We had such a fun birthday party for Abhainn and a sleep over with Enzo, Joe and Patti and a fun family dinner with the Cioni’s! Fun filled weekend. We are so proud of our sweet, kind and thoughtful boy.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Alba is 5 and Abhainn is almost 3!
Pony Rides
Christmas in Sonoma
We had a wonderful Christmas in Sonoma. Gran, Grandpa and Grainne were here. We went on a lot of bike rides, had fun picnics, ice skated, went to the beach and enjoyed many yummy meals. 
The Preschool Christmas Pageant
Alba was Mary in the nativity play that the Whale class preformed! We were so proud. She said all her lines and did a good job. 
Abhainn’s first big boy haircut
Abhainn has his first professional haircut! He was not scared. He listened well and stayed still. We were all very impressed. 
Alba is Five!
Our sweet pea is five years old! She is growing so much and everyday we are proud of our sweet girl. She is very nurturing and loves to play family, school where she is the teacher, she loves art especially painting and dolls and babies. She is so calm and loves to take care of many babies all at once.
She has tons of friends but her best friends are: Elise, Emmy, Lilly, Hartley, Abby and Felix. She is very sweet to Abhainn and they have a gorgeous relationship. They sleep together every night and play well together too.
For Alba’s birthday we had three days of fun. Gran and Grandpa arrived Thursday and on Friday Alba brought mini cupcakes to her class. Saturday we had a family day starting with French toast. We went to train town where both Alba and Abhainn road the roller coaster and loved it! We had the Cioni cousins up for pizza dinner and had a princess cake. On Sunday we had a huge party at the Sonoma Gymnastics Academy with all Alba’s friends. It was a wonderful weekend. 
Abhainn is potty training!
Abhainn is 2 years old and 4 months and is pooping and peeping on the potty! He wears undies to preschool everyday and we are so proud of him. It’s been all on him really we weren’t really evening thinking about it. His preschool encourages it in a very nice way with no real pressure. It’s so exciting. 
Preschool has Started
This is Alba’s last year of preschool. She is a whale this year and is loving being the big kid on campus.
This is Abhainn’s first year. He was able to start preschool in May when he turned 2 and is in the same class this year with about 4 of the same kids. He is a Minnow.
Both kids love school and are thriving! We couldn’t be more proud.
Abhainn first day in May 2017
Summer Staycation
We had a great staycation in Sonoma this summer. Preschool was closed so we took the two weeks off and really had fun.
- Swim lessons! Alba Swam for the first time Aug 11th! Abhainn loves the water and is very independent.
- Lots of dates for Greg and I
- Super fun day in Berkeley. Kids went to Maria’s, we had adult time with Nicole and Cleo, park fun with friends
- Weekend with Sean and Alex, Meg and Matt
- Broadway under the stars (amazing)
- Muir Woods
- Stinson beach
- Lake Tahoe: swimming in the lake, paddle boarding, boat ride, swiming at the top of Squaw, yummy dinner with Sean and Alex
- Fun with Mar and Matt
- Goodbye to Felix as they set off to Boston!
I’m feeling really at home here now. Sad to see Berkeley for what might be our last time, but excited to have new experiences and friends.
Berkeley fun and saying good-bye to our dear friends Felix, Nicole and Tony
Fun visit with Sean and Alex and Meg and Matt
Fun visitwith the Davis family! And some fun summer pics.
Our garden!!! Yes those are tomatoes
Fourth of July in Sonoma and Mom’s visit
4th of July in Sonoma is adorable! It’s perfect for our family.
Mom’s visit was so wonderful! We had a great time even though we were so busy getting the final touches on the carriage house.
Winter 2017
We had a fun, full and very wet winter! California is out of the five year drought so we are thankful but we are even more thankful for spring! Winters in Sonoma are colder and we really feel like we get seasons here. The leaves are just now coming in and things are blooming and everything is green again.
December: Abhainn 20 months
Abhainn is saying more words everyday.
- Ball
- Daddy
- Mommy
- Blue ball
- Apple
- Bye
- Hi ya
- Poopoo
- Cracker
- Chesz (cheese)
- Here you go Dad (sort of)
- Papa
- Chacha
- All done
- Cookie
- Graffalo
- Side down
- Hot
He can jump and dance and do somersault! He is so active. He loves bringing in Alba’s chair and climbing up to the kitchen counters. On Albas birthday it got pretty quiet and I found Abhainn in the kitchen standing on the chair eating birthday cake! Nothing is safe.
He has also been busy teething too. He has four molars four top teeth and four botto teeth. He is currently getting his four eye teeth and seems to be in a lot of pain. He has always teethed in multiples either two at a time or four at a time.
He loves balls, playdough, running, swinging, slides, sand, climbing, books. He loves the Graffalo books and we have to read one every night.
