Picking Pumpkins at the Patch

Virginia decided it was time to get into the Halloween spirit and took us with her on her first visit to a pumpkin patch this week. She invited her friend Natasha along to maximize baby cuteness. Plus, Natasha's parents are real Halloween experts. Natasha's dad Dan was unfortunately under the weather, so her mom Irene came along alone.

The girls loved running among the pumpkins and even shared a pony ride. Virginia also took a ride on the train -- which she loved until it stopped. We were then treated with a full blown terrible twos tantrum, which is still kind of amusing to us because Virginia is just starting the process. I'm sure once she's had 100s of such tantrums, we won't find them as amusing. She made a speedy recovery, purchased some pumpkins and went on her way.

Beth's Wedding

We had another "Thomas" join our extended family when my cousin on the Neeland side of the family married Adam Thomas on September 25, 2010. The wedding was in Wilson, NC, so Virginia got to take her first trip there. We visited lots of relatives, ate some fantastic Eastern Carolina barbecue, and watched Virginia party down at the wedding reception. The girl is a dancing machine!

Before causing various mischief on the cross country plane trip:

Loving on Aunt Liz at the bridemaids' luncheon:

Good eatin':

Receiving her musical training from Cousin Candy at an early age:

Virginia only decided to be quiet in the church AFTER the ceremony was over:

Virginia got the party started on the dance floor:

Those are some moves! (note the cheese straw in her hand)

The whole Neeland/Dunn clan!

Virginia made fast friends with the flower girl:

Mimi and Papa's Visit

Virginia had another visit from her Alabama grandparents in early September. They last visited in early July, and Virginia was glad to have them back so soon! Virginia almost immediately began saying Papa's name, so we made a game time decision to change Memaw's name to something a little easier for Virginia to pronounce - Mimi. Virginia learned that name very quickly as well, and soon was heard murmuring Mimi and Papa all over the house.

We had a blast with the grandparents. We took Baby V to the Oakland Zoo, and Mimi accompanied her to gymnastics class, where she was a natural.

Crimson & Clover

Okay, we've been delinquent in posting again. The real reason is we've been busy going to different places and seeing lots of people. More posts soon. Here are a couple cute pictures of Virginia in her green dress, a gift from Mimi. Leslie used to wear this dress as a baby too. It was hand-smocked by Virginia's great grandmother - Great Granny.

Stinson Beach

Virginia went to Stinson Beach today for a birthday party. It happened to be for her long-distance boyfriend, Griffin Guidi, who lives in Philadelphia but was back in California to visit his family. Griffin just turned one (a younger man).

Stinson is often socked in with Northern California fog, but today it was absolutely spectacular. Virginia wasted no time getting down to important business on the beach and in modeling cute beach time outfits from her Great Auntie.

Connecticut

Last weekend I flew back to Connecticut to visit Gram and the Macks. I make a point of being there every summer. We had originally planned to be there earlier this summer, but our schedules refused to comply. With the August days ticking away, I seized the moment and caught a flight for a long weekend.

I managed to arrive just in time for the best Connecticut weather of the season, the kind of summer weather that makes every other moment of the year look inferior. Apparently Connecticut had alternated between sweltering hot and stormy for most of July and August. But this weekend, the sun shown down with complete and perfect benevolence. Afternoons achieved that ideal combination of slanting warm sunshine, a welcome accumulating layer of radiant heat, clean dry air, and occasional tickling breeze. We all sat around the pool holding sweaty bottles and chatted.

It was great to see Gram. Gram has been living at Carolton for some time, so on weekends the Mack gatherings around lunchtime typically occur at her room. Gram had had some difficulty the day before I arrived, but she recovered steadily over the weekend. On Saturday she mostly rested and listened as we all chatted together in her room. By Sunday, she had gathered back much of her strength and by all accounts was significantly better. I was grateful to have a good talk with her.

On Saturday, Uncle John and Aunt Joyce orchestrated a full-blown Bavarian cookout, complete with brats, knockwurst, potato salad, traditional slaw, pasta, sauerbraten (beef dish), German beer, and fresh rye bread and rolls. I piled my plate high.

Hard to say what was my favorite, but I definitely had seconds of the mild veal and pork brat on the right.

A few of the cousins were around too, including Buzz (up from NYC for the weekend), Sarah, and Katie Jane, who is just back after a summer of working at her camp in the Adirondacks. Katie used her Herculean strength to open up the pickle jar.

It was a great, great weekend. I wish I were back there already.

Wormy's Photo Frame

Last Christmas when we were home in Bama, I took Baby V to Robertson's Photography and got her all decked out in her christening gown for a special photo session. In my grandmother's house in Montgomery, Granny has a wall of photos of all of her grandchildren posing in this exact same gown (handmade by Granny herself) sitting in an antique high chair that came from Granny's family's plantation. I've always admired these photos and I knew we had to replicate the tradition for the next generation of Webbs!

The portrait came out beautifully, but the hardest part was finding a frame to match the ones that Granny has in her home. The frame was recently discontinued, but we found a match on Ebay. We are so thrilled to continue the tradition.

Word to Your Mother

Our little active toddler has become a fountain of language the past few weeks! As Virginia began to speak, I took the advice of a work colleague, and sent an email to myself documenting each new word that was added to her vocabulary. I'm at the point where I don't think I can keep up anymore, so here's the list of Virginia's words at 16 1/2 months:

• Uh oh (first word on April 23, 2010)
• Num num (food)
• Mama (also Mommy)
• Hi
• "Dis" (this)
• Bye
• Juice
• Book
• Dada (also Daddy)
• Wawa (water)
• Baby
• Hat
• "Dat" (that)
• No
• Shoes
• Nose
• Up
• More
• Eye

Virginia also has a number of animal sounds in her vocabulary. I think the sounds are actually what caused her speaking to really take off. Here are the sounds Virginia will say on demand:

• Wuh wuh (dog)
• Grrrrr (lion, also the Whiffenpoof dragon apparently makes the same noise)
• Ah-ah-ah-ah (goat, also a monkey and a horse say something similar)
• Meow (cat)
• Baa, baa (sheep)
• Sssss (snake)
• Cack, cack (duck)
• Booooo (cow - Virginia obviously prefers ghost cows)

Virginia also opens and closes little pursed lips to refer to a fish and sticks out her tongue and says "Ah" for a frog (just like the Uh-ah Little Green Frog song).

Weekend in Tahoe

The Argyris family invited my parents and us up to their cabin in Tahoe last weekend. Marcia Argyris wanted Virginia to have her first Tahoe experience up at their place. We were thrilled to get out of Dodge and enjoy summertime in the mountains.

It was great fun. Leslie and I had willing babysitters for Virginia, leaving us free to do a few things on our own. We played tennis, went on hikes, ate great food, read our books, played with the doggies, and went boating on Donner Lake.

Here's a video of Virginia out on the deck feeding the Argyris's dog, Casey, with her supply of Cheerios.