Christmas with Lindita

We had the most relaxing Christmas ever. Lindita was teething, and all morning she sat on my lap and let Daddy and me play her new game, Wii Music.

First thing in the morning, Lindita climbed down and ran for Evelyn's room. She was disappointed that Evelyn's bed was empty. She did the same thing this morning. Seven more days, Deet-deet, until your sister is home.

Big Christmas

On Saturday we opened presents with my family and Jorge and Eva.

Lindita's favorite gift: Eva bought her a soft Diego that's about her height. "Day-go!" she cries, and hugs him, and carries him around. He's her new boyfriend.

Evelyn's favorite gifts: Rachel bought her a Rescue Pack. Mom's friend Pat bought her one of those toys where you press your face into the blunt-tipped nails to make a 3-D impression. Nana and Pa-pa bought her princess dresses.

Eric's favorite gift: that would be the cheat card for Nintendo DS, which allows him to modify his Pokemon.

Jorge's favorite gift: Evelyn gave him a Mario mushroom, so that he can get even bigger.

Lindita's favorite gift of Evelyn's: a Pokemon dice game from Eva and Jorge. Lindita spent at least half an hour putting the dice in the cup and dumping or shaking them out.

Both girls' favorite gift of Nana's: a rocket ship with astronauts. Evelyn picked this out.

Lindita's First Sentence

"Play Diego"

Yes, her first sentence is about a video game based on a cartoon character.

The parking spot color obsession

Nana's update:

I don't like grandmas anymore cried Evelyn when she found out I parked on a red parking square. Boo-hoo. I said but Evie, they all looked white to me today.

Her school has alternating colors in the parking lot: one spot red, one spot white. Lately Evelyn insists on a white parking spot for drop-off and pickup. Woe unto Nana, who chose the wrong color today in the snow.

Mohawk

 

My day at work

We had some fun at work today.
The stores called the helpdesk because sales weren't saving. Why aren't sales saving? They're taking forever! Like twenty minutes -- how is that even possible?
By increasing log levels, we identified that sales were hanging inserting into a particular table. They hang getting the next available ID, all because one particular sale has a lock on that. What is that particular sale waiting for? Ah-ha, someone has a discount coupon locked in an unrelated process, and that sale wants to use the coupon. Let's call them! They need to close that window.
I try to call the offending store from my work phone. It doesn't work. I try from my cell phone. It doesn't work. Somebody in Kansas City is holding up sales at all stores nationwide, and we can't call them!

In the end, I called the district manager, who called the store manager, who called the manager on duty that day, who called me back. The lock was released, sales started flowing again, and now he knows that their phone is broken. ("That's why no one has called us all day!")

Stuff like this is my favorite part of working IT.

post-Thanksgiving updates

The family had a lovely Thanksgiving. Mama Cat, Aunt Bunny, Uncle Seth, Cousin Liz, and Uncle Gene came to visit. Our two favorite Spaniards joined us for dinner. Later, the girls and I followed Mama Cat to Hannibal. (except our minivan arrived a few seconds before hers did - that's important if you're Evelyn.)

Evelyn's favorite: Going Bonkers, with all of us and Uncle Josh. Lindita enjoyed that too, despite being napless.

Lindita's favorite: Uncle Seth.

Food drive

This morning Evelyn and I went downstairs to the pantry to choose food for the food drive. I told her about the families who don't have enough food to eat. She decided to give them some of her favorite beans, a container of bread crumbs, some jelly for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and chocolate milk for them to drink.

Lindita is both organized and incredibly messy at the same time. She likes to put things back, put things on shelves, put lids on things, and put things away. But she's 1. She can't help being messy. Yesterday morning at breakfast, we gave her blueberries (thawed from frozen). After eating a few, she lined up the remaining ones on the counter, in a neat row -- neat except for the blueberry juice oozing into puddles on the counter and down to the floor, and except for the blueberries she dropped on the floor.
This evening she found a strawberry in a plastic bowl. She took the strawberry out, pulled it apart, ate some, and put the remaining bits back in the bowl. Then she set the bowl down on the air. Maybe she meant the counter, but she missed totally, and plonk, bowl and strawberry bits all over the floor.

Evelyn is interested in road signs, especially the ones with a circle and a line. The other day we sat at a stoplight in front of "No left turn." She knows that one. A car went straight through the light across the street. "That's a bad car! Turning left is not acceptable!" I tried to explain to her that it's okay to go that way if you're going straight, but not from the direction we were coming from. She didn't get it. "No right turn on red" is another tricky one.

