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Monday, 08 February 2010

Cute, even if I do say so myself

I just had to share my new favorite photo:

Is that an adorable baby, or what? Maybe I'm biased. But look at these!
Just this weekend, Derek became a really steady sitter. He's delighted with himself!

I think this coming weekend, we're going to get Derek's head shaved. It's a Chinese rite of passage for babies around six months of age (some of you may remember when we did it for Jack). I was kind of sad about it when Jack had his head shaved because he had such luscious, long hair, but I'm actually looking forward to this milestone for Derek. His hair is uneven -- longer on the sides, and shorter on top -- and distracts a little from his ultra-cute face. Shaving his head will give his hair a chance to start over! Anyway, I'll be sure to share pictures from the head-shaving.
In my last entry, I mentioned that we might get some seating for our playroom. Well, we did, so now our playroom is finished (except for getting some art and photos on the wall. And we might get more toy storage later on).
There's storage under the chaise part of the sectional, and the couch part pulls out to make it a double bed

View of the playroom from my "office corner"

I'll leave you with this picture of silly Jack. He got this hat as part of the kid's meal at El Torito on Saturday and has been wearing it ever since. He says "moo" whenever he has it on.

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, 06 February 2010

Derek is seven months old!

That's right ... my baby turned seven months old yesterday! We'll find out his measurements when we go to the pediatrician next Thursday. He's doing much better with his infections -- the ear infection is gone (although we'll be on the antibiotics until next week), and he's a lot less congested. Unfortunately, being sick has made Derek's eczema flare up again -- all the snot/drool that ends up on his face, our constant wiping off of his face, the fever, and him rubbing his face against the crib sheets add up to some eczema-friendly conditions! We were able to control it somewhat with Aquaphor and a humidifier, but we couldn't keep the flare-up away completely. It's getting better again now. I predict that Derek will be at 100% again this coming week. Hopefully we'll have at least a few weeks' respite before Jack brings home the next preschool illness!
Anyway, Derek is doing great. His sitting skills improve by the day, it seems. He doesn't topple over as easily now, and he's really delighted by being able to sit and reach for toys. He's also getting pretty adept at creeping and rolling toward toys. Not much longer now until he attempts to crawl.
My happy sitter!

Making his way toward some toys

Here's a video showing how Derek gets around. Of course, he didn't feel like showing off for the camera, but you get the idea (and it's still cute, I think!).
As usual, nothing delights Derek more than playing with his big brother. He especially loves cuddle time with Jack in the morning. Before he gets out of bed, Jack will request "cuddle first" with me (or Johnny) and Derek. The two boys lay next to each other and just laugh. I really need to get a video of this! It's the cutest.
Speaking of Jack, he's keeping us on our toes with his ever-expanding speech skills. He's now able to apply words to new contexts, even without having heard those words said in that context, so we have to be careful with bad words. Last weekend, Johnny lost an important document he'd been working on, and he said, "Fuck!" under his breath at the computer. Jack rushed over and wagged his finger at Johnny, saying, "No fucking, Baba! No fucking! That's very bad. Bad word!" Of course Johnny apologized and agreed that no one should say that word. (To clarify, we don't curse very often ... but a word or two does slip out under duress!) So then, this week, I was driving in the Petco parking lot when a car cut me off, nearly hitting our car. I honked, and immediately Jack said, "YEAH! Fuck him!" I was SHOCKED! So much so that I parked in the nearest spot, whipped my head around and said, "What did you say, Jack?" He replied, "Oops, sorry, Mommy! I said 'fuck'! Is very bad." I told Jack that it's not nice to say that word, and that it hurts people's feelings (Jack's very sensitive to hurting people's feelings, for whatever reason). I can honestly say that neither Johnny nor I have cursed at people after honking at them (we also don't honk that frequently to begin with), and Jack doesn't ride in cars with other adults, so he just somehow knew that that was the appropriate context. After I got over my "what kind of mom am I?" moment, I actually thought it was pretty funny to hear him swear so vehemently in his sweet toddler voice, and with the correct emphasis on each word. Anyway, Johnny and I are very aware of what we say now, and we're also reacting to any bad words pretty calmly (to prevent Jack from doing it to seek attention).
When he's not swearing like a sailor, our big boy loves to "read." His latest obsession is to pull out all of our magazines and flip through them, making comments as he goes ("Oh, I like this, Mommy," "hmmm," or "very nice!" are his favorite expressions while reading). Sometimes he'll do this for 45 minutes at a time.
Engrossed in one of Johnny's toy-industry mags

Of course, he also still loves to be read to. His favorite (and my current favorite as well) is the award-winning book Bubble Trouble. I highly recommend it -- the illustrations and story are cute (Mabel blows a bubble that traps her baby brother and whisks him away into the air!), there are lots of alliterative tongue-twisters, and the whole thing's done in iambic pentameter. Besides, what other children's book uses the words "nefarious," "grovel," "cavorting," and "cavil"? Everyone run out and buy it today!
That's it for now. This weekend we're laying low. We might go get a loveseat or something for our playroom so we don't have to sit on the floor all the time while watching the kids play. Other than that, just hanging out at home and watching the rain fall. Hope everyone has good, restful weekends!