The kids share a room and bedtime has really gotten fun. We get all ready for bed and there is normally a lot of playing and laughing. Sometimes the kids run circles around me if I sit in the middle of the floor. We have story time all together which is so special. We need to get some beanbags or something so we can cuddle better as now we just sit on the floor.
Abhainn is really becoming a little person. He laughs and plays. He covers his mouth when he coughs. He loves his binkies and is overall a great sleeper.
We are so lucky and thrilled to have him as part of our family.
Alba turns 4!
Saying goodbye to Mathews St. and moving to Kenwood
We moved to Kenwood on August 22nd and have settled into our new house in Kenwood well.
It was Greg’s dream and we were able to find an amazing house or as Greg calls it ‘our estate’! Overall it went well although we have 100 hoops to jump through but we did it and we were also able to sell our Berkeley house for a ton of money. I miss Berkeley our neirborhood, community and house.
I have been struggling with it but the kids seem to be doing well. Alba loves her new school and Abhainn is also very happy. I think Alba misses her friends and I miss the ease of our old life. I miss being able to walk everywhere and especially how easy it was to drop the kids off at school. Once the kids are at the Kenwood school it will be better.
The things I like is the town. It’s great to be party of a safe and fun town where there are lots of great events and things to do that are kid friendly. The square is a fun place to be and May through Oct there is a farmers market and food truck event. We have gone now three times and it’s awesome. We have made some connections with farmers and one is now selling our figs.
Abhainn is 16 months old
Abhainn official first word is ball. He has been saying Mama and Dadda forever but he says them regardless if he really means it. But ball is only said when he is talking about a ball! Words Abhainn can say:
- Mama
- Daddy
- Alba
- All done
He loves to make doggy noices “woof woof” and “hoo hoo” for monkey.
He can run and is very active never sitting down.
He loves books and wants you to read to him all the time.
He is definitely working on his vocabulary.
He understand so much and you can give him three step directions and he’ll do it.
He really understands Spanish too.
He has all four molars now. It’s been a hard few weeks as they have been coming in.
He loves to dance and loves music. His drum is one of his favorite toys. He also loves wearing our shoes and walking around with them.
We just love this sweet little boy. He is getting better at hugging and cuddling too which is so wonderful.
Summer fun in Maine and the beach
Abhainn and Alba just love the beach. They love the waves and the sand. Abhainn has really changed on this vacation. He is cuter then ever and can run now. He his fearless of the waves and just loves standing in the surf and being lifted up right before the waves would knock him over. Alba also loves the beach and the waves and runs and runs in and out of the water. She is not interested in going too deep and has respect for the power of the ocean. She is a good big sister always watching out for Abhainn and making sure he doesn’t run into the water.
Abhainn is One!
Our little baby is one years old. How could that be? Where did this year go. He is such a sweet baby and his little personality is really starting to show.
He just loves to walk or toddle around. We went to Muir Woods for his birthday so he could do just that and we could all enjoy the beautiful trees and clean air.
Abhainn stopped nursing at 11 months. It all happened so naturally and easily but I was not ready. I was glad it was on his terms but sad to lose that special bond. It does feel good to have my body back for the first time in 4 years though.
- He is 23 lbs (84 percentile in weight and 98 percentile in height)
- He has 6 teeth and a seventh on the way
- He can say Mama, Dada
- He can wave and blow kisses
- He sleeps through the night and puts himself to sleep
- He plays cars and goes burrrr
- He loves to get into the kitchen cupboards and get all the snacks and tea out.
- He loves cracker boxes
- He loves to feed himself with a plate/bowl and spoon and is really good at it.
- He is a good listener and follows directions
- He hates having is diaper changed or anything that stops him from playing and exploring the world
- He loves to collect rocks and have things in his hands
- He is busy. Always on the go and doing something
- He loves to eat cheese and fruit. He loves food in general but particularly loves cheese
- He hugs you and likes to checkin while he plays but normally does not like to cuddle for any length of time.
- He loves books and loves flipping through them himself
- He loves our ball pit and will happily play in there by himself for a good amount of time
- He loves his big sister and Alba loves him. They have really turned into playmates and life with two has really gotten easier
Abhainn is 10 1/2 months old and is walking!!!
Abhainn started walking today! We are thrilled and it’s so much fun.
Abhainn is 10 months old
Abhainn can say Dada! We don’t think he knows exactly what it means yet, but he can say it!
He isn’t walking yet but he is so close. He can stand up unassisted and can walk well by holding on to your hand.
He is still sleeping through the night regularly! He puts himself to sleep regularly too and when he does wake he often plays with his toys for awhile happily so we don’t have to rush in.
He eats well but seems to be a bit picky with his food. He seems to prefer simple flavors and isn’t too keen on eating our food. He doesn’t seem to like pasta or avocado. He loves to eat straight from a pouch which is convenient and weird.
ourscottishrose 
