Happy Birthday, Tai

12-27-06: 5 lbs 10 oz
12-27-07: 20-something lbs


12-27-06: "waaaaaaahhhhh"
12-27-07: "mama," "dada," "uh-oh"


12-27-06: sleep, sleep, sleep
12-27-07: sleep, eat, walk, play, sign, talk

Jingle Hell

Dashing down the Pike,
Headed to the 'rents.
Kathy said, "oh crap!"
We forgot all the presents!

So around we turned
And headed back home, west.
Snatched up all the gifts
Our moods were not the best!

Oh! Tai woke up! Tai woke up!
He fussed all the way east.
He was hungry and grumpy,
Not to say the least!

Oh! Tai woke up! Tai woke up!
Nothing calmed him down.
Then of course, he dozed off,
Just as we rolled into town.

Tai's Weekend

As the calendar year comes to an end, so does the first year of Tai's life. We spent the weekend with friends and Tai managed to squeeze in several new "firsts" before turning one.

First eggplant pizza
First real trip into Boston (Logan doesn't count)
First Celtics game
***First time sitting in the LAST row, right under the luxury boxes
***First (and last?) time nursing near loud, drunk sports fans
***First time staying up WAY past bedtime
First blueberry blintzes
First time falling so hard he bit his tongue and bled
First time seeing, and being amazed by, a lit Christmas tree

Merry Christmas!

Bad Mom Story

Yesterday I desperately needed change for a $20 so that Tai and I could run a devious Christmas Errand on our way home from work/daycare. When no co-worker could change a $20 for me (doesn't anyone carry cash anymore?) someone suggested I pop by a local cafe and get myself a hot steamy treat, and the necessary change. I thought that sounded like an excellent plan.

After picking Tai up at "school" we headed straight to the cafe. Tai has been there a couple times for mommy-and-baby lunches (ah, maternity leave...the good old days) so he's familiar with the scene. With Tai on my hip I ordered my latte to go. As we waited by the counter for my coffee, Tai looked around the room at all the people enjoying lunch and made the sign for "eat. "

I pretended I did not see it.

Coming straight from work, I did not have the diaper bag with me, so I had no snacks for him. Not a single raisin or Cheerio. Nothing. And I was not about to buy him an $8 sandwich and make a big production out of sitting down and eating. (In my defense, he'd already had lunch at daycare). So I pretended not to notice that he was signing "eat" and staring hungrily at other people's plates.

When my latte was ready, I grabbed it and we headed out the door toward the car. Boy, did that piss him off! He doesn't speak English yet, so his protests were all in "baby" but I'm pretty sure they would have translated to something along the lines of, "What the hell? I thought you were taking me out to lunch?!"

Once we got back in the car, he settled down, but I think held a grudge for an hour or so.

I've Been Blocked

I just tried to email an elementary school, as part of my job, and their spam filter blocked my email and sent it back to me. The spam filter was, however, nice enough to tell me why I was being blocked. It was because my email contained the word "Cialis." In case you don't know, Cialis is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction. If you don't know what erectile dysfunction is I'm not going to explain it here.


Yes, my email to an elementary school did indeed contain the string "cialis". Because the email started with "Dear Principals and Reading Specialists". Wow, that's a hard-core spam filter. They put me in my place.

Benefits of Motherhood

There are so many wonderful things about being a mother I could not possibly list them all here. They include the indescribable feeling you get when your baby looks at you and smiles and the warm fuzziness generated by watching your baby sleep peacefully. Not to mention the fact that you get to play with toys as an adult and not be seen as a freak.

But perhaps best of all is that I now have a ready-made legitimate excuse that gets me out of any social obligation. Specifically, I am unable to attend this year's Office Holiday Party because it's on a Friday afternoon and I'm home with the baby on Friday afternoons. Family members are not invited to the festivities, so I can't even bring him along. Aw, shucks. I'll miss out on eating lasagna off a paper plate while standing around a crowded living room as well as the never-ending 40 person Yankee Swap. There goes my chance to walk away with a wonderful gift valued at $7.50.

Luckily, they usually make an effort to set aside Holiday Bonuses for those who cannot attend the party, so I should still get mine. I wonder what it will be this year? It's always some item with the company's name on it. Sometimes a t-shirt, or a pad of post-its. Last year it was a rape-whistle/flashlight/keychain combo. Very useful.

Job Interview Tips

If I could give folks out there just ONE piece of advice when going for a job interview it would be this: show up.

This past Saturday we were supposed to be interviewing a potential new dog walker (ours will be doing a semester in India starting later this month). Anyway, we set the interview for 10am Saturday morning and she never showed. And I have not received a call or an email from her with an overly detailed excuse either. Nothing.

Needless to say, she did not get the job. If I'm trusting you with my dog's bladder, not to mention a key to my house, you need to be able to be somewhere when you say you will. Is that too much to ask?