- sleep (10 minutes) late - allow too much tv while I catch up on the internets - eat a carton of strawberries - cook lunch together (ham + spinach omelet for us, a grilled cheese sandwich for her) - read books - laundry? - color - make big Bs and little bs - wash dishes - make chili - play with trucks + helicopters - post pictures from the past few days
Mommy, can you help me put this on?
At Ikea last night, in search of magnetic boards. Because I no longer care to frame + hang individual pictures.
Notice the rolled-up-to-her-butt pants. This fashion change occurred in the lighting section.
Two Saturdays ago, my sister Biff came to visit for a few days. It was a great time for all of us, and now we miss her even more.
Here are Leah + her Auntie Biff at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City... listening to babies' sounds + exploring tiny steps in a light fixture. And enjoying a post-breakfast snuggle.
AND, finally, here are scenes from her first professional haircut. Hoorah! I am so happy to be out of that particular job. (I'm sure I'm not the only one... )
My Gram died this morning. She lived for 96 years... through the Depression, Prohibition, the early death of her mother + an uncaring stepmother (though she adored her father). She was a feisty, rough-and-tumble girl + lady, with more stories than I can possibly remember. One that made an impression involved gambling, illegal hooch, a married man, and an escape from the authorities. Who knows if this story was true, but it does give me hope that my stories will become more interesting with time!
Gram was mother to 2 (my dad + his older sister), a wife, a dentist's assistant, and a Sunday School teacher. She was loved by many generations of church school students for the way she embodied what she believed, teaching side-by-side with my Granddad. The two of them were the foundation of our family. She survived breast cancer + ovarian cancer, and is now survived by 2 children, 7 grandchildren + 9(?) great-grandchildren.
She reminds me of blue skies, tall grass, soft pine forests, streams, hiking, Vermont, good food, coffee, climbing trees, hammocks, raspberries, denim wrap skirts, hair buns, wide grins, loud laughter + knee slaps, iced drinks in the backyard, ice cream, dogs, gardens, good neighbors, Clematis, teddy bears, swing dancing, rose perfume, and love.
She taught me how to write in cursive at the dinner table in a summer house in Vermont.
I was fortunate enough to live with her while I worked at my first job outside Philly, and then visited weekly overnight after I moved. I remember catching up after a day of work + dinner, with mugs of tea at her kitchen table. She made me feel loved, special. Gram certainly wasn't perfect, but she gave me the gift of that understanding as well. What a relief to know that no one is perfect!
She hasn't recognized us for several years, but still enjoyed our visits. Seeing our children has made her light up.
I wish I had a scanner for all the great (non-digital) pictures of her over the years. These - with Leah + her cousin Katie, above, and at her church's Valentine's Day dance 6 years ago, below - will have to do! I love you, Gram. You live on in all of us.
This picture was taken a few weeks ago, but 1) it was on my iPhone and 2) I am lazy, so I just now got around to downloading it.
I had awoken a few mornings after Leah's Chia cat grass - a Christmas gift from her grandparents - had sprouted, to find this scene beside my bed. She had afixed her "favorite bows" to her cat-on-wheels named Friendly, and placed the cat grass in front of him/her for her/him to enjoy. Adorable!
The cat grass has been partially mangled by the cats-on-paws since then, and only partially digested. (They threw up the remains on Rob's side of the bed - haha.) In case you are in the market for your very own Chia cat grass kit, you can find it here.
After shedding her royal dress + polishing off a snack (the remains of which can be seen on her face), Leah + I made a paper fan. Which she decided to surreptitiously attach to a kite string she found in the kitchen drawer. When we found her, it had been intricately draped around everything in her path, from the kitchen to the livingroom (doorknobs, tables, sofa, and tv).
And yes - I cut her poor hair again! Probably time to visit someone trained to do this for the next round, but she likes it 'cause she doesn't have to push it out of her face + it goes well with all the pink + sparkly.
Leah outfitted herself as "a ghost" with a recently-emptied Trader Joe's bag (which is the best bag ever, and as shown here, has multiple uses), then tried to get me. So I got her.
Loads of fun w/ the Beanster! She is full of the funny.
This past Saturday we took the Bean to a museum. Even though they tried to confuse us with a labyrinthine layout, we made our way to this fabulousness. Absolutely gorgeous!
Well, not really. It's just really, really slow today. Too slow to actually use any 'o those useful inauguration-watching links below. Which is kinda great, because that means lots of people were trying to watch. Good thing we could all huddle around a fuzzy teevee here at the office.
President Obama. How incredible it is to actually hear that, read it, say it. Hooray! Hooray! What a greatday!!
So excited. So very, very excited! Sadly, I won't be anywhere near the inauguration or a tv at work tomorrow, so the internets + my sweet little iPhone will have to do. (Yeah, I know - wah.)
