The last picture is actually from the following day, when we went back and had a nice little family picnic.  As you might have noticed, the park was not really packed.  These silly Californians think that 60 degrees weather is too cold for children to play outside.  Sophia didn't mind, she was very interested in her surroundings.  On the second day, we even got to see a squirrel and many crows up close.  The only thing she did not really enjoy was going down the slide by herself.  The expression on her face reminded me of the time we took her sledding in ND and when her grandpa thought she was old enough to man a sled by herself.

And in case that isn't enough, here's a video of her in action (permanent link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7065218864227386498&hl=en):

Saturday evening... a baby shower for our friends Lauren and Maria, our favorite lesbians who are pregnant with twins in a slightly non-traditional way (Maria's fertilized eggs implanted in Lauren):

Let me tell you guys a little bit about our trip to the real fairly-land.  Yes, we did go to this baby-shower and you get to read the story from my perspective.  I like Lauren and Maria but I was kind of skeptical about going to a baby-shower in the first place.  I know Jess had good reasons for taking me along, it would have been hard for her to go there alone with Sophia and I am also friends with the hosts.  In any event, it occured to me en route to this baby-shower whether I would be the only heterosexual male in that place?  I have been around homosexuals before, I like them and certainly have no problem of hanging out with them... but a house full of them!!!!  I didn't know if I was ready for this. 

When we arrived, it became clear to me (in lightning speed) that I might have been the only male in this house.  It was packed with women, some of them even pregnant.  I looked around, hoping to find someone of my sex.  I spotted a kid who was probably 9 or 10... and I also spotted a short-haired person whose arms were twice the size of mine.  Had I seen her from a distance, I might have had my hopes up but even in the dim lights of this "party", it was obvious that this person was no man.  She was actually very nice and reminded me a friend of mine.  Well, to conclude my search for a fellow male person in the party, I was the only man for about 45 minutes.  We did get 3 more men (whose sexual orientation probably did not align with mine) 20 minutes or so before Jess decided to save me from the party.  Frankly, I am not sure the sex of the guests mattered that much.  Being in a baby-shower full of lesbian women (mostly couples with kids or getting ready to have babies) definitely made for an interesting evening.  The highlights of the evening were my two friends Stella Artois and Leffe Blonde in the fridge.

Maybe this is our problem...  HA!

I blame my grandma.  After a few days in her house with all those homemade baked goods and memories of childhood deliciousness, I came home with a baking bug.  Today I gave in and made some apple bars.  The name implies that these are easy little things to whip up, but essentially apple bars are apple pie made in a cookie sheet.  Imagine a big, thin version of apple pie.  That's right... pie dough from scratch that has to be rolled out and put in the cookie sheet (TWICE because of the top), several kinds of applies to peel, core, and slice thinly... what on earth was I thinking?  Could someone please get me one of those Sandra Lee Semi-homemade cookbooks (and FAST)!?  I don't have time for this crap.  I love the idea of Sophia and I spending relaxing Sunday afternoons baking confectionary delights, but until she's able to help me, I think I might have to adjust my expectations.

Sophia, who was dressed in a New Year's Eve party dress despite not having a party to attend (does going to Target count?), was very interested in what her baba was so busy doing in the kitchen.

I originally predicted that Sophia would take her first steps on New Year's Day, so we spent some time walking around the house.  It's a good thing she's pretty tall otherwise this activity would seriously kill a person's lower back and hamstring muscles.  (permanent link:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4550143613819185955&hl=en)

Sophia isn't likely to walk by my predicted date (today!), but she's confided in me that it's her New Year's resolution.  She's also resolved to try some new foods.  In fact, she started the New Year off with some chicken (only the free-range, no-hormones-or-steroids, in-therapy-all-their-lives-to-find-inner-peace kind of chicken, of course!).  I've been thinking for a few days about some nice achievable New Year's Resolutions for myself.  I resolve to:

1.  ...eat less refined sugar, particularly ice cream.  I won't be nursing Sophia forever and, once she's done, I won't be burning all those extra calories every day.  I think it might be time to replace ice cream with some nice healthy fruit in the evenings.  Perhaps I'll start with some citrus since we have a few hundred oranges on the tree out back.

2.  ... be more productive, particularly at work.  The fall semester was a real learning experience for me (us) as I got a taste of the nasty job of juggling motherhood and career.  It's time to put that experience to work and get some necessary things done.  They aren't going to give me tenure for having good intentions and cute daughter.

3.  ... be more patient and use kinder words, particularly with Esen.  Daily life can be a real challenge some times.  I try hard to be nice, but sometimes the sleep deprivation and my inner bitchiness get the better of me.  I would kind of like him to stick around in 2008, so it might be time to be nice enough that I'm not constantly apologizing for being cross.  There's a nice externality to this resolution given that Sophia is now starting to mimic so many things that we do and say... she might also grow up speaking politely. 

4.  ... harness my sense of humor.  On this front, I think I've done a pretty good job in 2007, but there's always room to find new ways to laugh at life and the situations you find yourself in (remember when Sophia had a diaper blow-out, it got all over my shirt, we were out to dinner, and the diaper bag accidentally got left at home?  I sure do.).  I really want Sophia to be a carefree, quick-to-laugh little girl, so I guess it's my (our) job to set a good example.  I should probably move this one up to the #1 slot since success here will likely make all the other resolutions easier to achieve.

Esen tells me that, while Turks *do* celebrate the New Year, they don't put together a list of resolutions.  Interesting.  Guess I'll just have to put together a list for him.  :)  Here's what I've come up with so far.