Francesca as a 13 and 14-month old

Movie: Dancing, Windows version

Movie: Dancing, Mac version

The "dancing" video included on this page was taken of Francesca just after she turned 13 months old and she continues to be a frequent and happy dancer. Since the video was taken, she has moved from tentative walking to tentative running and her vocabulary has exploded. Francesca now says well over fifty words and let's us know when all is right with the world by proclaiming "happy!" and clapping her hands.

Francesca celebrated Thanksgiving a week early with her zio David, lots of turkey, and some beer (see top pics). Although she hadn't seen David in months, she immediately brought him a book and told him "sit" so he'd get ready for her to sit on his lap, her spot of choice when reading. Finding his reading skills adequate but his piano skills spectacular, she spent the rest of the weekend saying "da-vid" and dragging him over to the piano for duets when they weren't out at the Oakland Museum or the park.

Francesca's Pop-pop Levett and Sharon were in town the day after our Thanksgiving to help with leftovers and to spend a very fun afternoon at the Oakland Zoo (see bottom rows of pics). Francesca goes to the zoo every week with her nanny, Anne, so she charged ahead and visited with each animal for a little while before saying "bye-bye" and moving on to the next one. She has also made friends with the goats, which she prefers to call by their Italian name "capra," and has been known to engage in a "baaaa" braying contest with them.

The very bottom pictures are of Francesca on the car ride at the zoo -- all grins as she busily steers her car while occasionally pausing to wave and yell "ciao!" [somehow, she instinctively knows that it is more appropriate to say "ciao" than "hi" while in a speedy sportscar]

The cloud over the past couple of months has been a series of colds that have viciously attacked Francesca and her parents, bringing us back to the dark days of multiple night wakings. So that we don't leave her with the chimps at the zoo, Francesca has cleverly decided to proclaim "papa!" many times a day, say a clearly and slowly enunciated "wow" when her mama returns from work, and freely dispense hugs and kisses. We'll keep her.

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