What's Been Going On

Life's been busy and it's hard to find time to sit down and put any of our adventures/mishaps into writing.  (Though if you received Minh's holiday letter you got a whole year's worth at once.)  Anyway, here's a quick update on life-n-stuff:

• Tai just celebrated his second Christmas and birthday in the span of one present-filled week.  He's now a professional at tearing open gifts and officially has way too many toy vehicles.  You cannot walk through our living room without tripping over a backhoe, dump truck, or fire engine.

• Minh and I discovered Scramble (a word game on Facebook) and have spent a few recent evenings playing against each other.  It's a great way to spend time together, but not actually have to talk or even be in the same room.

• Baby Number Two now makes his/her presence know by doing back flips across my uterus several times a day.  We should be finding out the sex in mid-January (stay tuned...)

• Buttons has been without her dog-walker for over a week now, which has the effect of either (a) making me get my butt out and walk her or (b) making me not walk her and then feel very guilty about it, depending on the day.  Luckily, the young energetic dog-walker is due back next week.

• Minh and I have found the very best way to keep a house clean and tidy -- continually invite contractors and (even better) Realtors over to your place.  We did this weekly for about a month and the place looked fantastic.  After de-cluttering the place and talking with the Realtor about all the wonderful selling points of our house, I no longer want to move.

• Yes, we considered moving.  But the house we wanted is too pricey for our budget.  And yes, we considered massive renovations, but budget and time constraints have put that on the back burner as well.  It's looking like minor renovations will begin shortly.  Stay tuned for updates as we expand our living room and finish part of our basement.

OK, that's all I can think of for now.  I'll try to come up with some amusing tales of Life in South Hadley before too much longer...

Falling Behind

I'm keeping up at work, but falling desperately behind in my leisure activities.  I have a brand new book waiting to be read, a half-finished Netflix movie, and last week's episode of Grey's all waiting for me at home.  It's stressing me out.  

And here I am wasting valuable time at work.

Tonight I have to decide which leisure activity to "tackle" and get over with--taking into consideration the fact that I can only keep my eyes open for about 1 hour after Tai goes to bed. This is why it recently took me three sittings to get through WALL-E.  (Which is very good, by the way.  Please don't take my inability to stay awake during it as a poor reflection on the film.)

It's No Wonder We Love Our Neighborhood

We love our neighbors. They are friendly, helpful, and just downright pleasant. In the past we've relied on various neighbors for cat sitting, dog walking, pellet furnace filling, borrowed lawn equipment, and baby hand-me downs. And we like to think we return the favors whenever possible (at the very least we give them an annual event at which they can risk life and limb to de-clutter their woodsy yards).

Recently, we spent 48 hours in the Boston area for Thanksgiving and troubled one of our neighbors to feed not only our cats, but also the two cats next door, for whom we were responsible that week. He agreed without hesitation.

We returned on Saturday to find all four cats well fed, but also this on our front lawn:

If you can't tell, it's a four-foot-tall-light-up-mechanical-drumming-holiday-bear. It so tacky, right? Not the kind of thing we would ever put on our lawn. But there it was, all set up and waiting for us. Buttons barked at it and Tai fell in love with it right away ("bear! drum-drum-drum!"). So, of course, it stays. Apparently, our neighbor knew better than we did that we needed this thing. Our lives are now richer and more full of the holiday spirit. And I'm sure it will decorate our lawn each December for many, many, many years. Does this mean I have to apologize to my sister for making fun of her mechanical reindeer?

Increased Productivity

Well, since I promised, here is the review of the newest thing in hair care.  

I think it's working.  Minh is less distracted by my frizzies during staff meetings, which means he's more focused on his work, which means he's more productive, which means he'll most certainly be receiving a huge raise any minute how (just checking to see if Cate still reads this thing).

The thing that takes some getting used to with this new "system" is that there is no actual shampoo.  No, no, "shampoo" is now a dirty word (much like in Minh's first Christmas letter).  Instead I use the "cleansing conditioner" that does not strip my hair of its natural oils.  Bottom line?  My hair feels a little greasier than I'm used to.  But I guess the grease is what keeps the frizzies away, right?

My hair is indeed less frizzy, though I can't attribute it to any one part of the "system."   It could be the cleansing conditioner, or the leave-in conditioner, or the styling creme.  But it's certainly not the intensive hair repair mask or the texture balm because I have yet to use either one of those.  Yes, this "system" is really a bit much to handle.  Especially for someone who used a 2-in-1 shampoo for years.

I have since cancelled my membership in the system because I have more than enough styling creme and can buy the cleansing conditioner on amazon.com.  And I have never been comfortable with signing up for any "club" that will automatically bill me for my monthly supply of whatever.  I never even joined Columbia House to get my 10 CDs for a penny.

Would I recommend it?  Sure, if your frizzies are negatively impacting your life or the life of a loved one, go ahead and try it out.  But I think you can probably get away with just the basic bottle of stuff from amazon.

Beware the Brownies

Last weekend we took Tai to a local children's museum for the first time.  Since it was a cold Saturday morning, the place was pretty packed.  And Tai was most certainly on the far end of the age spectrum--I think he was actually the youngest kid there that wasn't sleeping in a sling.  But he had a rockin' good time anyway.  He "drove" the forklift, crawled through a tunnel, and climbed around on a very large structure covered in the most slippery carpeting ever.  

Unfortunately, Minh and I had to spend most of our time making sure Tai did not get run over by all the big kids.  When we weren't picking him up and shuttling him to safety, we were standing in front of him, directing older kids to go around him.  And I spent a fair amount of time just flashing them dirty looks (to no avail).

And you know who behaved the worst?  The ones who showed depraved indifference?  The hyperactive boys, right?  Nope.  It was the Brownie Troop.  Dressed in their little brown skirts and vests, and present in such large numbers, they took over the place like a little biker gang.  They were everywhere at once -- running, jumping, falling, and pushing Tai out of the way to get where they were going.  Two of the future Hell’s Angels even tried to shut a mailbox door on Tai's head.  Apparently, with all the knot-tying and flag folding, there is no time to earn a Regard for Human Life badge.   

The museum has several different play areas you can visit, and Minh and I became focused on making sure we stayed one step ahead of the Brownies.  When they showed up at the ambulance Tai was driving, we moved on to the post office.  When they caught up with us there and nearly decapitated Tai, we moved on to the bodega, etc, etc.   The Girl Scout promise must also include something about waging turf wars because these chicks were ruthless.  They would arrive at, say, the bubble blowing station, and express their annoyance that Tai was using it with audible sighs.  And once Tai gave up some ground by taking a step back, they would hit him in the stomach with a tire iron, take his lunch money, and ride off on their tricked-out Hannah Montana Huffy bikes*.   

The whole time, Tai appeared blissfully unaware of his several brushes with death at the hands of The Brownies.  But maybe he was not as oblivious as we thought?  Later that day I asked him if he had fun at the museum and what he had done there and he said, "kids!  kids jumpin'! watch out kids!"

 

*This part may be embellished 

The Next Blues Traveler...

My dad is really great at selecting gifts for Tai. Seriously.  He has a real knack for picking out the kind of thing that Tai will love and that will drive me and Minh crazy (I know, I know, that's exactly what grandparents are supposed to do.)

At the age of, oh about 8 months or so, Tai received his first musical instrument from my father-- a wooden recorder.  At the time, he was (thankfully) too young to know what to do with it.  But now he's figured it out and (when we agree to let him play with it) makes ear-splitting music all over the house with it.  I think this is just my dad's way of paying me back for all the time I spent trying to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on the flute-a-phone that our public school system handed out to every third grader in town.  (Who's idea what that?)