Tonight while getting Lindita ready for bed, I couldn't find any pants for her. Her drawer was full of shorts. Nana looked through the clean clothes pile but didn't find any. Then out of the bathroom wanders Lindita, holding out... pants! She found the pants she wore before the bath and brought them to me. Wow! Coincidence? She tried to put the pants on by herself by pulling them over her head. She tries to put all clothing on her head, including socks.
Smart about the pants, right? ... but what was she doing in the bathroom before she brought out the pants? Throwing her favorite book in the bathtub. The book is "Pajama Time," not "Bath Time," silly Deeter Doo.

and now it is Kitchen Time.

Revenge

Lindita dunked Dora in the toilet for a while and then threw her into the garbage can.

new rug

 

A different child

Last night, after Lindita's bath, she sat naked on Evelyn's bed playing with a toy. I approached with a diaper and pajamas. Lindita saw me coming with the diaper and ... laid down. She laid down on the bed and let me put on her diaper and pants! She continued playing with the toy. No rolling away, no fleeing, no squirming, just sweet cooperation. Wow. She is not a clone of her sister, that's for sure.

pictures

Dancing with Daddy:

 

Wrestling sisters:

 

Evelyn at the zoo:

 

Lindita is a power star for Halloween:

 

Evelyn had costumes ready for Mario, Luigi, King Boo, Princess Peach, and Rosalina. At the last minute, she insists she's Yoshi. She can be Yoshi by wearing any green pants and green shirt. Okay, Evelyn, if you declare that you're Yoshi, then you are.

 

At Gymnastics, she wore Mario:

 

Election Day!

Have you voted yet?
The line at our polling place was a little over an hour long, before we left for work. Evelyn was late to school. It's for a good cause.

There are lots of pictures over at the mobile blog from our zoo trip last Sunday. http://jessitron.vox.com

Here is a really interesting article.
It's about how Christians in America get a little too hung up on our country, when we should be more focused on our Heavenly kingdom. What do you think?

Nervousing

Lindita loves buttons. She likes the power buttons on Evelyn's computer and on the TV. Yesterday, Nana reports, Evelyn was playing Mario Kart while Lindita hovered near the TV. Evelyn called out, "Nana, she's nervousing me!"

Lindita has learned to pour water from one cup to another. She likes to put lids on things. She tries really hard to dump out cereal boxes, to get at the food.

Evelyn has been under the weather the last few weeks. She's well enough to go to school, except she's short on sleep. The child will not nap until she collapses.

Last Sunday Aunt Bunny and I took Evelyn to a party at the zoo. It was a very nice party. I have a bunch of pictures - one of these days I'll upload them. Now, at the zoo, we pointed out the word "ZOO" in a few places, and went over how it is spelled. Yesterday, Evelyn spotted the word "zoo" on a magazine and read it! She also recognized the word "zoo" in Good Night, Gorilla. This is progress.

Lindita says "Hot" when near the oven. She knows that my coffee cup and steaming pitcher are hot. This morning she touched her eggs and then pronounced them "hot." Then she attempted to blow on them, unsuccessfully.
She loves to listen to music, but when we turn on the CD player she tries to unplug it. She dances and claps when not chasing electricity.

Evelyn's Christmas wish list

I'll put toys that Evelyn wants on this wish list. It'll show you what she likes. Don't feel obligated to buy from the list directly; some of the stuff is way cheaper elsewhere, and the toys are available in many forms. This will show you some of her favorite Pokemon. She also loves anything related to Mario Kart.

Lindita is 1

Don't mind me -- I'm cranky from too little sleep.

Lindita is now one year old. Hurray Lindita! We never did get a proper birthday celebration in this weekend. She had a cupcake on the deck. Mama Cat brought her a toy laptop with lots of buttons. Nana reports that she likes to use it as a seat.

Pa Pa worked his butt off this weekend to install a swing set in the back yard. The kids are crazy about it.

Evelyn is Luigi today. Each day, she is Mario or Luigi or King Boo or Princess Peach or Rosalina. Occasionally she's Yoshi or Donkey Kong. She is all about the Mario Kart characters. For Halloween we're preparing for any of the above. I just ordered her a blue dress and silver shoes for Rosalina days. She's going to be thrilled.

Lindita is interested in dogs (she pants huh-huh-huh to say "dog") and cats ("Daa!") and books ("buuuh") and balls ("buuuh"). She enjoys pulling things off of shelves and dumping food on the floor. She usually has a scrape on her forehead from a sidewalk encounter.

Eric says that he is tired too.

Health care

Here's a summary of a report about the health care plans of the two candidates.

It hypothesizes the insurance situation in 2010 and the costs over the next decade if each plan is implemented.

