top design.

it's ON , bitches.

we're free.

free from the telemarketers, that is. mike and i finally realized that the only people who call us on our house phone are
1) telemarketers and 2)our parents. we decided we could erase the frustration caused by these calls and save money at the same time by just eliminating our phone and keeping only our dsl and mobiles. also, we have the airport set up for our laptop to transmit through our stereo as well, so i can listen to itunes when i'm here around the house without having to dock one of the ipods. for some reason wires were getting crossed, so when the phone would ring it would knock me off itunes, as well as the internet. so- imagine my delight over this not happening any more... if i had gotten one more call from energy saving exteriors, or 'john' who speaks such minute bits of english that he would get confused if i said things too quickly ... i was going to blow something up. so now i don't have to. just kidding about eliminating our parents calls- they happen to know our cell #'s too... ahem, mom- i know you are lurking around here.

little rocker.

hair.

so my haircut is pretty much the same as it was when I was in the sixth grade. and kindergarten. throw in a few extra layers, and that is what it is. i have big, brown, drape head with some golden highlights thrown in for good measure. being busy with the baby, i just haven't had the time to get to the salon... but this weekend i am finally going to get it cut. nothing drastic, i just don't plan on having hair down the middle of my back saturday afternoon. so i hate going out and foraging through magazines for hair pictures. because the hair is so styled in those pictures, the cut never ends up the same. i decided it might be a good idea to peruse the tele for some good hair. you know- for shots of hair that--- moves. mind you i don't watch tv during the day- it makes me nauseous. there was a brief time after henry was born that my brain span only lasted from one commercial to the next, so i had a taste of the daytime- and quickly realized it wasn't for me. anyhow- i turned on the tv this morning, and what did i see? the view. that's right- the view minus ms. wa-wa (thank god). these women are irritating. although i do most identify with joy behar- i love her wit and sarcasm. and her politics. and she actually seems passionate and intelligent, something sorely lacking in tv land. i was pleased to see tina fey as the guest host. i really like her- another woman whose wit an sarcasm i appreciate. good hair. I whipped out the camera and got close to the tv so that i could really catch its movement. and to the right of tina- through my lens i spied--much to my dismay- elizabitch. and she has adorable hair. so i got in close, trying to catch all of this hair from different angles. something caught my eye outside- my neighbor looking in at our house, a peculiar expression on her face. our tv is just next to one of our front windows, and i always leave the blinds open. she must have seen me taking pictures of the tv, all 'ooh, i'm on a photo shoot style'...
i think my neighbors think i'm strange. oh well.

baby food.

the doctor said we could start introducing solids into henry's diet. this whole 'eating' thing is going to take some practice...

pretty!

when I get my flickr pro account I'm gonna file this one under 'beautiful shots from around norfolk.' don't get me wrong- I love my city. overturned porta-potties and all.

ouch.

Henry got his second round of standard immunizations yesterday... necessary, but it sucks to have to stand by while your child gets injected not once, not twice... but four times with a needle in the fleshy part of his beautiful fat little thighs. I don't know if it was from being sore from the shots or not, but Henry was up through the night fussing. He has a mobile above his crib that he absolutely adores- he loves to lay in his crib and "talk" to the animals as they dip and spin by. Sometimes if he's in the crib and the mobile isn't turned on (it also plays bits of standard symphony favorites- albeit rather tinny and generic sounding) he will yell at the animals, as if to say: "how dare you just dangle there, move now." Sometimes he really gets going with this yelling. This is part of what was happening between the hours of 1:30 and 4:30 last night. Except if I turn it on during the night, he won't be able to fall back asleep on his own without the mobile on... just another one of those dilemmas that will work itself out.... eventually.

paint.

the paint is back on.

museum.

Went to the museum today. Henry's first trip ever-I have always dreamed of that particular moment in my life. It was fantastic to see his reaction to everything. He seemed a bit dazed by the nam june paik installation- but then again, I usually am too. I can't wait until he is older so we can really discuss the works...

"kadmiumrot hell"

nest.

When the weather turns cold, my urge is to nest. Proper nesting requires the preparation of comfort foods. This week I made two pots of vegetable stew and ten dozen chocolate chip cookies. Yum. Not all for me- I promise.

toes.

Henry has found his toes.

wednesday.

fun with little henry in the warmth of indoors. also, the first daffodils from my garden.

fort.

Last night we celebrated the dedication of a building my brother designed from the ground up, pretty much the entire inside to the total out (he even picked out the office furniture, something the architect normally doesn't do). I am so proud of him. He is three years older than me, and we liked to fight when we were kids- normal sibling stuff. We also liked to have fun together as kids- it wasn't all squabbles. One of our favorite places to have fun was in the backyard. Somehow we had all of this old plywood leftover (did my father dismantle a shed? a giant sandbox? I don't recall...). Anyhow, my brother decided one day he would build us a fort. The main fort had an upstairs and a downstairs, just like our house. If I remember correctly you had to hoist yourself up on the fence and then climb a branch to get "upstairs." I remember "tidying up" the area while he built- raking a stick through the sandy dirt "sweeping the floors." I felt so special, so important, being able to help my big brother build our fort. It seems there was another fort- a free-standing one story, that was sort of dome-like. It was a yurt! Well I don't know. When you are grown up and you remember stuff from your childhood things seem all grand and huge. A shoebox might be remembered as a refrigerator box. That is what is so beautiful about childhood- the discovery of it all, how magical and amazing even an old discarded piece of plywood can become. The happy memory makes me feel all giddy- a summers evening, all warm outside, the faint whiff of our mimosa tree, climbing around in the hedge of old oaks at the back of our yard... it is really getting dark now, the moment when the sky is that beautiful inky indigo, I can hear my mom calling us in to eat or bathe, or go to sleep. ahhhh. Now that I have Henry I am remembering these things more- I can't wait for him to make these sorts of memories. We have such a big backyard, so many places for him to explore. He has his whole life ahead of him! Being free to experience these things, play, make them up as you go, can lead to all sorts of things. Tommy has shown us that with his buildings.... I told him I just hope the american cancer society building is a bit sturdier than our old fort!
There is a picture of my brother, all blurry. He and Beth treated us all to dinner last night, which was such a nice thing to do!
If you click on the funhaus link to the right you can see pictures of the building that was just dedicated.

