2025 Annual Letter from Mike and Michele
Me again, here to wish you a happy 2026. A lot happened this year, but simultaneously the only thing that happened was Gilda. It was our first full year with our sweetie, and the year with the biggest change and growth for her. I am stunned going back to the photos from the beginning of the year of how much she has grown up.
We stopped surviving the newborn phase and started enjoying life with a baby. December 28th 2024 was the hardest day for me sleep-wise, and it was only improvement from there. She engaged with us more and more every day. At around 5 months she started three days a week with nanny Kaitlyn and we let work return to our lives. This was a hard transition, of course, but it gave me the ability to get back to helping clients, and Mike back to making art, preparing for his Ted Talk, and building the Portland Aquarium.
At 6 months she started started eating, and experienced her first snow! I started swimming again. We continued to attend Beech St Parenting classes once a week. Gilda rode her first train at the Oregon Zoo… with poop in her diaper.
At around 7 month she sat up on her own, and slept through the night more regularly. We started spending more and more time in the back yard as the grass grew in. We would just lay a blanket out and enjoy a few toys, our toes in the grass, and the fresh air.
At 8 months she got a visit from her grandparents and great grandma from Pennsylvania. Mike gave his incredibly inspiring Ted Talk about facing your fears. We continued to sit in the grass and enjoy each other’s company.
At 9 months Gilda celebrated her first Mother’s Day at the Tokeland Hotel with friends Ashley and Evan. She met a peacock and goose, and we think she may have reached the pinnacle of her cuteness. I filmed a video about wave science with the Rose City Raindrops for Oregon Public Broadcasting.
At 10 months Gilda got on her first flight to visit family on the east coast. She met her other great grandma, her cousins, aunts and uncles, and great aunts and uncles. She saw Boston, Cape Cod, New York, New Haven, Selinsgrove, and Baltimore. She had her first bagels in New York and first Pizza in New Haven. She saw her first Picasso at MOMA, and was called the best work of art at The Met. She loved traveling, loved the hotel rooms, and even rode the NYC subway barefoot.
What a difficult transition it was back to real life after such a wonderful trip. Our sweet kitty Audrey passed away about a month after we returned. We had her for 7 years, and she was a quirky, loving, cuddly, shoulder cat who followed us everywhere. She spent so much time with Gilda in her first year.
We trudged on and filled the summer with swim lessons, family swims, and lots of milestones. I turned 40 this summer, and Mike threw me a wonderful surprise party with square dancing in our backyard. My college friend Jenn visited with her family and we spent the day at Cascada, and then my childhood friend Marlena and her partner Evan stayed for dinner and we made a mess of Bag O Crab in the backyard. What a lovely way to celebrate! Gilda went to her first music festival - Pickathon. That’s when she officially became a cool girl.
Not two weeks later, Gilda and my mom had their first birthdays! Gilda had two parties - one just for her at Wonderwood Springs, where she ate all her favorite foods - watermelon, hot dogs, and bread, and one with my mom at Southpark Seafood. My aunt Barb flew in to celebrate with us.
Summer was almost over. I had my first night away from Gilda to celebrate Marlena’s 40th birthday. September and October are the serious synchro months, preparing for our competition in October. This year I came home from Masters Nationals with two national championships, one silver and one bronze. I was really proud of the team and what I was able to do my first year back with a baby.
As the weather got colder we spent more time inside, and Gilda started loving practicing her walking. We started with a new nanny, Nanny Alejandra. She took her first assisted steps in September, and is still practicing constantly. She hasn’t walked on her own, but loves holding our hands and walking around the house. We celebrated Christmas right after Halloween when Mike’s family came to visit. I’m so glad we had a chance to celebrate together, but it wasn’t quite the same as the 2024 big family Christmas. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents at the MAC, and Gilda discovered stairs. All she wants to do is go up and down stairs now.
I told you this would be all about Gilda, and I was not wrong, was I? But we did continue to have careers, somehow. In the midst of everything I managed to help 24 clients buy/sell homes, which is staggering to me because I was so worried about work life balance, but somehow I made it work. In addition to the TED Talk, Wonderwood Springs, The Portland Aquarium, and Snow Day, Mike also moved his studio to the old ReRun building on Fremont and 7th, and hosted numerous fun events. I guess we were working, but Gilda always made it feel fun.
We always make time to travel. On December 1st we flew to Japan! Our first international trip with Gilda, and her first time out of the country. It was a wonderful trip, and Gilda loved Japan. She tried yummy new food, practiced her walking in some beautiful new places, and even got to go to Disneyland! Now I have the travel bug, because if that flight was doable I can essentially travel anywhere, right?
I’m writing this letter on December 26th. We had a lovely, small Christmas with my parents. Gilda doesn’t know what Christmas is yet, so we look forward to starting Christmas traditions next year. It’s endlessly emotional that our first and only year with baby Gilda has come and gone. I know there are many, many more things to look forward to, but I’ll miss my chubby little baby.
For those of you who made it this far, special extra special Happy New Year to you. May this next year be as joyful as a baby’s giggle.
Michele, Mike, and Gilda