But who knew there were so many choices for watching Obama's inauguration? Here - just for you - is an excerpt from Salon.com's nifty guide to where to watch one of the most exciting things to occur in my lifetime:
Via Broadband:
Hulu: On Tuesday, Jan. 20th, Hulu will begin streaming live coverage of the presidential inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama at 12 p.m. EST from Washington, D.C., which will run for approximately two hours, ending around 2 p.m. EST. It will be available on demand.
C-SPAN is using Mogulus to webcast a multichannel grid of inauguration activities from Saturday through Tuesday.
Livestation will offer international perspectives on the inauguration, with content from the BBC World News, euronews, and France 24.
CBS News will broadcast from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and will have a one-hour inauguration special at 9 p.m. There is a CNET webcast.
ABCNEWS.com will have Sam Donaldson and Rick Klein anchoring coverage from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET and will also cover Obama taking the oath of office on its home page from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET.
MSNBC will live stream inauguration coverage, as will FOXNews.com. FOX will be hosting discussions on their Facebook page.
CNN will be broadcasting live, and will be using Facebook status updates from users logged onto Facebook Connect at CNN.com.
USAToday.com and the rest of the Gannett newspapers are live streaming on their sites.
The New York Times will stream Obama’s speech and swearing-in on its home page.
Terra will show both Spanish and English webcasts of the proceedings.
Photographs by Nadav Kander The New York Times Magazine 1.18.2009 In December and early January, the photographer Nadav Kander shot 52 portraits of Barack Obama's top advisers, aides and members of his incoming administration. Kander and The Times Magazine's director of photography, Kathy Ryan, discuss putting those portrait sessions together and what happened behind the scenes.
Want to catch a glimpse of the people behind our new President? See them captured in a photo gallery on The New York Times' website, complete with audio and behind-the-scenes photos + commentary. So interesting to see them up close... more candid and captive on my laptop screen. I am struck by how young and experienced they seem.
IN “CAMERA LUCIDA,” his searching reflection on how photographs convey their meaning and emotional power, Roland Barthes suggests that any time a subject steps in front of a camera to have his portrait taken, four people show up: who that individual thinks he is, who he wants others to think he is, who the photographer thinks the subject is and whom the photographer will try to make use of to bring about his art. To take a subject out of his environment and situate him under elaborate lighting before a sheet of white, seamless paper for 10 or 15 minutes has a way of heightening the tensions among those various self-presentations. A traditional portrait produced by a painter over the course of many sittings is an accrual of impressions building toward something conclusive; photographs like those Kander creates draw their power from the charge of brief encounters — theatrical moments of physical and psychological arrangement: what is Robert Gates saying (about himself? to the camera? to us?) with that parade-ground stance of his? Is Rahm Emanuel's unflinching, impatient stare aimed at Kander — or at Capitol Hill?
I found this fantastic quote byGandhi the other day:
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Which gets right to the heart of it, no? Simple in concept, though perhaps not so much in execution. So many of my own thoughts are hidden away, never (or not yet) to be reflected in what I say or do. Very often my actions or words don't match what I'm thinking 'cause I tone them down to fit the company I'm in. Or because I'm being lazy. Which is pretty lame (or not-happy, says Gandhi).
I'm always asking Leah if she's happy, and usually she tells me that she is. (Why no, I don't ask her when she's crumpled in a pile of too-hungry-or-tired!) Is it because, as a 3.5-yr-old, she's more in-tune with her thoughts; able to easily match them with her words + actions?
I hope she doesn't unlearn too much of it. It's much harder to re-learn, I'm finding. But worth it! (Happiness!)
Leah is so grown up these days. I look at her, and can't believe it. She's so much fun to be around, full of hugs + smiles + curiosity + stories + energy. I have a feeling these are the days I'll miss the most when she's all growed up.
Reading in her room I've been reading with her before she falls asleep. And she's been sleeping in her bed until the wee hours of the morning, at which point she sneaks into our bed without waking us up! So great.
Sneaking food She's taken to closing off the door in the hallway between our kitchen + living room and then pulling the door to the basement open, creating a hidey space in The Hallway That Must Be Painted. In which to eat stolen food. I've caught her with cheese, a bag of bread, and most recently, gum.
Assisting in the kitchen I think we were making Pad Thai - yum.
Rebuilding the living room system with her Pop Which, obviously, she LOVES. This is best done in pink frilly clothes. Just ask Rob.
Our little "holiday" is officially over (as of yesterday), and while I enjoyed the parts when I wasn't coughing up a lung or taking care of Rob while he did the same, I am happy to be back at work. I also started yoga again after a 6-week break (had to heal my back in between 3 tattoo appointments), and I am happily sore again.
So, balance has returned. Easy to forget when you're in the holiday groove.
However, I am now yearning for the desert. Southern CA, to be more specific. Took a trip there a few years ago, and am convinced I was made for such a climate.
Just a few more months of winter to get through...
Gone are the toddler bed and changing table/dresser combo. They were replaced yesterday with a real bed + dresser... for "big girls". (Does that mean I can sleep there?)
Next step: sleeping in the new bed when she feels ready (and all the dinosaurs have been banished from beneath it). Because now that she's started kicking me during the night, I am ready to have my space back!