Anyway, the newest gift from "Grampy" is a harmonica.  When he first received it, Tai turned it over and over looking for the on switch and, upon finding none, declared "it broke."  But after a few demonstrations of how it worked, he started to get the idea.  Just barely.  In the days that followed Tai would periodically go find his harmonica and wave it around declaring "harmonica!" and "Grampy!"  And sometimes he'd try to blow air into it, being marginally successfully.  And it was terribly cute.  

And then one morning it happened.  Out of nowhere, he just picked it up and started playing it.  Really playing it.  And it was terribly cute.....for a while.  And now we get treated to concerts, regularly:        

So if anyone is a big Blues Traveler fan and wants to come over for some mean harmonica playing, just stop on by.  Minh and I will hand Tai the harmonica and sneak out the back door.  Just know that each time he stops and stares at you, he's looking for applause. 

I Missed You Too

I was away for three nights and four days.  And Tai hardly noticed.

I know, I know, he's not even two yet and I can't expect too much.  But still.  Apparently, a couple times while I was away he said to Minh, "Mama gone."  But that was about the extent of his concern.  We did talk on the phone a bit (usually while he was eating breakfast) and I got lots of "Hi Mama!"  and a few stories about his Adventures With Daddy.  But when I got back he couldn't even be bothered to stop what he was doing to say hello to me.  

After not having seen him since Saturday morning, I excitedly arrived at day care pick-up on Tuesday afternoon to find him playing outside in the sand with, what else, a toy backhoe.  He was walking across the yard toward the backhoe when he spotted me....and kept walking.  He settled in and started playing with the backhoe.   

OK, no huge smile and no running over to hug and kiss me. But what can I expect?  So I went over to him and squatted down in the sand where he was playing.  He looked up and, without even a glimmer of realization that I'd been gone and was now back he said.  "It's broke.  I need help."  (The backhoe at the ridiculously expensive child care facility was indeed broken.)

Our afternoon and evening was pleasant, but ordinary.  It was like I'd always been there.  This morning, however, as he was eating breakfast, he may have noticed that we were not talking on the phone and that I was actually there because half-way through the meal he looked right at me and exclaimed "Hi Mama!"

I'll take what I can get :)    

The Results Are In...

Tai was the most adorable kangaroo anyone has ever seen. Although he practiced saying "trick or treat" all evening, including saying it about 30 times while heading down our driveway toward our neighbors' house, he would not say it at ANY of the 5 doorsteps we visited. He did, however, demonstrate that a kangaroo goes "boing! boing!" for each and every household.

He very much enjoyed carrying his pumpkin-shaped bag around the neighborhood and delighted in selecting a piece of candy and depositing it in his bag, exclaiming each time, "I got one!" But he had no idea the candy was edible--and we'll keep it that way for as long as we can :)

For Tai, I think it was all about the novelty dressing up and going to "play" outside after dinner in the dark. And all his neighborhood friends were outside too! Next year, I fear, it will be all about the candy. (And we'll see if that lion costume still fits next year.)

Your Opinion Matters*

Tai's kangaroo costume from last year still fits, sort of. Sure, the sleeves ride up his arms and the elastic wristbands leave red marks on his forearms. But it still mostly fits. And it's damn cute.

But we were also just given a hand-me-down lion costume which fits better (and will quite possibly still fit next year). Our problem is trying to decide which he should wear this Friday to go trick-or-treating. I've posted photos (my apologies for the quality -- he doesn't exactly stand still, ever) for your viewing enjoyment and also so that you may answer the question below.

Kangaroo

Lion

Please indicate which of the answer choices below best describes your preference:






*Actually, we are not obligated to follow through on the results of this poll, We'll probably do whatever the hell we want. But this was a fun way to post pictures of Tai in two cute costumes.

Brunching All Over The Valley

When a member of your family wakes at 6am (even on weekends) and naps right after lunch, weekend brunches are clearly the best way to get together with friends. Case in point, this weekend we are heading to two such brunches. And looking forward to both, very much.

In both cases, Tai should be in a very good mood because (1) it's his favorite time of day (2) there will be food and (3) there will be other kids to play with. In both cases, Minh and I will be happy because of the Tai's good mood, the yummy food (that we don't have to cook!) and good company.

We missed the whole damn thing.

Friday afternoon we left work early to head to a 5pm wedding in Boylston, MA (which, according to Google Maps is 1 hour and 15 minutes from our house). We left at 3:30pm. Maybe cutting it a tad close. But Google Maps always calculates things as if you were driving the speed limit, so I figured we'd be fine. But instead of zipping down the pike at 75 mph, or even 65 mph, we inched across the state at an infuriating 12 mph, for many many many miles.

At 4:40 our friends, who had already arrived in Boylston, called and asked "Where are you guys?" "Stuck on the pike, of course, " was my reply.

At 4:50 I realized we were going to miss the beginning of the ceremony. "Oh, how embarrassing," I thought, "What if the bride sees us come in half-way through?"

At 5:05, a good 10 miles from the exit and still barely moving, I realized we were going to miss the whole thing.

When we arrived (at very nearly 6pm) they were packing up the folding chairs, the bride and groom were taking photos, and the guest were already enjoying cocktail hour. We snuck in and tried to play it off, but everyone knew we'd just arrived.

Sorry Kristen.

Not Exactly the Same...

Well, I missed Mel. Entirely. He has come and gone and I didn't get "discovered" and cast in his movie, nor did I glimpse him filming in downtown Noho from afar. No, I was home those two days taking care of a sick toddler and napping while he napped. Woe is me.

But today I did see a celebrity of a different sort. As I sat and stared at the numbers on my computer screen with glazy eyes, John Kerry was directly underneath me, on the second floor of my building. I glimpsed the back of his head as he was leaving, just as I headed downstairs to use the bathroom.

Just think, if I had decided to go pee a mere 30 seconds sooner, I could have bumped right into him in the hallway. That would have been something.

Mel's in town.

It's Friday, I didn't feel like packing lunch this morning, and I have been craving a burrito for a solid 24 hours. So Minh and I decided* to walk into downtown Northampton for lunch at my favorite burrito spot.

Coincidentally, Mel Gibson is in the area this week, filming Edge of Darkness. (They actually had an open casting call for extras in August, but since they were not seeking adorable half-Asian toddlers, we didn't attend.)

Say what you will about Mel and his movies, but I think it's pretty cool to have him filming right near home. The movie crew has set up camp at Atkins in Amherst (with lots of trailers inside of which I assume are real, live actors) and will also be filming next week in good old Sunderland, home of Frontier Pizza. And next Tuesday they are shutting down part of Main Street in Noho to film Mel exiting the courthouse and driving down the street. I may just have to get accidentally stuck in the craziness on my way to work that day, and need to pull over and watch the filming for a while.

And on the way to lunch today we saw a very fancy, dark-windowed bus drive by that most certainly contained Mel himself. Then we walked by a stalky man, lingering on a street corner, clad in all black with loads of camera equipment on his person and at his feet. Minh assured me that this man was paparazzi. There were also six more of these camera-clad folks ordering themselves burritos for lunch.

In addition, today must have been some sort of school holiday or half-day because the burrito place was overrun with middle-schoolers. They were everywhere--in line, at the counter, seated in booths. Some of them were pooling their money with friends to be able to split a burrito and a side of chips.

So what this all means is that, in a crowded downtown restaurant, Minh and I were the only ones over the age of 11 who didn't have cameras slung around our necks.







*Actually, I talked him into it. he's not a big fan of burritos. But he's a big fan of me, so he agreed.

Rough Morning

Tai has traces of both urine and yogurt in his hair.
There's oatmeal on the bathroom floor.
There are peanuts in the high chair
and snots everywhere.

Apparently shoes are now the enemy (yesterday it was pants).
And being left at school by your daddy is just heartbreaking.

How was your morning?

