Saturday, November 29, 2008

brought to you by the letter 'M'

So Alison Says and my BFF Court from Kiaya's Laughter Heals both had a meme listing 10 things you loved, starting with the same letter. I asked them for a letter (and you can get your own, too! Just ask.) My letter from both of them is the letter 'm' so here are my 10 favorite m-things.

1. My Monkey.


2. Magic Puppets and The Mysterious Ticking Noise.

3. Movies, usually really horrible girlie fantasy tinged romance induced crying comas, ok, not really. Twilight, Lost in Translation, Pride and Prejudice, Zoolander, Amelie, Love Actually, Howl's Moving Castle, there are a lot of them I really enjoy.

4. My Mom. (Oh Dear. At NUMBER 4?! Well, obviously, this isn't in any order whatsoever.) I love my Mom and love her more now that I have my own monster, I mean, beautiful lovely child. The fact that she raised two kids on her own amazes me. The fact that she didn't go absolutely bonkers amazes me more.

5. Marriage. What can I say? I love Jim. Doesn't hurt that he makes me breakfast almost every morning. I'm a sucker for a man who cooks.

6. Various mythical beasts. Manticores, dragons, unicorns, you know what I mean.

7. Maps. I used to look at a map of the world and point out places I wanted to visit. I still do. It's a little closer these days, but traveling is still one of my life's goals.

8. Mermaids. When I was younger I would wish on every shooting star I saw that I would become a mermaid. I blame the movie Splash. And the Little Mermaid. Which I can still sing along to and do.

9. Mini versions of my favorite animals. Like pygmy hippos. Totally adorable.

10. Music. I have weird, eclectic taste in music. Anything from Moonlight Sonata to Miles Davis and Manu Chao. This video (Salmon Dance by the Chemical Brothers) gets in my head and stays there, and it's educational! I'd be willing to send a CD of some of my favorite tunes to one lucky person, picked at random, who comments with their own favorite song. If you want your own letter, just ask. So comment away, people!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

thankful thursday

I was thinking about Thanksgiving and what it should mean for us, mainly because I've enjoyed the turkey and yams and green beans and stuffing and pie (YUM)...but the thankful part? Besides a prayer said while I drooled over my overfilled plate and stared at my food (yes, I know, horrible, praying with your eyes OPEN! blasphemy)...being thankful was something said quickly, a bump on the way to the delicious food.

But I don't want to go over so quickly today. This is our first Thanksgiving with just ourselves, no family, no friends today. Just Jim, Diego and me. We have had a beautiful day; a simple day of food and play. And for that I am eternally grateful.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

zoo rhymes with shoe



Some lovely friends joined our little family at the San Diego Zoo this past weekend. The day was perfect, somewhat cool but bright and sunny nonetheless. I thought Diego would enjoy looking at all the large and moving animals (as opposed to the pictures in his books?) but I believe the man sweeping up after the messy crowds held more of his attention than anything else that day. Besides the grills and manhole covers, that is.


(exhibit A. grill, pretzel, no shoes)

You'll notice he's not wearing shoes. Yeah...about that...so we were in one of the enclosed aviaries settled on a bridge looking at all the GREEN! and...more GREEN! Jim and I chatted on about something and Diego had managed to put his foot through the wires on the bridge. The wires that were keeping him from falling 30 feet. (I am a horrible Mom, I know. To my credit, I was holding onto him and there was no way he could fall. Just didn't notice his foot creeping out over the edge.) When he pulled his foot back off popped his shoe and it fell with a soft hush onto the green ground below. There was nothing we could do and no one there to ask to help, so we had to walk away, as we did Diego kept pointing backwards furrowed brow all creased. I told him his shoe was gone and we had to say good-bye. He actually waved good-bye as we left the aviary. Managing to let go to the little blue shoe faster than his Momma could.


(exhibit B. on the evil bridge that stole my baby's shoe)


Sunday, November 23, 2008

puddles and pine cones





It's hard to see part of your heart walk around outside of your body, but there he goes, walking through puddles and trying to walk down stairs. He might reach up to hold my hand, and I'll hold it firmly and gently and love the warmth that comes from the fluttering that is toddlerhood. Then he lets go and tries to run, stepping on crinkly leaves and finding pine cones on the grass. For now he wants me to be there, close enough to show me the treasures he finds and help him if he wants help. And I am here.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

incommunicato?

I've been working on using sign language with Diego for a few months now and I think he's really getting the hang of it. But for some reason he'll just pick one sign and that will be his catch-all sign for everything and anything. Yesterday's sign was "Eat." He wanted the door open, "eat? eat?" He dropped his sippy cup, "eat!" He handed me a book to read, "eat-eat-eat." Today's sign? Please.

But it all makes me think-what if we hadn't started sign language? Would he be talking now? He understands what we're saying, for the most part. But he hardly ever says "mama" or "dada" or, well, anything. And in comes the Mommy Guilt to make me think that I obviously haven't talked to him enough and that's why he doesn't talk and he won't start talking until he's 5 and his social skills will take a beating and kids will make fun of him and then he'll have to be an emo kid when he's older because of all the angst. Oh, the angst.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

letter to the ever-sunny SoCal weather:

Dear local weather,

First off, let me say, big fan! Big. Really.

But...can we lay off the sun a bit? I mean, it's NOVEMBER and there are 80 degree days ahead? Is this some sort of cruel joke? How many sunny, blue, and very warm days can a girl take before she wants to hit herself over the head with a frozen bag of peas just to feel a little cold?? I like long sleeves. I really love scarves. I would LOVE it if you could just...you know? Change. For ONCE. They're called "seasons." I believe the song says they "change." Or is that turn?...Whatever. Please, please give us at least a few days of "winter" here. Heck. I'd settle for fall.

Dreaming of a slightly chilly holiday season,

e.

PS
If this is you, Global Warming....Not cool, Dude....Not Cool.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

isn't he cuuuuuuuuuute?

This was Diego on Halloween, visiting Jim at work. My favorite part is when he pauses, turns back around, looks at me, and the resumes stomping around. The tail swish just kills me.




He's officially a toddler. Having tantrums and signing words (though he just signs "please" for everything he wants. Opening boxes? Food? The cat? At least he's polite? hahaha) He's definitely bigger and stronger than ever.

Me? It's November, people! Days away from Thanksgiving and no turkey in sight. No plans, either. Which is fantastic. Last year, in a bout of insanity, I decided I would make a full meal by myself and somehow be able to take care of the six week old boob monster. Yeah. THAT went well. This year I can say I've grown as a Mom and now realize that I don't have to. So there. :P