McCain -> 21.1 million fewer uninsured
Obama -> 26.2 million fewer uninsured

McCain -> $2 trillion cost over 10 years
Obama -> $1.1 trillion cost over 10 years

The distribution of those insured changes, too: in McCain's plan, those with chronic conditions are less likely to be insured than they are now. In Obama's plan, the sick are more likely to be insured than they are now.

And this report was "more optimistic" about McCain's plan than other comparisons have been.

Which plan is better? DUH!

OCD

Evelyn, yesterday, very sadly: "At school, it wasn't a very good day, because Daddy didn't park in a red spot."

The parking lot at her school is brick, sort of, and it alternates between red and white for each parking spot. Evelyn strongly prefers the red spots.

Eric: "Rrrrgh. This happens every day when I park in a white spot. There weren't any red spots open."

furrin countries

The consensus here is that we should recommend to Sarah Palin that the US invade Kanadastan, in preemptive defense of Israel. This would also make it more convenient for her to drive from Wasilla to Washington with no national borders in between.

Busy weekend

Evelyn is feeling much better. By Friday the fever had faded and she was awake and eating and doing stuff.

Saturday she had two birthday parties to attend, plus a dinner playdate. At the morning party, she and five other girls made dolls at Friends 2 B Made. Evelyn wore her green Diego T-shirt and overalls, because she was Luigi that morning. I warned her that there would be other girls in dresses, but no, she was Luigi. Of course at the party she wined and wined that she wanted a dress. After the party, after lunch, given a choice of ice cream or a dress, she chose ice cream. When not around a bunch of other girls, she was happy to be Luigi again.

In the afternoon she attended her first drop-off party at Carter's house. Carter's mom reports that Evelyn was extra crispy. "And now she's had a bunch of sugar, so good luck this evening."

And for our third outing of the day, dinner at the home of some friends with a boy Evelyn's age. Surprisingly, Evelyn was fine. We all had a very good, relaxing time. Even Eric, who does not like doing more than one outing in a Saturday, was happy.

Today church and then a visit to Jorge and Eva's house, always a hit. Both girls went to sleep on the way home. Whew. Everyone is tired.

Now, back to my mission of Decluttering. I've figured out what to do with some sentimental stuff: photograph it, put the picture in a scrapbook, and give the item away. Good-bye, armadillos. Good-bye, carrots. I can like you without collecting you. It is tough to let go, especially of the armadillos, but the clutter is stressing me out. The houses we visited yesterday were much less cluttered and it was easier to breathe there. I want that feeling in my own home.

Lots going on

Last weekend we went on a retreat with Friends of Missouri Midwives to Lake of the Ozarks. It was nice, although rustic, and Nana didn't go with us, and we had some conflict involving shoes.

On the way back we dropped Eric at the airport for a conference at a resort in Georgia.

Monday Evelyn came down with a pretty high fever. I took her to the new clinic near our house for a strep test that evening. It was negative. On Tuesday the fever was even higher, so I took her to her own doctor. Dr. Salter says that she has an ear infection, and she likely also caught a virus at the retreat. She prescribed antibiotics and immune boosters. She said to put away the thermometer and instead evaluate the child by looking at her. (wonderful!)

Evelyn is still quite sick. The antibiotics have not caused her fever to drop, so it's probably viral. She is sore all over. She is drinking fluids but eating very little. She still wants to play Mario Kart, but much of the day she is too tired.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, Eric broke his foot. He stepped in a gutter. He came back today on crutches and in a cast.

Random pictures

 

I took Evelyn and Lindita to Laumeier Sculpture Park. This is Evelyn's perspective from her carseat.

 

Lindita borrows Evelyn's dinosaur mask at the zoo.

 

"Take a picture of me looking at the elephant's poop."

 

Pictures from Evelyn's first day of preschool

 

 

 

 

Evelyn's first day at The College School

Evelyn walked real slowly to TCS. Kind of taking things in I guess. She put on her backpack and took her lunch box from me (not forcefully, but like dad I'm supposed to be carrying that to go to school).

Went through what I believe is the new cafeteria. No one in there, which I thought was odd for a 1st day and lost parents. Anyway, tried the Spanish class 1st since it had little people chairs. Got directions from ?teacher?. Upstairs. Okay. Stairs on the left lead to 2nd floor. Went right, no left, no right. Finally asked another teacher looking type standing around where the Big Bend classroom was. To the right.

