Duck, Duck, Sister

While visiting BoMa and BoPa is always great fun, this weekend we added to the excitement with an outing to the Boston Common for a ride on the swan boats and a visit with some ducklings.


I really enjoyed the view from the footbridge. It's amazing how much more satisfying things are when you can stand on your own.


Sitting isn't so bad either, especially when you get to stop and smell the tulips (too bad there weren't any roses since that's the cliché).


Speaking of sitting, it was great to ride on these feathered friends. Make way for sisters!


You look very comfortable on that mallard...


...funny, but you don't.


At the end of a busy morning, it's important to balance the need for a nap with the great deal of fun that remains to be had.

A Daria Tale

Once upon a time, on a bed far, far, away (in Waban, MA to be precise), there was a little princess who found a hairbrush.


She was so excited with her discovery, that she began to play with it.


Then she decided that it might taste yummy, so she tried to put it in her mouth, but it was too big.


So she turned it around, but it was too small.


Next she found her butterfly, but it was too wing-y.


So finally, she found her thumb - just right. (Note the pun: she's no longer sucking her left one like me, which, when combined with the fact that she eats lefty, makes mommy and daddy think she is probably left-handed.)


And the princess slept happily ever after (or at least for the next half hour). The End.

That's Just How We Roll

We made a quick trip to Boston where Josh and Rachel introduced us to roller derby with the Boston Derby Dames.


We don't have roller derby names yet, but we think we're ready to play. Well, as soon as I learn to walk, skating won't seem so hard, will it?

(Please enter a comment if you think of an appropriate moniker. The best I could come up with are "Liana-and-Meana Skating Machina" and "Daria Sis-boom-bah-ria." We're sure you can do better than that.)

We also saw Nora and her mommy and daddy. She'd be fun to have play on our on our squad, but we couldn't even get her to play pétanque.


We have such a great team on the home court.

Oh, Mother!

We celebrated mommy in high style this weekend, first with some of her friends who came over for as many kinds of chocolate as the birthday she was celebrating...


...then with cousins for Chinese food in honor of Mother's Day.


Happy Birthday, Mommy! We love you from head to toe.

Let's Get Physical

For months you've been flipping over bars, doing somersaults, and generally scaring mommy and daddy that you're going to hurt yourself (or me), but tonight you debuted a truly remarkable trick: the unassisted flip.


Watch out Flip, Flip, and Flip. I've got your number.

Duet for Daria

You and Daisy sing so beautifully - thank you for the serenade. Look out Laurie Berkner, here come cousins!!

Excellent Penwomanship

I've learned to write my name (just to be clear, yours is in black not blue).


Speaking of great writing, tonight mommy read us "The Best Nest," a tale of adventure and intrigue. You only liked it because it was homework assigned by school.

Giving Us a Run/Walk for Our Money

Thank you to all our friends and families who supported us this weekend as we walked (and were pushed) in the EIF Revlon Run-Walk for Women with so many of daddy's colleagues from work. As many of you know, to help raise funds for women's cancers, we thought it only appropriate to establish a gender-based family competition.


We got up super early (by which we mean "at our usual time") to head to the start line in Times Square. Fortunately they gave us t-shirts and hats for participating, but I preferred to wear a pig on my head...


While daddy helped us cross the finish line, so far we' ve helped mommy raise $840 (which I've been told is more than double daddy's $415 raised to-date).


If you haven't yet made a pledge (whether to our team or out of pity for daddy), you can still do so until 5pm on Friday, June 11, so please e-mail us if you want information on how to support our family rivalry online. Thank you for all your support!!

This Baby Goes Up to 11

In honor of my eleven-month birthday, today I learned to play the kazoo. (You know how to kazoo, don't you? You just put your lips together and...oh, nevermind.) Who do you think you are, Lauren Bacall?


Playing that kazoo is excellent practice for your candle next month. Happy birthday, baby Daria!

It's a Gymbor-three

This weekend we continued the celebration of my birthday with a gym party for my family and a few friends. Our family is a little uneven, so you picked the right spot for a portrait.


I learned a new trick on the bars...which you did over, and over, and over again. Fortunately daddy captured all my flips on video. No, fortunately mommy decided to include only one video here, lest our fans get bored.


You and Daisy sure were up to some monkey business.


The party ended with pizza followed by not one, not two, but THREE cupcakes.
Q: How many cupcakes do I get for my 11 month birthday?
A: 0.916 cupcakes.


I know that good things come in threes, but I'm so happy the four of us could celebrate together!

Teething is Funda-dental

While you've been busy saying farewell to your two's, I have been welcoming a too-th of my own.


Can you see her if I zoom in? I like to refer to her as lower left and soon I'm going to need to start flossing.

Happy Birthday Two Three

Happy Birthday three you,
Happy Birthday three you,
Happy Birthday dearest Liana,
Happy Birthday, I love you.

I turned three today and was so lucky to have not one, but two celebrations. First at school (with decorate-your-own cupcakes and chocolate-covered strawberries)...


...which my friends seemed to enjoy...


...and I was delighted to be a part of.


And then at Mema and Grandpa's (with ice cream cake)!


As a little girl in a big city, it's important to make one's presence known at least once a year.


Daddy started a tradition last year of taking my photo on the bike rack outside our apartment. My how I've grown (and now I have a baby - not the one in the photo, silly)!


And no birthday post would be complete without your 10:07 photo. Somehow it isn't quite as adorable as they were my first year, is it?

Funny, You Don't Look Two-ish

I hope one day you'll teach me how to twirl like a two-year-old ballerina. You betcha - if I can remember how once I turn three tomorrow!

Aircraft Carrier, I Hardly Know Her

Today BoMa and BoPa took us aboard the USS Intrepid. It was fun to see all the planes on the ship - and looking at our navals sure beats looking at our navels.


There was also a band, playing wonderful patriotic music (and featuring lots of instruments we recognized) on deck.


The carrier was incredibly tall.


Speaking of carry-her, it's taller than I am on mommy's shoulders...


...and even on daddy's I can't reach the top.


All that sea air really wore us out. Fortunately BoMa and BoPa helped us home.


When I finally woke up, I got to open my first birthday present: a cash register. Thank you, BoMa and BoPa - I can't wait to check you out!

Songs and Daughters

The "key" to being a great artiste is not looking at the ebony and ivory while you play.


How does one get to Carnegie Hall? I'd take the M57, but it looks like you've opted to start practicing really early.


Silly Liana, that's a "rest" not a 'stache!


Check out my equilateral chime! You mean your triangle? Yeah, whatever.


Accordion to mommy and daddy, most of the people who play this instrument are old Italian and Polish men.

I Love Zoo So Much

In the past two weeks, we've spent a lot of time monkeying around at the zoo. First we hopped over to the Central Park Zoo with Brielle and her parents.


Look what I caught in my web! A lot more successful than the last time I tried...


Thanks for encouraging me to come out of my shell. Sometimes you just need to stick your neck out.


Let's pause to put our paws together. If we were chicken cousins, this would have been a high 4!


Then today we went with Matthew and his parents to the Bronx Zoo. I'm not in this one (and neither are the zebras I was hoping to capture behind you) because I was behind the camera. Apparently this is the only shooting permitted here.

100 Bottles of Milk on the Floor, 100 Bottles of Milk

Which one of us do you think has the more serious drinking problem? (Please leave your comment below.)