meet Campbell Stokes Bryan!

We got to me baby Stokes today! He was less than 24 hours old, so we feel pretty privileged to be invited to see him!

Here's a pic of the happy little family!

Congrats to Trevor & Jen! SOOOOO excited for you both!

sick, new skills, interns

Addison is sick with pneumonia and the flu (type A). After one day on antibiotics, she's significantly improved. No fever to speak of in the last 24 hours, no more drippy nose, minimal coughing. Antibiotics are wonderful! Regardless, she has to stay out of school until next Monday.

I've noticed a few things about Addison lately that I find amusing:
1. She's obsessed with colors. For instance, when watching her "Your Baby Can Read" video or doing her flashcards, she'll read the word and follow up with "But, Mommy, cats aren't green!" (because the word is written on a green background. Similarly, with her game "Cariboo" - there are colored balls that are concealed beneath squares that are labeled with different colors, words, shapes, and numbers - Addison can't stand it when a ball does not match the card that it was hidden under. "No! That's not YELLOW! It's GREEN!" and she proceeds to move the ball to a matching color box.
2. She's obsessed with sequence of events. Everyday she wants to know, "Mommy, what are we going to do first? And then? What's next?" She will repeat the order back to us, and ask again, just to be sure nothing is changing. I think it's great because she's not surprised by events now...she knows what to expect and I think it's soothing to her. She feels a part of the decision-making process.
3. She wants to be everyone's big helper. All the time - "Can I help? I want to help! LET ME HELP!" It's great because she really can help with lots of things. It never hurts to spread around the workload!

In Nicole News, I'm getting an intern in the spring. At first, I was not excited about the prospect, but I am warming to it now. I met the girl today - she spent 1/2 day in class with me - and she seems highly motivated, interested to learn, and aware of students' diverse needs. She was complimentary of several things she saw me do in class. I was impressed she picked up on them so quickly - never saying "no" to a student, but rather stating it in a less judgemental way, "good thought, but let's try that again"; patience; ability to converse with each student personally during class; understanding that each student is not going to spend the entire 50 minutes on task, quiet, at their seats. Based purely on her comments today, I think she has a similar teaching philosophy. I am excited about the opportunity to help her build skills that she will use in her own career. I just hope I'm a good example - I saw lots of non-examples of good teaching as a student teacher and intern. I only hope I have learned from those mistakes and that I can be a better leader for my intern. Wish me luck in January!

Robert is officialy the best daddy ever. He stayed home with our sick little girl today and will stay home with her again on Wednesday. He is so generous and wonderful. Addison is one lucky daughter and I am one lucky wife! We love our Daddy!

I am looking forward to a day off with Addison tomorrow. It's the first sick day we've had together in a long, long time. Hope we can keep each other entertained!

advances this week

This is what three year's worth of stuffed-animal accumulation looks like:

This is what a two-year old fashion-merchandiser's skills look like:


This is what a two-and-a-half year old writing her name looks like:
1st attempt - she wrote from right to left (maybe she was fluent in Arabic in a past life?). I know it's hard to see b/c she wrote with yellow crayon on pink paper, but all the letters are there, I SWEAR! I only wish I'd taken a video so you could've watched her write it!
2nd attempt: Watch & see for yourself!



I only wish the video was complete. Alas, the camera batteries died just before the end of her song. Perhaps, though, that was for the best. If the batteries hadn't died, I might have caught the largest freak-out she's ever had in my presence. She was upset because her handwriting didn't live up to her exacting standards. She tried to tear the paper and when she couldn't tear it, crumpled it up and flung it across the room. She screamed and cried and kicked her feet when I asked if we could hang it up. We told her it was beautiful and we were so proud of her writing and gave her some sweet tarts. That seemed to boost her self-esteem. I'm hoping this was just a 2 year old episode and not the beginning of a lifetime of OCD over handwriting!

Addison updates

In case you don't have facebook or don't speak with us frequently, let me give you the low-down on Addison's new imaginary friend, Bubba.

Bubba is tiny - "he" fits in her hand, her purse, or a cup and goes with us on most family outings. "He" is also a girl, but she continues to use the pronoun "he". I presume this is due to the majority of her stuffed animals having masculine names, and thus are called "he" all the time. We're working on "She" but haven't made much progress yet. Bubba sits with us at dinner in an invisible booster seat and shares Addison's food. Bubba even took a bath with Addy the last week. Let me tell you how difficult it is to bathe an invisible friend to a 2 year-old's exacting standards! "NO, Mommy! Bubba's over THERE!". Lately, Addison has even given other people their very own Bubba. Last night at a family cookout, Addison gave her Great Aunt Shelley and Great Uncle Dave their very own Bubbas. When Addy delivers a Bubba to you, the fear that the Bubba was flattened always crosses your mind. Not so gentle. It's been an interesting development. I am tickled that her imagination is blossoming so rapidly. She's also started making up songs about things happening in her day. That can be quite entertaining. I hope to get video of her singing sessions soon to share with you all.