Went in there. More confusion as there is a foyer with cubbies for an older class. Finally saw the sign on glass window for Big Bend room. Evelyn and I went in and lots of people milling about. Found the cubbies. Evelyn just starts unloading her stuff in a random cubby. looks like she has business to attend to. Finally locate her cubby (not in alphabetically order, I think...). Drop off her stuff. Point out her cubby nametag. Dad explains that her water bottle is in her backpack. Okay dad, whatever...Evelyn zips off to a waist high sandbox table filled with dinosaurs or was it dinosaurs an animals or just animals?. 2 seconds in she is commandeering a giant elephant from a boy similarly engaged. She tries the trick of handing him a different toy. He goes for it. Sucker! I tell her that Nana will be there to pick her up at around 12:30. Take two pics, just missed a quick shy smile. Stand around for a moment and realize she'll be okay. Dad goes to work.

Hello out there

Today is a really good day. Yesterday, my sister moved into her college dorm. Wow! She is in for an awesome time. Then Mom came to our house and stayed the night. Evelyn is thrilled to see Mama Cat, but she was anxious to head to Hannibal and see Pa-Pa. Mama Cat enjoyed playing with Evelyn -- the granddaughter ignores Mama Cat when Pa-Pa is around. Plus, Mama Cat got to see Lindita walking around, which is one of the cutest sights ever. Plus, Daddy came home from his short trip.

This morning I had a double cappuccino for extra tastiness. A good evening and a good morning started the day well. Plus work has been fun this week, busy and interesting. Things are great in my world.

Middle-of-the-night questions

Evelyn, at 11 pm: "Hey Mama, after gymnastics, can we see God?"
When I told Nana about that this morning, Nana said, "Did you say, 'Why?'"

the night before, at midnight: "What's the sky for? the sun and sky for?"
When asked what she thought they were for, she said they were for turning light, and turning dark.

Milestones

This weekend has been a big one for Lindita. She is starting to walk! She takes a couple steps before she falls on her butt. Eric saw her take seven in a row, and I saw her travel three feet. She also stands quite well.
On Sunday I woke up to yet another new trick: clapping. Oh, a fat baby who claps and smiles. Does it get any better than that?

4th of July

We had an excellent weekend in Hannibal for the 4th. We made it in time for most of the parade, where Evelyn got the most candy. I cheered Rachel Bringer's float and booed Bob Onder's, my political activity for the day. Next, we walked to the festival. Then Mama Cat and Pa-pa and Daddy took Evelyn to the carnival. She rode all the rides she was tall enough for. Pa-pa was sick from all the spinning, but Evelyn thrust her fist into the air and yelled, "Yeah!" The pirate boat was her favorite.

That night we forgot about the fireworks until we heard them going off. To see them, we crawled onto the widow's walk on top of the house. The view was perfect. They were shooting them off from Lover's Leap since the riverfront was flooded. The show was impressive. Fireworks are cooler than when I was a kid - they used to be multicolored or sparkly or fly in all different directions. Now one firework will do everything!

The weather this weekend was amazing. The 4th and 5th of July were in the 70s, perfectly sunny and comfortable. On Saturday Lindita needed a nap, so we pushed her stroller downtown, where the festival sucked us all in. Mom and I got cool magnetic jewelry. The girlies acquired a wooden tow truck. Evelyn has some very fluffy flip-flops, and Lindita a sock monkey. Evelyn also found a present for Papasan. I won't say what, in case Papa-san is reading this, but it's cool.)

Next, Evelyn wanted to ride rides again. We talked Daddy into coming down to ride with her, but then in a toy store she found yet another Dora beanie. She wanted that more than she wanted to ride rides, so we bought the toy instead. That evening Uncle Seth watched a movie with Evelyn, Aunt Bunny worked again, and the rest of us played some games.

Sunday, church, and then Evelyn went to her first movie at the movie theater, WALL-E. Compared to Go Diego Go Live at the Fox, she wasn't impressed. She did like the movie okay ("Did you like the movie?" "No. There was a scary robot.") and today everything is a spaceship.

The trip home was the low point, as Lindita cried and cried. We made three stops, and still, the baby was miserable in the carseat. She cheered up eventually for The Laurie Berkner Band. Today, the baby is happy to be home. Both girls are happy to see Nana.

Funny and Not Funny

Funny:

Evelyn and I have been playing Pokemon on our Nintendo DS. When a Pokemon runs out of hit points, it faints and disappears from the screen. (No death in this kid-friendly game.)

Today Evelyn said: "Can I have some more cookies Nana? The others I had fainted."

Not Funny:

Today's New York Times article about how Guantanamo interrogation techniques were taken directly from Communist techniques designed to extract false confessions in the 1950s. We called them torture then, of course.

Commonality

Yesterday, we're stopped at a red light. She looks out her window and exclaims, "He's like me. Look mama, he's like me!"

We didn't see anyone there, so we inquired further. "He has two Es, just like me!"

To our right is... a FedEx truck. Sure enough, two Es, just like Evelyn.

