Little Man On The Moon
One of the coolest things I did on my trip was fly a super secret prototype spaceship to the Moon and do some exploring. All in the name of Science of course!

Safety First
Wow, it's been almost a month since my last posting, I hope I haven't disapointed my fans too much! I have been on the road visiting my family in Ohio and PA for the past couple of weeks. It was quite an adventure! I haven't been on an airplane in a long time and Mommie and Daddy were so proud of how well I did. I made sure to even read my safety information card. The cute flight attendants were very impressed with my diligence and rewarded me with lots of special attention. I will be posting lots of pictures from my trip, so be sure to stay tuned!

Election Day
Mommie and Daddy said today was a very important day called Election Day. It's when you give your vote and choose people to represent you and your interests. Daddy explained how it was my civic duty and if I didn't go and vote I was a lazy freeloader who didn't deserve my democratic rights.

Trick Or Treat!
Mommie and Daddy took me trick or treating tonight and boy was it fun! I got to dres up in my Giraffe outfit and take my pumpkin basket over to Cole Valley for a giant street party. Mommie said it was like the Castro but for kids. I don't know what that means but I sure had a good time. Daddy even let me eat my first chocolate bar....it was sooooo yummy. I can't wait to take my baby sister trick or treating next year. With the both of us working it we should have lots and lots of candy. Hopefully Daddy won't eat it all though next time!

"Mommie, why do you keep moving all the fun stuff to put into my mouth with this thing?"

Nice Floor!
Mommie and Daddy have been working hard at our place up in Healdsburg. They have been pounding away at all kinds of stuff and Daddy even let me help him with some of his cool tools. The finally finished the floors by the kitchen and I was able to sample some of the goods with my new skills. I really like the way the hardwood feels on my bare feet, although while I am still learning to walk I think I will stick to the carpeted areas!

No Shirt No Shoes, but I still get breakfast!

DoWhati?
Mommie and Daddy got all dressed up the other night and went to a Diwali party with Uncle Anand and Auntie Laura. They looked so neat in their Indian clothes. The festival sounded really fun and I was sorry I couldn't go and see Uncle Anand do his dance. Daddy said he really did a good job and that Uncle Anand can really shake his thing! I hope maybe I can go next year, Mommie said there were other babies there!

Kickin' It With Uncle Jesse
Uncle Jesse came over last week to hang out with me. He was Mommie's personal trainer while she was pregnant with me. He was one of the reasons I came out so big and strong and she was in such great shape. He is also helping her while she is pregnant with my little sister. Daddy likes using him becuase he says that Uncle Jesse kicks his butt and makes him buff. I want to be buff too! I can bench, like, 1.5!

"Whoa, this thing is crazy!"

Happy Birthday To ME!
My birthday party was so cool! The weather turned out to be wonderful and I had like a 100 people show up to help me turn one. Okay, maybe not 100 but so many of my friends came to celebrate. I had this really cool Giraffe Cake that was so super yummy. My friend Leyton's mom Lisa baked it and she is starting her own cake business. We played games and they kept singing this song to me which I thought was pretty strange.
I can't wait until my next birthday party, Daddy said I can have a clown!

One Trip Around The Sun

Jessica Alice Marie Lester
This is my baby sister Jessica, isn't she cute? Well, maybe not as cute as I am but I like her already. Mommie and Daddy and me are all very excited that she is going to be part of our family. I am ready to share my toys and give her lots of kisses.

The Next Step
Today I took my first steps! Mommie and Daddy were so excited and I really love my new found freedom. I need more practice but I am thrilled to be a new member of the biped club.

Mini Me!
I love riding around with the top down in Mommie's Mini. We have so much fun cruising the streets of San Francisco. Even when the sky is grey it's not really all that cold and I love the wind in my face.

"Mine!"

I'm too sexy for my toothbrush!
Good dental hygiene is important and now that I have 14 teeth, including 4 molars, and I want to make sure I take very good care of them. My molars are coming in handy for all of the chewing I have been doing lately. Mommie makes sure I have a good dinner every night and New York strips are my current favorite

"You know Camilla, 20 years from now this picture won't seem quite the same."

Belly Laughs

Bad Hair Day
Mommie and Daddy decided that I needed to have my hair cut. I wasn't sure what they meant but Mommie assured me it would be fun and I would look fabulous afterwards. Off we went to Snippity Crickets and a lady who I thought was going to be nice traumatized me! She took these awful metal things to my head and my beautiful golden brown locks fell to the ground all around me! It was so awful I burst into tears and tried to get her to stop. Nothing worked and Daddy, that jerk, even held my arms down so she could keep going! That is the last time I let Mommie talk me into something like that!
Bad Mommie!

