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....