Annemarie Caiyue Spiller

April 2010

April 30, 2010 – 12:10 am

An exciting April! After Easter, Onkel Viggo and Tante Marga visited from Kansas City! They were very impressed with Annemarie’s energy level! We had a big Spiller family birthday gathering down at the Berkeley Marina – boy did it rain! Annemarie kept warm by dressing up like an Eskimo!

Pig tails are still all the rage! (now we have two pigtail girls!)

“Cookies are the best lunch!”

Annemarie met a face-painting fairy at Kate’s birthday party! That was VERY exciting – a butterfly on one cheek, and Thomas the tank engine on the other! Thomas didn’t make it through the first nap time, but luckily the paint washed off the pillow pretty easily… (She can still tell you all about that if you ask her!)

Juice is tastier in a box! (especially when shared with friends!)

“Better make it quick, I have to take my car in to the shop and don’t have time to talk on the phone!” (Yup, that’s right, Annemarie has her first car, thanks to Nazli and Leyla! And yes, she’s green – it’s all-electric, almost as fast as a Tesla!)

Neighbor Josh was more than willing to help do some speed testing!

Carousels remain one of Annemarie’s favorite things – she asks every day whether we can go to the farmer’s market! That’s definitely a required stop every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning!

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A Rainy (but fun!) Easter

April 4, 2010 – 5:25 pm

Easter was, unfortunately, very rainy! It didn’t help that Annemarie got carsick on the way to Petaluma, and threw up just before we got there… Thanks so much to Eddie and Donna for letting us use their washer and dryer to clean up the car seat!

Anyway, once we arrived, it was great fun! So much chocolate to taste, and so many eggs to chase! There was even an Easter gingerbread house, wow!

The Easter Bunnies

Chowing down on some Easter eggs! (non-chocolate, for a change)

“OK Opa – I’m ready to go out hunting in the rain!”

Annemarie didn’t mind the rain at all – it was a blast!

Checking out the loot!

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March 2010

March 31, 2010 – 12:00 am

March went by quickly! Highlights included “pig day” at the farmer’s market (completely with pig pastries!), enthusiasm about pig tails, a new garden planter, and a fun visit from Aunt Lily from Australia!

“I’m a boy!”

Helga and Karl’s cushions have been fun in so many different ways! – now, as a jumping platform!

Helping daddy with the planter was so much fun! Check out Annemarie’s “Planter wiggle!” She has really enjoyed watching everything grow – constantly asking (or telling!) “when the strawberry turns red, I can eat it?”

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Fun in the snow!

March 21, 2010 – 5:05 pm

In late March, we got a chance to take Annemarie for her first visit to snow (along with Jeff, Sandra, and Maya)! She had a great time – especially sledding and knocking over snowmen….

(Thank you to whoever we inherited the snowsuit from – it was perfect!)

Building the snowman was fun (much better than the playdoh version!), but the snow was so cold and wet!!!!

“Sledding with daddy is fun… but the red sled is too slow, I want the FAST one!”

Riding sitting with daddy was fun at first, but once Annemarie discovered the joy of sledding on people’s backs, that became all the rage!

It’s even more fun with a buddy!

Jeff’s turn as the pack-mule:

All that exercise calls for a snow-snack!

The builders:

Joined by the destroyers

Caught mid-throw!

Here comes destruction:

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February 2010

February 28, 2010 – 11:40 pm

Successfully through the Jan pneumonia, Annemarie was coughing much less in February, and getting more sophisticated! In this timeframe she loved to sing (thanks to the Wiggles!), especially in the morning!

Waking up:

Watering plants is also very exciting – see watering can, MUST WATER!

Chinese New Year

Hanging out at the Tilden Steam Trains with Opa and Shirley!

“Blowing kisses to my fans…”

“Lollipops are my favorites – give me a lollipop, and I’ll be your friend for sure!”

“Shots are no fun, but bandaids with bees on them are show-off-worthy!”