I just saved $13.50

It's going to rain tomorrow. And at Tai's daycare they go outside everyday, rain or shine. So the boy needed some rain boots, and fast. My new favorite website has free overnight shipping, but even that wouldn't get the boots here in time for school tomorrow morning. Plus, the boots cost $20-$30 and I have a hard time paying that much for something he might only wear 3 or 4 times before he outgrows them.

So I called a local kids consignment shop and learned that they had gender-appropriate rain boots in Tai's size for a mere $6.50. Even if I bought the cheapest boots online, that's a savings of $13.50.* So I practically ran out the door, in the middle of the work day, to get those boots.

Now my boy has boots to wear tomorrow. And he really likes them. He was wearing them around the house this evening and was very excited to show them off to Minh when he arrived home from work.

Oddly enough, somewhere along the way, I must have developed a thing for green shoes. Without realizing what I was doing, I've purchased Tai three pairs of green shoes in the past several months (see photo). Someday I'm sure he'll tell his therapist all about it--how all the other kids had lots of different-colored shoes and he only had green.

*And for those of you who haven't studied Minh-conomics, that means I actually made $13.50 today and I rellay need to treat it like found money and go splurge on something.

"Don't take this the wrong way..."

That's how Minh started his proposal that he buy me the newest thing in hair-care because the Frizzies are just out of control.  Apparently, my hair is looking so tormented these days, it was actually distracting him during a recent staff meeting.  (So perhaps work should pay for this new endeavor, as my dry frazzled hair might actually be negatively impacting my co-workers' concentration and productivity?)

What remains a mystery to me, at this point, is:

(1) How Minh even knows about this new "hair phenomenon," especially since he doesn't have any hair of his own.

(2) Whether this really is the miracle product it claims to be.

(3) Which "flavor" he's buying me.

At some point in the near-ish future, I'll be sure to post a review. I know you'll all be waiting with bated breath. 

What did he just say?

Herpan-Coxsa-What?

Tai was a member of The Toddler Room for all of 3 days before catching his first disease. Last Thursday he was diagnosed with herpangina, (which sounds too much like Herpes). It's caused by coxsackie (which sounds dirty) and is similar to hand-foot-and-mouth disease (which sounds very much like a livestock issue to me.)

On Thursday our pediatrician (whom we love) warned us, "this is not a fun one." To which Minh quickly replied, "yeah, and RSV was a blast." And on Friday Minh was wondering what the big deal was--Tai already seemed much better. But later that night we figured out what the doctor was talking about. He was right, it's not a fun one (are there actually fun diseases?)

Long story short, Tai was pretty miserable for a couple days, not inclined to eat much, and (worst of all) too uncomfortable to sleep at night. But he's all better now and our only remaining problems is breaking his new habit of sleeping in our bed.

Dinner at the Farm

Last week we were enticed by an email invitation to come have dinner at our CSA. Since Tai absolutely LOVES going to the farm, we figured it would be a good time. And it was.

But after spending $12 on two very small sandwiches and $25 on a HUGE box of organic Maine blueberries, we still left hungry. Minh and I ended up eating frozen pizza that night after Tai went to bed.

The good news is we have enough blueberries in our freezer to last many months.

Leaving My Baby

Tonight I'm headed to Cambridge for a work thing on Thurs-Fri. Which means I'll be spending my first night (two nights, actually) away from Tai. Ever.

I used to make fun of parents who had 1 year-olds and had never slept away from them. Well, Tai is almost 20 months old and he and I have slept in the same building every night since he was born. Accordingly, this will be the first time Minh has done a solo overnight with Tai.

I'm looking forward to Hotel Sleep, all by myself. But I'm sure I'll miss Tai terribly. Yes, I am now the clingy mother that I used laugh at. At least I can admit it.

Happy Camper

Our trip went better than expected, which means I don't have any particularly interesting stories to tell. Tai slept really well, ate really well, and had lots of fun hiking, swimming, and playing with his friend Natahsa.

Best of all, we discovered two new people who like to play Maui. Unfortunately, one of them took to it so well that he kicked our butts several times.

It's Like We're Camping Already

If you live in South Hadley, don't drink the water. There's poop in the water.

Apparently E. coli was detected in our water and now we have to boil all our cooking and washing water and drink bottled water. What a pain in the ass it was to wash dishes after dinner last night. (We are soooo getting take-out tonight.)

Luckily, tomorrow we're headed here for our Second Annual Camping With-Child Adventure. It has to go better than last year's trip. It just HAS to.

Death Defying Dog

This past weekend Tai and Buttons and I had a lovely walk around the lake at MHC. Tai, riding on my back in the ergo, enjoyed frequently pointing out the water and occasionally suggesting that Buttons should "pee-pee." Buttons enjoyed trotting around off-leash, sniffing the smells left behind by other dogs, and taking a drink from the lake. We even ran into a long-lost doggie friend and walked with her and her parents for a while.

Since we were having such a lovely time, I decided we should take a little side-trip up the path that leads to the MHC stables, where all the Alexises keep their horses. We've done this a few times before and Tai always enjoys it.

So we said good morning to all the horses who were hanging out in their fenced-in pens. Each horse had its own space, separated from the others by a fence made of three horizontal planks, the bottom one being about 18 inches off the ground. We took about 10 minutes to walk all around and visit each horse. Several of them came right over to the fence as we approached hoping I had bought them their breakfast. Tai was having a blast and Buttons was being so good. She stayed near me, though occasionally ventured right up to the fence for a sniff and then returned to the middle of the path, with me.

And then it happened.

Apparently, the allure of tasty horse shit just on the other side of the fence was too much for Buttons. So she ducked under the bottom rail, into a pen that contained a horse. She immediately regretted her decision. The horse whose pen she had infiltrated was not pleased. Each time I replay the scene in my head it gets worse, so by now I can conjure up an image of the horse with fire in his eyes and smoke billowing out his nostrils as he reared up in the air directly above my dog.

It wasn't actually quite that bad. But the horse was clearly agitated and did start trotting back and forth a bit, and then started moving closer to Buttons. (Who was right up against the fence, frantically running back and forth, trying to figure out how to get back on the other side, and looking at me for help.) I, of course, was yelling for her to come to me.

After what was probably only 60 seconds, but felt like much longer, she remembered how to duck back under the fence. Of course, she ducked right into the next horse's pen and got that one fired up before taking a hard left and ducking out into safety.

After we hastily descended the hill back down the path around the lake, Buttons immediately ran into the water and took a quick swim. Then she got out, shook the water off herself, and looked me straight in the eye, and I'm sure she was thinking, "did you see what just happened? holy shit!"

Luckily, she was not hurt and I did not have to get yelled at by some stable boy about how I shouldn't have had my dog up there in the first place. I guess we got off easy and learned our lesson.

Maine: The 3rd and Final Installation

So yes, the trip got better after that first night.

Saturday morning we set out with two immediate tasks on the agenda: (1) buy Tai some shoes and (2) get some yummy breakfast. Luckily, the all-night Wal-Mart that sells cold beer also sells cheap imitation crocs that sort of fit Tai. Good enough for a few days, anyway. And despite being led astray by the Days Inn desk clerk, we did eventually find ourselves a place to eat breakfast.

Luckily, we checked out of the Days Inn on Sunday morning and moved to a charming little B&B right on the edge of Bowdoin's campus -- walking distance from the center of this cute little college town. The B&B was very nice, but I think we appreciated it even more because of our Days Inn experience. (Again, no need to discuss who wanted to stay at the B&B all four nights and who decided to cheap out and go for the Days Inn.)

Tai was instantly thrilled with our new room. As soon as Minh opened the door Tai squealed with delight "feeeeeeen!" And there was, indeed, a ceiling fan right in the middle of our new *huge* and very clean room. He spent the next 2 days periodically requesting that we turn the fan on. And then immediately off. He was always kinda miffed that after we turned it off it took 5 whole minutes to actually stop spinning. He'd give me a mistrustful look as if to say, "Did you really hit the switch? It's still going..."

