A day in the life of a pug-obsessed, knitaholic stay-at-home mom

Rabbit Kinney

2009-11-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, my sister-in-law's husband's brother's wife emailed me to ask if Benjamin might be interested in doing a modeling gig for her friend's t-shirt company, Rabbit Kinney. Never one to shy away from the opportunity for free swag, I said, "Hell, yeah!" I contacted her friend and founder/designer, Jean Kim, and we met for the Boo's photo shoot. He will eventually appear on the Rabbit Kinney website, but in the meantime, she sent me the triptych you see at the top of the post.

You can see more of Jean's adorable t-shirts for babies, kids, and grown-ups at her website, http://www.rabbitkinney.com/.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!! 2

2009-11-11T07:24:00.001-08:00

Who needs T.V. when you've got a best friend?

A Mini-Me in the Making

2009-11-07T12:10:00.001-08:00

Remember a few weeks ago when I said that it seemed my growth had slowed? Yeah... Those days are over. I'm now at 22 weeks, and the bump is in full effect. As you can see from the last picture above, my belly now protrudes enough to act as a handy ledge on which the Boo can rest his arms. Glad to be of service, Boo!
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I got a taste of what life will be like with two little ones last week when Julie and I took Benjamin and Nolan to check out a sale at Old Navy. As we were installing Nolan's carseat into my car, the boys jumped into the front seat and played around with the buttons and dials. By the time we were ready to go, my windshield wipers were going, my hazards were blinking, the radio was on, and there were two wannabe racecar drivers who had to be pried out of the front seat.

Once we were at Old Navy, the boys behaved themselves remarkably well. For a little while. We marveled at how well they kept one another entertained so that we were able to browse the racks with minimal fuss. They made a game of chasing each other around the changing rooms and got a kick out of looking at themselves in the mirrors. But - as the saying goes - all's well that ends well. After about twenty minutes...

It was time for a meltdown! Benjamin and Nolan decided that they'd had enough of this shopping nonsense and promptly turned on one another - and their mommies. First, they both wanted to sit in the shopping cart seat. Then they fought over who got to stand in the shopping basket. Then they wanted to scream at the top of their lungs. Then they didn't want to have anything to do with each other. Then they wanted to run around and play together some more. Julie and I ended up taking turns standing in the checkout line so that the other one could chase after the boys. As I ran around the store keeping tabs on the little devils, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Oh, my God, is this what having two kids is going to be like?"

On the bright side, many people have told me that girls are "easier" than boys. I'm not sure if they mean that girls are better behaved or that boys are just more rambunctious, but either way, I'm hoping that they're right. And who knows why? Maybe pigtails stimulates pressure points on the scalp in a way that calms the nerves. Or maybe it's a fear of having your knickers exposed by throwing a tantrum while wearing a frilly pink dress.
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Speaking of girly clothing, I made my first official purchase for my own unborn baby girl. I found these adorable ballet slippers while at Old Navy, and couldn't resist buying two pairs - one in silver and one in copper. If they look familiar, perhaps it's because you've seen a similar version of them elsewhere...

Don't laugh! I think that putting a pair of mini-me shoes on my daughter is perfectly acceptable, especially when compared to what Vince does with Benjamin!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Part 3

2009-11-05T20:21:00.001-08:00

After two weeks of pre-parties and pumpkin patches, the day had finally arrived: Halloween was here! We started off our evening by visiting Vince's mom, sisters Leslie and Adele (pictured above right), and nephews Obi Wan Kenobi (AKA Ryan) and Superman (AKA Tyler).
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Thank you, Holly, for supplying the photo of the Chan Clan!

After a brief visit, we returned to go trick-or-treating with neighbors. Some of the characters we encountered were a ladybug (Berry), a witch and a teddy bear (Aneta and Michalis), two Little Red Riding Hoods and a very scary Granny Wolf (Holly, Rusty, and Isabel), and a mummy (Nolan - duh!).
. The concept of trick-or-treating seemed to elude the Boo at first. He hung back with Daddy and warily watched the other kids take candy from strangers. After the first half hour, though, he grew tired of watching from the stands and jumped right into the action. Thankfully, we'd tricked him into thinking that part of the fun was bringing each treat back to Mommy for safekeeping - and out of the mouth of a young toddler who'd otherwise be up all night on a sugar high. In the process, however, he'd forget where he'd been, and - after depositing the candy into my hands - would often turn right back around and return to the person from whom he'd just trick-or-treated. The result was lots of loot:

There was actually much more candy than what you see pictured above, but somebody ate it all...

Thank you, Grace, for this fantastic pic of Monica, Julie, me, and my bump!

Hope everyone had a rockin' Halloween!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Part 2

2009-11-04T08:09:00.001-08:00

This Halloween was one of the busiest I can remember. In addition to the neighborhood Halloween parties we'd already attended, we had several other spooky-themed events on the books, including an outing to a local pumpkin patch with our Emerson class. While Benjamin and BFF Nolan clambered all over the pumpkins, I couldn't help but think back to the previous year when we had visited this same patch...

What a difference a year makes, eh? I marveled at how much my little boy had grown. Back then, he was a chubby baby who could barely sit up.

Now, he's an intrepid little boy who is brave enough to venture into a faux cemetery.

Ok, maybe he's not that brave.

The Halloween festivities continued at class the following week, when the kids got dressed up in their costumes to go "trick-or-treating" through the other classrooms. We visited English language classes, a seniors knitting class, and a figure drawing class where, thankfully, the figure model wore a costume of his own - a pair of flesh-colored briefs. Though I was tempted to, I did not take a picture of him.

As he strolled through the halls wearing his punk outfit, blue mohawk, and devil-may-care expression, Benjamin looked like a miniature juvenile delinquent.

After trick-or-treating, the kids wrapped up the morning at a Halloween carnival set up by the teacher. One of the carnival games involved bobbing for powdered donuts. It took Benjamin a while to figure out how it worked, but as soon as he did, he was hooked.