We make our own reality

According to the NYT:

Supreme Court: EPA, you must determine whether greenhouse gases are a danger to our health or the environment.

EPA: OK, I did a bunch of research and concluded that yes, greenhouse gases are a danger, and we need to be controlling them.

White House: If you try to send me that report, I'll ignore it.

EPA: (sends report)

White House: (does not open the email) La-la-la, I can't hear you!

EPA: We will reconsider, and talk instead about the legal and economic issues that would result were greenhouse gases hypothetically ever declared a pollutant.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: White House, turn over your documents that show how you pressured the EPA to conform to your strange reality.

White House: Executive Privilege, nah nah!

Big News for New Babies!

Midwives are going to be legal in Missouri this summer! The Supreme Court reinstated the 2007 law legalizing them. The decision will be effective maybe 10 days from now. Hurray, hurray!

The law allows Certified Professional Midwives to practice. The physicians associations challenged the law, but the Supreme Court ruled that because they are not adversely impacted by the law, they have no standing to sue to block it. Duh! This law hurts no one -- it only gives Missouri families more options.

Doe ray knee fie

Evelyn sings the scale: "Do Re Nee Fie So La Ti Do." If I sing "do re mi fa ..." she corrects me.

Summer is finally here

Lindita helped me wash dishes yesterday. She played in the bathtub, and I tossed her a slightly dirty little tupperware. She played with it until it was clean, then put it in the dish drainer. She put the lid in the dish drainer, too.

Evelyn enjoyed her friend Garrett's birthday party at Suson Park. We saw animals, including a giant pig (who snorted at us) and some crazy turkeys. One had its brain on the outside of its head, and one dug in the dirt.

Cute and disgusting

Cute:
Evelyn, on crossing the street: "You have to look both ways, Mama. Don't get flat, because I like you."

Disgusting:
Politics of Katrina

Free Press my tomato

Here is a great summary of the media in the last few years from Chris of Inside-Out the Beltway.

what I saw pouring from the news stations every single day in 2002 and 2003 was a painfully adolescent, almost crazed, lustful craving for domination and glory. I saw not necessarily an inherent "conservative" bias, but an intense, sweaty worshipping of a government that was promising simple answers, straightforward solutions, and unmitigated displays of strength to salve the deep wounds of a great national tragedy.

Then, the media's naked groveling at the shined shoes of nationalism and military might were smoothly coaxed into a more sustained deference to the party that controlled the government and the message....

Currently the media displays a strong conservative bias. This may flip when the sitting President is not a conservative. While in some ways that would be a welcome change, I'd much prefer a media that stood up to the government when the government is full of crap, regardless of whether it's my kind of crap or yours. An administration that doesn't reward sycophancy would help with this, but the TV networks need to put reporters on the air, not a bunch of suck-ups.

Motorcycle Babe

Papa has given Evelyn the ultimate present: a motorcycle. And knee pads and elbow pads and a helmet. Check it out!

Free Press my potato

Today, Glenn Greenwald has an excellent post laying out evidence of how the mainstream media (especially television) has given up on investigative journalism. The coverage of the Iraq War, from inception to today, has been worthless. Some highlights:

• The military analysts the networks present are all in collusion with the Pentagon. The Pentagon and White House created a special program of briefings and information flow, accessible only to former generals who were friendly and passed on the message the Pentagon wanted the public to hear. Then the TV networks presented these guys as "independent military analysts."
  
• Corporate executives at news agencies pressured their reporters to cover only Bush-friendly stories. Stick to the patriotic line, they said.
  
• News these days is all about passing on statements made by government officials or candidates. Leading newspeople actually state that it is not their job to start a debate, just to report what was said.
  
• Two conservatives for every liberal. Or only conservatives. That's been the rule.
  
• Reporters were fired for revealing to the public that they were pressured to favor the government.
  

What influence does TV news have? Well, in Brazil, people changed their entire family structure because of soap operas. TV has a profound influence on people's opinions, especially people who don't read much.

While it's infuriating to hear about the travesties that passed for reporting while the administration was making its case for war, it is not a big surprise. What is alarming is that they haven't changed. The New York Times broke the story about the heavily biased "independent" military analysts weeks ago, and there hasn't been a peep about it on the TV networks. They continue to pass off these government mouthpieces as balanced commentators. They continue to race to be the first to report a White House or candidate statement.

We need to demand better from our media.

Those FLDS children

Today the news says a Texas appellate judge has ruled that the state had no business removing over 400 children from their homes. Sanity! Of the women originally called underage mothers, half were fully adults, and one was 27. And there's more...

"The sect children were removed en masse during a raid that began April 3 after someone called a domestic abuse hot line claiming to be a pregnant abused teenage wife. The girl has not been found and authorities are investigating whether the calls were a hoax."

