Funny Stories

Two stories that illustrate how fun it is being a parent:

As you can see in the sidebar, Felix is already saying a few words, like Mama and Dada. Usually when he does it, it comes out like a mantra, saying "Da da da da..." or "Ma ma ma ma", like he's using more syllables for extra emphasis.

Last week, our satellite dish remote broke and the company sent us a new one in the mail. Nicki had it out and was trying to program it to control the TV without much luck. So I said, jokingly,"Let me try it. I'm smarter than you are." Nicki protested, "No, you're not." So I asked Felix, "Who's smarter, Mama or Dada?", also as a joke. But then without hesitation, he said, "Da da!"

Today we left the house to go to school and met a cloudy day. As Ella and I were walking to the car she looked up at the sky and said, "It looks like it's going to rain." I assured that it probably wasn't, since I had read the forecast, and that it was just a cloudy day.

A little bit later, while Ella was going to school in Nicki's car it started to drizzle and Ella said, "See? I told you!"

E L E V E N

Only one more month until Felix turns one - we're already planning the day.

Above you can see his fangs from a week ago, but now those are being flanked by two teeth growing on top and in the middle.



We took Felix and Ella to Travel Town, which has a display of actual old trains you can climb on and act like you're an engineer. It's been around forever, and I used to go there when I was a kid. Ella rode on the mini train that goes around the park. Six months ago we could never get her near one of those.

A Very Special Day

Today is Tante Dunie's birthday! Happy birthday to you, our dear Tante/Sister! If you were here, we would take you to Crazy Tokyo for some delicious sushi. Well it's the thought that counts, isn't it? So let's just pretend it happened.

Another reason why it's a special day today... Ella's first real haircut at the hairdresser! We went to Lollicut and Ella chose the pink car chair to sit in while Dora cut her hair. We got a little envelope with a lock of her hair to keep and a certificate commemorating the occasion.

Et voilà! Basically, Dora cut 4 inches off the back and cut some bangs in so that Ella's hair doesn't fall all over her face. And then she pulled the sides up into a ponytail and added a pink curly bow.

Catching Up

Last month I had my 40th birthday on the 31st, and started a two week long party during some much needed vacation time starting the 23rd.

I started a big project xeriscaping my front yard, which means killing the lawn and replacing it with decorative stones and water-wise plants, which will reduce our water use. Seems like a strange way to spend a vacation, since most people want to sit on the beach and drink mai-tai's, but it was pretty fulfilling for me, and that's the kind of thing I enjoy doing.

We went up to northern California for Nicki's Baby Signs conference, and later we visited with a friend I went to middle school and high school with, Jim, and his girlfriend Nancy. We met up in Sonoma, the heart of the wine country, in the park in the middle of town. Felix got his first trip on a swing and his first touch of playground sand.



Later we enjoyed a nice picnic and a bottle of wine (natch), and some good conversation. Felix cooperated by taking a nap, and Ella was the sweet, calm little angel she always is.


Don't ask me how I feel about turning 40. Many have, including my uncle Marshall, who arrived at a party Nicki threw for me the last Saturday of my vacation. He knew me when I was a baby, and when he saw me, he asked, "How does it make you feel to turn 40?" I replied, "How does it make you feel for me to turn 40?"

Happy 10-month birthday, Monkey!

Our little monkeydoodle is 10 months old today. To celebrate, he ate two big servings of pureed peaches and grew two more teeth, only not the top two we were expecting, but one on each side of those, like little fangs.

Ella is a big girl now, she goes on the toilet without a potty seat! Now if only she would take herself to the bathroom at night instead of calling for Dada one or more times at night.

9 months old!

Our little monkey is 9 months old today!

Ella Sleeping and Felix Signing

Last week, Ella came home from school and seemed a little sleepy, so she just leaned her head on the couch and dozed off. She slept there for awhile before we coaxed her into bed.

The other day Ella said she wanted the "Heigh-ho" movie. That puzzled us, but then we figured out that she had had seen "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at school. She told us that Snow White had been woken up from her eternal slumber by the "Heigh-hos".

Felix has been signing more signs - last time I mentioned how he's signing "more", and now he's doing it all the time. He does "more" when he wants more food, "more" when he wants something to happen more (such as Ella jumping on the bed, which makes him laugh hysterically), and "more" cats walking in front of him. He also does more along with blowing a raspberry with his mouth when he wants me to blow raspberries on his stomach. He also does "milk" when he wants to nurse, squeezing his hand like milking a cow. Yesterday he slapped the top of his leg, the sign for "diaper", and sure enough his diaper was wet.

Felix is also starting to say a few words. He says "da da da da" sometimes when he sees me, he "Aaay" for Ella, and says "Kee" when he sees a cat (specifically Toots) for kitty.

Felix can pick up Cheerios with his hand put them in his mouth. We think he's left handed, since he does nearly everything with that hand.

A couple of weeks ago, Felix accompanied Nicki to work because his school was closed, and he was quite popular with the ladies. And his mama, of course.