He could not get enough of the sugary goodness! After bobbing successfully for his first donut, he went back for seconds. When I wouldn't let him have another one, he scoured the ground for crumbs the other kids may have dropped, but the slim pickings led him to make a face that - minus the powdered sugar residue - would have rivaled Henry Rollins' most vicious yell. Again, a far cry (no pun intended) from Emerson class one year ago:

Stay tuned for more on Halloween 2009!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Part 1

2009-11-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

Halloween. A time when ordinary, everyday people transform themselves into anything they can imagine: superheroes, comic book characters, legendary figures, fantasy figures, or mystical creatures. Is there no more magical time of year?
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This year, Vince, Benjamin, and I decided to trade in our boring identities as accountant, toddler, and housewife and become a family of blue-mohawked punk rockers. We debuted our new family look at the neighborhood Halloween party with our neighbors Cleopatra, a mummy, and a Caesar's Palace emplo-- I mean, Marc Antony.
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Since three-foot-tall punk rocker costumes are hard to come by, I took matters into my own hands and created one for the Boo myself.
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I started off with a black t-shirt and jeans from Target. I cut the sleeves off of the shirt, sewed on zipper trim, and used iron-on transfer paper to add the red letter "B" I'd created in Photoshop. I narrowed the legs of the jeans and sewed black pleather trim with metal rivets down the side seams.

Unfortunately, I'd narrowed the pants a little too much. When Benjamin wore his costume for the first time at a Halloween party for the neighborhood kids, he fell over nearly every time he tried to run, walk, move, or breathe. Once prone on the ground, he had trouble getting back up because the pants bound his legs together, so he wound up wiggling prone like a little punk rock fish-out-of-water. Also, the tightness in the legs kept pulling the waistband down, exposing his knickers. Not a punk rock look at all.

A few quick mods fixed these issues. I cut out the inseam of the pants and replaced it with a strip of stretchy black jersey. To keep his diaper under wraps, I added metal snaps to securely fasten his shirt to his waistband. Problems solved!

Add a few finishing touches - a metal-studded pleather belt cut down to Boo-size, a variety of industrial-strength hair products, and a cuff made from leftover pleather trim and studs pried from the belt - and Benjamin was transformed from chubby, everyday Boo into...

BADASS BOO 2009!

More Halloween hijinks to come, so stay tuned!

The Sound of Boo-sic

2009-10-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

I don't really like for Benjamin to watch much television, but I can't resist letting him watch "Dora the Explorer" and therefore letting me watch the mini-songfest that ensues.

Is it just me, or did he sing that on key? Do I see Mommy-Boo duets and Sound of Music singalongs in our future? I think Vince is in trouble!

It's (Definitely) A Girl!

2009-10-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in a previous post, we were told that I was pregnant with a girl. However, the ultrasound technician who had made that call had done so very early in my pregnancy (at 11 weeks and 2 days to be precise), we always had a certain degree of skepticism. Well, now we are skeptics no more - a few weeks ago at my structure check (AKA the 20-week ultrasound), both the technician and the OB confirmed that I was, indeed, pregnant with little girl.

Up until that point, whenever I'd asked the Boo who was in my belly, he'd say "baby." Cute, but vague. We wasted no time in teaching him how to say that it wasn't just any baby, but a baby sister that was in there.

You may have noticed that what came out of his mouth didn't sound anything like "baby sister." That's because what he said was "mei mei," which means "little sister" in Chinese. "Mei mei" also has half the number of syllables, making it 50% easier to say than "little sister." In any case, Benjamin seemed very happy to hear this news. A baby brother might try to steal his toy trains or beat up on him. A baby sister, on the other hand, might bring a different crop of new and exciting toys into the mix, not to mention some cute friends!

Potty Time + Newfound Ability to Somersault + Toddler Attention Span Equals...

2009-10-20T11:54:00.001-07:00

...Hysterical, Side-Splitting, Tear-Inducing Laughter + A Big Ol' Mess to Clean Up.
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It's hard to say which was bigger: the mess created by Benjamin's failed attempt to somersault off of his potty or the comic relief it created. Probably the latter!

Boo-Pong, or Creatures of Habit 8

2009-10-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard in the news, Georgia has recently been hit by massive flooding. Unfortunately, my parents' home in Georgia was in one of the flood areas. Fortunately, no one was living there at the time. Unfortunately, they live in China, so they had to rush back to do damage control. Fortunately, their flight has a layover at LAX, which means that VERY fortunately,that they get to visit their favorite little man.

As always, Hao Gong and Hao Po were overjoyed to see their grandson. They smothered him with hugs and kisses, their jetlag and weariness from the long flight forgotten.

But soon enough, a familiar pattern of behavior emerged, a sport that I like to call "Boo-Pong." As soon as one of them is holding the Boo, the other get anxious and wants to hold him, too. The result is a rapid back-and-forth. Think of my parents as ping pong players and the Boo as-- Well, you get it.

Since the purpose of this Stateside trip was to tend to their flooded house in Georgia, they were only able to stay for a single night. Thankfully, their return trip to China would bring them back through LA, so we would see them again soon and they would get to continue their game of Boo-Pong.

A week later, they returned and the game was on once again. Hao Gong treated the Boo to a croissant at Coffee Bean. Hao Po helped the Boo go down the slide at the tot lot. Hao Gong held the Boo's little hand while they walked around the neighborhood.

That evening, Hao Gong scored the Boo for some one-one-one reading time.

But then Hao Po lured the Boo away with the scrumptious aromas emanating from her cooking. Later, the Boo showed his appreciation for the fine meal she'd prepared:

After dinner, my parents bid Benjamin a sad farewell before boarding their long flight back to Asia. It's hard to say who won this trip's game of Boo-Pong, but it doesn't really matter.

A good time was had by all, especially the Boo!

You might be thinking at this point, "Wait, a minute... Didn't they forget something? Something soft? Something white? Something Charmin-y?" The answer is "No, of course not!" On their first stopover in LA before continuing on to Georgia, they left behind this:

Can you guess what their instructions were?

"I'm Not an Ambi-turner."