I can't stress how wonderful these new accommodations were. There were two full-sized beds, a desk and chair, and two wicker lounging chairs, and STILL plenty of open floor space to walk around and play. The bathroom was bigger than my kitchen and there must have been about 7 clean fluffy-white towels in there waiting for us. And they brought us *fresh* ones the next day! Imagine that!

We had a lovely time exploring Mid-Coast Maine as a family of three. We took Tai to see the water and lots of boats. We attended a peace fair that included live children's music and we did some shopping in Freeport. Whenever in doubt of what to do next, we let him play in a toy store and then paid the "admission" for the 30 minutes of fun by purchasing him a toy.

Although I hate to make sweeping generalizations, I am certain there is absolutely no foam soap in the state of Maine. I think it's a state law or something. I was continually (and unpleasantly) surprised each time I pressed a soap dispenser in a public bathroom and the palm of my hand was dosed with thick, goopy liquid soap.

We came to rate restaurants based on their ability to meet our needs as people dining with a 19-month old. A restaurant that served luke-warm, mediocre food, but with very fast service and lots of free oyster crackers topped the list. This, we've decided, is preferable to excellent food and slow service. Don't even get me started on the place with incredibly slow service and mediocre food.

By the end of the trip, Tai and I even had a "usual" lunch spot. It was --get this -- inside a store. And not like how Wal-Mart has a McDonalds or how Costco has a food court. This was a real restaurant, with waitresses and daily specials, inside a "variety" store that sold, as best I could tell, fabric by the yard, nursing scrubs, shoes, and dried spices. The service was lightning fast, the waitresses (and patrons) fawned over Tai, and the BLTs and grilled cheese were delicious. Just to further set the scene...Tai and I lunched there two days in a row and both times we were the only patrons under 70 years old. As we walked out, slowly passing each table of senior citizens enjoying American chop suey and cups of decaf, I felt like we were doing a public service. Every face he smiled at lit up with delight. It was like taking a dog to a nursing home.

Despite my tendency to highlight the "quirky" parts of the weekend, it really was a fun trip and I'd visit Brunswick again without hesitation. But it is good to be back in Massachusetts, the Land of Foam Soap.

Maine: Part 2

What "Vacation" Means to Tai:

(1) Spending lots of time in the car.

(2) Co-sleeping with mamma and daddy. Every night and for every nap. Waking at 6am and having two parents right there to talk to, immediately.

(3) Pooping outside the LL Bean Outlet in Freeport--there's nothing like and al fresco poop.

(4) Playing in several toy stores and leaving each one with a new trinket.

(5) Visiting the "ahh-muls" at the Topsham Fair. Baahing at the sheep and offering "tissue?" when a large cow sneezed in our direction.

(6) Sampling the grilled cheese and french fries off the kid's menu at several restaurants.

(7) Playing in the "dirt" at the beach.

Maine: Part 1

Kathy's brilliant idea: we'll feed and bathe Tai, put him in his PJs, and hit the road at bedtime. That way, he'll sleep all the way to Maine. Upon our arrival, one of us will pop into the hotel, set up the Pack N Play, and then smoothly transition Sleeping Beauty into the crib.

That didn't work.

We left at 7:15. Tai fell asleep around 9:30pm. OK, not a huge problem. He'll just be a tiny bit short on sleep for the night. We can still move forth with Operation Smooth Transition once we get to the hotel and get the crib set up.

Then we got to Brunswick. And got lost. No need to mention who's fault that was.

In an attempt to find the hotel, we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts to ask directions. Not only did the woman behind the counter have no idea where the Days Inn was (that turned out to be a mere 2.5 miles down the road) but my exiting the car woke Tai up.

When we finally found the seedy-looking Days Inn, Tai was wide awake and "all done car." So much for my Master Plan. Rather than wait for Minh to check in and set up the crib, I decided we might as well all go in. Just had to put some shoes on my boy. Shoes? Who wears shoes with pajamas? No one. That's why I didn't think to put any shoes on him when we left the house. Oy.

I'm not a germaphobe by any stretch of the imagination and I'm a liberal user of the 5, 10, even 15 second rule. But I didn't want Tai walking around the lobby of this place shoeless. That should give you some idea of the cleanliness of this place. So up on my hip he went. And there he stayed for the 15 minutes we had to wait to check in while two elderly women from Florida flirted with the 30-something desk clerk and asked him if the all-night Wal-Mart around the corner sold cold beer. (It does, by the way).

After dragging our suitcases and other gear through the smoking section *cough* and up the stairs (no elevator) we set up the Pack N Play in which Tai refused to sleep. The entire trip. It was too late spend time unwinding and a shower was out of the question because there were no towels in the room. (Kinda makes you wonder whether they bothered to change the sheets on the bed before we arrived....eew.)

No need to mention who selected this hotel.

So we all climbed into bed and, after much flopping around, Tai eventually (12:30am?) Tai fell asleep with his head on my pillow and his feet in Minh's ribs.

And that was how our vacation started. Don't worry, the trip got better after this.......

Cute AND Tasty

Before I inundate you with stories of our recent trip to Maine, I have to back up and mention that when I picked Tai up at daycare on Friday there was a formal "accident report" waiting for me to sign.

Apparently, Tai was playing with one of his little buddies and she suddenly decided that his left arm looked like a tasty treat. So she leaned over and helped herself to a bite. Ouch!

Luckily, she did not break the skin. Just left a big read mark which is now fading into a bruise. And my boy does not hold a grudge. This morning as soon as we pulled into the parking lot he started asking for her, as he always does. I'm glad to know that he's not upset with her. Or maybe he was just looking forward to his chance to bite her back :)

Headed North

Opportunists that we are, we're turning Minh's required meeting at Bowdoin College this coming Monday and Tuesday into a mini-vacation for the whole family.

We'll head north tonight at bedtime--Tai will be instructed to sleep the whole way there. And when he wakes up tomorrow morning, we'll head out and start exploring scenic Brunswick, Maine. I have visions of hiking, shopping, eating, and relaxing in mind. Monday, while Minh's stuck in a meeting, Tai and I plan to hit the beach!

Buttons and the kitties are being cared for by neighbors. And Buttons also has a paid dog-walker coming once a day to get her more exercise in the next 4 days than she's had in the past month! I fully expect to return to fatter cats, a spoiled dog, and tufts of fur all over the house (they always wrestle when we're away).

We'll be back Tuesday evening. With stories and photos to share.

There's Nothing a Chainsaw and a Few Volunteers Can't Do

Last Saturday we spent hours tearing down two play structures at Tai's school. And by "we" I mean Minh, my dad, and about 10 other volunteers. This is part of the new movement to stop young children from running, jumping, climbing, or generally having fun.

Actually, it was to make way for *newer* play structures that are bigger, better, and have more things upon which to run, jump, and climb. Although we send Tai to a ridiculously expensive facility on the campus of a wealthy liberal arts college, we can't seem to escape the "we-desperately-need-volunteers" and "let's-hold-a-bake-sale" mentality that I thought only persisted at rinky-dink operations.

Anyway, last week panic struck The Center when they found out that the new structures were coming soon and they had "no money" to pay anyone to take down the old ones. Naturally, they turned to Minh. Naturally, Minh called my dad.

Long story short(ish), the new director of The Center managed to coerce several teachers and parents into helping out, so that it was not just up to Minh and my dad to disassemble these large structures on their own. My mom played with Tai inside the school and I played Gopher -- running to the hardware store and to Atkins for lunch. I left the real work to the others, including the very pregnant woman who was actually due yesterday.

