Francesca as a Ten-Month Old

Although it is way too early to discern a career path, personal trainer and entertainer seem to be current contenders. Francesca has been honing her trainer skills by applauding when Matthew does jumping jacks, dashing underneath him while he is doing push-ups, and demonstrating the proper way to work the lower abs by lying on her back while holding a ball with her feet and moving it up and down. Clapping also features prominently in her ever expanding entertainer repertoire, which also features singing, dancing, and some wicked good maracas playing.

(Fresca has also been exhibiting some diva-like tendencies which she has demanded we not discuss on this site.)

In case she hears the siren song of the circus, Francesca has also been practicing various acrobat positions (the most popular being what is known in yoga as a downward dog), squeezing through tight spaces, climbing over tall and awkward obstacles, summiting staircases with nary a care about falling over backwards, balancing on one knee and one foot or two feet and one hand, and standing while going between two hands, one hand, and no hands. She recently figured out how to gracefully segue from standing to sitting - hence, "TIM-ber" is no longer frequently heard in our home.

What is often heard is the sound of Francesca jabbering on in her own language, which appears to be some mixture of Mandarin and Punjabi. As far as English goes, Francesca makes valiant efforts to say "book, ball, thank you" and clearly understands many words and phrases. While understanding the word "no," her response of choice is briefly pausing the unwanted activity while giving a look of feigned innocence.

When taking some well-deserved time off from all this hard work, Francesca continues to love going to the park, especially if a swing is involved, and has recently added the Oakland Zoo to her list of favorite haunts. The large animals are especially intriguing -- Francesca tries to, and often succeeds in, wake up the sleeping tiger with a startling screech -- and the Zoo also offers a merry-go-round that we are hard pressed to pry Francesca off of.

All in all, Francesca continues to be her wacky, happy, and intense self.

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