2009-10-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

Benjamin shows off his dance moves while stopping to strategically strike poses, bringing to mind his Boolander days. And, just like his male modeling icon, it's apparent from this video that he's not an ambi-turner.

Benjamin: My Own Prenatal Exercise Program

2009-10-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

Remember how I was complaining a month or so ago that my belly was growing faster during this pregnancy than it did during my last one? Well, I may have spoken too soon, because it seems like the blossoming of my bump has taken a breather. A visit to my OB confirmed my weight gain has slowed, but not for want of trying. As my hubby, my friends, or my Boo will attest, I've developed a near-uncontrollable craving for McDonald's. In a typical week, I'll inhale a Sausage McMuffin with Egg Combo at least two or three times. Or, if it's after 10:30 am, I'll have the Two Cheeseburger Combo instead. Oh, man, the very mention of those gastronomical goodies is making me salivate and reach for my car keys. But I won't. I may be unable to stop myself from swinging through a drive-through when I'm already on the road, but I won't allow myself to leave home to make a special trip just to get Mickey D's. Not yet, anyway. With four months of pregnancy left, anything is possible!
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So in what crazy, upside-down world does pigging out on fast food not equal blowing up like a whale? In a crazy, upside-down world where you have to take care of one of these:
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The Boo definitely keeps me on my toes. In fact, I've noticed that many women going through pregnancy with a toddler in tow seem to remain fairly un-pregnant-looking in all areas other than the tummy area. But I'm not going to kid myself here - at the end of my last pregnancy, I puffed up to the point where Vince felt the need to point out that my feet looked like Fiona's. You know, Fiona, right? She's Shrek's wife.

Although Benjamin's been trying his toddler best to drive me insane, I've been fortunate enough to get help from others. My amazing best friend Deb has, true to Deb form, been over to run Boo interference so I can get things done. My thoughtful father- and mother-in-law have also come by to hang out with their little grandson. Benjamin gets a fun visit, I get a much-needed break, and the Boo-watchers get so completely worn out that they sleep really well that night. Everyone wins!!

An additional diversion has come in the form of our Emerson Mommy and Me class, which had been on hiatus for the summer break. It's a nice chance for me to sit and chat with other moms (many of whom are pregnant with their second kids) going through the same trying toddler times that I am, while Benjamin works out all that extra energy on the playground. Here, you can see him hanging out with two of his best gals, Kayla and Presley.

Since the kids are older now, they get to engaged in some more intellectual activities such as storytime.

Their creative sides are also nurtured during arts and crafts.

But boys will be boys, and Benjamin's favorite part of class remains the part where he gets to play in the sandbox and get himself thoroughly filthy. And because it seems that sandbox sand was specifically engineered to adhere to sticky, sweaty little toddler feet...

...My lovely floors get to get all filthy, too. But luckily, the Boo is learning to clean up after himself.

There's hope yet!

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

2009-10-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Finally, a conversation between these two that we can understand!

Creatures of Habit 7 or Do Squeeze the Charmin!

2009-09-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned in previous posts, my Dad is obsessed with Charmin. Each time he visits the States, he'll bring a large, empty suitcase to fill with rolls and rolls of the soft goodness to use once he returns to China. Somehow, the details of his toilet tissue proclivities caught the attention of Virginia Wilcox, an ad rep for Charmin all the way in the Big Apple. She sent me this email:

Hi Lily,

I read in your blog that your family loves Charmin! I work with Charmin bathroom tissue and I wanted to send you an email about Charmin Ultra Soft's partnership with HGTV's designer Frank Fontana. I would love to send you a free kit that has a demo of how much you can save by using Charmin Ultra Soft instead of the leading value brand, as well as fun decorating tips from Frank Fontana of HGTV’s “Design on a Dime.”

Charmin Ultra Soft is designed with absorbent cushions that allow you to use less versus other leading brands. Charmin Ultra Soft is so soft and absorbent that you can use seven sheets of Charmin Ultra Soft versus 28 sheets of the leading value brand. Please let me know if you're interested; I would be happy to send you a kit! Enjoy your day!

Yours, Virginia for Charmin

Unlike my father, I wasn't a Charmin user; I was a longtime Target-brand toilet tissue devotee. However, I wasn't about to turn down an offer of free TP. So, I replied, "Heck, yeah!" and several weeks later, a package arrived on my doorstep.

Inside the package was a pretty blue box from Charmin and a scented flameless candle thingy from Febreze. I really wanted to like the candle, but it just made my home smell like a chic-chic department store instead of the sweaty toddler romper room that it is. The Charmin box, however, came in quite handy. It was the perfect height for Boo to sit on, so for about a month as we worked our way through our existing stash of Target-brand TP, he used it as additional seating in his playroom.
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Fast forward one month later after all the Target TP has been used up. I opened the package to find four rolls of Charmin Ultra Soft, two sample stacks of toilet tissue (one of Charmin, one of another brand), and a removable flash drive. I found the presence of the flash drive to be rather odd. It was positioned between the two pillowy soft mounds of toilet paper, which instantly made me think that I was supposed to stick it in my-- Nevermind.

I have to be honest with you - I wasn't expecting to like the Charmin toilet paper. It's more expensive than other brands, and I didn't have any complaints about the current brand I was using, so why would I switch? Also, how different can one little square of TP be from the next, anyway? The answer: VERY DIFFERENT. When I used Charmin for the first time, I was shocked by how apparent this was. At the risk of sounding like I work for Charmin, the stuff is pretty awesome. Not only is it softer than Target TP, but it's thicker, and that additional weight means that I can use less of it, which means that I don't have to buy it as much, which means that I can spend that money on other things like gummy bears and salt'n'vineager chips and pickles and ice cream and-- Sorry, those were the hormones talking. Anyway, suffice it to say, I'm a Charmin convert now.