In the end, the structures came down. No one lost any limbs. No one went into labor. And Tai had a fantastic time. It was almost fun. And when we return from Maine next week, there should be two new climbing structures in place.

Now if only we could get a tuition break for all that hard work...

You Should See The Other Guy...

Shakespeare in the Park, with cows...and C-5As

Last week Minh and I did something we've never done before. We attended a local performance of As You Like It, starring two of our good friends. Having never attended anything like this, we were not entirely sure what to expect. But a friend who's hubby was in the play gave us some pointers. Accordingly, we arrived armed with bug spray and sweatshirts.

The performance was held outdoors and spanned the lovely (if buggy) time of day from pre-sunset to just-after-dark. At intermission they sold brownie sundaes and soft drinks. This was also a good time to visit the "bug spray bar" they had set up with about 6 different kinds of insect repellent.

Throughout the performance, we could hear the cows in the nearby field mooing their hearts out. Minh thought that it was quite possible that there were cows mooing nearby The Globe Theater so we felt that this lent an authenticity to the performance. The two C-5As that flew overhead, however, detracted from the Old World Shakespearean feel of the evening.

After an initial 3 or 4 minutes of having no idea what anyone was saying and fearing I'd be lost the entire time, I managed to catch on to the Shakespeare Speak and was soon immersed in the storyline. I'm pretty sure this was entirely due to the actors timing, tone, and facial expressions and not at all a result of my high school English classes.

On the way home, Minh and I had an animated discussion about the play and the actors and which character I'd play*. Not that I'm an aspiring actor, that's just something I do. When I see a play, I decide which role I'd choose for myself. Doesn't everyone do that? During this discussion I commented that this outing was the most fun I've had in a long time. To which Minh replied, "That's pretty sad."






*For the record, I'd be Phebe.

The Influence of TV

I watched a lot of TV as a child, and I think I turned out just fine. It even comes in handy sometimes, like when watching the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1. And it's a fun party trick to be able to conjure up the theme song for almost any show that aired from about 1980 to 1995.

But it has its downsides too. Recently, my mother presented me with a typed, bound copy of the lyrics to a song I really liked as a child. But she provided no sheet music (not that I could have read it if she had) and my memory of the tune was fuzzy at best. But Tai was intrigued by the red folder holding the pages of lyrics, so I sat down and sang it to him.

Without realizing it, I sang it to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies. And it totally works! But it causes me to break out in a twangy banjo solo at the end (which Tai whole-heartedly enjoys). And I think it drives Minh nuts.* So he went online and found a little audio clip of the way it should be sung. I guess I should sit down and learn it. But at this point I'm not sure there's any going back. Tai follows me around the house with this red folder and asks me to "read" him the book. Having not had the time to learn the real tune, I fall back on The Clampetts for help.

What have I done to my son? Surely one day he'll be sitting in a kindergarten classroom and the teacher will start singing this song the right way. My poor child will probably try to correct her and add in the verse about Swimming Pools and Movie Stars...

*Not to mention the fact that whenever Tai sees a cardboard tube, he holds it up to his mouth and does the theme to The Odd Couple ("dah do dah do dah doooooooooo")

Our New Toy

A mere hours after sending me a link and saying, "Hey, isn't this cool?" Minh ordered one of these. And then a mere 24 more hours after that it was on our doorstep.

And it is, indeed, very cool. We can now record videos of Tai doing anything anywhere, at a moment's notice (as long as we remember to bring the damn thing with us). And now you, dear blog-readers, may delight in the simple joys of childhood, such as eating sugar snap peas right off the vine at the farm:




The funniest part is that this new toy came with software that allows you to fancy-up your movies with music and graphics. Just one click of the mouse and the software automatically condenses a boring 4 minute video of Tai playing in the driveway into and Old Tyme Moving Picture*:




"Oh no," you might be thinking, "Now the blog will surely consist of nothing but videos of Tai picking his nose or splashing in the tub." But never fear, faithful reader. I can still recall the days when seeing endless pictures and videos of someone else's kid would bore the crap out of me. (To tell you the truth, even after you become a parent, it still gets a bit old when it's not your kid). And I remain committed to not boring the pants of my readers, so we'll be emailing videos galore to grandparents and anyone else especially fond of nose-picking videos (contact me to get on the mailing list). The rest of you can breathe a sigh of relief. Only the most spectacular videos will, occasionally, make their way onto the blog.



*Best enjoyed with the volume on. Minh would like to point out the coincidental synchronization of the trombone and Tai feeling up his own belly 16 seconds into the movie. Enjoy!

Registry Wars

When Minh and I were about to be married, we registered for a number of household items at Crate & Barrel. Although Minh balked at the idea of actually registering, he found immense pleasure spending the months leading up to the wedding constantly checking the registry online to see which items had been purchased.

In one of his many registry checks he found a new item added to our list. An espresso maker. Neither of us had added that to the registry, so we were perplexed. Even more confusing was the fact that it had been purchased. The quantity listed in the "wants" column was 0 and the quantity in the "has" column was 1. That just about summed it up--we didn't want it, but we had it.

It arrived soon thereafter and we discovered who the culprits were. Apparently, they went to Crate & Barrel with intentions of buying us something off our registry, but then decided they did not like any of the items we had selected, so they picked out the espresso maker instead.

We seriously did not want this thing. So, after the wedding we hauled this rather large and heavy appliance back to Crate & Barrel and exchanged it for items remaining on our registry. What pain in the ass, honestly. Luckily, we know the folks who did this to us well enough to not only admit that we returned the item, but to give them a hard time about putting us through that. And now they are about to be married.

Game on.

Minh happened to be at a meeting last month right near a Crate & Barrel, where these lovely friends are now registered. So he popped over to get them their gift. What did he buy them? An espresso maker? Nah, they might actually want one of those. Minh searched that store for the largest, most useless appliance he could find, and then made sure they had not registered for it. He even specifically asked the salesperson to make sure this item was added to their online registry so that the happy couple could log on and see this....

Oh, yes. They are now the proud owners of a counter-top pizza oven. At least, that is, until they haul it back to the store and exchange it for something they actually want.

Celebrity Spotting

Last night Kristen and I had the pleasure of attending a pre-reading reception with Augusten Burroughs (thanks to my neighbor who pulled strings to get us in!) It was a strange little event with Augusten standing in the middle of the room while small groups of people took turns accosting him. At one point, 15 people actually lined up to have books signed. Other folks made him pose for pictures. I felt bad for him.

Although Kristen practically makes Augusten Stalking into a part-time job, she was nervous being in the room with him and made it clear to me that she was content not to approach him at all. But I knew that if we did that I'd regret passing up the opportunity. So we went over and made some lame comments about liking his work, and his shoes.

Augusten, however, was not the only celebrity in the room. The other one was....me. At one point, a woman I don't know walked right up to me and said, "You're on the cover of Business to Business." Taken aback, I simply said, "No." And she looked perplexed. "Well," she said, "She looks just like you."

I, of course, went home and Googled Business to Business so I could see myself. And I don't think it looks anything like me. Minh said maybe a little, around the eyes. What do you all think?

Slurp Slurp

That was the sound Tai made drinking up his Cream of Everything Soup, with a straw. He loved it. That kid just consumed more vegetables in a single meal than he has in the last month (but don't tell him that!)

Despite being a slightly off-putting shade of taupe, the soup was really very tasty. I am looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow....

Several Interesting Tid-Bits...

...None of Which Warrant Their Own Post:


1. Saturday morning we took Tai to the JC Penney Portrait Studio for his first-ever professional photo shoot. Now I know why people do this when their kids are 3 months old -- they can't run away. Tai was not scared or freaked out at all, but wholly uninterested in sitting still on this little red dot in the middle of the backdrop, where the lighting was best. Five minutes into the session, the photographer actually called out to her colleague in a somewhat exasperated voice, "we've got a runner!" which made me (a) think of the "we've got a bleeder" line from There's Something About Mary and (b) wonder why she seemed at all surprised. Are there 17-month-olds out there who sit in one spot for more than 5 seconds?

