Big Girl Bed

A big recent development is the addition of a "big girl bed" to Violet's life. She clearly takes after her mother, and loves to cuddle with books, pillows and covers in bed. In fact, the other night she insisted on taking her toy train and airplane into bed with her. About two hours later, she woke up crying and when Justin went to check out what was wrong, she insisted that a monster had bitten her! Of course, that monster was actually just the toys she was lying on.

In this picture, Justin is giving in a try. Another step towards independence!

Russian River Fun

We went to Russian River last week, for our annual Mah Jongg Tournament. Justin didn't nab the big prize for most points, but he did come home with the victory belt, for the most total wins. It was a proud day for the Horner/Lemley household. Here he is with the Grand Champion Lisa, posing after the big win.

There was also a costume contest, which Sandy won in a field of fierce competition. She was awarded 50 bonus points.

Violet was also competing for best costume, but went to bed too early.

The highlight for Violet was spending the long weekend with her buddy Simone. Here they are on their trikes, tearing up the parking lot!

Leader of the Pack!

Holidays with Violet

We have had a very nice holiday break, and just arrived back from a short trip to Yosemite, where we stayed at the Yosemite View Lodge, two miles from the entrance to the park. I highly recommend this hotel, which has family suites that can easily accommodate four adults and two to three children.

Yosemite in the winter was beautiful. However, Violet's favorite part of the trip was the hotel room and the indoor pool. Here we have her gearing up for trip number 3 to the pool!

Once inside Yosemite, we got our bearings and the immersed ourselves in the outdoor experience. Well, at least as much as much as we could with a toddler in tow, who is accustomed to 60 degree weather.

Here Violet is in her snow "outfit" as she preferred to call it, in Curry Village next to the outdoor ice rink. She also had a lot of fun sledding and throwing her first snow balls and papa and mama.

For the actual Christmas holiday, Justin's father Raymond was with us. Here he is enjoying the wonders of Play-Dough. We had a great time. Some of the highlights were all biking together in San Francisco and visiting the winter wonderland in Tilden Park.

Another highlight was a trip to the Golden State Railroad Museum, a must-visit attraction for train fans or parents of train fans. Needless to say, Violet's mind was blown!

Yes, She's Alive!

It is an absolute travesty that we haven't posted anything in the past two months. It's even worse, as I'm one of those people who complains about others' infrequent updates. As so much has happened, at best we're playing catch up here, so I'm presenting an assortment of photos with what I hope is interesting and/or humorous commentary.

Here they are, in no particular order of relevance, significance or even temporality:

This first series is from a visit we made to the pumpkin patch in Clayton, California. As is typical of such patches, one rolls around a wheelbarrow and gathers punkins, which Violet enjoyed tremendously. The patch also had other attractions, such as the requisite wooden cut-out propped up for photos:
And an intriguing, actually downright confounding, haystack maze. With our combined intellect, however, we made it out:


Amy and I took a trip to Boston, Massachusettes (that's where Ally McBeal was set). While we were there, Violet hung out on the farm, and we joined her after about a week. We were then joined by Violet's cousins, Aunt and Uncle. Here's a picture of Violet with her cousin, Derek, who, truly, looks like a freakin' movie star in this one:

We've done a fair amount of yard work, given the child and all, and we've learned that we can rely on Violet to do a few things around the house. For example, as Amy and I were a little tired after doing the front yard, we asked Violet to clear the side of the house and water some of the bushes. Here she is near the end, not even breaking a sweat:

In addition to major landscaping, Violet has been improving her domestic skills. Here, she is displaying two of her choice cupcakes, concocted with just the merest help from her mother. Violet's pride of chefmanship is clear:

You know it's hard out there for a toddler. After such an intense day, who could blame a girl who wanted to take a little load off?

Signing off for now.

Violet Turns Two

Our little girl is growing up fast. On September 28th, she turned two and we decided this year to go ahead and have a party. Justin and I were busy wrangling kids, but luckily our friends Adam and Miho captured these moments for posterity!

Here is Violet blowing out the candles- FINALLY. She had been practicing since she visited Granny and Grandpa in August. She did a great job!

And of course, the prize after the effort...

We decided for activities we would have a kids race. None of them really understood the concept of a race, but they really liked running all over the park. We had a finish line made out of crepe paper, but no child wanted to break through it. Finally, Hardy braved it and busted through the finish line!

Here is Violet running wildly through the park: "I'm TWO!"

Ossian and Violet, together again!

