to smilng with you in 2009!