What kind of tragedy is this? Over four hundred children, half of them babies, were wrenched from their homes, taken away from their parents, and scattered among various foster homes... for a possible hoax? Not only did nobody demonstrate the children were "in immediate danger of physical harm" (the legal basis for taking them without a court hearing) but nobody even verified the original phone call! Some cowboys took it upon themselves to "rescue" all these babies from parents who (God forbid) have different religious beliefs.

Those poor children! I hope they get home soon. I hope God heals their emotional scars.

As for me, I'm signing up here: http://www.parentalrights.org

Which path leads to peace, talk or war?

An anonymous Israeli reports that an unnamed Bush official stated that Bush and Cheney want to attack Iran before they leave office. As nauseating as that possibility is, at least the statement is hearsay. We can hope it's blatantly false.
Unfortunately, the administration's response to that rumor is a matter of record. While they denounce the Israeli's quote, they say instead:

As the President has said, no president of the United States should ever take options off the table...

Um, what about the option of talking to Iran directly? Why is that off the table? Bush and McCain claim that Obama is weak for putting that option back on the table. Yet, the White House statement continues:

... but our preference and our actions for dealing with this matter remain through peaceful diplomatic means.

That would be a lot more believable coming from someone like Obama, instead of from the people who ridicule Obama for suggesting diplomacy. The Bush/McCain policy of refusing to meet with Iran is like a gradeschooler: "Give me that! No? Fine. I'm not speaking to you anymore."
Instead, the White House ominously warns:

Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

So, it might be unforgivable if we don't start a war? The way to peace is not through war. Just look at Iraq. Now that is a betrayal of this and future generations.
Back in the 80s, Reagan was criticized by hawks for talking to Gorbachev. Like Obama, he was compared to Neville Chamberlain and labeled an "appeaser." What did that get us? It got us peace. That wasn't appeasement -- it was diplomacy. It seems to me we ought to try that again.

Shopping

This morning, on the way to her last day of preschool, we stopped at Borders Cafe to pick out presents for her teachers. Evelyn picked out fancy pens with a poofball and sparkly butterfly on the end. "It's a pen, but it's also a wand!"
While we waited for my coffee, she checked out the magazine rack. She saw this cover:

and pointed to the scary face on the left, third circle down. "What's that?" I didn't know, so she asked the person behind the counter, "What's that scary face?" but she didn't know either. It might be a zombie, because it has scary eyes "and scary tooths."

Politicians and the media

I hope you've all heard about the Pentagon's big scheme to keep Iraq war coverage entirely positive -- how all the networks hired former generals handpicked by the Pentagon, and continually briefed by the Pentagon with the propaganda the Bush administration and military wanted spouted on TV. The networks passed these off as "independent military analysts." If a journalist or analyst publishes anything critical of the administration, their access to information is cut off. They were (and are) denied access to people with knowledge, press secretaries won't answer their questions, etc. This isn't really news, is it?

Yesterday I read that McCain's campaign is denying access to journalists whose publications write pieces favorable of Obama. This demonstrates that McCain is already doing some things the same deplorable way Bush does them, denying the media the right to cover both sides.

Aunt Bunny's homework

Happy Mother's Day to Me

I can post from my phone at jessitron.vox.com
check that out.

Eating - 4 skill points

Lindita has leveled up at eating solids. She now opens her mouth and lunges for the spoon. She likes applesauce, avocado, and mashed potatoes. She makes weird faces when we feed her bananas.

Evelyn, when she is hungry, announces, "I'm startle-in'."

Hello world

I can now post on the blog from my mobile phone.

edit: well, maybe not. Attempts to send a photo failed. grr.

Yum, roly poly tomatoes

Threeness

This morning Evelyn looked at the edge of our bedroom door. She turned one doorknob and watched the other one turn, then vice versa. "This door has great twisters!" I told her that they're called doorknobs, and that the door has two doorknobs. She looked at her bedroom door. "My door only has one." Then she ran over to look at her door from the edge: "One, two! My door has two doorknobs." This was a major discovery.

Later, I stood at the top of the stairs and called to her. She came to the bottom of the stairs and I tossed her preferred dress down to her. She almost caught it. "Let's try that again!" She tried to fling the dress up the stairs, then carried it up the stairs.

Then she noticed some dust particles in the sunlight. She spent several minutes catching them. "Look! I caught one!" (opens hands) "Where did it go?" She caught a white dust particle, then a pink one, then several other colors.

She's thrilled to go to school this morning. It's a beautiful day, and she has a new headband. Today is school picture day -- should be interesting.