The only downside to my newfound love of Charmin is that I am now a toilet paper snob. I'll bet you didn't realize it was even possible to be snobby about what you wipe your *ss with, huh? Well, it is, and I am. Whenever I have to use a public restroom or even a friend's bathroom where a non-Charmin brand is provided, a feeling of bitter disappointment washes over me. "Why, oh, why, must I be forced to touch my delicate areas with this sandpaper?" It's not enough to make me carry an emergency stash of Charmin in my purse, but it is enough to make me stop making fun of my Dad. After all these years of laughing at his Charmin-filled, China-bound suitcases, I finally understand!

Floor Exercises 2

2009-09-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Fatigue overtook me the other day, so it was time once again to engage in some floor exercises.

As usual, the Boo came over to investigate once he saw me laying there at Boo-level.

In a matter of moments, he grew bored and was on to better things. It seems that sitting on an an already-prone and inert Mommy isn't as fun to as wearing out an exasperated, red-faced and hopping mad Mommy. I suppose the thrill is in the chase.

My apologies, by the way, for the recent lapse in updates, as well as for the brevity of this post. I've been cursed with all manner of technological woe in the last week, namely a fried motherboard and a Blackberry that spontaneously started typing in tongues. According to my pal Jen, Mercury is in "serious retrograde." I have no idea what that means, but it sounds serious. Thankfully, my amazing friend Deb has loaned me her extra laptop to use until we can replace our old computer. All I had to do in return was promise to give her Benjamin, but as you can tell from this post, that's probably a good thing right now!

The Boo's New Smile

2009-09-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

Not too long after the first teeth started sprouting in Benjamin's mouth last year, we noticed that the two front ones seemed a little... odd. Rather than smooth chiclets, they resembled curved crescents. When I pointed this out to Boo's pediatrician, she said that it might have something to do with his blood disorder and instructed me to take him to a pediatric dentist. After a cursory look inside his mouth, the dentist told me Benjamin's teeth were "normal," said there was no such correlation between Benjamin's blood condition and the state of his teeth, and sent us on our way. Within months, the chipping had become much more pronounced, and I decided it was time for a second opinion. Enter the wonderful Dr. Walden Yu, referred to us by a neighbor.

Dr. Yu examined the Boo's tiny mouth and informed us that his two front teeth weren't just chipped; they had cavities. Cavities!! He went on to confirm what our pediatrician had suspected all those months ago: that Benjamin's dental woes were, indeed, related to his spherocytosis. In a nutshell, kids who don't get enough oxygen often form imperfect enamel. After silently cursing Vince's genes, I scheduled an appointment to come back in two weeks and have the cavities filled.

Vince took the morning off of work to accompany us to the dentist. He was there not only for moral support, but also to help hold the Boo down so Dr. Yu could work on those two teeth. Luckily, there were DVD players installed above each chair to help distract his little patients. I selected "Beauty and the Beast" for Benjamin to watch and prayed that he wouldn't been too freaked out.

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He was. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre could have been playing for all the good that DVD player did. I guess nothing can distract a toddler from the fact that he is being held against his will while someone is drilling inside of his mouth. As you can see in the video, Benjamin had gotten so worked up that he'd managed to kick off one shoe and one sock during the procedure. The other thing you can see is that Vince was smiling. I know that he hates musicals, so that leaves just one conclusion: I married a sadist.

Half an hour of drilling and filling later, Benjamin emerged plus two perfect front teeth and minus one pint of sweat. You can't tell from the picture, but there was a dinner plate-sized wet mark on the front of Vince's shirt where Benjamin's head had been restrained- er, resting comfortably during the procedure.

I have to admit that we were pretty shocked by the cosmetic change in Benjamin's smile. We'd grown to love his crooked little crescent-shaped teeth, and it was odd to see them replaced by perfect pearly whites. Then again, we do live in Los Angeles, home of Hollywood and Dr. 90210. So, as they say, when in Rome...

But I draw the line at Botox. No Botox for Benjamin - at least not until he's ten.

Benjamin's First Family Vacation

2009-09-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Benjamin has been on a couple of trips already. There was the trip to Atlanta when he was six months old for his uncle's wedding. And then there was the more recent trip to Vancouver in which we tagged along on one of Daddy's business trips. This past weekend, however, we took Benjamin on his first bona-fide vacation to sunny San Diego. Making it even more fun was the fact that we were going away with another family - close buds and neighbors Shawn, Julie, and Nolan.
.We left LA on Friday morning and drove to Carlsbad for our first stop - Legoland. There was much for the kids to enjoy - a water park that offered them some cool relief from the scorching heat and dozens upon dozens of displays, all meticulously crafted from Legos.

More than the intricate exhibits or the cooling water fountains, Benjamin seemed to enjoy running around the open walkways the most. Seeing him savor such a simple task with such relish brought a smile to my face.

After two hours at Legoland, we were ready for dinner. We stopped at nearby Encinatas for a quick dinner of Mexican food before driving to our hotel in San Diego's Gaslamp District.

On the agenda for Saturday was a trip to the San Diego Zoo. As we pulled into the parking lot, Vince murmured, "The San Diego Zoo. This is where you belong, Benjamin." I found this to be a rather odd and mildly offensive thing to say, and I told Julie and Shawn as much when I relayed the story to them. Almost immediately, the three of them started singing in unison: "You belong in the zoo - the San Diego Zoo." What the--??! Upon seeing my look of shock, Shawn offered by way of explanation that they were singing a jingle from an 80s-era ad campaign which apparently didn't make it to Georgia where I was living at the time.

Once inside, we made a beeline for the petting zoo. Benjamin wasted no time making friends with a small goat who was approximately his size. Although there were many other goats in the petting zoo, for some reason, the Boo kept returning to that particular goat. I was almost worried that he would try to carry him out with us when it was time to leave.

We hit up a few more attractions and left the zoo shortly before lunchtime to return to the hotel for naptime. While the boys slept, Julie and I took a stroll around nearby Horton Plaza and then stopped by the grocery store to pick up lunch. As I thumbed through some magazines at the newstand, I came across this:

A picture from the Graco Baby Products photo shoot that Benjamin and I did back in January! Though I had already seen another one of our ads in print, it was more exciting this time. The first time, a friend had told me that she had seen us and then sent us the magazine in the mail. It's somehow more thrilling to be unexpectedly greeted by your own picture while casually thumbing through a magazine. Of course, I purchased that issue, and had there been more on the newsstand, I would have purchased several more!