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Yup, They're Growing

I took both kids to the pediatrician yesterday, for Jack's 2.5-year appointment and Derek's six-month appointment. It's very convenient to have them spaced exactly two years apart; I can get appointments done in one fell swoop!
The kids are growing fast, especially Derek. His six-month stats are:
Length: 28 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 17 pounds, 12 ounces (60th percentile)
As always, he's longer than Jack was at the same age, but less heavy. (Jack was 18 pounds, 6 ounces at six months, but he was half an inch shorter.)
Jack's 2.5-year stats are:
Height: 36.5 inches (40th percentile)
Weight: Almost 30 pounds (40th percentile)
It was so bittersweet for me to see my little boy standing to get weighed and measured! It wasn't so long ago that he was laying down to be measured and weighed, just like Derek. Jack's growth has slowed down, which is normal for kids this age. The pediatrician said that his genetics are starting to show through -- since neither Johnny nor I are especially big or tall, I guess we couldn't expect him to keep at 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight until adulthood! Sigh, I was really hoping for a 6' or 6'2" son. I think that range is the perfect height for men. It's a very handsome height, but much taller and you start to look unbalanced and freakish. I entered Jack's stats into a height prediction calculator online (I know, oh-so-reliable!), and it said that at this rate, Jack will end up being 5'10" ... the same height as Johnny. BUT, my father-in-law is taller than six feet, so maybe those genetics will suddenly leap into play when Jack enters puberty! Or, there's Derek -- I will place my tall son hopes on him.
Anyway, the kids are both doing really well. The pediatrician was impressed with Jack's speech and phonics skills, his eating habits, and his potty training success. I think Jack lags a little in some gross motor skills -- he's active and loves to run around, but he doesn't quite have the hang of jumping with both feet, and he's anxious about climbing play structures. He also gets down on his butt and scoots down even the smallest set of stairs or steps, saying, "careful, careful" to himself the whole time. It's quite a contradiction -- he's a typical toddler whirling dervish, but he's cautious at the same time. He's good on his fine motor skills (utensil use, manipulation of toys, etc.). The pediatrician said that was fine, and that kids (like adults) excel in certain areas and not so much in others. I had to chuckle, because I am a huge klutz but have great verbal skills. Johnny's not klutzy, but I wouldn't say he's got any exceptional hand-eye coordination skills or gross motor skills, either. Neither of us can dance to save our lives, and I have never been able to successfully play a sport involving a ball. It's a wonder I can pull it together enough to drive! So ... I am not surprised! I was kind of hoping that Jack and Derek could be a hot dancing duo and go on to win So You Think You Can Dance, season 25, but alas! Maybe Derek will inherit June's dancing skills and win the competition himself. But, in all seriousness, I'm happy that Jack is doing so well verbally, and that's something we'll continue to encourage and foster as he grows up. I think good verbal skills can take you pretty far; the physical stuff is nice, but not as essential. (That being said, we'll still sign him up for soccer, swim lessons and whatever sports he wants to do. He is a boy, after all, and guys should be at least knowledgeable about sports, even if they're not big fans! Oh, I am so sexist sometimes.)
As for Derek, he's been sitting up for a while now, though he's not quite that steady. Here are a couple pics I took yesterday, in our newly reconfigured den. (My mom's moved into her new house nearby, so we moved Derek into the third bedroom, and converted the den into an awesome, huge playroom that also has my home office setup in one corner.)

Moments after this was taken, Derek toppled back and cried! Happiness is fleeting when you have an infant, ha.

Jack playing with Derek and telling him that this was a "zebwa."

Here are some pics of the new playroom/office. We'll eventually get a guest bed, too, that can function as a couch when there are no guests.

Here's a really cute picture of my parents with the boys!