Playing a duet with Maya

Here is part of Annemarie’s singing repertoire – Can you guess the songs? (answers below) (She’s a little camera shy!)

(Answers: 1) Baa Baa Black Sheep + Skip to my Lou, 2) Hey Diddle Diddle, & 3) Mary had a Little Lamb

Outdoor action sports:

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Annemarie turns two!

January 23, 2010 – 11:22 pm

Annemarie loves to celebrate (especially presents!). On the day of her birthday she and a few of her little friends got to play and eat cupcakes together! That was followed by a big celebration with her cousins and the Spiller family out in San Ramon!

Part one (Davis):

Party favors are cool! – Annemarie was very proud to be able to blow it out herself!

Despite all of her previous practice (on other people’s birthdays), Annemarie was too shy to blow out the cupcake candles and sing on her own birthday…

Part Two (San Ramon):

“Oh beautiful lollipop!”

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Late Dec / Early Jan

January 15, 2010 – 5:34 pm

Some cute misc pictures from the end of the year and early 2010:

Thank you Jeannie for the new rocking chair!

“Can I be an Amazon.com model?”

“Programming ‘Violet’, my new talking puppy! (thank you Theen-Theen & KeanHock!)”

“Wow, who would have guessed that bonking Shirley in the head with this balloon would be SO MUCH FUN!”

“Working on puzzles with Opa is also great fun!”

“I love company!”

Unfortunately, Annemarie caught pneumonia again in mid January… Not fun, but luckily we got through it quickly this time around, and didn’t have to spend any nights in the hospital…

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Christmas Eve 2009 with the Spiller family

December 25, 2009 – 11:49 pm

First, burning off a little energy in the park!

And then – on to eyeing the presents!

Opa and the grandkids

“Can we open presents yet????”

“I’m a reindeer with a shiny globe! (and balloon on a stick!)”

“What is this globe thing, anyway???”

“Maybe I’ll be the Statue of Liberty instead?”

Annemarie is very generous in sharing her headband with Helga

Annemarie really enjoyed getting to hang out with the bigger girls!

“Yay!!!! Opa let me help take the candy canes out of the tree!!!!”

The annual holiday family photo!

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Happy Holidays!

December 23, 2009 – 4:11 am

2009 was a really rough year – we’re glad that it’s almost over. Oma’s (Mark’s mom) fight with cancer and dementia, Annemarie’s pneumonia and hospital stay, multiple visits to the emergency room, and the tragic loss of Oma were all significant blows. We’re grateful for the support of everyone who helped us along the way; the hardships made us appreciate and cherish the moments we share with loved ones all the more.

We are thankful for the many happy and wonderful moments that we *were* able to spent with Oma, and for all the fun times we had with Annemarie and friends/family. Parenthood, while frustrating sometimes, has been an amazing journey – watching Annemarie grow and develop in so many ways is truly astounding! The past six months have been especially fun, as she grows more interactive, talkative, imaginative, and cheeky! We’re looking forward to watching her grow more (and complete her potty training!) in 2010!

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, and a happy new year!

Annemarie’s portrait from daycare – who could have guessed that she could hold a pose for so long??? (how did the teachers DO that????)

Annemarie LOVES Christmas lights, and insists on seeing them every evening!

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Thanksgiving and approaching winter

December 10, 2009 – 3:47 am

The main chefs (Dawn and Simon) showed up early on Thanksgiving Day to get the turkey started… While the turkey was cooking, we all got to help Opa and Shirley decorate Christmas cookies! Annemarie helped too!

“What do you mean, it’s too cold to play outside????”

“How about if I wear my cool mittens?”

“OK, it’s fun to play inside with Shirley too!”

Annemarie’s first reaction to cookie-decorating was to take a bite out of the star! After she got that out of her system, though, she was a diligent and dedicated decorator! We were amazed at her level of concentration and desire to participate! (and also amazed that the cookie lasted for the whole decorating session, until it ran into daddy)