After the boys woke from their naps, we returned to the zoo where we saw more creatures than we could keep track of. Sea otters and vultures and deer-like whatchamacallits, oh, my!

But of the countless animals we saw, the elephants were the most majestic.

Halfway through the afternoon, we realized that we were pretty far from the entrance and getting pretty exhausted. By "we" I mean "the parents," because the two little guys seemed far from exhausted. On the contrary, they were full of energy.

Luckily, that energy lasted much of the trek back to the front of the zoo, so they were happy to walk and even run much of time.

Benjamin, who was not yet as proficient at the act of running as Nolan was, tripped and fell, resulting in his very first skinned knee.

On Sunday morning, Vince and I had plans to meet up with some friends for brunch. We had some extra time before our date, so we took a stroll around Petco Stadium.

After working up an appetite running around the stands, we headed to the St. Tropez Cafe to dine with our buds Mike, Kelly, and Sydney. Sydney, who is a mere two months younger than Benjamin, developed quite a bond with Vince. In fact, when it came time for us to leave, she put up quite a fuss, reaching and calling for him while we walked away. Hopefully our own daughter-to-be will take to him this quickly when she arrives in February.

That afternoon, we reunited with Shawn, Julie, and Nolan for hands-on fun at the Science Center. Benjamin and Nolan enjoyed playing with the myriad exhibits, but the big hit (for Benjamin, anyway), was the oversized wooden xylophone in the Kid City section of the museum. Hmmmm. Maybe the Boo is destined to be a musician, and not a dancer.

That evening, we had dinner at a local tavern and then dessert at a Ghiradelli ice cream shop a few blocks away. Dinner was middling, but dessert was divine. We decided to relax his dietary rules and allow Benjamin to taste his first ice cream sundae, which he enjoyed wearing all over his face.

The next morning, we breakfasted at a local restaurant which deigned to proclaim to have the "best pancakes in the world." What their proclamation should have said is that they had the most fibrous pancakes in the world, for I found a gnarled white string cooked into one of mine. The waiter's excuse? "Oh, that must have come from a kitchen towel." Ah, naturally.

While I was trying not to think about how much of the kitchen towel I might have already ingested, Benjamin got busy moisturizing his face with creamer. Nolan must have found Benjamin's gooey cheek to be irresistible, because we caught him doing this:

Looks like Benjamin didn't mind the extra attention, either!

Once breakfast was over, we checked out of our hotel and headed back to Legoland. After a quick run through the the Sea Life Aquarium, we took the boys to Pirate Shores for some water park fun. Unfortunately, all that gushing, splashing, falling, roaring water proved to be too overwhelming for the little Boo, so we scooped him up and brought him over to the tamer, more toddler-friendly section.

That's better!

We spent the rest of the morning at Legoland and were back in our cars just in time to beat traffic and allow the boys to take their naps. I'll admit that I did a little snoozing on the drive home, too.

Poor Vince was the only one of us who didn't get to sleep in the car. Once we arrived at home, however, the weekend caught up with him, and he collapsed onto the floor, where he remained, immobile, for half an hour.

It's a miracle that no one collapsed sooner. We crammed a LOT into our weekend: two trips to Legoland, a full day at the Zoo, a walk around Petco Stadium, brunch with old friends, an afternoon at the Science Museum, plus dinners out every night. I'm exhausted just recounting it all, and I don't think we'll attempt another trip like this anytime soon. But just when I start to wonder why we wear ourselves out taking Benjamin to all these places he probably won't remember, I think of this:

And that makes it all worth it!

Floor Exercises

2009-09-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Fatigue is very common in pregnancy. During my last pregnancy, I was so tired that I found myself falling asleep in work meetings or nodding off while typing emails. Fortunately, my former boss Cathy was very understanding and always willing to let me slip out for a break when I needed it. Unfortunately, my current boss Benjamin is not quite as understanding. He doesn't let me take breaks, and if I try to slip away, he'll follow me hollering and pounding down the door. As such, I've learned to take my breaks right there in the room with him - by just plopping down flat on the floor.
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At first, all proceeds as usual with Benjamin amusing around the house, hardly aware that Mommy is sprawled out like a beached whale on the living room rug.

He contentedly plays in his playroom for a while before moving on to investigate the entryway and kitchen. And that's when he notices me.

A-HA! He looks all too pleased to have found me, and what's more, to discover that, for once, he's taller than I am. What better way to exercise his newfound vertical superiority than to...

...Sit on my head. A few moments later, Oliver joins him on the Mommy Couch, too.

Before long, Benjamin is bored with just sitting on me and takes off to stir up mischief elsewhere.

The mischief he stirs up involves getting himself stuck inside Oliver's toy basket, which requires that I abruptly end my break to rescue him.

Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted!

Here We Go Again

2009-08-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

Vince and I always knew we wanted to have more than one kid and had discussed having them fairly close together. Even so, when that telltale second line showed up on the pregnancy test, we were still in shock. There was joy, of course, but also shock. Raw, numbing shock. We were going to do this again?? The sleepless nights, the poopy diapers, the marathon nursing sessions? Again??

Benjamin, on the other hand, showed no such uncertainty. We handed him the positive preggo stick, explained that he was going to be a big brother, and watched him do an ecstatic little happy dance. If Benjamin can be that jubilant about being usurped, then I'm going to join in the jubilation, too! Margaritas for all! Oh, wait... I can't drink anymore.

Many people have asked me if this pregnancy feels any different from my last one, and the answer is YES. There are two main differences. The first one is that my belly started showing far sooner than it did when I was pregnant with Benjamin. I mean, the pregnancy test turned positive and the top button of my jeans popped off. I've heard that this is common for second pregnancies since your body gets all stretched out by the first one. It's like my belly is the rear end of an old pair of jeans that are fresh from the dryer - the denim may be nice and taut, but once you put them on, they get all saggy and droopy in the rear again. And such is the case with my belly - the second that bun was in the oven, my poor, stretched-out skin just didn't have enough elasticity left in it to hold my guts in.