henry's dress.

My mom's cousin Bet made this beautiful christening gown for Henry. It meant so much to us- even while her husband was ill this summer, she sewed every stitch, pleat, and tiny button. Today we had him try it on, finally- complete with bonnet! He is so adorable- he looks like a little doll in these pictures. Which is so funny, because he is definitely all boy. Funny side note- there is actually a band called "Henry's Dress."

four months.

Tomorrow Henry will be four months old. Something magical has happened during this fourth month: mainly- sleep. Finally he is in the mood to sleep! This has in effect opened up a veritable kingdom of other magical things- he has developed an amazing little personality, he is able to communicate likes and dislikes- i.e. he reaches out for me now when he wants to be picked up; he can push me away when he is full. Today he reached out to pet Nico! He is finally sleeping in his crib, and follows pretty much the same pattern each night. This helps me to stay alot more sane. He still doesn't sleep alll the way through the night, but those four times I get up he usually will go right back to sleep. It seemed so touch and go those first few months, with Henry not sleeping more than two hours at a time, wanting to latch on to my breasts every hour. It was so frustrating when he would wake up wide eyed and ready to play- it would take atleast an hour to get him to go back to sleep. That basically left me with a good three hours sleep if I was lucky. This is not to say that Henry wasn't or isn't an awesome baby- he is. The beginning was just- how shall I say?- challenging, that's all. Thank god for both sets of parents living nearby and giving us all of the support we needed- and more. One day my mom stopped by and asked about an errand I needed to run later in the afternoon. I just burst into tears and said I was so tired there was no way I could go- because I didn't even feel safe getting behind the wheel and out on the road. She swiftly cancelled her appointments for the day and ordered me to take a nap. Then there was Julie- she has a young son, so she's been through it all. Her wisdom was priceless- she shared an anecdote with me in the very beginning that I found my self repeating- for the comfort to know that I would get through it- and be another possibly cool lady of leisure, rocking out to MIA on the way to the zoo. What is it with the first three months? When I was pregnant all I did was puke for the first three months... then it was great during the fourth month, like clockwork.
Tonight I was rocking Henry to sleep- he had his arms wrapped around me and he nestled his head in- actually it was more like a smush- he smushed his head in between my cheek and my shoulder. As I felt his breath all warm against my neck, there in the dark, with the sound of his mobile a lovely lullaby, I cried. Having him is the sweetest most wonderful thing in the world. happy four months, baby!

hells bells.

Apparently I'm going to hell by the looks of my porch traffic. We have been inundated by Jesus-peddlers lately. I swear this one Jehova's witness lady didn't blink once for an entire ten minutes straight. creepy.

zzzzzz....

sleepy animals.

mom jeans.

So my friend Suzy is running a marathon this spring and asked if any of her friends would like to join her. I would really love to- but I have no idea where to begin. It has been ages since I ran; and the last time I did run was probably when I was chasing after -or being chased by something. Not like thugs or wild animals kind of chasing, more like neighborhood dogs kind of chasing- my old neighbor had a great dane that used to escape all of the time. Anyhow- they also don't recommend running about much when your pregnant, because you don't want to bump the fetus around too much.
I was actually in amazing shape when I was pregnant. Most of the fat in my body seemed to suck forward into my tummy area, making me look as if I swallowed a HUGE butterball turkey, but 'normal' everywhere else. Towards the end of my pregnancy I really got into shape due to alot of vigorous walking- trying to bring on labor (I remind you that I was eleven days overdue). And after I had the baby everyone kept saying "wow, you don't look like you just had a baby! you look terrific!" so I proceeded to eat mass quantities of icecream. That buy one get one free sale at farm fresh is so, so dangerous.
Which brings me back to the marathon. It would be a great impetus to get back into shape. Suzy told me I should get one of those jogging stroller thingys. I just never saw myself as a jogging stroller thingy kind of person. But then again, I never saw myself sniffing towards a childs rear area to try to detect if a diaper change is necessary.... so I guess things change. I need to do something... or the next stop on this train is: dum, dum, dummmmmm- the dreaded mom jeans. We'll see.

global warming.

my plants are so confused. this morning I noticed that alot of my bulbs are looking like they're about to bloom. everything seems to be about two months ahead of schedule.

holiday recap I.

I was quite busy over the holiday season. There were godmummies to be entertained. Flowers to be arranged. Parties to attend and merriment to be made with good friends. There were babies to be loved and presents to be opened and fudge and cookies to be made for all the neighbors by the bagful. There were packages to be delivered... and cookies to be eaten by the plateful... It was a very good holiday season. Photos also continued in the next couple of posts (recap II and III).

holiday recap II.