Portraits of Belleville: Juan, Sofìa, and Emma

Belleville would be much a lonelier place were it not for our incredibly warm neighbors. Originally from Spain, Juan and Sofia have been in Paris for more than a decade, and their daughter Emma will turn four in early May. (Happy Birthday, Emma!) We're honored that Juan and Sofia entrusted us with being the first non-family members to babysit Emma, and we've tried to repay the distinction by entrusting Emma with the secret to baking excellent chocolate-peanut butter cookies.

Emma and Panda don't get along as well as we'd like, mostly since Panda hasn't done a great job of exercising self-restraint around Emma. Still, Emma's favorite animal is Panda (the "bear," not the dog), and Panda's favorite animal is anyone she can snuggle with, so there's at least a chance that these two little girls can put aside their differences and become as friendly as their respective parents.