No baby yet, but Elan had a chance to practice some baby skills at a Big Brother, Big Sister class at the hospital last weekend. He keeps saying things to me like: "Mama, I want the baby to come today. I'm tired of waiting. It's takin' too long!"That's not my refrain quite yet, but I know what he means. I feel like I've been pregnant forever, so these 9+ months must really feel like forever to him!
I've got stuff to do, and I don't want to do it.How about I show you a few of our family photos instead, from a shoot we did in July? That seems like a good idea. Just a few. And then, next time I'm procrastinating, I'll show you more. (Just don't tell Mikhail that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing right now.)Photos by Myron Yeung.I'm pregnant. I think I'll just go to bed.
Elan started preschool last week.First day of preschoolWhich of course left me asking: How has my baby become so gigantic?It seemed like yesterday he looked like this, and I already thought he was so grown-up:June 2009Some parents start their preschool search before their child is even born; some research during babyhood; some figure out their top choices and get on waiting lists the year before they want their child to start. And then there is us. We started our search in August. Whoops. The thing is, we didn't really know ... more
I think of myself as a fairly reliable person. I don't generally forget appointments or flake on people, though I do tend to run 5-10 minutes late, an inherited trait I blame on my mother (Hi Mom, are you reading the blog these days?). However, pregnancy mush brain has descended upon me with a vengeance. In the last few weeks, I have forgotten several appointments. I either wrote down the wrong time or never wrote them on my calender at all. In this morning's example, I wrote the right time ... more
A cloudy day at the beach is still a day at the beachElan named the baby. Thank goodness, because Mikhail and I have been having some trouble with this task. One morning, playing a game involving magnetic tow truck and wrecked cars with numbers on them, Elan said "Baby Tie-lie is 1 years old." Only a blip of hesitation before he busted out with "Tie-lie." Then he towed the "1" over to my belly and plopped it on top. Also, according to him, it's a girl. He's thought that ... more
So here we are in San Diego, where the weather has taken a serious lesson in gloom. For the last three mornings, it's been raining. RAINING! IN SAN DIEGO, IN THE SUMMER! And then it's cold and gloomy for the rest of the day. I believe the weather is actually worse here than in the Bay Area, which is saying something given it's July.Unfortunately, Elan's behavior is pretty gloomy too. Sometimes travel does wonders for him, helps break him out of fussy patterns. Generally speaking, he's quite delightful while traveling. ... more
Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.-Annie DillardLake Tahoe, 23 weeksWe spent a few days at Lake Tahoe with my parents, aka Nana & Babu, my sister Laura, brother-in-law Jason and their 9-month-old son Judah.Laura, Jason & JudahJudah and Elan are a study in contrasts. Judah is a great sleeper and loves to eat. Need I say more?"Dude, can I have some of those?"Judah covets Elan's crackers.The boys are wearing my favorite kiddo hooded towels. They're super-soft, warm enough to take away a post-swim chill, ... more
Elan's favorite joke: "Pee-pee comes out of my butt, and poop comes out of my wee-wee!"(Peals of laughter follow)Clearly, his friend Ben shares the same sense of humor. Check out my friend Andrea's latest post. Ah, the humiliation humility of parenthood!
Elan playing with his set of rescue vehicles: "This is a police car. It goes to the... it goes to the... camping. When we go camping, we need the police car. And this one is the ambiance."A bird is building a nest in the Japanese maple tree in our little yard. It's nice to see someone acting on my nesting impulses.Elan's first nursery school show. He was so serious and attentive, trying to get all the hand motions right, with a llama finger puppet stuck precariously on his chubby ... more
self-portrait, 22 weeksI stayed up way too late last night - MIDNIGHT! I haven't seen midnight in ages, whereas it was once a regular phenomenon that Mikhail and I went to bed at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. There was no good excuse for staying up. I shouldn't have done it, because my belly button and right side of my belly were hurting, and the longer I stayed up, the more they hurt. I was engaging in an activity we call "strollering" - named after the inordinate amount of time ... more
A life is lived moment by moment.This week I'm introducing a new weekly series called Moments. It's a place for me to capture all the little moments that make up a week - quirky, joyful, heart-rending, funny, enlightening, frustrating, touching... You have a lot of those when you're raising children, and but they don't necessarily make their way into a blog post. Welcome to my first Moments post, an opportunity for weekly reflection when life spins fast.Elan fell down the stairs and sported a Harry-Pottery-style mark on his forehead for ... more