2. When Minh requests coffee and donuts for Father's Day breakfast everyone wins. Tai and I especially like the chocolate frosted donuts.

3. After consuming his Father's Day breakfast of caffeine and sugar, Minh took quite a while to contemplate whether he'd rather spend the morning shopping at Costco or doing yard work. He really knows how to live it up. In the end he chose yard work and specifically requested that I help him with a labor-intensive task during Tai's nap. In this case, not everyone wins.

4. Later that afternoon we attended a 40th birthday party for a friend, held atop a hill in a beautiful grassy conservation area. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, there were balls to kick around and other kids to play with....and Tai could only focus on touching all the food that was laid out for the guests and picking up the giant knife that was set out with the dessert.

5. At that same party, Tai somehow lost his balance and ended up falling onto his butt --directly on another child's slice of rhubarb pie. (This is why we always have a change of clothes with us!)

6. In other news, the farm share is going pretty well. We've had two pickups so far and last week I picked strawberries for the first time in my life. The fruit and veggies are tasty and we've been forced to cook alot more than we had been. Our bodies are a tad freaked out about all the veggies though. The farm keep sending us emails with recipes for the veggies, but no information for how to deal with Kohlrabi gas.

7. On a related note, simmering in my crock pot right now are the following: chicken stock, garlic, onions, celery, broccoli, turnips, spinach, shredded carrots, and 3 very small beets. It started out as Cream of Broccoli soup and turned into Cream of Everything in the Fridge. I'm scared. Minh will get home before me today and he has been instructed to (a) add the milk (hence the "cream of") (b) taste it, and (c) call and let me know if I need to bring home a pizza. I'll report back on how it turns out, if I live to tell the tale.

Greens, Anyone?

We are officially hippy-dippy.

We just picked up our very first share of farm veggies. I parked my Subaru among the other Subarus and the Priuses adorned with rainbow bumper stickers and walked my Dansko-clog-wearing self right on in. Now all I need is a baby in a sling and a kayak on my roof and I'll be completely incognito.

Since it was the first day, we went as a family of three so that we could all get the lay of the land. And it was a good thing too--I'm not sure how just one of us could watch Tai and gather veggies at the same time. It was very crowded and Tai was toddling all over the place, inside and out, visiting the chickens and pausing only to ask for more free samples of hummus.

The eventual plan was to be that I pick Tai up from daycare on Wednesdays and then he and I go to the farm together. Now I'm not so sure that will work, but I'm willing to try. There's always the ergo.

As for the veggies themselves, we came away with lettuce, baby salad greens, braising greens, bok choy, radishes, and turnips. I sure hope Tai learns to like salad!

Extreme Home Makeover: Toddler Edition

We recently inherited a third-hand molded plastic playhouse. You know, the kind that blend into the beauty of the natural landscape so well? Oh wait, I mean the kind that stick out like a sore thumb and proclaim "a child lives here!" to all passersby.

Yeah, one of those. We have one now.

It's actually pretty cool. Once Minh graciously agreed to allow it in his beautifully maintained garden, I allowed myself to get excited about it. And Tai loved it from the moment he laid eyes on it (before it was even assembled).

But, being third-hand, it came to us "well-loved" and sun-bleached. We probably would not have been concerned about this at all, if our neighbor hadn't suggested a fresh coat of paint might do it some good. Suddenly I was scheming another complicated painting project (what is it with me and paint?) I had grand ideas of bright primary colors, while Minh wanted to paint it like you would a real house -- beige with muted accents of green and blue, or maybe maroon.

First Minh blasted the entire house with sudsy water from the pressure washer. Then he painted the door dark red. And then we realized how much (a) time, (b) effort, and (c) paint it would take to do the whole house (he used two cans of spray paint on the door alone!) So we opted to just do the door and shutters--a slightly less "extreme" makeover than we first envisioned, but enough to breathe new life into an old playhouse.

Finally, we cleared out a spot in the back woods and laid a bed of woodchips over some weed-blocking cloth. And Tai really does enjoy it. He has even learned to say "house" when he sees it.

BEFORE

AFTER ----->

Two Words

Last night I discovered the key to getting Tai to let me cut his hair.
Two words: Ice Cream.

Fourth Annual Chipping Day

Despite a rocky start that included a chipper that wouldn't chip, and extra trip to Home Depot, and 2 hours of a babysitter gone to waste, the Fourth Annual Pheasant Lane Chipping day was indeed a success.

For those who don't know, each year we all "chip" in with our neighbors and rent a wood chipper that will chew through a branch up to 6" in diameter. Since we live in a woodsy area, everyone tends to have fallen branches and annoying saplings to get rid of each spring. Everyone works hard all day long, chipping up everyone's stuff, and then we have a big BBQ at the end of the day to celebrate a job well done.

Tai's still to little to pull his weight on Chipping Day (maybe next year?) but he did get to inspect the chipper the next morning, before we returned it.

They Really Do Say The Darndest Things...

Yesterday at a Mother's Day cookout, a bunch of us were talking about the fact that our friend once made a rather inappropriate joke one morning at day care drop-off. Several times folks mentioned "the joke" and then I witnessed this exchange between a woman and her 3 yr old daughter:

daughter to mom: "Can you tell me the joke?"
mom: "No, honey, it's just for grown-ups."
daughter: "Why?"
mom: "It's about adult humor and you wouldn't understand it anyway."

[about 2 minutes pass...someone tells a kid-friendly joke to make the girl feel included]

daughter: "I know a joke!"
mom: "Can you tell it to us?"
daughter: "No, it's just for kids."

White People Don't Order Squid

On Monday night, Minh and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with the traditional Chinese Take-Out. I gave him carte blanche to order whatever he wanted and told him that if he put it under my name I'd pick it up on my way home.

Apparently, he was halfway through giving them his order (which included duck and squid) when the guy from the restaurant asked, "Hey, are you Chinese?" Once Minh 'fessed up to being Asian, the guy became very friendly and even discouraged Minh from ordering the baby bok choy because it was not as fresh as the Chinese broccoli. (You know that they gladly sell the wilty bok choy to the white folks!)

Not knowing any of this transpired, I was impressed at how very friendly they were at this restaurant (to which I had never been before). My order was not quite ready when I arrived, so they gave me a seat at the bar and offered me some tea. And the guy who sold me the food small-talked with me about the fact that my husband called in the order and then commented on my lovely jade bracelet (which, in case you don't know, functions like a membership card at most Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants).

The lesson? Even if you don't want to eat it, ordering squid over the phone can have hidden benefits. Go on, try it!

Open for Business

It is officially spring because the South Hadley Gray Tree Frog Spa and Resort is now open. This morning Tai ate his breakfast while watching this little guy hop around inside a Tupperware container.

Minh has just about perfected his catch-and-release system, which includes a Free Souvenir Photo for each satisfied customer (see below).

Oriental Iris

So...here's the new-and-improved master bathroom. Let me walk you through the highlights:

(1) The fan in the ceiling light can no longer be heard three towns away.

(2) The medicine cabinet doors can now be opened without moving items off the vanity.

(3) The walls are a happy shade of purple.

I am pleased.*

*Though I hope to never paint another bathroom as long as I live.

A-Minus

Tai has not nursed in over three weeks. I think it is safe to say that he is officially weaned.

Even if he were to try to nurse, at this point there's nothing there (as evidenced by the fact that my A-cup bras are a tad too big these days.) Seriously? A-cups are too big? Seriously. It must be time to get pregnant again -- to get my figure back :)


PS - More evidence that we live in The Happy Valley .... Tai, at 15 months, is the first kid in his class at "school" to kick the booby habit. I am such a mean mom.

