After careful consideration,

we've decided to have a boy.

We had the 22-week ultrasound today - our son-t0-be looks perfectly healthy and right on target for size and development.

More Beatrice videos: All dogs and babies!

I went on a video recording spree today, capturing Beatrice talking to and about her two favorite things, dogs and babies ("gigis").

Beatrice talking about - something - and dogs

Beatrice at almost 20 months

Beatrice tries out the new Radio Flyer tricycle from her grandparents

Drawing in the yard

The last few months have seen a tremendous explosion in new skills for Beatrice, from talking to tricycle-riding.

Beatrice has gotten very interested in imaginary play, with everything from play food to cell phones. She's also started imitating my gestures and mannerisms with great accuracy - I had no idea how often I stand with my arms folded across my chest until Beatrice started copying me. In fact, she copies everything Dev and I do, from wiping up spills with a rag to watering the plants.

She has recently become extremely attached to baby dolls - she carries them around everywhere, feeding them from a cup or gently wiping their faces, wrapping them in blankets, brushing their teeth, and in one case, trying to dress a doll in her bathing suit. She insists that I change her doll's diaper when I change hers. She rocks them, sings to them, and sometimes she'll even lean over one of her dolls and gently whisper to it in a soothing voice. She is also very affectionate with stuffed toys, patting them, kissing them, or cradling them in her arms (I wish she were that gentle with real people). She calls both real babies and dolls "Gigi" (pronounced "gee-gee").

Beatrice is also very interested in real babies when she encounters them. She loves to carry Chris and Nadia's Christmas card photo of their baby Asher around the house kissing it and excitedly points out babies at the park or the grocery store. Only dogs can elicit the same level of enthusiasm.

Beatrice pointing out Asher's Christmas card photo

Sharing with the twins

In what may have been the single cutest act I have ever witnessed, Beatrice offered Lucas and Veronika's three-week-old twins her last chocolate chip cookie - and when they declined (they were both asleep), she set the cookie gently on one of the twin's chests for later. Then she carefully set an outfit on top of each of the twins, "dressing" them, and wrapped them in a throw blanket. She also shushed us all, saying "Ssh! Gigis!"

Beatrice now says about 30 words and (very) occasionally uses multi-word phrases like "nice doggy" or "where's Daddy?" Recent new words include tree, car, hat, feet, shoes, pants, duck, fish, sheep, cheese, bike, help, and thank you. She's also starting to follow simple instructions like "Give your coat to Daddy" or "Can I have a hug?"

Adorably, she knows the gestures that accompany the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" song and also points to her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, head, hands, feet, and "tummy" on command.

She loves to dance and to twirl in circles, and she will start dancing whenever she hears music or hears someone say the word "dance." She also likes books and pretending to read them.

Beatrice still loves her PCC class. Here is her class picture, taken in December at the end of her first semester:

Some recent Beatrice videos:

Beatrice freaks out at the aquarium

Beatrice dancing on Christmas morning

Beatrice eating miso soup at a ramen restaurant

Beatrice playing with playdough

New Year's in Austin

We spent the first week of the new year with Mina and James in their beautiful new house in Austin, Texas. Julie and Maureen were also staying with us in Austin, and we had several visits from Travis, who lives about an hour away in San Antonio.

Beatrice loved seeing her cousins and she was constantly hugging and kissing them. She was particularly flattered by the attentions of three-year-old Rosemary and even her speaking abilities seemed to improve a bit under her cousin's influence. Rosemary and Beatrice also invented a (very loud) game that involved shouting "HI!" and shrieking and laughing to each other over meals.

Beatrice also had a great time with Louis, who is only five months younger than she is; they were constantly "attacking" each other with affectionate bites and tackles, but they both seemed to enjoy it.

During the mornings we took the cousins all around town, to the park, the zoo, the Nature Center, and to eat Austin's famous breakfast tacos (similar to the Los Angeles breakfast burrito but in my opinion superior). We even went canoeing on Barton Creek, where Beatrice was absolutely delighted by the turtles, fish, ducks, and most of all, a swimming dog we passed on the way.

And then on two nights we had a babysitter so the adults could enjoy some of Austin's restaurants and bars, as well as a honky tonk/country dance bar. And Dev even consented to dance a two-step with me, though neither of us did a particularly good job.

We also took a day trip to San Antonio to visit the Alamo and eat yet more breakfast tacos. (Breakfast tacos are the things I'll miss most about Austin - besides, of course, our friends and family.)

We also spent a lot of time in Mina and James' backyard playing with Louis' beloved new Christmas gift, a tee ball set, while James and Dev worked on building a very impressive tree house.

Unfortunately we had to cancel our trip to Dallas to visit Beatrice's grandparents because Suzan got very sick (as did Dev's grandmother Mamo) - but Naresh made the three-hour drive to visit with us and take part in a group photo.

We'll be sure to see Suzan in the summer, though, when the new baby comes, if not before.

Splitsider: The Year's Best Humor Writing

I'm delighted to be on this list of The Year's Best Humor Writing as both a nominator and nominatee.

Also check out work by my friends J. Ryan Stradal, Nathan Pensky, and Jennine Capo Crucet, among others.