In Praise of Cheese Vacations

We enjoyed a nice vacation in wine country this past week. With Talia in tow, wine tasting was highly impractical and hardly desirable. Being dairy fiends, we decided to call our trip a "cheese vacation." While it may not have been as spectacular as Wallace and Gromit's vacation, our cheese sources proved more reliable. Here is a what we did.

Home base was Windsor (located about 10 minutes from Healdsburg. Here we are in our condo.



Talia enjoyed exploring new territory, leaving her mark wherever she rolled.



She also had a new first, a shower! Talia's look of awe was quickly drowned out by her smiles.



Daddy gave Talia lots of piggyback rides.



We enjoyed walking around old town Windsor.





Our favorite stop was Powell's. It is a fun candy store with delicious gelato. Mmmmm! Poor Talia missed out on all the flavors, but the colors and shapes proved to be quite a treat.



We travelled to the Calistoga area for part of a day. The draws included a geyser, a petrified forest, and a functioning water wheel mill. Here are a few pictures of Calistoga's Old Faithful and the surrounding areas:







While we were there we saw fainting goats, four horned sheep, and llamas. One of the goats licked Talia. We captured some of these moments on video.

The petrified forest was interesting, although I think we got more bang for our buck at the geyser.







Here is the Bale Grist Mill. Unfortunately the mill was closed the day we visited, but we enjoyed snooping around for free.









We went on a walking tour of Healdsburg that included goodies from local shops and a bit of town history. The tour included wine tasting, chocolates, doughnuts, coffee, sourdough bread made from a 100 year old mother (aka starter), pastries, chips and salsa, gelato (I tried ginger flavored), olive oil tasting, and more. We also tried Talia cheese. Let me clarify, we tasted cheese made from sheep milk. We didn't take any pictures, but you can see a picture of our group at http://www.healdsburgwalkingtours.com/healdsburggourmetsampler.html.

Our last day included a trip to Sonoma. We did some cheese tasting and purchased some curds. They were gone in less than 24 hours.







We had a wonderful trip! The scenery was exquisite, the tastes were fabulous, and the traveling companions were priceless. We are off to the coast now!

Six Months and Counting

Talia turned half a year old last week. To celebrate her birthday, she got her shots and endured an informal photo shoot. A few days before her "birthday," Talia got to try oatmeal for the first time. Here she is trying it.







Talia likes to sit up. She enjoys "kicking back" in the chair watching Mommy and Daddy go about their business. Uncle Eric would be proud.





Talia got 2 valentines this year. She received one from Anna and one from Grandma and Grandpa P. Here she is reading the card from Grandma and Grandpa.



Going on walks is one of Talia's favorite pastimes. She really likes riding in her Baby Bjorn. Mommy begins the walk with Talia. Daddy takes over at the mid-point.



Walking is hard work for a little baby.



Talia continues to enjoy tasting the world around her. She also loves to babble. Occassionally, she gets caught with her foot in her mouth.



Mommy was very impressed with Talia when she got her shots. She cried for less than a minute. Talia did not gain a great deal of weight these last two months, but she grew two inches. She is in the 99th percentile on length and in the 74th percentile on weight. I asked the nurse about her slowed weight gain and she said that Talia is probably growing into her genetic body type (long and lean). She assured me that Talia had plently of baby fat.

Here are a few pictures Mommy took to commemorate Talia's six month birthday.









Talia hopes you enjoyed this post.

Swaddles, Snow, Sales, and Solids

It's time for more pictures!

We hope to wean Talia off her swaddle. Here she is with one arm out.



We have also enjoyed several days of snow. Here are a few pictures of us in the snow. If you look closely, you can see snow falling.









After one of our snows Sarah and Anna came over to see the snow (and hang out). We went on our canyon view walk. Much of the snow had melted, but it was still pretty. Sarah took this picture of our family.



Talia and Anna got to play. Here they are on our chair.



Talia began eating solids last week. Here she is getting set up for her first solids meal.



She is waiting patiently for us to get the video camera set up.



We video taped her first bites. She got tired from sitting in her booster seat so I finished her last bites on my lap.



The next day we remembered to take pictures with the camera as she ate.





Before you read the next section, you really should watch this video.



Talia is a long girl. She is beginning to grow out of some of her 9 month clothes. We did not have much 12 month and 18 month clothes so we decided to buy some. Rather than spend a fortune we decided to buy clothes for Talia on eBay. Jon helped us buy 65 items of clothes for $31 shipped. The clothes ranged from well used to brand new with tags. Here are some of the clothes she received.



Here is Talia enjoying her box of clothes.



Mommy is enjoying trying some of Talia's clothes on her (they run in size from 12 months to 24 months so most are too big, but that didn't stop Mommy from dressing her little doll).



Talia and Mommy like to goof off. Sometimes Daddy catches us in the act.



Talia has big, strong legs to help her stand.



Talia has been enjoying her rain forest from a new perspective.



Even though she has so many fun toys to explore, she still finds Daddy and Mommy pretty fascinating.



And we find her to be the most fascinating of all!