The second difference is that I feel much more tired with this pregnancy than I did with my first one. Pregnancy is a tiring thing in and of itself, but it's more exhausting when you have to deal with one of these all day long:

Not that I'm complaining. Ok, well maybe just a little. But as I learned from my last pregnancy, complaining is a pregnant woman's right. Right, Vince?

Last week, we went in for my first trimester screening where they take blood, medical history, and a whole bunch of measurements on a high-powered ultrasound machine. Much to our surprise, the ultrasound technician was able to tell us what sex the baby was as well.

A girl! We're having a girl! She was very careful to add the disclaimer that since I was so early (11 weeks at the time), there was chance for error, but she seemed confident in her call. To be honest, we really didn't have a preference, but there is something exciting about adding a little girl to our brood. A little girl to dress up in cute outfits. A little girl who will wear pigtails and hairbows and ruffles. A little girl who might dance in a recital while wearing a tutu. A little girl whom Benjamin will look after and protect from bullies at school. A little girl who will enjoy giggling on the phone with her friends into the wee hours. A little girl who will make her parents proud by telling them she's going to the library to study late at night when she's really going to secretly rendezvouz with her 27-year-old boyfriend.

Oh, sh*t.

The Boy Who Cried "Poop"

2009-08-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

It's been about a year since we began practicing Elimination Communication, and what an interesting journey it's been. There have been ups and downs, but at the end of the day, it's all about the COMMUNICATION and not the-- Yeah, yeah, you get it. And as far as the communication is concerned, he's getting pretty good about letting me know when he needs to go. Sometimes, he uses hand signs to alert me. Sometimes, he uses sounds. Sometimes, he uses telepathy. And sometimes, he does this:
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The boy strips. Strips! And guess what? It works! Benjamin knows that the moment Mommy hears the telltale sound of Velcro being pried apart, she'll come a-running to whisk him off to the potty. Once he's on the potty, Benjamin will usually proceed to do his business with no further incident; however, he's realized that even if he doesn't really need to go, ripping off his pants will result in facetime with Mommy. So what has he started to do? You guessed it: the boy now takes his pants off to get my attention. It feels like I'm back in college.
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Now that I've grown wise to his devious ways, I'm suspicious each time he tries to get my attention. Don't get me wrong: when I hear him dropping trou, I'll still check to make sure that he doesn't really need to use the toilet. But if I've experienced several false alarms in a row, THEN I'll ignore him. Unfortunately, three false alarms doesn't always mean that the fourth will be one, too.

Yes, that is a pants-less Boo staring sheepishly at the wall on which he just urinated. As you can probably guess, this accident was preceded by three false alarms, all of which summoned me to his side. So when he finally sincerely tried to tell me that he needed to use the toilet, I ignored him. Hence the pee-stained wall.

And it gets worse.

That's poop. In the closet. The poo has been pixelated for your own protection. The other thing you can't see in this picture is that the closet is right next to the restroom that Benjamin most frequently uses. Truth be told, I did hear him banging on the restroom door right before I discovered the dookie. But in my defense, this was after the aforementioned three false alarms. So what's an exhausted, frustrated Mommy to do? Ignore her child. And what's the child to do? Find the next closest place in which to drop a deuce.

When I told Vince what had happened, his reply (after howling with laughter) was, "Did you rub his nose in it and tell him, 'No"?" I told him that I did no such thing because (a) Benjamin is not a dog, and (b) he seemed to feel pretty bad about it on his own. I mean, doesn't he look pretty sad and ashamed?

NAH!

My Best Friend's Wedding

2009-08-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

Clockwise from top left: the gorgeous bride Deb; George and Deb after the ceremony; Deb post-makeup and on her way to getting dressed in her wedding gown; Deb with her Maid-of-Honor Jeni and her Matron-of-Honor moi; George's Mom and Deb's Mom

My best friend Deb got married on Saturday. Most women my age have long since ceased to use the term "best friend." They may refer to certain women as "girlfriends" or "close friends," but the term "best friend" is frequently seen as a juvenile sobriquet from adolescence. I, too, used to deride the usage of that term, but that was pre-Deb. It's hard to name all the reasons why I consider Deb to be my best friend. Like many good friends, Deb and I have much in common. We share a love of singing and a penchant for dressing ostentatiously. We love watching cheesy teen romance flicks and think that the instant cappucino sold by the pound at Costco is delish. We see nothing wrong with putting clothing on a dog or shamelessly trying to play matchmaker with single friends. But aside from what we share, there are many things that are so wonderfully, singularly, Deb that make Deb my best friend.

Oh, dear, I'm becoming verklempt. I'll come back to this later.

So as I was saying, Deb's wedding was on Saturday, and in typical Deb fashion, it was a spectacular affair to remember. We kicked the day off with hair and makeup for the bridesmaids and moms. At 8:00 am, we met at the MAC Cosmetics corporate office, where Deb had prepared a training room with breakfast, music, and - as a special touch - directors' chairs with a headshot of each of us pinned to it. For the next three hours, it was a mad dash to get us ready, but not to fear - Deb had hired the best and brightest MAC artists to transform each of us.

The bride herself underwent her transformation then, too, and the result was breathtaking - she looked radiant, beautiful, and happy as all get out!

After hair and makeup, we jumped into our gowns and hightailed it to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. There, we met up with the rest of the wedding party, including the kids. Like the grownups, they were dressed to the nines in adorable formal outfits. Benjamin sported a bowtie, white dress shirt, black velvet suspenders, black knickers, white knee-highs, and patent leather dress shoes. I was worried that he'd balk at having to wear such fussy clothing, but on the contrary, he seemed to love it - a little too much. After preening in the mirror at home, he fairly pranced around the cathedral, and then tried to jump into the baptismal font, which I'm pretty sure is frowned upon.

The flower girls were just as daintily attired as the Boo. Deb had four of them, the younger two of which I sewed dresses for. It was my first time working with organza, a pretty tricky fabric to sew. After a fair bit of cursing, I managed to turn out two adorable little green satin and organza dresses with chocolate colored bows, one for Ciena and the other for little Calina.