Daddy's New Do
I almost forgot to tell everyone about Daddy's new hairdo that he came home with from Burning Man. Everything was so exciting with my new baby brother or sister on the way we got distracted. Anyway, Daddy decided that he wanted to change his haircolor and I think it's really neat. Mommie wondered if I would be scared when I saw him but I actually thought it was really funny and I wanted to reach out and touch it. It's growing out now though and pretty soon it will be back to the old way.

News Flash!

Piano Man
I love playing the Piano. Daddy bought me my very own keyboard and I have been having so much fun composing my greatest hits collection. So far I have hits such as "Mommie, there is poopy in my pants" and "Drool is a wonderful thing". Look for my upcoming CD on I-Tunes.

Mommie and Daddy went to Burning Man and I didn't even get a stinking tee-shirt!

The Lester Clan

Ode To The Green Bean
I consider myself to be a decent mother. My child is happy and healthy and more often than not wearing a matching outfit. I try to provide him with the best possible foundation in life where his emotional, mental, and physical well being are all in check. So why is it, in my quest for motherhood-utopia, that I find myself thwarted my Gerber's, Nature's Best, and every other damn baby food manufacturer out there? Now all you vegetable haters out there unite (believe me, I am one of them) but the craziest thing has happened over the past 10 months of my son's life. Each week when we go to purchase our supplies at the local Safeway and even Real Foods we find it harder and harder to locate a jar of something simple and green. One by one they have all disappeared...his most favorite creamed Spinach, the perfect peas, the greenest of beans, only to be followed by the garden vegetables (green variety not orange). Now I am not talking about the tree huggin hippie baby food that tends to mix the delightful veggies with things like lentils and potatoes. I am talking about the single, simple, veg. The shelves have been restocked with much more palate pleasing macaroni and cheese and summer garden vegetables which looks more like carrots in disguise. Sugar and carbs have replaced vitamin a and fiber and it seems that I am the only one on notice! I was standing there in the Safeway aisle digging through the carefully arranged shelf of junk food when another mother approached. We stood gazing together at the selections and I queried her on my conspiracy theory that Gerber is secretly trying to wrong our youth's eating habits from the cradle so later on they will be more inclined to not pass up that box of Nutter Butters. She looked at me quizzically and exclaimed "Huh, I hadn't noticed."
Hadn't noticed? Put down that spoon full of marshmallow fluff and look what is being peddled to your toddler! The Safeway manager was no help either telling me they only stock what people buy. Now don't get me wrong. I have been known to provide the occasional fruit puff or carrot wheel as bribery for good behavior. But when I am also trying to get some vegetables down my kid's throat before he realizes they are yuckie and I am dodging spoonfuls of UFGO's, I could really use a hand here.
So here is what I want Gerber....plain and simple....
Bring back the creamed spinach and my peas, and for god's sake please put them in a glass jar. Just like Coca Cola, it tastes better!
It may save my son from a gastric bypass one day!

Boy I'm Cruising Now!
Ever since I took my first couple of steps by myself Mommie and Daddy can't stop me from toddling around. I asked if I could have a walker of my own like Leyton's and now I am all set! Grammy is coming to visit me this week and I can't wait to show off my new skills. She is going to have to learn how to keep up though!

Bye Bye Mommie!
Today I decided to take a walk. I have been working up to this, but today was the day. I was at my playgroup with my friends and while Mommie had her back turned eating a cupcake I decided to stand up on Leyton's walker and go explore his house for myself. Someone said, "Hey your kid is walking!" and Mommie turned around and caught me on video...(after she screamed).

Happy Birthday Ben!
Today I helped my friend Ben turn 1. He had a pool party out in Moraga at his grandparents house. We swam, played, and ate some really yummie birthday cake. It was a whole lot of fun until I accidently snapped myself with the birthday hat...who knew those could be so dangerous! Mommie kissed my boo boo and made it feel better though so it was ok.

The Dog Ate My Homework!
Jasmine is my Nona's dog. She is almost 15 years old which is like a hundred or something in dog years. Mommie says she is blind and probebly deaf, but I don't know...she sure seems to know when I am eating breakfast. I slip her a few bites here and there before Mommie catches me!

Everything But The Kitchen Sink

Not too young to date!
Last week Mommie let me have some friends over to play. It was my first official playdate and I had 5 other babies over to my place in the city. We crawled, drooled, ate cheerios and showed off our toy sharing skills. I had so much fun that I took almost a 3 hour nap afterwards. There were some real cuties there too! Next week we are meeting over at one of the ladies houses for a pool party. I can't wait to show off my buff keg-pack bod.

