Welcome!

Leila would like to send a secret special message to an old friend. She wanted to say, "Welcome to DC and the Foreign Service!"
Taji agrees.

She's learning, even when we aren't trying.

So, Leila was digging around in her diaper bag this afternoon and pulled out her baby washcloth. She looked at it, then looked at me and got a huge smile on her face. Then, she took the washcloth and rubbed it all around her mouth, laughed and shoved it back in the diaper bag. What other things are we accidentally teaching her, I wonder?

Frog face

We call this Leila's frog face. It's the smile she is starting to give us when we tell her to say "cheeeeese" to Daddy's camera!

The new tricks of an 11-month old

Here is a video of Leila giving her monkey a hug, then cruising up and down the hallway with her walker. No progress on walking solo...she seems happy enough to crawl or push something that she can hold onto.

Happy 11-month birthday!

Leila would like to remind everyone that her birthday is one month from today! She is very excited about turning one and would like the following items:

A big screen TV

A car that drives on the left side of the road

A pair of men's hiking boots, size 11.5

A new wool winter coat, women's size small

A year's worth of bananas, which she will try to eat in a few weeks

She knows there is no way you can say no to these simple requests after seeing her cute face hugging her monkey and rocking in her rocking chair!

Little Ballerina

Here's Leila's first time wearing her spinning skirt. She decided to dress up in her tutu today in honor of tonight's Miss America pageant. Now all she needs is a sash and a tiara and she would give those ladies a run for their money!

Inauguration Eve

We walked down to the Mall on Monday night to check out the security set up and figure out where we might want to sit on Tuesday. We were there around dusk and had some beautiful views of the Capitol. It was all decked out and ready for the big day.


Here are Kirk & Jason with the Capitol behind them.

The journey begins

DC closed all the bridges and tunnels into the city to keep traffic congestion down and give pedestrians plenty of access to the Inauguration. We walked the few short blocks to the entrance to 395 and headed into town (or under town since we were in a tunnel).

The crowds really picked up as we went along, and once we got off the highway we were surrounded by people brimming with excitement over the day to come!

Waiting, just trying to stay warm

It was hovering in the 20's with bright warm sun and a chilly wind for Inauguration Day. We all relied on the following to stay warm: Lots of layers; blankets; all of the surrounding people crowding us in to hold in the warmth; Krispy Kreme donuts, cheese & summer sausage very brilliantly purchased on the way home from dinner last night; coffee & hot chocolate; dancing to the replay of Sunday's concert that we were watching on the Jumbotron.

Here are Chris, Sara, Leila, Erica & Jason:

Having Leila in the Baby Bjorn is like attaching a space heater to your body. Toasty warm!


Here is Team Inauguration: Chris, Jason, Leila, Sara, Erica, Allegra & Kirk. Good times were had by all!

What the crowd has been waiting for...the swearing in

Here are some shots of the crowds around us as Obama was taking the oath of office.

Even if we weren't close enough to see things up close & personal, it was amazing to be surrounded by more than a million people all awed by history unfolding in front of our eyes.

The Jumbotron panned the crowd as Obama was announced as the 44th President of the United States. Cheers, tears, and celebration surrounded us.

This was our view of the Capitol and Obama & Biden on the screen during the National Anthem.

Headed home

After the ceremony is over, the crowds begin to slowly dissipate.
Turns out you CAN get a traffic jam on the highways in DC even when no cars are allowed!

Here we are on the home stretch. What a day!

Who's avoiding who?

Leila and Taji have a love-hate relationship. Taji loves to be around Leila until Leila starts to "pet" her by hitting her or sticking her finger up Taji's nose. Taji's defense is to sit as still as possible in hopes that she will become invisible.
And Leila loves to be around Taji until Taji decides it is her turn to show some affection. Here is Leila anticipating the face bath that she is about to get.

Meeting some new friends

We introduced Leila to some good friends of ours who we knew in Kenya, the Ashleys. They were in town from California for the inauguration so Leila, being a huge Obama fan, immediately bonded with them. She especially loved their daughter Eliana and son Kieran. It was great to catch up with them!!

Does it get any cuter than this?

Here are some pictures to fulfill the cuteness requirement on the baby blog. Leila sure is a charmer!

The Dangerous Book for Leila

Leila has been busy researching topics to include in her book, tentatively titled "The Dangerous Book for Leila." Some of the areas include:

1. Going up the stairs
2. Trying to stick her head through the railing on the stairs.

3. Climbing on top of, standing up on, and slipping off of her little plastic chair.

4. Opening and closing any doors she can get to, including cabinets under the sinks, in the kitchen, and most recently, in the living room.

5. She will, however, deny any wrongdoing when caught in the act.

2 new favorite things

French fries and our friend, Kirk Bangstad.

An event to remember (or at least be told about)

Leila isn't usually much of a name dropper, but she had quite an exciting day today. We went to a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in honor of Obama's upcoming inauguration and she saw Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bon Jovi, Bono, Garth Brooks (who played 3 songs!!!), Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Usher, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am and Stevie Wonder. She also heard Jack Black, Steve Carell, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington read "historical passages." The very best part? Hearing Barack Obama speak. We feel like we are probably the craziest parents in Washington because of the hundreds of thousands of people at this concert, Leila was the youngest baby that we saw there. Apparently no other parents were willing to attempt to freeze their children in the name of history.

Crowds of hope

Here is a picture of the crowd behind us at the concert.


The family enjoying the concert.


Hope lives on.

Bruce and Barack

Jason & Leila at the concert. The Lincoln Memorial (and the screen shot of Bruce Springsteen singing) is in the background, although you can't quite see it because of the glare.


A smile after being released from the Baby Bjorn.

We were close enough to see the Lincoln Memorial, hear the music, and enjoy being in the moment, but far enough away to watch most of the excitement on the Jumbotrons. Here is Obama on the screen speaking to the crowd. If you click on the picture below, you can see Obama at the podium on the steps of the Memorial.

Welcome to the Lincoln Memorial!! Obama style

On our way walking to the concert the crowds were starting to gather. There's the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.

Leila staying warm and comfortable (and keeping Mom warm!) in her Baby Bjorn.

The Obamas arrive for the concert. You can see them on the steps as little blurs, then on the screen a bit more recognizable.