First steps...

It's been a big week in our little Valencian casa - Isabella has started to walk.

She took 2 steps last Friday, on her 15-month birthday (just as the doctor had predicted at her 1 year appointment), 4 steps the next day, 6 by Sunday... and so it continues.

She's still a bit unsteady - but very entertaining!

Here's a video from today, after a morning walk in the river park. We took a stroll through the rose garden which sits just below our apartment building and decided to see if Renee, Isabella's best mate (kiwi, 16-1/2 months), could provide some inspiration... (Renee's mom, Carolyn, helped to cheer the girls on...:-).

15-month check up

First the Spanish nurse does the weigh in.
For the record: 8.4 Kg (18.5 lbs) & 71 cm (28 inches).
Then Dr. Carlos (Gleser, from Argentina - speaks English, is very funny and Isabella adores him) checks the vitals... 12 teeth now!And says she's good to go (grow?)! (note the dinosaur exam table...:-)

Note: Isabella is still a bit of a pixie (around 3% in weight & length) but is "following the curve perfectly." Not bad for being 9 weeks early!

Rock on baby!

Kiki...

Isabella's Koala bear & BFF...
Where Isabella goes, Kiki goes. Or is it the other way around?

Isabella loves to suck on Kiki's ears which leads to the need for the occasional bath. For Kiki.

it's all about those ears....

Kiki & Isabella - sweet dreams!

Papa's back from France!

(Antoine had been up in Lorient for the past month, doing secret squirrel stuff and eating crepes...:-)And Grand-Mere Jacqueline has come for a visit...
Gosh it's nice to have Papa back!

Pretty in pink

Massa Critica Valencia

Valencia is a great town for biking - it's flat as a pancake. But when we first arrived in 2004 it was rare to see anyone other than AC people on bikes. Times have changed!
Since Isabella has one of the coolest bike seats in town (from Amsterdam, where bicyclists out number cars 2 to 1) it seemed only fitting that she participate in her first Critical Mass bike demonstration while here in Valencia on Friday evening, April 4th.

ps - Isabella's helmet is pretty cool too - a Christmas present from her Auntie Liza (& REI/Seattle) and cousin Clara.