She didn't die

On Saturday, Evelyn went with Daddy to swimming lessons, then the library, then out to lunch at Lion's Choice. She ate her whole ham sandwich. She read several books. And at swimming: "I drowned, but I didn't die. I splooshed right back out!"

Lindita has a tummyache. We are all very sad and tired. Evelyn dances for Linda; the baby stops crying and laughs at her sister.

How the wind works

A few days ago, it was windy and chilly. Evelyn said that the birds need to stop shaking the branches because it's making too much wind.

Bathtime Giggles

Lindita thinks Evelyn is hilarious. They play in the bath. Evelyn splashes her sister, but Linda blinks and then laughs again.

This video posting doesn't seem to be working. I'll go upload it to Facebook too.

Evelyn loves her bunny towel. She wears it every day. She hops around the house with her floppy bunny ears.

Finally, a sitting photo

Easter friends

Here's Evelyn and Sydney at Purina Farms. They bravely held hands when cold or when intimidated by the giant Easter Bunny.

Money

For those of you with a Facebook account, I uploaded a bunch of pictures this morning. I didn't have time to crop, shrink, and upload each of them to here.



If you sign up for RME with this button I will get $10 and will donate it to Free The Midwives.

Spoon Joy

This morning, Lindita bounced in her command chair while I put away dishes, as usual. After waving a wooden spoon around a bit, I walked over and handed it to her. She stared at me, stared at it, stared at me, and then grabbed it with both hands. Her little eyes lit up and she grinned in delight. She was shocked and thrilled that I gave the wooden spoon to her.

She is the perfect baby!

Burps and kicks

Yesterday after Lindita woke up, stared at her hand, and kicked around for a while, I helped her sit up. She immediately made a huge burp. It was so loud it woke Evelyn.

Last night she kicked me the whole night. She couldn't sleep. Maybe the booger that made so much noise in her nose it kept all of us awake? Maybe the miso soup she sucked off her fingers last night at Sansui? Either way, it was one of those nights I won't be sorry to leave behind when my kids are big.

That's babies: extreme cuteness and joy, alternating with extreme aggravation.

I want food!

Lindita seems to think it's time to start eating solids. At dinner, she wants to sit on our laps and grab our food. Last night she snatched tiny handfuls of rice and a green bean from my plate and tried to cram them into her mouth. Once they are near her mouth, she tries to suck on them. Silly girl.
We tried to take a picture but the camera was MIA.

Today is full of snow. They're closing my office early, and when I get home, I'll put on my puffy coat and take Evelyn out to play. Hurray!

My new favorite baby shirt

I've added pictures to these posts: The birthday continues and Victory at last

And because we haven't seen a photo of Evelyn in a while:

She sits!

I was going to wait until I could upload a picture, but you all deserve to know: Lindita can sit. For a while. She still flops over every few minutes, but she can support herself -- and wants to practice all day.

Yesterday, Evelyn plays with Mater (the tow truck) and a My Little Pony. Says the pony to the tow truck: "I'm not a good hooker."

Immigration

This blog is nominally about my children but I'm going to post about politics today. Blame Jaelithe.

The immigration reform debate makes my heart ache. Why are we fighting so hard to keep out people who want to come to this country and work? Why do we want to spend billions making a wall along our border, to keep out a few desperate desert crossers?

What is so bad about a person of Mexican birth benefiting from a job here? Why should American citizenship confer exclusive rights to the jobs available on this soil? No wonder firms are moving jobs outside of this country. We don't want to let the people who want to do the work, do the work. We force people underground, cause them to resent the system we won't let them be part of. They have so much to contribute!

In my own field, programming, we have many foreigners working here. We also have many jobs that go overseas. In some cases offshoring is a bad idea, when clear communication is essential for doing the job. Other times it's efficient. This competition, both here and abroad, has enriched the field. We need to let more intelligent workers in if we want to continue as a world leader in technology. More, not fewer! The immigration caps on some countries (India, China) are far too low. I'm in favor of letting in as many people as want to come, in the long term. Does this lower my salary potential? Probably. But it enhances the opportunities available to my children, because more innovation will happen here.

I don't want what seems best for the American people. I want what is best for the whole world. In the long run, the two are the same.

What are your thoughts?

The birthday continues

Last weekend, Papa-san and Uncle Jason came to visit. Evelyn, Eric, and Jason all got birthday presents. Evelyn enjoyed the company. Lindita enjoyed the trip to the Art Museum.

What are you going to be?

