Francesca as a 2 1/2 Year Old

Francesca the 2 and 1/2 year old has left her toddler era far, far behind. She can now leap tall block towers in a single bound, call upon her super powers, and strike a pose.

She can also ride a sled while hollering "this is a hoot!" As shown in the top pictures, Francesca had her first full flurry frolic in February. We drove up to Tahoe with Eileen and Marcos where we rented a big cabin for a long weekend and had a wonderful time after dealing with some initial car/altitude sickness. Back home, we spend every Sunday morning with Eileen and Marcos and wish it were more frequent.

Since Matthew has not been feeling well, the rest of the recent trips have been people coming to us and Francesca has learned many important things from the various visitors. Her zio David taught her the important phrase "toe jam." Now the end of each day is greeted by Francesca removing her socks, examining her feet closely, and often proclaiming "what's this?! ... a little bit of toe jam!" Paola, Ioana's cousin from Italy (the one with the dark hair in the pics), contributed to Francesca's education by teaching her how to steam up windows with her breath. This quickly led to Francesca going the next step and making designs on the steamed up windowpanes with her tongue.

All continues to be more than well with Francesca's new (since December) nanny, Kelly. It feels like Kelly has been with us much longer than four months and Francesca adores her. They continue to do all the usual activities but have added in Monday "hikes" - Francesca and a dozen other two to four-year-olds (and the adults who insist on following them around) meet a park guide every Monday morning at a different regional park to hike and interact with the animals (from rollie pollies and spiders to deer and horses) then have a picnic lunch. As always, Francesca wants to hug and kiss all the animals - including worms. Between the hikes and her continued obsession with The Lorax, it seems that we have a tree-hugger in the making.

Francesca has all of The Lorax memorized and will often insist on being the one to "read" it, which she does with great dramatic inflection. We particularly love when she delivers the line "SIR! You are CRAZY with greed!" - which sounds a lot more like "cuh-wazy wif gweed!" She has also memorized Oh The Places You'll Go and will soon be pushing us to donate to the Suess Library in San Diego.

Other books - and many songs - are in her repertoire as well. Francesca has taken to singing all the time, with others or by herself, to music or a cappella, and accompanied by some full body swaying and wriggling. In fact, she usually begins each day by singing (loudly) to herself in bed for 5 or 10 minutes before getting up. Lately she softens us up by singing a song that goes "I love you - I love you very much - You are very special to me" and then delivers the fatal blow by coming in to our room with a stuffed animal in tow and declaring "I'm SO happy to see you!!"

As part of Francesca's general imagination explosion, she loves making believe that she is various animals and loves for her Papa to do the same. The current favorite is making believe she is a rhino running across the savanna and then wallowing in the mud. The imaginary tea party is also a hit but - for some unknown reason - everything must get sprinkled with "fresh pepper" so that "people sneeze!"

Last but not least, Francesca has decided that 2 1/2 is too old to nap and has given up that silly pursuit completely. Instead of napping, she's using those previously lost hours to concoct ways to outwit us. For example, she likes to say something nonsensical (like "sha-sha-sha"), make us repeat it, and then comment "WHAT are you talking about?! What are you SAYING?" while laughing her little head off. Consider yourself duly warned.

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