Martha at 1

Hello readers,
A friend recently said to Carrie, paraphrasing something she'd read, "The days seem to go on forever but the years pass so quickly!" It is quite remarkable to us that our child is now one year old. It has been a wonderful year and we continue to feel astonished by how happy, fun, and entertaining Martha is. She continues to take great strides (almost but not quite literally) forward and seems to feel that she is the first to ever walk along a path, so proud and elated is she. We can't blame her for having such delusions, perhaps, since we are guilty of amazement over the very same developments ourselves. Currently she can stand for upwards of a second, unsupported, but only if she's not aware she's doing so; she loves to march along with one hand on a grown-up and one hand clutching her favorite (most often sopping wet and bedraggled) finger-puppet bunny; she is on to more and more difficult foods, including salmon in bits, zucchini with the peel on, and--her favorite--toast ("a chip off the old block," proclaims Daddy with satisfaction). She is quite talkative and often sounds as if she's singing or asking a question, varying pitch, volume and intonation with no little virtuosity and evident delight. Often, she is very aware of her interactions with us--if she comes upon a game which it's clear not only she but we enjoy (eg chasing her around the sofa or 'pouncing' a stuffed animal onto her head), she repeats it with ever-increasing giggles, watching our faces to make sure our diversion is as great as hers.

Here she is a few weeks before the milestone, on our front steps with Grampa Walter and Grammy Phylsie.


And vying for title of most doting grandparents, here are Gramma and Grandad Martin, over from the UK for three weeks, on an outing to the Marin Headlands.




At Lake Merritt, where the Canada geese provided Martha with some amusement.

Our baby group continues to meet regularly, and we must admit all the other babies are astonishing and cute too. Here are five of the six and assorted parents at the group birthday gathering in Dimond Park.


Martha and the other babies enjoyed the time on the grass, and Martha formed an attachment to a local stick as well. (Note new cardy knit by Gramma.)

On Martha's actual birthday (April 6th), we had a small celebration at home. Here we are on top of the quilt made by Gramma and clutching a balloon brought by Nana Terry, with a bouquet courtesy of Grammy Phylsie and Grampa Walter in the background. Not surprisingly, Martha received gazillions of cards from her relatives in the UK. She continues to point them out on our mantel and likes to handle the one sent by Great Uncle Andrew featuring ducks.



Due to some...improvements on our house, we relocated to the Sierra foothills for an ill-fated evening. At least Martha found Mortimer the deerhead interesting.





With the grandparents Martin, on yet another hike, this time in Redwood Regional Park, where M was very excited by the myriad dogs about the place.

And the animated portion, brought to you by the Calaveras Big Trees State Park: