Monday, August 31, 2009

Onesies galore!

Mom and Dad have worked really hard on making me some styling duds and finished the last onesie over the weekend -- they got a little more entailed as they went along.
And Mom might have painted over one of Dad's first attempts... Dad was ok, though, as she painted it with "I bleed orange"

I heart Mom and Dad. And their mad craft skillz.

Here's a look at what all they made for me to wear for the next year...


Pi is probably my favorite, though I don't think mom will ever repeat the rainbow numeration as it took, like, 6 weeks for her to finish it. Mom and dad's friends joked that I probably won't be allowed to wear that one, but I think I can sneak it on while no one is looking. Besides, mom got me swinging babylegs to wear with it.

What's your favorite?

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Roofs and Tooths

Roofs
Yesterday, Mom and Dad went to the bank and bought me a house. Well, technically, they bought some empty land and some money so they can build a house.
For me.
I am nice and will let them live there.

It was a big week and they're really excited for April, which is when the house will be done. Hopefully.

Right now, my house looks something a little more like Jeannie's bottle in I Dream of Jeannie. Well, I have a hammock, and she didn't... And I can't exactly come out and go back in in a trail of smoke, but...

My new house will look like this:

I was kind of hoping for the house below, but Mom and Dad's contractor (Larry) said the turrets and gold leafing were out of budget:


Ah well, a kid's gotta dream. Either way, it's a lot more space than I have right now. And no one said the fireworks were out, so...

Mom seems to think Zsa and Zsa and Tenzing might like that the new house will have stairs. Something or other about an exercise program for TZ... She's a little worried they might try to teach my to fly.

Tooths
Speaking of my big brother and sister... Mom and Dad totally lost their marbles earlier this week: They decided it would be a fun evening to brush the cats' teeth. ZZ and TZ were somewhat less happy about this plan, but Dad almost fell over when Mom told him how much the dentist was going to charge for a cleaning.

Good times. That will be repeated. Woohoo.

On the plus side, they're getting some practice other folks' teeth, which will come in handy with me. I will probably not try to bite them when they brush my teeth. Unless they use fish toothpaste, in which case, biting is fair game. Of course, I won't have any teeth for awhile, but it's good to be prepared.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Stella!

Mom and Dad celebrated their 2nd anniversary last week and went to one of their favorite restaurants Sunday: Stella!

It was delicious -- they had one of everything.
Just kidding.

They started with violet foam (served over peaches and Iberian ham) and a foie gras BLT, then a lovely Bibb lettuce salad and an heirloom tomato composition. Dad ordered the Kajiki (big meaty fish, like Tuna, from the Blue Marlin family) for his entree. It was a big decision for him because dad loves their Duck 5-ways and has been talking about it since he first tried it a year and half ago. Mom had venison. Rare. It was probably the nicest venison ever. Of course, mom had to bring half her's home -- partly because of the aforementioned courses and partly because she needed room for dessert.

Dad got the bananas foster french toast and mom had housemade ice cream. Which came in an ice bowl that had been frozen under dry ice. It was pretty cool. Not to mention tasty.

See how happy Dad looks? And that was just from the 1st course and a glass of sparkling. (Though he was pretty thrilled to find a Rousanne by the glass -- it was blended with a another grape, which tamed it down a little and gave it a nice minerality.)


And here I am (with mom, of course) after dinner. We were quite content and took a couple pictures in front of one the animals mom and dad painted in my room. (I promise to give a tour soon -- mom's still putting stuff away. And killing ants.)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Working hard

Sunday afternoon: Here's dad and my big brother preparing for the Supreme Court amicus brief they have to write.
Aren't they a fantastically handsome pair?

I'm looking forward to dad letting me help him with his weekend work.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Almost 31 weeks

I am doing my best now to convince everyone that I am actually a watermelon. Shoved up the front of mom's shirt. Is it working?

Usually it goes pretty well until I start kicking, which means mom's belly looks a little more Alien-esque. And then mom has to try and calm me down...

Here we are getting ready to walk Saturday. Don't I look perky?


Mom was an especially eager beaver Saturday morning and got some heat from dad for getting up at 5. My morning calisthenics on her bladder drove her to the bathroom. But after returning to bed to snuggle with Tenzing for an hour, she was up and raring to go at 6.30. For some reason, by 7.30 (here) she looks a little sleepy...

I shall call it sleep deprivation training.

And it shall continue for several years.
Or the rest of her life.
One of the 2.

A Day at the Beach

This past weekend, mom and dad took me to see the ocean for the first time. Ok, technically, they took me to the Gulf of Mexico for a few hours and then went home -- it's pretty close. Mom was worried about getting the camera messed up so the only pictures they took were of the sky:

They were trying to get some cloud pictures for one of mom's 18 arts and crafts projects.
I got to swim in the ocean, which isn't too different that what I'm doing now -- though I think it was a lot more enjoyable for mom. Dad even got in the water and played with us a little bit -- mom didn't even scare him off when she said the little fishies were piranhas. Maybe that was nervous laughter, though. Hard to say.
Dad made mom a little chair back (wedge) out of sand since she can't lay flat any more. She was pretty comfy until the area around her coccyx went numb... Mom did let me get a little burned, probably because I stick out further than anything else. Not like this guy or anything, but maybe next time mom will get so artistic:

All in all, it was a really nice day -- even if it did start pouring later that evening. And the associated itchiness with over toasting me seems to have gone away. Which is good, because I like when she tickles my little bubble (her tummy), not rakes her nails across it...

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Family Dinner

Last night (Monday), mom's aunt and uncle came over for dinner. We had a good time showing them my new digs -- though my dresser doesn't arrive until later this week. Mom really enjoyed talking to Donna about having kids. Donna is super excited to meet me, which makes mom so happy. Dad had Daniel (aka master of the grill) to help him figure out if the chicken was sufficiently cooked. It was a good team effort on dinner -- and no one really even seemed to get eaten alive by skeeters while we were outside. And mom made decaf at the end of dinner which is pretty exciting -- I heart decaf and gave mom some thumps of approval.

Donna and Daniel finally got to see mom and dad's house plans, though they had to wait until the end of dinner.

Here we all are at the table:

Almost 29 weeks

On Saturdays Mom and Dad have the perverse habit of getting up earlier than during the work week so they can get in their 5.5 mile walk (formerly their run) before mom wants to pass out after the first 2 miles. This past Saturday was no different.

See, here's mom about 10 minutes after she rolled out of bed. I was very sleepy -- and am yawning. You can tell that my big brother and sister have already been fed because they aren't trying to climb up mom's leg. Or pull off her shorts -- photos of which might be a little racy for my blog.

And here we are leaving to walk. I've got my favorite sneaks on, not that I know how to walk or anything. It was fun. As per usual, I started kicking mom about half way through -- giddy up.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Social Calendar

Mom and dad have been getting out and about a little more than usual. And it's supposed to be the low season.

Monday, July 27th

Last Monday (7/27), mom and dad's friend Andrea visited from NYC. She came over with her brother, Michael, and one of her daughters, Micaela. Mom and dad were going to surprise Andrea with me, but dad let slip something about paying back Epi II help with parenting advice, so Andrea suspected something might be up. They had a really nice time catching up and laughing about old times. Micaela really wanted to go swimming so we all watched her -- and then Andrea went swimming, too (in her clothes). It was fun.

We went to dinner and mom decided she still really doesn't like crawfish anymore. I think she's beginning to accept that mudbugs will never be same for her after that first trimester etoufee incident. And the crawfish boils in the park while she was running. Those used to really get her dry heaving.


After dinner we came back home and so we could pull on the cats' tails and have ice cream. Micaela seemed to think it was pretty good! She has lots of pets, so she didn't really pull on anyone's tails, but mom and dad did. They can be so juvenile sometimes...


Monday, August 3rd
This Monday, mom and dad's friend, Angelique, came in from California. Angelique is a lawyer who they met down here in NOLA -- she went to Tulane. Again they were trying to surprise a guest with me -- it's like their new favorite game. It seemed to work this time, though Angelique initially thought mom was just drinking too much beer. Mom cooked, which was fun for me. She thinks she might have eaten too much cake, but I think her stomach just shrinks when I stretch.
Mom forgot to get the camera out, so they didn't actually take any pictures.

Tuesday, August 4th
Tuesday night mom and dad got to see one half of their friends Tanya and Mike after too long. Mike is a really good cook, and he makes lots of cool stuff from scratch -- like bread and sausage. He even converted a mini-fridge into a meat curing unit. Chef Mike made 2 kinds of sausage (a caraway venison sausage and a mojito pork sausage), so mom and dad were really excited. So yummy!

They didn't get to see Miss Tanya, who is still hanging out in the much more temperate climate of Western Canada; but Maggy, the world's best yellow lab*, tried her best to make up for it. Mags had a little dance-a-thon the whole evening with her little I'm-so-happy-to-see-you-guys dance. All evening. And she held hands with mom a lot -- in between eating branches. I like Maggie -- can you see me smiling below?
(pictured: Maggie, Dad, Mom, Me)

And mom brought cookies for dessert, which you can read about here. They were a hit and Tanya may get to try them -- though I don't think cookies would make it that long in our house -- even if they are frozen.

* except when she eats cat food and then she gets in a lot of trouble with her dad. And Tenzing, who doesn't like missing a meal.

Wednesday, August 5th
Wednesday is a really big day: We already started the home stretch -- my last trimester. But we made it official by celebrating with a doctors appointment, lots of labwork, and, yay, the glucose screening. Mom wasn't really looking forward to the glucose screening, but it wasn't too bad: Flat orange soda that made her tummy hurt for 3 hours. Her thoughts: Thankfully it wasn't I-want-to-wretch-because-I-just-smelled-crawfish-again gross, but it was a little disconcerting feeling nauseous for a few hours.

I say: Take 2 cookies and call me in the morning.

And mom and dad are taking me to an alumni party in the evening -- go Commodores! More on that later.

Cookies 2.0: The Redux

Mom made some of her dangerously delicious chocolate chip cookies to bring over to dinner at a friend's house last night. Despite one substitution, they are mighty fine specimens.
(I was going to say the that they are the best chocolate chip cookies ever crafted by human hands. But we don't want mom's head to blow up like her ankles did last night.)

Dad says they are addictive. Mike said: mmmmrphgrph. Maggy said: I'm a dog and don't talk, but those look tasty; I will look at you with sad eyes while you guys eat them and make grunting sounds. Mom said, " I wish I could still eat like 5 of them but my stomach is shrinking..."

Mom can't really take all the credit as the recipe is from the New York Times -- some reporter cracked the cookie baking industry wide open. Jacques Torres: 1, Mrs. Fields: 0.
And the stand mixer really did all the heavy lifting.

But more important than how they taste is how they measure up:

I'd say the case* is closed.

*If you're still trying to figure out what I'm talking about, please see my son-i-meter post.