7 Months, Zoo Babies (with video)

On February 29th, Kearsley and Maya went to the zoo with her friend, Sarah, and her son, Olen. Maya enjoyed the animals, but liked Olen the best.

Maya loves looking at exotic animals like...

...prairie dogs.

Olen and Sarah

Maya and Olen cruising together.

Aaaaaawwwwwwwwe.

Here at the zoo, you can witness gestures of friendship between these two small creatures...

7 Months, Layla and Brighton Visit

On February 28th, Brighton came over to visit. Brighton is 20 months old and is very sweet with Maya. He enjoyed some bagels and kissed Maya. Life's pretty good for big man in town.

Brighton looks like a giant in Maya's tiny chair.

He elegantly eats a delicious bagel.

Is Maya ready for Brighton's kisses?

Yes.

Before Brighton tries to sticks his cup in Maya's face.

And after.

7 Months, Say Whaaaaaaaaat?

Maya has just one thing to say....

"Whaaaaaaaat?"

7 Months, Pruneface (with video)

On February 26th, Maya tried prunes. Enough said.

7 Months, Maya and Mommy

Here is Maya is on February 23rd, she's getting closer to pushing herself up into crawling position and will stand with a helping hand. She's very talkative and sleeps like a champ.

"Should I eat this?"

"Mmmm...earthy."

"Delicious."



If only she could be a little happier.

7 Months, Around Town

On February 17th, we decided it was time to get a much older Maya a new car seat and stroller, so we went shopping.

Outside Lullaby Lane, a big SF baby store.

Maya is very excited.

Here she is the next day in her cool new stroller.

Looking good, Maya!

7 Months, Mother's Group

On February 16th, our Mother's group got together. It's fun to see how much all the little ones are growing.

Welcome to baby insanity!

Julie with her daughter, Natalie.

Kathy with her daughter, Sadie.

Sarah with her daughter, Sophie.

Sarah with her son, Olen.

Maya tests out Sophie's walker.

"Return of the Raspberry" video

You may remember past "Raspberries", but see what happens when Sam encounters the power of the raspberry in Los Angeles during our visit in February.

At the VES Awards in all its Fanciness

Since Todd wasn't bragging properly about his own fanciness, his wife (aka Kearsley) is posting this on his behalf.

February 10th was a big night for visual effects wizards (aka dorks and nerds) as it was the night of the 6th Annual VES Awards. The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an honorary society that celebrates and supports visual effects and visual effects artists. Its members comprise visual effects artists, pioneers, and leaders from around the world.

Todd and I arrived at the Kodak Theatre Ballroom and discovered that many of Todd's friends and my Pixarian cohorts had taken showers and put on their fancypants for the big event. After a cocktail in the lobby, we made our way into the ballroom and sat down for dinner with 1100 of our closest friends. Unfortunately, we couldn't all sit at one table.

The awards show started and the presenters ranged from really entertaining (John Knoll and Patton Oswalt) to kinda weird (think UFOs and flux capacitors). Steven Spielberg was presented with a lifetime achievement award and gave a very nice acceptance speech and Michael Bay (director of "Transformers" and guy who likes to explode things) was pointing his finger effectively.

I think I've heard of this dude.

Michael Bay has one thing to say to you, "Get Verizon FiOS...it's awesome."

But, I was holding my breath for the big moment when they announced who would win for Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture. "Transformers" was nominated and Todd and 3 of his colleagues, Pat Tubach, Beth D’Amato, and Mike Conte were named as the recipients. I was holding my breath as Joe Flanigan (dude from the sci-fi show "Stargate Atlantis") announced the winner...

Todd, accepting the award, nearly losing his voice.

Beth D'Amato, Pat Tubach, Todd and Mike Conte.

The four winners make it back to the ballroom.

It's heavy...and it lights up...cool. The award is modeled after and image from Georges Méliès' 1902 film, "A Trip to the Moon," which is considered to be one of the first films to use visual effects.

Todd and his beautiful, lovely, and supporting wife, Kearsley. (Todd wrote this caption)

Another ILMer, Marshall and his wife, Katrina, with us.

Jaime, an animator from Pixar, and Todd with their awards.

Todd with another Pixar winner, Jon Reisch.

As so many of you already know, Todd has been passionate about visual effects since he first saw "Empire Strikes Back" on his seventh birthday. It has been so exciting to watch him progress in his career and as an artist in the world of visual effects. It was a wonderful moment to see him honored by his peers on this special night. I'm very proud of him.

To see many more photos from the event on Todd's FX blog, click here.