It's a Jungle Out there!
Mommie says that our Camp Lester is a jungle that needs to be tamed. Yesterday we spent a lot of time pulling weeds and trimming back trees and bushes. Both Mommie and Daddy were surprised to find all kinds of Herbs growing wild around the house. There was thyme, fennel, lemon balm, and rosemary. I tried to help by sampling all of the tasty greens but Mommie got upset and I had to go back inside with Nona. I tried to tell her I was just expanding my pallate but she wouldn't buy it. Oh well.

"See Ya Later Alligator!"
Mommie and Daddy are having a hard time keeping up with me these days. I am so superfast at crawling now and it's so much fun to race around and see what kind of trouble I can get into before someone catches me!

Word Burner
We have been spending time up at our new place in Healdsburg and Mommie and Daddy have been working very hard to get everything ready to show our friends. I have been lucky enough to come along and play with Nona while Mommie and Daddy work. In the family room there is this really neat stove that the people used to heat the house in the winter time. I love crawling over to it and putting on the really cool black dust all over my clean clothes. Mommie doesn't seem as amused as I do though. Daddy told me a story today about when he was little. Pappa Tom put Daddy's computer in the basement where it was really cold and that motivated Daddy to want to go out and chop down trees to burn in their stove. It was his job to keep the stove going all winter long. But for some reason Daddy kept calling it a word burning stove. Silly Daddy, it's a WOOD burning stove! I am looking forward to going out and learning how to chop down trees too. I saw the new chainsaw in the barn and boy does that look like fun!

"I don't want to go to sleep yet!"
Jason has been sleeping through the night since he was about 3 months old. He normally goes to bed around 8 and wakes up in the morning between 6:30-7. This routine has made Mommie and Daddy very happy. Recently though, Jason has decided that he would much rather stay up with us and play. But growing boys need lots of sleep and in the bed we go at 8 anyway. So far the reaction has been full of cries of complaint, but Jason always seems to forgive us by morning.

"What's For Breakfast Mommie?"

The Fruit Of Daddy's Loins

Ouch!
Being so mobile has it's risks nowadays. There I was happily crusing the coffee table and then bam! That mean old gravity knocked me right off my feet! I fell down and bit my lip so hard it bled. It scared me more than anything, but my Daddy was right there to pick me up, dust me off, and help out with this really neat thing called an ice cube. I was ready to go again in about 5 min. Mommie says I am made out of rubber and bounce right back.

9 is Devine!
I turned 9 today and I am so very excited! It means I am only one month away from being double digits and I can't wait. Mommie measured me this morning and I am already 2 feet 5 inches tall. Daddy says I am long and lean like he is and that makes me happy becuase I want to be just like him. I am really getting good at crawling super fast and I love to climb stairs now too, which really freaks Mommie out. I also can clap when you say "yea!" and I love singing songs in my own language. We have been very busy the last couple of weeks buying a house in Healdsburg. There are 33 acres up there for me to play on and Mommie and Daddy are so excited becuase it's only a couple of miles away from Lake Sonoma. It sure is hot up there, but I really like the summer heat so it's ok. Mommie says the house needs a lot of love, but I need a lot of love too so I hope she has enough for both of us!

Will You Be My Neighbor?
Yippie, I'm going to have a new neighbor to play with. Uncle Paul, Tita April, and my friend Camilla are moving to the city and super close to us here in the Marina. Mommie, Daddy, and me went to look at their new house they are renting and wow, it was beautiful! I can't wait to have more playdates.

Drink it, wear it...it's all the same!
Mommie is learning fast that anything below 5 feet is fair game for me. Especially anything she is drinking. Turn around for a second and I'm on the job! The dog's water bowl is especially a favorite past time of mine. Maybe they will get the hint that I want a swimming pool!

Chèvre
Jason loves animals and petting zoo's are a favorite spot to spend an afternoon. Goats are his favorite animal of choice to pet and chickens still remain the nemisis. Personally I think it was all the goat cheese I ate while I was pregnant!

Here comes trouble!

My Independance
I celebrated my first 4th of July outside the womb yesterday. Last year we were in France and those guys didn't exactly put on a big celebration. Mommie and Daddy took me to San Jose to a really cool party that had all kinds of kids my age. I got to see a parade, eat watermelon, and swim in a pool. It was a whole lot of fun. Mommie said I was too little to stay up and watch the pretty fireworks but I could hear them from my room and it sounded really cool! Maybe next year I will be big enough and my little brother or sister will have to stay home and go to bed instead!

"This doesn't look like water Mommie!"

"That's a big hat Uncle Tommy!"