Jen and Blase came with their girls for another great visit, giving Ossian and Violet more time to become best buddies. Here they are in a front-porch embrace, after an afternoon trip to the steam trains together. Bliss!

Else the Cutie Pie

Here we have a great picture of Juliet, with her new little baby girl Else. We had a great time getting to know Else on our recent visit out to Boston. In this picture, we are taking a ferry to visit the very witchy town of Salem, MA.

Else shows us her serious side in this photo.

Else is

It's a Potty Party!

Well, I'm sorry to be too graphic, but we have some big news at the Lemley/Horner household and it has to do with the potty. This morning, Violet announced that she wanted to go to the potty. After helping her with her diaper, she promptly pushed us both out of the bathroom and said, "Just a minute." She them closed the door on us and we went to the dining room to await the verdict. It was about 3 minutes later when Violet came rushing out of the bathroom with her big news. She HAD in fact gone to the potty and couldn't wait to rush us into her private sanctum to show the proof!

After several hugs and kisses, we disposed with the evidence.

Violet at the Farm, Part III

Violet's favorite game at home is called "Mama's bed," where we jump under the covers and cuddle. Here she attempts to re-create it at Granny and Grandpa's house.

Violet, practicing for Halloween. What can I say? Us Lemley's are planners!

Violet practicing her candle-blowing skills. Only 4 more weeks until she turns 2.

Here is just a cute picture of a small child in a flower pot. They are just so tiny, sometimes you have to put them somewhere that us big people don't fit.

Violet at the Farm, Part II

Look, Mama! I'm driving!
A cutie in an Elmo halter.
Granny with her favorite flower.
Violet getting some work done.

Violet at the Farm

Justin and I are in Boston, visiting our friends Juliet and Sanjoy, while Violet spending some quality time with her Granny and Grandpa in Iowa. To ease the pain (and guilt) of being away from Violet, Mom has been kind enough to email us pictures in Boston, a sampling of which are below. More to follow, when we are back from the trip!Above, we have Violet testing her skills driving a big-rig.
Here we have Violet in the garden, testing the tomatoes.

Our dog Paige is a source of entertainment for Violet as she sits in her high chair, the same one used by my grandfather.

According to Mom, one of Violet's favorite things is to help her cook. Above, we have a picture of Violet making her first cake.

Above, Violet is all dressed up and ready to go to church. According to Mom, she was a hit, with her cute dress and good behavior.

Toddler Intellect

So, although I have told nearly everyone this story, I need to have it here, as well.

Violet's little brain is working, and working quite well, apparently.

She has this bucket of plastic eggs that she loves dumping all over the floor. Unfortunately, she does not equally enjoy picking them up.

On the morning in question, after dumping the eggs on the floor of her room and playing with them a little, she turned to me and said "eat now." Which means "time for breakfast." I told her that we could go to eat as soon as she picked up all her eggs and put them in her bucket. She clearly did not want to do this, putting one egg in and then walking around for awhile until she put in another one, looking up at me periodically, wondering whether I had forgotten my request.

She has enough will to resist a command from her own father, but not enough to know that if she really wanted to leave, all she would need to do is turn around and walk out the door. I wanted her to pick up the eggs and she didn't want to. If she didn't pick up the eggs, she couldn't leave her room and have breakfast. How was she going to get out of this?

Knowing how much I care for her, she said "Papa, I have owie."

"Oh, really, Violet? Where?"

"In other room."

No, I didn't fall for it, but I did give her a big hug for her ingenuity. And I picked up half the eggs for her.

Here is Violet enjoying her first ice cream cone at the Alameda County Fair, where Sandy, Justin and I went on Sunday. The highlight was a pig race!

May the Force be with You

One of Violet's best buddies is Hardy, the son of our friends Deanne and Greg. Here they are reading and playing tea party, after a big train session with Thomas and friends.

Violet is discovering the many treasure's of Granny and Grandpa's toy closet, looking more like Papa than ever.

Lemley Century Farm: July 2007

Here we have Violet and Cousin Alec on a hayride. Somehow, the tape was broken out and here we have the final result.

Attack of the 32 inch tape monster!

Violet shows her patriotic side on the hayride.

Let freedom ring!

Violet took her first swim in what we at the farm call the ocean. The cute part is that Jen and Blase's daughter is named Ossian, which is pronounced the same as ocean. So, when we told Violet we were going to the ocean, she kept on asking where Ossian was.

The motley crew of cousins and children of our neighbor Jason, otherwise knows as the "hot farmer." Yes, they exist.

Grandpa gives Violet and Alec a ride around the farm.