Fixing a Hole

More like Painting a Hole, actually. Yes, despite my previous resolutions, I find myself starting another painting project. But it's not my fault. Honest. Some minor home improvements have left holes in our walls and Minh has just finished patching said holes. So now my bedroom and bathroom have a distinct absence of paint in a couple areas.

The bedroom is one of the rooms I ambitiously glazed with a "faux finish" a-la Home Depot Commercials when we moved in. So re-doing that will be a little bit of work (but I've already had to fix the bedroom walls TWICE since I first painted, so I am a pro at it by now). And it's a very small area to paint, so it should be easy-peasy.

The bathroom is turning into a slightly larger project (don't they all?) The re-located medicine cabinet has left a relatively small area of wall without paint, BUT:

(1) We have no more of the original paint color, and
(2) I never liked that color anyway.

So....it's time to re-paint the entire master bathroom. I can't believe it myself. But yes, rather than purchase a quart of the old color that I never really liked and touch up the walls in about 10 minutes, I've decided to go with an entirely different color. Not red this time. I learned that lesson already.

This time, I'll paint the master bathroom the same color as our bedroom, minus the glaze. So, while the bedroom is a hazy-swirly-glazy lavender, the bathroom will be a slightly darker version of the same thing. Make sense? In theory it sounds great. But I may change my tune when I'm up to my elbows in Oriental Iris.

Brunch/Lunch

Sunday we went to some friends' house for brunch and they really went all out. We were impressed with everything from the juice served in wine glasses to the vast array of wholesome foods for us and our son. They went to great lengths to make sure everything they served would be tasty and healthy for Tai. And Tai did enjoy it all -- organic eggs, pancakes, fresh tropical fruit, etc. We ate and played and had a lovely visit.

On the way home, we stopped in at Costco to pick up a few things. By this time, Tai was just about due for lunch. I have two words for you:

Free Samples.

Tai tasted every single thing they were handing out at Costco, starting with the coconut cream pie (what balanced meal doesn't START with dessert?) After that wholesome organic breakfast, Tai's lunch consisted of:

coconut cream pie
Mediterranean pasta salad
kielbasa on a a toothpick
potato salad
organic raisin bran
chicken taquito with guacamole
dehydrated Fuji apples
and raspberry sorbet (to cleanse the pallet, of course).

Suddenly, I'm a little less worried that we're turning into Happy Valley Hippies.

Mexico, Our Yard is Not

Last week we heard of a family who hired a college student to come along on their vacation to Mexico to help take care of the kids. Imagine that? Being able to afford a trip to Mexico and bring along a third-parent-for-hire....must be nice.

But we're heading down that road too, in our own special way. Last weekend we hired a babysitter to watch Tai for 3 hours so we would do yard work. But really, I would have preferred to pay someone $30 to trim the damn hedges!

Dexter

When you have a young kid, renting TV series on DVD instead of movies makes a lot of sense. It's much easier to squeeze in an episode or two here and there than set aside time for a full length movie. Of course, this whole rationale is completely blown when you watch four 45-minute episodes of a show all in one day.

But we just couldn't help ourselves. Dexter is fantastic. Originally a Showtime series, it's about a vigilante serial killer who only targets people who have committed heinous crimes themselves. it doesn't sound that great when I try to explain it, but it's incredibly well written and the actor playing Dexter is just perfect. I highly recommend it.

I anxiously await Disc 2...

Will Walk For Cheese

Tai has 5 months to practice walking in a straight line, holding a small pillow. That's right, in early September Tai will play the role of ring bearer in a wedding. We're confident that if I "release" him at one end of the aisle, and Minh stands at the other end (perhaps with some delicious cheese in his hand) we can get Tai to transport the rings down the aisle.

He's already a fantastic walker, as long as he can wander around in the direction of his choosing. The other day we "took a walk" down to the end of our street (about 200 feet) and it only took 15 minutes.

But by September he'll be nearly two (!), so it'll be a whole different ballgame....

The New Gig

I've been working at my new job for a few weeks now, so I figured I owe everyone an update on how it's going. The only tricky part is that my boss has been known to read this blog (before she was my boss!) So I'll start with the great things about my new job:


(1) My amazingly wonderful boss.
(2) Foam soap in the bathrooms.
(3) The view out my window.
(4) The fastest microwave ever. I swear, what would take 2 minutes to heat up in a normal microwave only takes 45 seconds in this one. I've been very productive with all that extra time on my hands.
(5) A wider selection of Post-It Notes.



But no job is perfect, and there are some drawbacks to this one:

(1) The long walk from the parking garage to my office. It takes 4 whole minutes! I could microwave a Thanksgiving turkey in that amount of time.
(2) No longer having lunch with Minh four days a week.
(3) No longer being able to pop into Target or Trader Joe's on my way home.
(4) Data files with 500+ variables (I don't want that much data on anyone!)

I'm certain I'll continue to discover more pros and cons to this new gig during the coming months (and years!). I'll be sure to keep everyone posted....

Let The Weaning Begin!

Tonight I officially began weaning Tai off the boobies. Yes, after almost 15 months, I am ready to be done nursing. [If you are someone I gave funny looks to when you nursed your baby for more than 8 or 9 months, insert smug comment here. I deserve it.]

After plotting and planning for a couple weeks, wondering how best to approach it, I found some useful advice in a book a friend gave me. Mind you, this was a La Leche League book, so the vast majority of the text is dedicated to why you should not "force" your baby to wean, but let it happen naturally, usually between the ages of 2 and 4. (Hey, extended nursing works for some folks, but I think I'm just about at my limit.) Finally, about 100 pages into the book, they give up on convincing you not to wean and give some pretty reasonable advice about how to approach weaning (if you must).

The book offers a couple different tactics and I've selected one called "don't ask, don't tell". Oh, wait. That's an entirely different issue. What I meant to say is "don't offer, don't refuse." The theory is that if Tai asks to nurse, I let him. But I don't offer unless he asks. He's been nursing just twice a day for a couple months now and it occurred to me that each night at bedtime I just automatically whip out the boob as part of our routine. So tonight I waited for him to ask for it.

And he didn't.

I rocked him and sang to him and he sucked on his pacifier, and he fell asleep on my arms. Now we'll see if he wakes up in a couple hours asking for milk. If he does, I'll oblige. And we'll go from there....

The Slippery Slope

We took Tai to Friendly's for the first time last night. And it was awesome. I hadn't been inside a Friendly's in more than 10 years, and it's a whole new place when you have a kid.

Tai was thrilled to visit all the other people eating, sit in the high chair and eat greasy food, indulge in some ice cream, and even be given his very first balloon! We all had a wonderful time and dinner plus dessert for the three of us was only about $25. Amazing!

After dinner we went food shopping and Tai burned off his ice cream high by toddling around the store, with his balloon tied to his overalls. At one point, he was standing by the entrance, waving his balloon at everyone who came in. Maybe he is destined for a career as a Wal-Mart greeter?

The fear now is that we have begun the steady descent down the slippery slope toward all-too-frequent Friendly's dinners. It's easy, fun, and cheap, but our bodies can only take so many bacon cheeseburgers....

Sleepy Lunch

The meal must be pretty lame if he can actually fall asleep while eating....

Dinner for Two (Just Two)

Yes, my husband sometimes requests Filet-o-Fish sandwiches for lunch, but he enjoys fine dining as well. Saturday night Minh surprised me with a babysitter and dinner reservations at a grown-up restaurant.

Amazingly, he actually kept the secret all week and pulled off the surprise. He only "blew it" about 90 minutes before the babysitter was due to arrive and I was thankful for the notice so I could vacuum the house and change out of my sweatpants.

