Halloween with Amaya and Amy

Our dear friends, Amaya & Julian and their 4-month old baby, Andrew, were in town this weekend. It was wonderful to finally meet Andrew and introduce Miss Lily. We met up at the Arboretum for its "Goblins in the Garden" festivities. Of course, Kate looked everywhere for the goblins and when she didn't find any, asked me to ask an employee if there really were any. Much to her dismay she was told it was "just the name of the event." Rats. My other USC film school buddy, Amy, and her son, Oliver, also came out to frolic and meet Lily. Amaya said she'd already forgotten how little newborns were. A similar pic of Amaya holding Kate the day after she was born.

Lily was captivated by beautiful Amaya.

While waiting for our friends, Kate made a Halloween necklace and checked out the creepy crawlies on display.

"I'm the witch's tongue!" Andrew and his proud papa, Julian.

Oliver and his pretty Momma.

Amy, who is 7 months pregnant with a baby girl, was happy to see how affectionate Oliver was with Lily.

"Take a picture of me in the skeleton, Mom!"

After baking in the hot sun for too long, Kate and I cooled off in the greenhouses.

The greenhouses were full of exotic and carnivorous plants, and deliciously fragrant, reminding me of our honeymoon in Thailand.

Kate wanted to know all the names of the plants, of course, but unfortunately, Mom is ignorant of all things botanical.

Lily pads! Kate hopped like a frog for this shot.

This plant reminded me of Little Shop of Horrors, freaking me out.

It was wonderful to catch up with Amaya and Amy and see their beautiful bambinos. Happy Halloween!

Kate's 4th and Lily's 1st Halloween!

This year, Kate wanted to be a fairy (thanks, Aunt Laura!). And Lily was a ladybug for her first Halloween (thanks, Aunt Jina!) On Halloween Eve, we strolled around Sierra Madre and went trick-or-treating in town. Kate looking up at the Sock Hop Girls.

Watching the parade of costumes on the band shell stage.

Sleepy Appa and Lily.

Kate spent the rest of the evening taking hundreds of shots with her glo-sticks. Happy Halloween Eve!

Mom's Birthday

Kate picked out a yummy chocolate cake with blue flowers for Mom's birthday. This year, I got everything I could ever want -- Chris, Kate, and brand-new Lily. But on the morning of my birthday, Kate and Appa also presented me with a Chopin CD, two wonderful cookbooks (Mark Bittman and a Korean one) and two handmade cards: This one was done by Rooster Appa... ...And this one was done by Kate. This is a drawing of me as "Super Mom," flying through the sky wearing a red cape with a nauseated-looking Appa in the upper left corner, and Kate and Lily in the lower left. The bubble reads, "Mommy, when are we going to stop?" Kate was very proud of her joke. Kate loves it when Lily thinks her cheek is a nipple and sucks on it. Soothing bath time. Lily's been plumping up by the day. She was almost 8 lbs at last week's checkup, having gained nearly a pound in one week!

Kate's Pumpkins

Kate had to decorate a pumpkin for her preschool class, and this is her wonderful handiwork. And Kate recently started writing lower-case letters! While Mom napped, Kate and Appa made a jack-o-lantern. Kate drew the face, and even the "tushy" underneath the smile.

More Second Week Photos

I think Kate is the spitting image of Appa in this picture.

Kate's "Shining" face. All work and no play makes Kate a dull girl...

It's always a good time to flash your undies.

Sleepy girls.

Oh, the laughs just keep on comin'!

Lily's first bottle, at two weeks.

Kate wanted to join in.

Kate and her two dollies.