American Idol

I wonder if anyone has ever auditioned for American Idol with a performance of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. If not, I hope Julia doesn't become the first. We watched an AI show with her tonight and she is excited. She wants "to go to sing at the place with the judges" and she wants to go to Hollywood. She said, "I think I am the best singer who sings everywhere (pause) Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer, had a very shiny nose . . . ."

So while Wayne and I are happy that Julia can now watch a show that we want to watch, I can already see how this show throws a little wrench into our mantra that the important thing is not being the best, but trying your best. And having fun. Julia's at the age where everyone says, you can be anything you want be. For now, of course, we can continue to encourage her in whatever she loves, but at some point, we may have to intervene/re-direct, so that she does not end up on the audition reel highlights of American Idol. I mean, all those clueless people - couldn't their parents have done something?

Between Christians and Devils

Between Christians and Devils, Julia turned 4. Literally. Her birthday party - held at a central New Jersey farm - was under a tent situated between a Christian retreat and NJ Devils' (a hockey team) corn maze registration tent (some sort of fan appreciation event). A hay tunnel for kids opened out on one end by the Christians' tent and on the other, the Devils'. People could also enter and exit the hay tunnel through an opening in the middle, which is the one Julia and her friends used since it was right next to our tent. It would have been funny to have noted which direction the kids chose to go once in the tunnel. As it was, I don't think many of the kids exited either end of the hay tunnel. They just came back out to us, telling us stories about hay monsters and the like.

This year, we decided to invite everyone from Julia's class, so it was her biggest party ever. A week before, as she attended he friend's transformer-themed party, she declared that she was going to have a Princess-Transformer-Apple-Picking Birthday party. I thought briefly about trying to satisfy that request, but we stuck with a general apple/farm theme. We gave a nod to princesses by putting a Snow White (eating an apple) cake topper (homemade by Julia's aunt) on the cake. Despite rain, we had a really great time and I think the kids loved getting wet and muddy and hay-ey and picking apples and feeding the animals.

Our friends, J and S, were nice and talented enough to make this picture/video slideshow of Julia's birthday.

They're Breaking Our House

That's what Julia says. It does feel like that I have to admit. It all started with the need to replace the old red roof, broken gutters and crumbling chimneys. Then we figured, while we're at it, how about replacing the siding which had a few minor issues and also the sagging porch. Then Wayne decided to redesign our back deck and work on it with his father all at the same time. It's just a wee bit crazy. We're still in the midst of it all. Julia has been handling it pretty well but has told the contractor that they are hurting our flowers (decimating is more like it) and has told us that she prefers the red roof.
I found some pictures of the house when we bought it. Umm, the house looked pretty good. Were we completely crazy to start this whole thing?
We are excited that we're going to have the original wood siding that was under the aluminum and vinyl siding restored. We're also glad that the crumbling brick chimney and brick supports under the porch are going to be solid. We're going to get blown-in insulation too (currently there's no insulation in the walls at all!) and take care of the tax credit that Obama is giving for weather-proofing one's home. At this point, there's no going back anyway.






The scallop/shake design and the square cutouts to the left had been previously covered.


Wayne's deck project. He's already gotten a nasty gash down one leg and bruised the other one doing this project. Luckily, his dad has been safe.

Our haunted-looking garage. We discovered that the sagging roof and leaning walls were worse than we had thought. On the right side, some previous owner had actually added on some wood before wrapping it in vinyl so that the walls would look straighter than they actually were.

I hope it won't be too long before we can post some pictures of a non-haunted-looking and hazard-free home!

Tickling Wes

Julia loves to kiss Wes and make him laugh. She'll copy gimmicks that others use if they make Wes happy. The chin-tickle shown above was borrowed from Aunt Valky.

Happy

The best way to share what Wes is like now is to share these videos. He loves it when you talk to him and as you can see, is ticklish.

I have been a lot more productive this maternity leave than when I was at home with Julia. I would like to think that it is because I have learned a thing or two about being a mom these last few years, but the reality is that Wes is an easier baby than Julia was in about every way. He only takes 10 to 15 minutes to eat whereas Julia would feed for 30 to 40 minutes. At night, he falls asleep right after eating whereas Julia would require rocking. And most importantly, he isn't colicky. I'm still amazed that he doesn't require hours of carrying him while doing deep-knee lunges to be content. If not for Julia, I might have taken this all for granted. Thank you Julia :) Julia - the baby - was easier in one respect. She rarely ever spit up. Wes spits up voluminously several times a day. His spit up has graced the floors of MoMA and ABC Home and Carpet, among other places. Yes, it is gross (we did wipe up), but . . . I guess there is no but. Only I will confess that while I know it is objectively gross, I don't feel that way. I just wear my hair in a ponytail as much as possible and give him Zantac three times a day.

The Prince

We play a lot of pretend. Julia is always saying, "You be ___ and I'll be ___." If one of the characters is male, she always assigns me that role. If I protest, she tells me that it's just pretend. If I protest further, she explains that I have to be the boy because I'm bigger. In this video, Julia, enamored with her new ballet dress, makes the rare decision to play the prince.

Big Numbers

Wes at his 2 month visit:

15 lbs. 11 oz. (a gain of 6 lbs and 12 oz. since birth!)

25 3/4 in. (a gain of 3 3/4 in. since birth!)

I love chubby babies as much as the next person, but seeing as how it's unlikely we're going to have a baby #3, I wish he'd slow down a little so I could savor that newborn stage of tiny clothes, delicate baby. I imagine Wes in a parody of an Anne Geddess photo shoot - the kind where they lay a baby across an adult's forearm in some cute (or creepy - it's in the eye of the beholder) pose. Only Wes wouldn't be lying horizontally - the arm would be sagging with the weight of a giant baby. Hmm, perhaps I'm not describing it appropriately, but I think such a parody calender might sell well.

A few days after his one month birthday, I took this picture with his gold jewelry. I don't know anything about this Chinese tradition, I just know you are supposed to put gold jewelry on a one-month old and take pictures of him naked. Unless that's just a family tradition. In any case, I preferred Wes keeping his diapers on. (And normally, I wouldn't beam so openly, but that tummy is quite something, wouldn't you say?)