The 21st century’s greatest mural painter, as far as we know, came for a visit over Easter weekend. Sara Lee had been chomping at the bit to come for a visit and this was the first weekend it worked for her schedule.

We love having Sara Lee come for a visit because she is just so much fun. The big news is that Sara Lee has started her business painting murals. www.saraleemurals.com She designed the website herself with some help from friends. So if you know anyone who wants a custom mural, of any size, send her an email. She’ll travel anywhere from her homebase in NYC – so don’t let distance be an issue.

Of course it was Easter Weekend and Passover. Our next door neighbors have a traditional egghunt every year and even though their boys ages are 23, 22, 18, and 16 they don’t let that stop them. Although the oldest is in Peru so it was the three “youngest” who battled it out this year. The egghunt has evolved into a full-contact scramble complete with hip-checks, stiff-arms and just plain shoving all for the coveted Pink Egg with the $5 bill inside

The start came a little earlier than usual because the squirrels seem to like plastic eggs stuffed with chocolate – 3 eggs were lost to the squirrels before the hunt began.

As you can tell this is no eggunt for the timid. Here Catherine stands back protecting Li Li from the crush of hunters, you can even see a little purple egg about to be plucked.

The boys were gracious though and gave Li Li her very own egg since she wasn’t ready to compete this year. She enjoyed playing with it with Sara Lee’s help. No chocolate for her this year though, she’ll have to wait to acquire that particular addiction.

Bath Update

For those who remember Li Li’s particular aversion to bathing she has recently begun to enjoy the experience. Here she beams her 100-watt smile stage left to her mother.

She’s a toy hoarder in the bath. She likes to have all of her toys within arms reach. That’s all for now. Hopefully we’ll be able to get more photos up shortly. -t

Sorry for the long delay between posts but it’s been a busy few weeks here at Li Li central. I finished up my last set of classes at school on Sunday.  When you miss 4 weeks of an 8-week class, the workload to catch up can be daunting. But thanks to my wife and my study group, I finally finished everything up in time to start a new group of classes. I’ve heard from Babson Fast Track Alumni that the biggest challenge after finishing school is how to spend all of one’s new found free time. I look forward to that problem.

While I was in California, Catherine took Li Li to the children’s park and Li Li loved the swing. We may have a thrill-seeker on our hands. Of course that would be payback for the numerous heart attacks I gave my parents.

On Saturday, aka St. Patrick’s Day, we had a party to celebrate all things Li Li. The party was a huge success with many, many friends and family representing 4 states all dropping by to eat, to drink and to look at our little girl. Many of our friends brought their children along and Li Li never had a moment alone since most of the children happened to be girls – and the girls loved playing with Li Li – while the few boys were the hit of the party. Of course the adults loved playing with Li Li too. Our dear daughter just soaked it all in, basking in the attention and having a grand time. I, of course, was exhausted, and without the tremendous help of our parents I would have been even more exhausted.

Li Li invokes Maggie’s protection to keep from going down for her nap. Plus Maggie acts as a backstop since Li Li still has a slight tendency to fall backwards.

Gram Reads to Li Li before her nap.

My mom came for a visit in order to get her Li Li time. She of course fell in love with our little one. She read to Li Li, played with Li Li, put Li Li down for naps, and took more pictures than I even I thought was possibe. She even rescued me when my dear, beautiful, angelic daughter had a major, EPA notification caliber, toxic waste spill blowout involving a box of baby wipes, three changes of clothes, two changes of bedding and a household desmellification finally culminating in a cleansing bath for all involved. Of course Mom kept saying “this is nothing, when you were little…..” And Li Li was just wondering what all the fuss was about.

“Li Li blow out the candle…”

Another milestone was reached when on Wednesday the 14th, Li Li had her 1st birthday. I was of course out of town on a business trip on an airplane with very mixed feelings. Yes, I needed to work but I didn’t enjoy missing her first birthday. The fact that Li Li had no idea it was her birthday, was a cold comfort. I didn’t like the precedent it set. We had a nice little dinner party Thursday evening when I got home with Catherine’s parents, her sister Christine, Li Li’s cousin Lila, my mom and the three of us.

Li Li likes merengue cake, but she isn’t too fond of Kiwi…

And our zen lighting moment of the day because I just can’t resist taking a picture of my beautiful daughter when the light is just right….

That’s all for now. We’ll try to do better in the future. We promise. -t