Father's Day 2009

We had a pretty low key Father's Day weekend this year, but Luciana sure enjoyed it. In the morning we went to the Oakland Zoo, but ended up spending most of the time watching her fake limp around the zoo and whine about a small scrape she picked up from a light fall she had. Needless to say we didn't see much of the zoo because we spent a lot of the time searching for a band aid that she insisted she needed. I guess with kids you can only try to make plans, but ultimately it isn't up to you how the day is going to turn out. Later on that day, she and Tony got to go to their first solo night time baseball game together. She came home from the game so excited to tell me the rules of baseball from a two year old's perspective. I think we've got ourselves a sports fan and we are looking forward to enjoying football season with her soon.

June Pictures

As the pregnancy is nearing the final weeks I've been slowing down on the picture taking, so I wanted to make sure to get in some photos of Luciana before the baby is born. She's got so much energy that it's difficult keeping up with her to get very many good shots. She's now closer to being three years old than two years old and will be starting preschool next week.....how time flies.

Deliriously Tired

A couple of weeks ago we had some friends over for drinks and we lost track of time. These pictures were taken close to midnight when the kids were obviously pretty tired and I think it goes to show why two year olds are still given bed time.

The Girl Who Loves Numbers

Luciana has really been into numbers lately....counting everything, tracing numbers, writing numbers, etc. We bought a set of number flashcards and she's really been into trying to learn the numbers. Here is a video of her counting to twenty in Vietnamese.

Untitled from h d on Vimeo.

Luciana and Hudson

This past weekend my good friend from Santa Barbara, Kate and her son Hudson Wolf visited. We went spent the day in the city and the kids played at the playground in Yerba Buena Gardens and goofed around at Kate's parents place. We had a great time and wish we lived closer to all our Santa Barbara friends still, but a visit now and then is always fun too.

May Pictures

Luciana is two and a half year old now and her sassy personality certainly confirms her age. Right now she is going through the not so pleasant side of being a two year old....a whole lot of attitude, wanting to do everything herself and her favorite word is the dreaded "no". On the bright side, she is going through a language explosion in both languages which is fun to watch, she can write and spell her own name, count to thirty in Vietnamese and much to our chagrin, loves to jump off just about everything she can climb on. I love my little girl so much and can't believe she's two and a half already!


Since I've been pregnant, Luciana has become very motherly. She told Tony that she wanted to give him some water, but he told her that he didn't want her to hold the cup for him because she might spill the water and get him wet. So she disappears into the kitchen for awhile then comes back into the living room with a bib and tells him, "Use this Daddy, then you won't get wet." There was no refusing her at that point.


We took advantage of a heat wave we had recently and bought little wading pool for her to play with on the balcony. She loved it so much that we almost regretted the purchase because it was impossible to get her out of the pool and in the house.


As she has gotten older, it takes a lot more work to keep her occupied. One of her favorite times during the day is what she calls "project time" where she gets to do some sort of creative and messy art project.

Playtime with Grandpa

Luciana, Tony and Uncle Chris went on a day trip to visit Grandpa recently. Luciana really enjoyed spending the day at the zoo and playground with her Grandpa! She still talks about all the peacocks she saw at the zoo, how Grandpa held her so she could see the tall animals and the sticks she collected throughout the day and how Grandpa let her store it in his pockets.