Uncle Johnny's in the house

Look who arrived at our house this week. Uncle Johnny, all the way from Indiana! He brought us his Camry as part of the great Angyus car swap. (Elsa left, Lily right) He is great with his godchildren. They LOVE him. He's going to teach them to crawl before he goes back home.



Cooking lessons for the girls. Johnny made us a fantastic dinner last night.


And he assisted with Elsa's bath. It was very exciting. Remember the pool scene from Caddyshack? Let's just say, it was not a candybar in Elsa's bathwater.


Here's Lily and her lamb.


And the siblings toasting a delicious meal.

Dr. Dad, part 1

I would like to present Mark Panning, Ph.D.

Or as I like to call him, Dr. Dad. Posing with his two beautiful daughters Lily and Elsa.


It has been a long road. He finished his graduate work in September and received his diploma in December. But, yesterday Mark put the final cap on 22 years of formal schooling with the official Berkeley commencement ceremony. I couldn't be more proud of my husband!


His mom and dad are very proud, too.


Check out the robe.

I really like the academic hood.


Elsa preferred the tassle.


Mark with his advisor, Barbara.


3 men and a baby. (Doug, Mark and Matt with a fussy Elsa). These guys have been up to trouble for the past 6+ years. So sad to think the gang will be moving on soon.


Lily thinks that Grandpa's champagne looks much better than her bottle.


Elsa gets a smooch from Dad at the end of a long day.

Booger and Goober

Well, the grandparents are in town for my upcoming graduation (nevermind that I actually graduated last year... it's about the ritual), and I thought I'd put up one quick picture.



It's the Panning grandparents posing with the girls (Elsa left, Lily right) down at the Berkeley Marina.

A few clarifications:

1) My parents are not hunchbacks. They are merely bending over for a "tight" photo composition.

2) My apologies to any humpbacks potentially offended by the previous note. I personally think Quasimodo got a raw deal.

3) The title, Booger and Goober, does not refer to my parents, despite their tendency, like all parents including myself, to occasionally be goobers.

4) In fact, Booger and Goober are how I've been referring to my daughters since yesterday. I know, childhood emotional trauma, and all that, but I've got to take advantage of the fact that they can't fight back yet. In general, Elsa is Goober and Lily is Booger, but I'd be willing to put it up for a vote.

Happy Mother's Day

(a day late). Here are some pictures Lily and Elsa gave their grandmothers for the holiday. We took some black and white pictures with our camera and made little mini-albums.


Elsa left, Lily right


Lily showing her teeth.


Elsa front, Lily back


Elsa gives a thumbs up.


The three of us. Elsa left, Lily right

Dining with twins

This week's lessons: cheerios and sippy cups.


Lily displays their new trick: eating cheerios. They've figured out how to use the pincher grasp to move cheerios to their mouths. This is a big developmental milestone. Yay opposable thumbs!


We've also been working on sippy cups for quite some time. But, the spill-proof cups with the valves were just too complicated. The girls couldn't figure out how to drink for them. Yesterday, we tried the old fashioned cups. By golly, they got it!



Then they figured out how to spill water all over themselves, their chairs and the kitchen floor. Good times!