This past year was an amazing time for me... more people to love, new ways to learn + grow... such an incredible period of growth. Which is probably what it's like to live one week as a 3 (now 3 1/2) -yr-old. I don't know if I get my inspiration from her, or from the realization that life doesn't last forever, but learning to live in the present is key.
Thanks to everyone out there in my life, making it bigger + better than it would be otherwise. And thanks to the small girl, no longer a baby or even a toddler, who challenges me to be my best self, over + over again.
Cannot wait to see what this year will bring. I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I have a few this time, and am pretty excited about making them happen. ;)
Apologies to all who may have caught our germs. Remarkably, Leah is still well and amusing herself for the most part. Getting sick days after your child receives new toys is not exactly bad timing.
Leah had a blast, Rob was (and is) sick. I felt grateful to be well + happy to watch the girl in her Christmas-y joy. Saw part of Rob's fam xmas eve, had his parents here late xmas morn, traveled to the next town to see some more of his fam xmas afternoon (w/out the Robster). Then all 3 of us watched part of WALL-E, one of Leah's favorite gifts. A nice day, except for the sick.
Today I am listening to newmusic + sipping holiday wine after starting off the morning dancing with the girl to Dan Zanes en español. Rob is in bed while I try to treat him with massive doses of Vitamin D + hopefully some olive leaf extract if I can find some at Whole Foods. Leah is eating her promised xmas candy cane + puttering around with her new toys. Here, some pics for your post-holiday amusement:
So tired today. And sore. Had "the bottom" of my tattoo done last night. Haha. Way past my bottom! It's awesome, but scares Rob. (Not Leah!) Hard to sit and walk, but hey - that's like complaining about the cats you willingly adopted. Which I am about to do.
You see that title up there? Cooler Than The Cat? Yeah, well. I am kind of off cats.
Growing up, I loved kittens. We often visited dairy farms to see cows being milked, but my favorite thing about the visits was plucking a kitten or 2 from a bale of hay and walking around with the little creature(s). Because you can't easily pick up a cow. So my love of cats began. Even though I became allergic to them and eventually had to get shots to live with them.
But now, I must confess that I am not a cat person anymore. Not sure how it happened, but the love hasn't been there for a few years. Perhaps the thrill of living with something that might kill me has passed. Sorry, cats! Must find a new blog title...
Taken this evening after we arrived home from work/daycare... with our new (working! tiny!) camera. She was deliriously excited about the snow, and spent a good 10 minutes running around in it (check out the tracks) before agreeing to come inside.
I think I may be taking a break from the blog for a while. I'm feeling distracted, with my mind on other things. Which usually means something interesting (for me, at least) is brewing.
The crazy holidays are coming up, and I don't feel like keeping up with too many things at once. So if things are quiet around here, that's where I've gone.
Last evening (i.e., sometime after 4:30pm, when the sun had abandoned us) Leah + I went to Rite Aid. I was on a mission to find some items for a tattoo healing experiment. We parked + walked inside hand-in-hand, found the Listerine + baby powder, then headed toward the front of the store to check out.
Oh, but not so fast! Since I usually navigate the aisles of the Duane Reade next to my office in the city without a 3 1/2-yr-old, I was unprepared for the enticing holiday-themed drugstore extravaganza that would delay us for the next 20 minutes. There were clear plastic tree displays that lit up when a button was pressed (and pressed, and pressed), old-fashioned houses with "happy family" scenes painted on their windows, a large array of plastic dolls + trucks.
The next aisle over was full of candy + tree decorations. These were the things that Leah spent the most time with - stroking bows + green garlands, examining + re-examining the candies. By the time we made it to a cash register... just a few feet away, mind you, a package of candy canes "for the tree" had joined us.
So the next time you think you need to take your child to a "child friendly" spot, try your local drugstore instead. Free entertainment, without as many crazed children + parents.
I've been working on a backpiece. Well, I have not been doing the work, but I have been lying down a lot while getting tattooed.
My first session was mid-November, and the second was last night, with many more to come. Getting a huge backpiece is (or was) definitely at the edge of my comfort zone, but the whole process is bringing me much joy.
This is what my back looked like three weeks after the first session. (Note: Probably unsafe for work, depending on where you work...) I wasn't originally going to post photos of my naked backside on the internet, but then figured this was better than taking off my shirt for everyone who asked to see.
Photos of session 2 will be coming soon, hopefully. Our old camera, she ain't what she used to be!
UPDATE: A photo from session 2 is up now. Check the other spot (also in my blog list to the right) for updates, as I may not always update here.
I am too tired to use words, so here are some pictures. There may be better ones out there, but I am much too lazy to sort through them right now. (Yes, I know - lame. But I must rest up for round two of my backpiece tomorrow.)
Mommy, can you help me put this on? 
At Ikea last night, in search of magnetic boards. Because I no longer care to frame + hang individual pictures.
Notice the rolled-up-to-her-butt pants. This fashion change occurred in the lighting section.
