I spent a good chunk of the day before Thanksgiving standing next to my broken down car in the cold, pouring rain. read more…
Learning a new language is tough. I would imagine it’s even harder when you don’t even have a first language. So I really try not to laugh when Lilly comes out with a strange phrase or wrong pronunciation. Well, at least not to her face. But once she’s in bed, Elliott and I love to chuckle about the things she said that day. Of course, we’re not laughing at her. We’re really just relishing this adorable stage of life that won’t last forever. Lucky for us, it’s full of laughs. Hopefully, you’ll also get a chuckle from this list of my favorite mistakes: read more…
Her breathing gentle
And head resting on my chest,
The baby sleeps now.
Voting is your right, ladies, but it wasn’t always. Here’s a 3 minute reminder of why you should exercise that right, especially if you’re a woman.
If you haven’t already, please get out and vote!
It’s that time of year again. My birthday is right around the corner. Yippee. And, in case it’s not abundantly clear, that was dripping with sarcasm. read more…
It’s official. The Sony Walkman is dead. I might not have a clue where my old Walkman is buried these days or if it is even still in my possession, but I’m saddened by the news that this icon of my generation is no longer to be found in stores. (Ok, not in Japanese stores…but we all know it’s coming for the rest of us too). read more…
If you finished all the steps in the Part 1 post, you now have a “Tiny Pteranodon” body (green footy pajamas) with wings attached and a completed (but detached) head. So, all you have left to do is to attach the head, add a little tail and some finishing touches. read more…
Lilly decided a couple weeks ago that she wants to be “Tiny Pteranodon” for Halloween. Most people reading this are now thinking, “umm…who?” But for those parents like me with a child who LOVES PBS’s Dinosaur Train — recognizable by their ability to easily identify all varieties of dinosaurs and tell you whether or not they are fish-, leaf- or meat-eaters — this day was inevitable. If you are lucky enough to have a little Dinosaur Train fan who is 3 years old or older, there are Tiny and Buddy costumes available in some stores. But for those of us dressing up the younger set, there is no such luxury and the only way to go is homemade.
For the last week and a half, I have spent most of Lilly’s naptimes assembling her “Tiny” costume and now [drumroll . . .] it’s done! Yay! I’m not as bad a mother as I feared! Here is the final product:
I like to think of myself as a crafty person. A do-it-yourselfer. A person who can find a way to make it rather than buy it given enough free time. It’s a logical belief. I mean, it’s in my genes: my mom is a sewing and crafting guru and my dad is proudly the most frugal man in the universe. Those two traits inevitably lead to a lot of DIY time growing up. And as I’ve previously mentioned, I was a Girl Scout for an embarassingly long time. read more…
Sometimes I have to remind myself that just a year ago, Lilly was barely walking, barely talking and barely understanding the world around her. I know you hear it all the time, but it really is amazing how much babies can change in a year. A year ago her whole life was smiling, giggling, and working on the latest motor skills feat. Now, at just over two, her feats tend to be more of the “DO IT MYSELF!” variety, which inherently involves testing her boundaries and a bit of defiance. read more…
I’m embarrassed to show my proverbial face around here after going AWOL for more than a week. Sorry about that. Nothing personal. I just kind of hit a wall. There’s something about the change of seasons, particularly summer to fall, that always makes me feel like my “to do” list has tripled. Probably that it does actually triple. The joys of home ownership become the pains-in-the-ass of home ownership — lawn maintenance, repairs best-completed during warm weather, blah blah blah. (God, it’s boring even to list them.) read more…
The best thing about having a two year old is hearing the hilarious things that she says. Lilly cracks me up on a daily basis with her observations, questions and comments. Here’s a sampling from recent days: read more…
It’s been almost a decade now. Nine years since that gorgeous Tuesday morning that turned into one of the ugliest days of our lifetime. Nine years of war. Nine years of fear. Nine years of hate. Nine years of blame. Nine awful years in American history. read more…
It’s been pretty quiet around here for a few days. And by “here” I, of course, mean MushBrain.net and not my home because home is never really quiet anymore. As Elliott likes to point out, the “pitter patter of little feet” cliché is really way off base. Those little feet sound much more like a stampede of elephants, especially from an office in the basement. But I digress. read more…
Lilly’s had five days of preschool already — the first five school days of her life — and yet I’ve written nary a word about it. At first it was a coping mechanism. Dwelling on what I was thinking and feeling as I dropped Lilly off those first few days would certainly result in tears. Then when I got through the first week without any major tears, and more importantly, Lilly did also, I was afraid to jinx our good fortune and easy transition by writing about it. Now we’ve had good days and bad days and I’m ready to talk. read more…