Father Antonio performed the ceremony, which was beautiful. I got no pictures of it because I was standing at the altar right next to Deb. Even if I hadn't been standing up there, I probably wouldn't have been able to shoot anything decent through all my tears. Suffice it to say, it was a lovely service that touched even my agnostic heart.

After the ceremony, we took a most unusual mode of transport to get to the reception. No, it wasn't a limo, a stretch Humvee, or a convertible. It was an English-style double decker bus with an open roof. Of course, most of us jumped right up on top to enjoy the LA skyline while clinging on for dear life as we drove down the freeway to CBS Studios in Studio City. We arrived windblown, exhilarated, and ready to party with the new couple.

And party we did. Deb and George had selected the famous "New York Street" set for their reception. In keeping with the high-fashion, Hollywood theme of the day, there was a red carpet at the entrance on which wedding guests could pose for pictures. Once seated, we enjoyed a delicious Chinese buffet dinner beneath a cascade of paper lanterns. An open bar kept the grown-ups happy, while a self-serve candy bar kept the kiddies awake well past their bedtimes.

One little kiddie did not make it past his bedtime. The poor Boo was so tuckered out from his busy day filled with laughter, tears, and preening that he was passed out by 8:00 pm. Luckily, we had his blanket, stroller, and trusty sidekick Mr. Monkey handy, so Benjamin had no problems sleeping through the revelry around him.

The next afternoon, Deb and George had a picnic in nearby Chase Burton Park for out-of-towners, family, and close friends. With the madness of the wedding behind us, we were able to relax and enjoy the beautiful day. To our amusement, Benjamin found himself a new best friend, groomsman Zaldy, AKA "Uncle Z." It's too bad Z lives so far away; he would have made an excellent manny!

So back to the topic of Deb and why she's my best friend. Lest I get verklempt again while writing it all out, I'll just let the toast I gave to her during the reception explain it all. It was a bit emotional and a tad on the long-winded side. But then again, so are we.

And Deb, once again, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The first time I met Deb was at Santa Monica Beach. I'd been playing volleyball with a group of friends, including George. This petite girl in a big grey sweatshirt pushing a bike came up to me. She introduced herself as George's girlfriend Deb, and we started to chat. It was apparent that we had a lot in common. We both had pugs. We were both singers. We both had moved here from far-away places. And we were both extremely talkative. We exchanged info, but this being LA - and me being a cynic - I figured, "I'll probably never hear from her again."

A few days later, I got an email from Deb. It was a very "Deb" email, and if you've ever emailed Deb, you know what I'm talking about. It was filled with emoticons, exclamation points interspersed with question marks, these weird animated happy faces, and entire passages that were inexplicably ALL IN CAPS. Her emails make me laugh, because they are just so Deb: exuberant and lively. And in person, she is a force. She'll greet you with that amazing smile, tell you how fabulous you look, ask how your significant other, child, latest hobby, or pet is doing, and then give you a hug that feels like it came from a linebacker. The funny thing is that even if you're not in the best of moods, her enthusiasm has a way of working its way into you so that suddenly you're smiling, too. Yes, Deb is one of those rare individuals who has the power to light up a room just by being in it.

Her incredible zest for life is the reason why she is able to fit more into her schedule than is humanly possible. Deb is the hardest-working person I know. It's difficult to remember all the things she does, but I'll try. She sings at weddings and other engagements. She cantors. She is a recording artist who has released multiple albums just in the past few years. She performs with a local rock band. She is in the process of developing a television show. Oh, and she has a full-time job. It's a good thing that she has to fly to Canada to see her family, because if it weren't for that fact, I doubt the girl would ever take more than one day off in a row.

But even in the midst of her bajillion responsibilities, Deb makes time for her loved ones. She may neglect to eat, sleep, or get her oil changed, but she never neglects her friends or family. This devotion is why she's played such a large role in my son Benjamin's life. In the months after his birth, I was sleep-deprived, depressed and incapable of taking care of myself. Enter Deb. She'd magically show up at my door when I needed her like a hip, young Mary Poppins. Within moments of arriving, she'd take Benjamin off my hands and shoo me to bed. To make me feel better about accepting her help, she'd assure me that she'd work on her laptop while I slept. But she never did - when I'd wake up, it would be apparent that Deb had been cleaning my house. Everything would be tidy, the kitchen would be sparkly, and the shoes in the entryway would be lined up like little soldiers. I used to tell her that she was like the creepy guy from Sleeping with the Enemy because the perfectly-lined up shoes would be a dead giveaway that she had been in my house. Anyway, I can't count how many times she did this for me, and she never wanted anything in return. I'd ask to treat her to a meal to say thanks, but she'd get annoyed, saying that I'm family and it's not a big deal and she'd had fun hanging out with Benjamine. Sometimes she'd even try to convince me that I was the one doing her a favor. No, she was the one helping me. She was a lifesaver in those dark days, and since then, she's become like a second mother to my son.

It seems like fate that someone this selfless and giving would wind up with a person as caring and kind as George is. And they complement one another perfectly. George is grounded, and Deb can be... hyper. When Deb gets really excited, her voice will climb to decibels not audible to human ears, and George will say, "BON!" and do his trademark (make gesture). These two balance each other out. Deb may be flying into the outer reaches, but George is in the control tower making sure her that she makes it back down to Earth.

Guys, I feel blessed to have known you and seen you through so many different stages, both in your lives as individuals, and in your life together as a couple. You make each other laugh, sometimes you make each other cry, but you always bring out the best in one another. And the love and happiness you share is inspiring enough for this cynic to say with 100% certainty that you always were meant to be together. I'm so excited for the new life that begins for you tonight, and the adventures that you will enjoy together as husband and wife. Congratulations!

The Terrible (-y Confused) Twos 2

2009-08-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

The terrible twos strike again...