Tomorrow is South Wood's community-wide yard sale again. Awesome! We planned to hit up some yard sales, and luckily picked the weekend that the biggest and best yard sale opportunity in Tallahassee is happening. We must have ESP or something.

Downtown Get-Down

We finally ventured out to a Downtown Get-Down. The first one we've ever attended. As we were walking back to the car, Addison said, "That was a great party guys!". Robert enjoyed himself immensely. We saw three of his co-workers and their kids. (Addison refused to play with them, feigning fright, even though she was older than all of them by at least one year!) I had fun, too. We got some good walking time in and enjoyed getting Addison's face painted by Miss Julie (from Addy's school). Addison presently demands that the face paint remain on her face indefinitely. We shall see how long it lasts....

Top 10 (or so!) Photos from the trip

Some of these are my images, others are borrowed from my wonderful family! Thanks, guys!

1. My dad and brothers demostrate the "Watkins Wave" at the Watkins Family Reunion in Solvang, CA.
2. Downtown Solvang, CA. My new favorite place.
3. Us in Yosemite National Park, specifically the river crossing at Wawona. One of my favorite family pictures ever.
4. My mom & Addison, also at Wawona.

5. Andrew & Evelyn fully enjoying their time at Disney.


6. Addison's unforgettable reaction to the Disney Princesses.

7. Addison taking in the world around her while at Glacier Point in Yosemite.

8. Pretty girl on a hike in Zion National Park.

9. My brothers: dorks, or the coolest guys on earth? Impossible to distinguish.


10. My dad, Doodah / Dude, with Addison at The North Rim's Grand Lodge.
11. With Amaly at the Grand Canyon. It's actually one of the best canyon views we got in a photo. If I hadn't actually been there myself, I might suggest we were simply standing in front of a green screen or picture of the Grand Canyon. I love it.

12. Anacapa Island, Channel Islands State Park. One of my favorite views from the trip, despite the fact that I was working through the sea-sickness I experienced on the way out. Everything about this place was spectacular. So glad we went.

I am SURE there are other photos I love, but these are the ones that come to mind pretty immediately. I hope you enjoy. :-)

FINALLY! Vacay Recap Part 3!

Going from the coastal breezes of Southern California into the Southwestern US desert, you quickly notice a change in temperature. Especially if you are eating gummy bears. Mine melted into one giant, gummy lump the car, while the car and the A/C were running, full blast. It was just that hot. 102. Ugh. At the time, I remember thinking, "Why did we leave California to go back into the desert?" I didn't need to look much further than the backyard of the Cliffrose Lodge & Gardens in Springdale, Utah to find out. We were exactly 40 yards from the South entrance to Zion National Park. Absolutely spectacular views. Here's what we could see out of our hotel room: Ah. This is why we drove here.

We spent the first morning hiking in the park, a weeping rock trail, a trail following a river (beautiful walk!) and then a picnic. By 11am it was 102 again, so we spent the afternoon swimming while we await AMALY's arrival! She loves me so much that she drove 6 hours to Springdale from Phoenix, basically the entire length of Arizona. It was awesome to see her again. We hadn't seen each other since December! Addison was, as usual, immediately comfortable with Amaly. Addison does this with exactly two people beside her immediate family members: Amaly & Jason. I find this fascinating and wonderful. Anyway, we wasted no time getting Amaly into the spirit of a Watkins' vacation and went on a dusk hike. It was about one mile, flat, and paved, so it hardly constituted a hike, but we all enjoyed getting to see the park at night time. The following morning, we awoke early and drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive, on which I nearly got carsick. I attempted to sit in the back seat with Amaly & Addison. A mistake I will not soon repeat. We arrived and I was speechless looking at those canyons. No words can describe the size of them. Simply astounding to see. And, while I was not exactly EAGER to get up early on my last day of vacation and drive for two hours to see more rocks, I am extremely glad I did. It is something no picture can express accurately. We lunched at the North Rim Lodge, which was built in the 1920s. It was a beautiful building and the food was delicious. We also saw the most wildlife on this part of our trip: wild turkeys, including several babies, big horn sheep, porcupine, and tons of deer. I think that made Robert's trip.

We saw this on the way back to Springdale from the North Rim. This is my favorite sign of the entire trip. Be sure to read the fine print!
I was extremely sad to leave Springdale for several reasons: 1) Amaly was leaving and I never know how long it will be until I see her again, and 2) our vacation was O-V-E-R. We drove solemnly back to Las Vegas, slept a few hours despite all the obscenities being yelled in the hallway by drunken partiers winding down their evenings, and got up VERY early to head back home. All the flights were smooth and no major delays. We were glad to be back home but so sad our fun was over. We cannot wait to go on our next vacation. Spring Break 2010 we're hitting up NH, ME, and MA!
Check back later for my "Top 10" photos from the 2009 Watkins Family's Awesome Adventure!