Having only done this a few times before, we barraged the babysitter with way too much information about the house, the pets, the baby, etc., and contingency plans for at least 6 possible scenarios. I like to think our over-explanations are endearing. But she probably thought we were neurotic.

After convincing the sitter that we are certifiably nuts, we headed out and only briefly broke out singing a catchy children's song in the car before we caught ourselves. Dinner was amazingly delicious, the pace was leisurely, and the conversation was "grown-up". The real mark of a big night out? I had two glasses of wine with dinner. Livin' it up, baby. Livin' it up.

Love Nuggets

It's Valentine's Day. And that means McNuggets.

Minh and don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, but we have been going out to lunch on Thursdays. And this week he requested that we go to McDonalds so he can take advantage of their during-lent-sale on Filet-O-Fish Sandwiches (2 for $3).

I, myself, do not enjoy the Filet-O-Fish, but am loking forward to a feast of McNuggets. Can you smell the romance in the air? Or is that just the french fries?

How Hillary Won Massachusetts

Minh and I did not vote in Super Tuesday's primary. A serires of unfortunate events precluded us from getting to the polls and casting our votes for Barack Obama. It's all Tai's fault.

After standing idly by as Tai got more and more sick all weekend, we finally took him to the doctor on Monday morning. We went to their "walk-in hours" and the sign on the door indicated that those hours are only for "acutely ill" patients. As we walked in I thought, "well, I don't know if he's acutely ill." Forty-five minutes later, we were escorted out those same doors and into an ambulance by paramedics.

OK, I guess he was acutely ill.

Tai has RSV, which caused bronchiolitis. The big rush to get to the hospital was because he was having trouble breathing and very dehydrated. After 3 treatments with a nebulizer, 6 hours in the ER, one overnight in the hospital, and an IV full of lots of good stuff, we were discharged. This got us home around 6pm Tuesday night. (OK, the polls don't technically close until 8pm, but come on!)

Minh has speculated that Tai was not actually as sick as they led us to believe, but that the doctors were all Hillary fans and they pegged us as Obama supporters when we walked in. So they "needed" to keep Tai overnight "for observation" just to ensure that Obama did not win Massachusetts. The worst part is, Obama only lost Massachusetts by 2 votes! (OK, not really but it was a close race.)

I myself have a couple alternative theories as to why all this happened (apart from the obvious one that Tai picked up the virus at daycare and his overly-laid-back parents did not get him to the doctor soon enough.)

(1) It was all just a ploy on Tai's part to be allowed to suck on his pacifier all day long and watch unlimited cartoons. If it was all an act, he had everyone fooled. And he did indeed get to "nuk" and watch TV to his little heart's content.

(2) Minh somehow caused the whole ruckus in order to replenish his stash of stolen medical supplies. We now have a decade's worth of medical tape in the house. (Side note: remember all those prenatal visits he went to, playing the role of supportive husband?...He really only came along to steal latex gloves. When that supply runs out, I'll know it's time to get pregnant again.)

Whatever the reason, we did indeed have a crazy week and Obama never got our two votes. But Tai is nearly back to his old self, as evidenced by his re-discovered love of chasing the cats around the house. Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend....

I Have Sexy Underwear

Last night Minh went and played poker with Tai's friend's dad and a bunch of his friends (see if you can follow that!) Anyway, while he sitting in an unheated basement losing $40, Tai was asleep and I had the place to myself.

Naturally, I spent my time cleaning out my sock and underwear drawers.

What? Yeah, I don't know what came over me. It's not a task I particularly enjoy, nor one that I had on my mental "to do" list. I'm not even sure how it happened. Suddenly, there I was sorting through mountains of underwear, all of which is BT and some of which is from the previous millenium. Not kidding.

But, shoved behind the pile of "everyday wear" and underneath a jumble of maternity underwear, I actually found some nice stuff. You know, the kind of stuff you wear before you get pregnant.

So now the maternity underwear and nursing bras are all safely tucked away for "next time." And my underwear drawer now resembles the drawer of a younger, sexier, me. Now I just need to find occasion to wear some of it. :)

It Must be the New Shoes...

Look at him go!

A Net Gain of 6 Words

Everyone knows that your salary is proportional to the number of words in your job title, right? That's why I've decided to trade in the pithy title of "Research Manager" for my new and improved identity of "Assistant Director of Institutional Research and Educational Assessment".

Yeah, that's right, eight words. Count 'em.

Unfortunately, my husband (who, by the way, thinks I have an unnatural propensity for abbreviating things) has taken to condensing my new title into the acronym ADIREA, which sounds kinda like "a diarrhea" when pronounced. Lovely.

So yes, in case you have not heard, I'm starting a new job in March. If my "here's my new email address" message somehow did not get to you, drop me a line and I'll let you know how to get in touch with me from now on.

The Nudist

Most of you know that our cat Nibbles is transgendered (post-op). But what you may not know...what we ourselves did not know until recently... is that Smudge identifies as a nudist.

We woke up one morning and he was naked. OK, that happens. Probably a by-product of some energetic wrestling with Nibbles overnight. So we put his collar back on and went about our business. Mere hours later he was naked again. "Hmmmph," I thought, as I examined the collar. "Is it broken? Is it bothering him -- too tight? too lose?" We put it back on him again. He took it off again.

This little dance continued for 2 or 3 days until we gave up. I think it's been about a week now that he's been prancing around the house absolutely naked. And I swear I detect a little more of a spring in his step.

I haven't completely given up yet though. I intend to buy him a shiny NEW collar and see if that does the trick. I wonder if he might just be sick of yellow (it's so last season) and craving a new look for himself. But if that doesn't work we may have to give in and accept his new lifestyle.

The Power Mullet is Gone

Tai had his first haricut this past Saturday. The power mullet is no more (except for the lock we have stashed in his baby book).



He did really well sitting still for the haircut and, for the most part, it looks pretty good. The only thing we really take issue with is the lack of sideburns. The overzealous hairdresser buzzed them clean off with her clippers and now Minh says that Tai looks a bit like Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade (see pictures below). Maybe we can enter him in a Look Alike contest and make some cash off of this situation?

Goodbye, Hogwarts

After about seven months of re-reading the entire Harry Potter series, I have finally finished the seventh and final book. I've been immersed in that little world for so long now that I'm a bit sad to have finished--especially knowing there are no future installments to look forward to. But there are still two more movies to anxiously await.

Impressively, I managed to survive all these months without hearing any spoilers, unless you count the graffiti on the Mount Holyoke sidewalks that said, "Voldemort Lives" and "Harry Dies". But I didn't put too much stock in the Sidewalk Literary Critic, as I've seen cartoon penises drawn on these same sidewalks.

I won't spoil the ending here, in case there could possibly be anyone out there further behind the rest of the world than me. I will say that I am proud to have correctly predicted two major pieces of the story and pleasantly surprised that JK Rowling had a couple tricks up her sleeve that I never would have seen coming.

The very end was a bit disappointing, but that's to be expected. It must have been very difficult to wrap up a seven book series, and I think she did pretty well.

I'm Getting Too Much Work Done

Tai is starting to wean. For right now, that means he's nursing in the morning and at bedtime, but not throughout the day. So I no longer have to tote my pump to work and sit in a back room three times a day to get him milk to bring to daycare. And I no longer get to sit in a back room three times a day and read magazines for 15 minutes at a stretch.

I miss those little breaks.

Without those 15-minute interruptions I'm getting far too much work done this week. Maybe I should pretend I still need to pump and just go take a little cat nap back there once in a while. Or maybe I should take up smoking so I can take cigarette breaks. Actually, since it's about 5 degrees out today, outdoor breaks have little appeal.

So, here I sit. No pending home-purchase to fret over. No wedding to plan. No baby on the way. And no pumping breaks. What am I supposed to do? Work all day? Maybe Minh is right -- it's time to renovate the house.