In preparation for Bruno’s first trip to California, the boys had lunch under a “palm tree” … at Cafe Luluc. Have a good flight and lots of fun under real palm trees – and with your extended family. We’ll miss you!

The kids at Choo Choo Train went on an exciting field trip today: they visited Stella’s Dad’s (Olav Westphalen’s) studio in Williamsburg. They got to trace each other’s projected shadows on a large canvas and worked collaboratively on their impressive piece of art.

Tobin came along on the yellow school bus adventure … well, he had to since he was strapped to one of the parent chaperones – me.

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Tobin’s hard work all weekend paid off: with a little support from his playpen, he made it repeatedly into “cat pose” today. To be continued…

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Just in time for Mother’s Day, Tobin made a leap in his vocal skills and can’t stop            saying … DADA. So much for loyalty ;-)

Step 1 in the preparations to move Tobin into the “Kids’ Room”, formerly known as “Mika’s Room”: getting all loose toys organized and the “big kids books” out of crawling reach. We took pointers from Elsie and Violet’s room and used the same in-closet-organizer as shelves. Still waiting for a number of fabric bins for the bottom row, but it already works great!

Tobin has taken “tummy time” to a new level: What used to be a dreaded workout is now his favorite position. He even started lifting his tummy off the ground altogether. If only his legs would collaborate, he’d be … crawling. Soon to be continued?

We have updated the Monthly Photo Gallery with new photos for the months of February through April. Late March and early April include the long overdue images of Tobin’s first trip to Germany. Enjoy.

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The children at Choo Choo Train treated their moms to an (early) Mother’s Day breakfast … including self baked blueberry muffins, thoughtful gifts, and a song/poem they had written just for the occasion! They also performed “Mr. Sun“, which seems to be a favorite since the dark winter days. During the mommy-and-me dance, Tobin had a front row seat on Ms. Ela’s lap…

Inspectors Bruno and Tobin are available to perform tests on a wide range of toys and child care products. Their services include pull-off-, bite-, tensile-, compression- and component tests to international standards including EN71 and BS EN 5665.

Today was an especially tight social calendar with 3 events:

Violet convinced her mom Sarah to drive her to Brooklyn, so she could entertain “da ba-a-a-a-by”. 6 months ago, she was one herself – now she is walking, talking, and keeping a steady supply of toys and attention for Tobin. Wow.

In the afternoon we met up with Anke and Luna (no pics), then headed home to have a dinner playdate with Tyler. The kids love to use the booster seats to play “airplane”. Fasten your seatbelts!

Ariana (above, center) celebrated her 3rd Birthday today at the Van Saun County Park Pony Track. She had invited all her classmates from Choo Choo Train and many of them made it out to the ‘Wild West Cowboy Party’. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and the kids enjoyed their dose of nature … including pony ride and hay fight. And cupcakes. Happy Birthday Ariana!

[Adjective] Something that can be eaten without harm, non-toxic to humans; suitable for consumption.

While his big sister got away without having to pose for cliché baby pictures, Tobin fell victim to his mom’s oversized sheepskin and her need to expose his perfect, rosy skin. The lighting (aka weather) was good, but could have been better. To be continued?

PS: I actually found a shot of Mika from early June ’05. Same age (6 months), similar pose, but no sheepskin…