Dayva’s fourth birthday party was at her house and featured Barney, the big purple dinosaur. Dayva was born on December 28, so I’m not sure if this party was on that date or in January of 1997, but I’m putting it here in January. The Franks were very committed to the theme. I’m not sure who was in the Barney suit, but I note there are no photos of Gloria.
Barney’s entrance 
Barney and Dayva 
Barney and Alan 
Barney harassing Maddie 
Maddie and Allie agree…can’t beat pizza 
Laurie and Maggie came down from Philadelphia for a visit, I’m guessing in January during their winter break. Grandmom and (presumably) Grand Pop came up as well. The red cap features in all the photos because Grandmom knitted it especially for Allie.
Allie video, January 11, 1997, Unhappy (0:06).
Aborted attempt to enjoy the snow on Paddington driveway.
It was fun watching Allie grow, the changes still coming daily, weekly, monthly. She became a more accomplished walker and talker. I hadn’t realized how enjoyable it would be to make her laugh and to discover that she was developing a sense of humor and personality of her own. She moved from being a cute little alien baby to becoming a small, funny human. And still cute.
That said, not every moment was action-packed. Here are a couple of videos from January 19, more than 20 minutes worth where I’m mostly waiting for Allie to do something inspiring and she is mostly waiting for me to do something interesting with her. It’s a standoff, and also a slice of life.
Allie video, January 19, 1997, Wandering (8:41).
Wandering our way around Paddington. Dad and Allie spend some aimless time trying to find something to do.
Allie video, January 19, 1997, Working (13:44).
Working on our drawing skills.
Who tied your shoes? 
Further evidence that not every moment with Allie was sweetness and light.
If I said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times… 
NO MORE GREEN BEANS!
February 7 was Chinese New Year and we celebrated once again in DC’s Chinatown.
The next day, February 8, we encountered a snowstorm and more photo and video opportunities.
After a rough day
We proceed with some odds and ends pictures from the end of January and early February that Betsy sent. Her pictures often have dates on them so at least we know when they were taken. She also sent a newspaper clipping featuring a photo of her teaching.
Kristen and Sara, coming or going somewhere 
At Betsy’s 
Kristen at home 
Allie’s awake, why isn’t anyone else? 
Sara and Allie at the Countryside playground? 
Betsy’s class made the papers 
Those girls.
Allie video, February 11, 1997, Bedtime (1:54).
Getting ready for bed, the lure of Barney.
In February or so, we tried a Caribbean break with the Harders. I wanted to go to Casa de Campo Resort in the Dominican Republic because it reputedly had the best golf course in the Caribbean, plus it offered an all-inclusive package and a babysitter service. We rented a two-bedroom villa and I golfed for a few days while the others tried out the beach and pools. We left Allie and Maddie with a sitter some of the time and each enjoyed some time to ourselves. It was a decadent enough week, which I mainly remember for drinking too much each evening, especially in the vicinity of the hot tub which I think only Larry and I tried.
Golf carts were cool but we had to take them basically everywhere 
Drinks in the hot tub 
Checking out the beach 
Barb enjoying things a bit more than Allie 
Hammock in the villa was fun 
Larry and Ashley enjoying the babysitter
Sadly, for these photos I didn’t realize the camera was still foggy from just coming out of the air conditioned villa. You can use your imagination.
The Casa de Campo resort was nice enough, but very spread out. Our villa seemed like a long way from the main food, beach and pool areas so we felt a little isolated. Unfortunately, the real highlight/lowlight of the trip was having each of our wallets stolen one night while we were sleeping in the villa. It’s an odd feeling to realize that we all slept through the episode and could have easily been victims of something worse. As it was, we spent the next morning dealing with the resort’s security people. Eventually, our wallets showed up, less whatever cash we had, but at least our credit cards and IDs were returned. Ever since, Barb has been much more careful to lock valuables up in a safe at hotels. There’s a reason. Also, we never took another Caribbean break with the Harders.
Back home, trying out a new outfit. Not sure about the hat.
Walt and Maxie are not impressed
We have some videos from a quiet evening at home, February 27. The clips show the ups and down of adventures with Allie. Mostly ups. The full clips (in links) are kind of fun for a fuller sense of the flow of minor events.
Allie video, February 27, 1997, A night at home (8:24).
An evening with Allie coming to terms with a purse, Mom cooks dinner.
The evening continued with a little reading time with Mom.
Perhaps my favorite clip…
Allie video, February 27, 1997, Reading (3:50).
Mom reads books with Allie.
Photos from Easter Sunday (March 30) at Betsy’s.
And Easter Monday at our house.
The disaster zone that was our living room
We took a springtime trip to Florida for some sun and to see Grandmom and Grand Pop.