Tiny Dancer 3, or Not ALL Television is Evil

2009-08-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

I generally don't allow Benjamin to watch very much T.V. I'm not one of those hardcore anti-television parents for whom watching television is tantamount to smoking crack, but I do prefer that Benjamin occupy himself by doing things other than staring at the idiot box.

Look at what happens when Benjamin watches TV... My vibrant little boy becomes a total zombie. A cute, chubby little zombie, sure, but a zombie nonetheless.

Still, there are times when the television can be - dare I say it? - an absolute godsend. This afternoon, for example, I was in the kitchen desperately trying to put together a lasagna. I was simultaneously boiling pasta, frying ground beef, draining spinach, and mixing bechamel and marinara, which meant that Benjamin wasn't getting any of my attention. He was about to go into full meltdown mode, so to buy myself 15 minutes of time, I let him watch a bit of a Mandarin-English preschoolers' program called Ni Hao, Kailan (which, to you Chinese folks out there, should really be called Ni Hao Ke Pa, Kailan).

Toddler + Television = Zoned-out Child with Glassy Zombie Eyes. Pretty scary, huh? And to think that this was his response to an educational children's program designed to be interactive and engaging. It would stand to reason, then, that a primetime television program geared towards an adult audience would really zombify him. Right?

Not really.

That's Benjamin watching Mommy's guilty pleasure, So You Think You Can Dance. And instead of getting zero enrichment from this cheesy, primetime show, he actually does seem to be getting something out of it, though I'm not sure what exactly. A good laugh, perhaps? Some slick dance moves? I'll let the toddler girls on the playground be the judge of that.

So let this be a lesson to all of you moms out there: reality television is "better" for your children than educational programming.

Bowen Beasties

2009-08-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

It was recently my good friend and neighbor Julie's birthday. If you know anything about Julie, you know that she's a gal of impeccable style. I usually show up for playdates wearing ratty tank tops, shorts, and a hat under which to hide my unwashed tresses, while Julie is always manages to look effortlessly put-together. Her hair is tousled, her makeup is understated, and even her cuticles are groomed! So for her birthday, I thought it would be fitting to craft an homage to her flawless momness in the form of a Julie Beastie. And because I didn't want Julie Beastie to be lonely, I also made a Shawn Beastie.
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Shawn Beastie was actually the easier of two Beasties for me to create. For one thing, I knew exactly what he'd be wearing. For another thing, the guy shaves his head, so I wouldn't even need to sew hair! The only tough part was figuring out how to create his trademark sun hat.

It only took about an hour's worth of cursing and sweating to finangle some canvas scraps into this teensy little chapeau. I was quite pleased with the results, especially with the way the brim could be tied up or left untied, depending on the weather and on Shawn Beastie's current disposition.

Deciding on Julie Beastie's ensemble was a tad more difficult. I mean, her namesake has too many cute outfits to choose from! Do I go with a bright sundress? A classy cardigan? A draped-front tank and shorts? In the end, I decided to approximate one of her trademark looks - two jersey-knit shirts layered over a nice pair of jeans. I even used an old pair of Seven jeans to make the tiny jeans that Julie Beastie is wearing.

Sidenote: If you think it's weird that my son appears in all three of the above images, you're not alone. When I was going through my pictures, I was struck by how Benjamin seemed to be attached to her. I mean, I made peace long ago with how I cease to exist when Auntie Julie is around, but the fact that it was impossible for me to find three pictures of Julie sans Boo is kind of ridiculous! I guess I should have created a tiny Benjamin Beastie as a part of Julie Beastie's trademark outfit! But I digress...

The Beasties seemed to go over well - at least I hope they did. I was tickled by the fact that Julie was wearing layered shirts and Shawn his trademark hat when Julie opened her gift. I was also tickled by the sight of a grown man happily clutching a rag doll.

Happy Birthday, Julie!

The Daily Boo

2009-07-29T13:40:00.001-07:00

Almost a year ago, I developed a substance abuse problem. No, it wasn't booze, pills, or anything like that. I became a Crack(berry) addict - one of those insufferably tech-frenzied morons incapable of going more than five minutes without frantically pecking away at her smartphone device. In order to offset the irritation that my new addiction may have caused to those around me, I began using my Blackberry to snap and send pictures of a certain chubby someone to my closest friends and family.

The very first "Daily Boo."

In the beginning, there were only a few regular recipients of what came to be called the "Daily Boo" email. They included a few close girlfriends, Vince, and my parents. Now, the regular mailing list has grown to include about twice the original number of recipients, but they all have something in common: they're obsessed with The Boo. Ok, I'm exaggerating... They're not all obsessed with Benjamin - though a few of them are (you know who you are, Auntie Yvonne and Auntie Debbie!) - but they do enjoy getting a regular dose of adorable chubbiness in their email inboxes.

There's no rhyme or reason to what kind of picture gets sent out as the Daily Boo. It can be any picture of Benjamin taken with my Blackberry. Over the past year, however, I've several recurring themes have emerged. For example, there are many Daily Boo pictures that feature Benjamin and Daddy:

On rare occasions, Mommy will make appearance in the Daily Boo, too.

The Backseat Pug is a frequent guest star in the Daily Boo...

...as is Benjamin's partner-in-crime, Nolan.
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Since I believe in keeping it real, sometimes I'll send out pictures of Benjamin in his not-so-charming moments. These pictures are referred to as the "Daily Boo-Hoo":

And these pictures I call the "Daily Poo":

Like I said, I keep it real.

There are certain Daily Boo picture that crack me up every single time I see them:

And then there are the Daily Boo's that just make me scratch my head and go "Huh??"

Sometimes the Daily Boo isn't really a Daily Boo, but a Nightly Boo:

But one type of Daily Boo is my absolute favorite. No matter how tired or cranky I am, every time I see one of these Daily Boo's, a smile spreads across my face, my spirits lift, and my heart swells up.

Seeing that precious smile makes all the Daily Boo-Hoo's, sleepless Nightly Boo's, Daily Poo's, and Daily What-Have-You's just melt away. It fills me with indescribable joy and makes me unbelievably grateful just to be with my Boo. Daily.