Team Critter at Nick/Desha's Wedding in Philadelphia

Last weekend we got a temporary reprieve from the scalding cauldron of the St. Louis summer when we jetted to Philly for the wedding of Stanford friends, Nick Guydosh and Desha Girod. Ale got to see me in a penguin suit tuxedo, taste the refined local cuisine (i.e. Philly cheesesteaks), and tear up the dance floor for over four hours at the reception!

Thriving Alejandra

I still have every intention of bringing our Ale blog up-to-date with photos taken from last August until now, but in the meantime here are some fantastic shots of Ale taken by our friend Binh during our recent trip out to California... Notice the continued toe-crowding!

Ale has made enormous strides in potty-training, especially after observing her older cousins Mona and Heaven out in LA in June. She now ably self-regulates while at home during the day, knowing that for every tinkle and poop in the big potty that there is a graduated reward of jelly beans or chocolate and lots of positive feedback. Our little girls is growing up, completing 2.5 years on July 13!

Ale appears to be handling the heat and humidity of summertime St. Louis quite well. She especially enjoys romping in the mini water geyser at the Forest Park playground or the sprinkle jets at the Missouri Botanical Gardens...

Spring in St. Louis...

We are sorely lagging in updating the blog since moving from California to St. Louis in November! Team Critter has all sorts of novel adventures to report. For now, we are posting recent pictures of Alejandra (2 yr. 3.5 mo.) so you can see what a spunky and spirited young lady she is growing into, while the blog masters get their act together...


We are fortunate to have a "small park" behind our house that Ale frequents whenever we cannot make it to the "big park" a few blocks away at Forest Park. Here she demonstrates her smiley agility on the monkey bars...


Jeanette and Ale go to the St. Louis Science Center on a weekly basis, where Ale can load up on rocket fuel, size herself up with the residents, and build and knock down (her favorite part) a mock St. Louis Arch.