Yesterday as we laid down to take a nap:
Evelyn: What will I be when I'm done being three?
Mama: Next year on your birthday, you'll turn four.
Evelyn: And then five? And then I can drive a sharp yellow car?
Mama: You can drive when you are sixteen.
Evelyn: And eighteen?
Mama: Yes.
Evelyn: When I'm eighteen I'll drive a big yellow car with a steering wheel.
...
Evelyn: What will you be when you're done being a mama?
Mama: I'll always be your mama.
Evelyn: No. What will you turn into after you're done being a mama?
Mama: A grandma!
Evelyn: Yeah! Like Nana.

She agreed that she might be a grandma too some day, maybe. But when she grows up, she wants to be a mermaid. A mermaid, with a green mermaid tail and a green mermaid swimsuit.

Lindita's Big Day

Today Lindita turned 4 months old. She finally rolled over! She rolled from her back to her tummy. She rolled right off her naked butt pad and immediately pooped on the living room rug. Then she puked on it. She is proud of herself. It's repeatable too: she rolled from back to front several times!

Evelyn's big birthday party at Gymboree was a success this afternoon. Thank you to everyone who came. I'll post pictures on Facebook.

Evelyn is three!

Today is Evelyn's birthday. She denies that she is three: "No, I'm still two and a half." She wants me to carry her down the stairs.

This morning she opened her most exciting present, the big one from Nana. Nana bought her two dresses and some toys. Evelyn immediately put on one of the dresses. She quickly got it wet. Good thing Nana bought her two dresses.

She took cupcakes to school today, cupcakes that we decorated last night. She helped. After frosting and squirting and sprinkling the first batch, she began to eat one without using her hands. Frosting on all the nearby cupcakes interacted with her hair. Time for a bath. Good thing the people who'll eat those cupcakes weren't there to see it.

This evening the planned festivities include more presents and a visit from Jorge and Eva. On Saturday is her big party at Gymboree.

Graeme Frontbum - President of the Internet

Just another day

Here are my girls today. I'm working from home because there's a lot of snow on the ground. Evelyn has been sick this week. Her fever is going down but still present, so no snow play for her. Lindita is cheerful.

Victory at last

After days of trying, Lindita can now grab her feet. She first noticed them about a week ago. She stared and stared. Since then she's been trying to operate her hands, aiming for them. Yesterday she finally grasped them, both of them. Then she smiled. We cheered. Her big sister is proud. She even lets Lindita wear her socks from when she was a baby.

Here she is the day she noticed her feet:



Evelyn has been sick for a few days. We have a virus, and she had a high fever for a long time. She laid in bed with me and told me about parades, fireworks, sledding, and many other things she does with Pa-Pa, Uncle Seth, Mama Cat, and Bean Dog. She wants her purple butterfly blanket when she's sick. Mama Cat bought that for her years ago.

Today I had a beautiful lunch. I had my hair cut, then walked to the hot dog place for a lamb gyro and chili dog. It was gorgeous, 69 and sunny. The guy on the radio says low of 14 tonight and 30% chance of snow by midnight -- crazy!

Another wonderful weekend

The girls are getting smarter and smarter. Evelyn is now sleeping in panties, and she is using the big potty instead of the little potty chair. She has begun asking, "Why?" She wants us to make up stories about Diego and Dora, in which Evelyn rides her "yellow skateboard with yellow knee pads and yellow elbow pads and a yellow helmet with a black three" or her pink horse or Lightning McQueen the famous race car. In these stories, Evelyn is always the fastest. Sometimes while riding her yellow skateboard she races with Lightning McQueen, and Evelyn is still the fastest.

Lindita, um, well, she looks at us and smiles. She has outgrown all the small diapers and is almost too big for 3-6 month clothing. She coos at us, and squeals and chirps like a wild bird.

Evelyn turns three in about two weeks. She is excited about turning three, because then she can be a baseball batter. That's what she wants to be when she grows up, and she thinks that three is grown up. She dismisses any notion of being five or six; three is all she needs.

Three months, and still alive

Today Linda Estrella is 3 months old. Evelyn is 2 years and 11 months. They're both alive and well, growing and learning. Evelyn adores her sister. She plays with her, tries not to squish her or kick her, and exclaims, "She smiled at me!" Yesterday she took a drawing to her, saying, "I will give it to my best friend, Lindita."

Lindita is smiley. She sleeps well at night, eats well, and spits up a lot. That's from overeating. She's wearing 3-6 month clothes and medium diapers. She has both parents, her sister, and her Nana securely charmed.

Evelyn is excited about turning 3 in February. "When I'm 3, then I will be a baseball batter." (She thinks 3 is grown up.) She loved Christmas, and she loved spending time in Hannibal with Mama Cat, Pa-Pa, Uncle Seth, Aunt Bunny, Jeremy, and Bean. When she came home, she hugged Daddy, hugged Mama, and then asked, "Is Lindita here?"