In the pool at Grandmom’s 
Grandmom says it’s time for a haircut 
All done. Also, why I stay our of the sun 
Checking out the beach on Singer Island 
Contemplating life and fish in Grandmom’s living room
Grandmom checking out her house
At some point, Allie said her first words. There is some contention whether it was “Mama” or “Dada” but there is also the possibility it was “Fry-fry” in honor of sitting in the backseat while Mom went through the McDonald’s drive-thru. Barb considers this just a slur on her McDonald’s habits.
We went to a birthday party for friend Kristin, thrown by her mom Stephanie. I’m not sure where this was held, probably a play zone in Columbia, but Allie and I enjoyed the slide and we returned to the scene of the crime for Allie’s party later in the year.
Birthday girl and cake 
Another visit from Aunt Laurie. Yay!
A visit and bath time with Maddie.
Maddie as Duck Face
In May, Betsy and Joe took a hike on what looks like the Skyline Drive, part of the Shenandoah National Park.
We went down to Betsy and Joe’s to celebrate Sara’s 6th birthday, along with their friends Tim and Monica.
Playing with Monica 
Joe’s dad, us and Tim 
We had a June quasi-birthday party for Kristen at our house with the Harders and Nana Leila. It looks like Allie was more involved with reading cards and fiddling with presents, but I think the timing works out that we were nominally gathered for Kristen.
Not everything went Kristen’s way 
Also in June, my company, Hekimian, was a fairly major sponsor of the U.S. Open Golf Championship at Congressional Country Club. I was able to play the course a few weeks ahead of the tournament with my work buddies which was a real treat. We had a our own tent at the tournament which I helped manage for the week and a bunch of tickets to give to clients. We ended up with more tickets than clients, so I was able to slide some to Joe and some of his friends. This seems to have coincided with Kristen’s actual birthday party. Kristen (and Betsy) very kindly wrote a thank you note.
Mike, Des, Mark and me…Hekimian’s brain trust, so to speak 
July 4th week for the Embreys at North Carolina beach (usually Corolla) with Joe’s family, I think. This may have been one of the times we came down for a couple of days, piggybacking it with a few days in Williamsburg. Or maybe Betsy just sent us pictures of their trip.
After going several months without taking a video, I picked up the camera in July. Herewith, a series I call “Adventures in Living” where we document Allie’s daily life. There were no special occasions, just a couple of regular days. Allie was starting to talk more and could certainly understand us, most of the time. It was fun just to watch her grow and process the world around her.
We start with a long, slow sequence of waking up and eventually getting on a pair of shoes, sort of. Rather than clipping out excerpts I think it’s best to watch the whole thing as a sort of meditation, minus our occasional coughs and sneezes.
Allie video, July 12, 1997, Shoes (8:31).
Waking up and the adventure of the shoes.
Allie video, July 12, 1997, Clothes (1:28).
Getting today’s outfit.
Allie video, July 13, 1997, Jumping (1:25).
Learning to stick the landing.
I enjoy this sequence wherein Allie devises a plan, carries it out, gets caught, and then the battle of wills begin. Peace is regained through cuteness. If only the rest of the world worked this way.
Allie video, July 13, 1997, Tissues (4:27).
Allie occupies herself, plus the adventure of the tissues.
Allie video, July 13, 1997, Teatime (6:03).
Allie makes tea for all of us.
Also in July, we went to Larry and Ashley’s house in Federal Hill for Maddie’s birthday. They had a community pool where we had a fun sunny afternoon.
Having more fun with the filter than the pool 
Maybe that same evening, we joined Maddie and the Harders for an evening of messy food and attempted music making.
This is why we wear bibs 
Here’s a mix of pictures from summer 1977.
With Lorie M. 
A little bit of belly peeking through 
Ready to roll.
Finally, enough teeth to tackle summer corn.
And that means bath time fun, afterwards.
Playdate with unidentified child, Julia, at the short-lived Columbia Exploratorium. This was a play and discovery area for kids, with different rooms set up for dancing, housekeeping, various careers and even a little airplane to climb around in.
This series with the hat is an exercise in the art of an unskilled photographer taking a number of poor pictures in hopes of happening upon a good one. Once in a while it works out. The colorful top is a gift from Laurie from Mexico…San Miguel de Allende, to be exact, bought before she was born. Good planning!
Sorry for cutting off Sara 
Oops, I did it again 
Not bad… 
Getting there… 
That’s the one!
More pictures from the summer. The sandbox was an acquisition for our backyard and was a fun place to play for a few weeks until the sand got gross. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
We had an outing with friends to the National Zoo in DC.
Kristin, DJ, Maddie, unknown, Allie with prairie dogs 
Allie petting a chicken. DJ’s mom, Connie, is in back; Barb nowhere to be found
Here’s that girl, Julia, in our backyard having fun with our pink elephant and “swimming pool.” The already neglected sand box is in the background.
More summer pix, unknown occasions.
Allie and Barb were model patients in a photo used for an article in the July 1997 Business Systems Magazine, Allie’s first modeling gig. They had nothing to do with the article, just props for a document imaging system. Still…big time! I think they were recruited through Allie’s pediatrician, Dr. Marinelli’s office.
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