Baby Biagini #2

Well, wanted to finally break the news....we're expecting another one! Very exciting, just about finished up with the first trimester, due date is in early August.

Cecily is getting a little more used to the idea, although she is still in denial sometimes. When I told her there was a baby in my belly she said "No, its just food". But I am planning to focus on how wonderful it is going to be for her to be the big sister.

Have my ultrasounds next week, but we shouldnt find out the sex for another month or so.

Very excited...

Thanksgiving 2009

Lights at Embarcadero

We took Ceci and Addi to see the lighting of the buildings down at the Embarcadero, a yearly event that includes a Holiday Carnival, and ice skating show, the lighting ceremony, and then Santa visiting. We got there late of course, and missed the carnival and most of the iceskating, but the girls still had fun. Christmas seems like it comes earlier every year!

Listen to My Words

"Listen to my words!" Cecily instructed her father firmly. He apparently wasn't paying her enough attention as we attempted to go through our morning routine on Friday. We both suppressed a giggle which prompted her to get really angry "Dont laugh at me! It hurts my feelings!"

These are some of the moments we are having lately with little Cec. We had our "parent-teacher conference" at the preschool on Friday and it was a treat listening to the director and one of the teachers tell us all about Cecily's antics and behaviour.

• She is very verbal and lets herself be heard
• She has a strong sense of self and confidence
• She is a leader, and the other children are inspired by her creative games
• She uses the whole school, explores all there is to do, although her favorite things are dress up, art room, the water table, and the trampoline. She doesnt much play with blocks or trucks.
• She likes the routine and following the rules. And she reminds others of the rules if they are breaking them

It all sounded pretty right-on, and we were glad to hear that her at home bossiness was more in the form of confidence and leadership at school, although I suspect they might have been sugar coating it just a little. But all in all we were very pleased to know that our little 3 year old was ahead of the game in her "skills", at least for the things they seem to be looking for at this age, which I'll have to be honest, seems very simple. I think social interaction, self expression, and ability to follow direction (in a limited way) is mostly what they are focused on at this stage.

Halloween

The lead up to Halloween started around October 1st with Cecily gearing up for all that this holiday had to offer. We "pretended" trick or treating all month, talked about the costume Grandpa was going to make, made decorations for the house, etc. Since Cecily was Alice, we put together a mad hatter costume for Greg and they both looked great at the preschool Halloween Faire. (More on my costume later)

A little bit scared of the mad hatter...

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On Halloween (actual day) we went up to Sonoma. We decided to go trick or treating in the neighborhood near Scott and Cara's house and it was perfect. This was Cecily's first real trick or treating event and she got ALOT out of it. Alot of candy of course, but also the experience of the real thing after all the pretend play was so exciting! She caught on pretty quick and then wanted on to the next house! She loved running around in the streets in the dark and seeing all the other little kids out. There were a few scary things (like Freddy Krueger handing out candy). But for the most part she embraced the spookiness.

A quick word about my costume. So Greg came back with this get-up from the costume store when we were down in L.A. I thought I could be the Queen of Hearts since we were doing the Wonderland theme. My one request was that it NOT be ...how should we say this... a skanky version of this character. The Queen of Hearts is not exactly a sex object so you'd think that would be do-able. However, what he brought me was a little more "tart" than I'd like. It was not exactly preschool Halloween faire appropriate, so I did not wear it there. But on Halloween night it was dark, and it made Cecily happy, so I wore it. Enough said.

Family Photo (not sure what is wrong with Greg in this pic, but its the only one we got of all 3 of us)

Getting excited for the night

First house

Wow-they really gave us candy

Alice and the Queen of Hearts

Examining the loot

Pretty in Pink

Family Visit

Tea Time with Grandma

Little Red Riding Hood with Auntie Leen

Watching cartoons with Auntie Leen

With Grandpa

Three Years Old

Cecily turned 3!

We brought cupcakes to school and she was a little bashful but mostly very proud for it to be her birthday. She likes to be the star. Chocolate cupcakes were a hit.

On Saturday we took Cecily to Fairyland with her friend Addi and cousins Lauren and Kaitlyn. The girls LOVED this. Ran around to all the statues, explored the little houses, and watched a puppet show, all while wearing the fairy princess outfits.

Then we had family over for a big dinner and it was lots of fun. Cecily liked holding her new little cousin Mikey (Mike and Eileens baby boy). She made it up to the cake with only a little bit of a "Baby Breakdown" (as Jennifer and Shelley call it) from all the stimulation. She tore through her presents but was oh so happy to play with them the next day.

Preschool Picnic

This weekend we went to the Preschool picnic. Cecily had alot of fun with her friends and pretty much didnt want anything to do with us. She is getting so independent...; )

gathering sticks with Lucy and Maisie

Playing Limbo and the Hokey Pokey

Enjoying some icecream with Maisie

Taking a break

Early Fall Days

We have been enjoying that wonderful Indian summer weather. This weekend was our annual block party, and Cecily had so much fun. The first year we had the block party Cecily was 6 days old. What a long way she has come! Facepainting (this was my job), games, waterballoons, pinata, a firetruck stopped by for the kids. Addison got to hang with us and enjoy as well, though she was a little spooked by the sirens ("they're coming to get me!")