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?"

Rock Band

Evelyn has a new favorite video game: Rock Band. She can really play the drums! She does pretty well in practice mode; she can hit it to the rhythm. She's especially good with the cymbal. She gets a lot of extra hits in, though, since she constantly bounces up and down on the bass drum pedal.

When this game comes out for the Wii, we'll have to get it. And a Wii.

Snowdrops are coming down

This weekend brings the first snow of the year. Evelyn woke up, looked out her window, and saw snow everywhere. Boy, was she excited! We made a snowman. It's a leaner.

She went down the slide at the playground, making a big pile of snow at the bottom. Then she went down again -- fast, "like Lightning McQueen, the famous racecar!" She landed on her butt in the snow about four feet in front of the slide. Mama said, "That was awesome! Do it again!" Evelyn replied, "I'm ready to go home now."


Jorge taught her to make snow angels. She made lots of those, and threw many snowballs. Daddy helped her to slide down hills in the neighbors' yards. It's been great weekend.
Right now she's declaring, "I'm not cute. I'm big."

Here are some gratuitous pictures with Lindita in them:

Fame

Lindita's birth is national news.

Pajama Time

Normally, getting Evelyn's pajamas on is a nightly fight. We have to threaten her with timeouts to get her to step into the pull-up and hold still while we pull on her pajamas.

Last night, after their bath together, Linda needed pajamas too. I asked the magic question: "Who will get her pajamas on first, Evelyn or Linda?" Suddenly, Evelyn is asking for the pull-up, pulling it on by herself, and jumping up and down for Daddy to get her some pink pajamas. She put them on all by herself, while I very slowly snapped up Linda's sleeper. Evelyn declared victory and jumped up and down in triumph.

The same strategy works for getting Evelyn into her car seat and into the bath.

Sibling rivalry is working to our advantage right now.

Where bananas come from

"Evelyn, do you know where bananas come from?"
"From banana peels."
"Where do banana peels come from?"
"Marshmallows!"

She went on to say "...nooooo, bananas." I think the marshmallow bit was a joke, and a funny one!