Jill & Pete's Baby Web Site

June 17, 2004: Hazel is 15 months old today, which blows our minds. She is a walking, talking, opinionated person. One of her favorite pastimes in the evening is to bring us books one at a time. Not to read, just to stack. When the stack gets too high or she finds a particularly interesting book, then she reverses the process and returns the books one by one to the shelf. Approximately.

One of her little oddities is the "Toy of the Day." She carries one toy or book in her left hand (usually a blue ring or a her small Pooh board book) seemingly without knowing it's there. She doesn't play with it, but she rarely lets go of it willingly. And if you try to take it from her, look out!

She spends her days with 4 other kids at a fabulous home daycare in the country. She likes it there so much that she doesn't even notice when we leave in the mornings! But she always runs to greet us when we pick her up. What a warm happy feeling that is! She loves to run and wrestle, and she has quite a shoe fetish already. She's a treat to take around because she has a smile for everyone. We're very lucky parents. We still have 2 cats, Scooter and Cricket. Hazel is almost fast enough and tall enough to catch them now, so they really have to be on guard.

"Smelling" flowers at Olbrich Gardens
Pete is still writing software for AC&E, the company that bought the division of the robotics company he worked for when we lived in California. He is a consultant for them on a year's contract, and it's working well for him. He does his best work in the afternoon and evening, as always.

Jill is still with Intel, coming up on her 8th year now. In fact, she just finished her first sabbatical. Woohoo! After 7 years of working at Intel they give you 8 weeks off to recharge your batteries. It was awesome -- she painted Hazel's room a dusty purple, went to lunch with friends, took Hazel to Houston to see her mother's side of the family, and had several rounds of visitors here in Stoughton. She can't wait for her next sabbatical. :)

That's all the news that's fit to print for now. Drop us a line and let us know how you're doing. Don't forget to visit www.TheKochers.com to see lots of pictures, including Halloween pictures and her 6 month portraits!

Love,
Jill, Pete & Hazel