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, 16 January 2010

Jack's first girlfriend (and other kid-related updates)

It's been a while since I really wrote about how the boys were doing -- I've mostly just been posting photos -- so I here I am with a more in-depth update! But first, I want to share a video of Jack talking about his first girlfriend, a girl named Karis in his preschool class.
I'm pretty darn sure he doesn't know what a girlfriend is, but this all came up because the other day, I asked Jack if he had any friends at school. He said, "Yeah. Girls!" My mom and I thought this was hilarious, and we asked, "Oh! You have girlfriends?" And Jack said, "Yes. Four!" So we asked him for a name, and after some consideration, he said, "Karis!" I think he was just saying any girl's name that he could remember. But, it was pretty cute, and when I picked him up from school on Thursday, he babbled on about how he shared his blocks and cars with Karis. If that's not love, I don't know what is.
Other Jack Updates
Jack is really growing up fast. He's talking nonstop, he really does understand everything we tell him now, and he's less prone to tantrums. I'm amazed at how quickly he learns new concepts. Yesterday, Johnny was reconfiguring the tracks on Jack's train table, with Jack's "help." Jack was particularly interested in the big piece of paper that came with the train table, which showed all the (thousand) pieces of track, each labeled with a letter, and how they go together. At one point, Johnny and I couldn't find one of the stations on the track. Johnny asked me, "Have you seen the little station? Not the big station, but the one with the orange pole thing?" I said, "No, I have no idea where it is. It was there this morning." A few seconds later, Jack walked up to us, waving the giant diagram around, saying, "Need a T! Need a T!" and pointing to the paper. We looked down and saw that he was pointing to the illustration for the component labeled "T" -- which was exactly the little station we had been talking about. It doesn't seem like much, but we were impressed that he had a) paid attention and understood what we were describing (we hadn't been talking to him), b) identified the little drawing of it in the diagram and c) gotten the concept that the letter was a label, and referred to the little station as "T." Pretty cool!
Although I'm always happy to see Jack picking up new skills, I'm most proud when he shows kindness and consideration toward Derek. It is really neat to watch Jack exhibit caring behaviors without our prompting. Whenever Derek cries, Jack will drop what he's doing and say, "Oh, no! Derek crying! Help him!" Often he'll run to try to get a bottle, or to find a pacifier for Derek. He'll also request to hold his brother, and he loves to press the buttons on Derek's exersaucer, then dance in a circle as music plays, to make Derek laugh. We like to tell Jack that he's a great big brother, and that he and Derek will need to watch out for each other and take care of each other their whole lives.
Aside from his emotional/intellectual growth, I think Jack must also be experiencing a physical growth spurt. The boy has been an eating machine lately. Tonight for dinner, he ate an entire adult-sized portion of udon noodles stir fried with baby bok choy, enoki mushrooms, green onion, chicken and fish. He followed that with eight orange wedges (a whole navel orange's worth) and washed it down with eight ounces of milk. And that was less than two hours after eating a whole cup of animal crackers and two tangerines at the park. Jack's always been a good eater, but for the past two weeks, he's been eating us out of house and home! After his preschool mornings, he's especially ravenous. The other day while I was warming up his lunch after preschool, he sat there and ate half of a raw green bell pepper. He then went on to eat a whole chicken drumstick, drink nine ounces of milk, and devour two tangerines and half a banana. We have an appointment for his 2.5-year check up this coming Wednesday -- I'm eager to see how much he's grown. He's also been sleeping a ton -- two-hour naps (sometimes three), and sleeping at night from about 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. (I shouldn't say that out loud -- as soon as I do, he'll start waking up super early and skipping naps again, I'm sure.) Jack still seems skinny as ever, but he has gotten taller. I guess I should get used to all this eating. Someday we'll have two teenage boys around, yikes!
Derek Updates
My baby is growing up! It took a couple of weeks, but just within the last two days, Derek has really begun to like solids. He can't get enough of zucchini, in particular, and he's also a fan of bananas and butternut squash. Tomorrow night I'm going to make a batch of "Trio of Root Vegetables" (steamed parsnip, sweet potato and carrots pureed together), more zucchini, and pears and apples with cinnamon.
For the last couple of weeks, we'd been having a really tough time with Derek's daytime schedule and nighttime sleep. Since he was two months old, Derek's pretty much been sleeping through the night, but since he turned six months, he started waking up at least two to three times a night. To get him back to sleep ASAP, I would pick him up and feed him, but that never kept him asleep for longer than three or four hours. During the day, he'd get fussy and need to eat (or so I thought) every couple of hours or so, but refuse to take more than a few ounces at a time. It was also really hard to get him down for naps.
I know there are lots of schedule-disrupting events around six months, because babies are gaining so many skills (sitting up, really grasping with accuracy, etc.) and possibly teething. I can deal with daytime wackiness, but I cannot deal with messed-up nighttime sleep. Obviously, with babies (and young children in general), you're going to have the occasional bad night, and almost always you'll have an early wake-up call, but I really need my babies to sleep well on their own for the entire night. It's one of mine and Johnny's non-negotiable issues when it comes to parenting. We never had to deal with much sleep training for Jack -- he also started sleeping through the night around two months, and except for the periodic nighttime waking during teething or developmental milestones, he pretty much kept it up. So this was the first time we'd run into nighttime sleep issues. I was emailing Donna about our woes (her baby, Josh, is the same age as Derek), and she told me how they had successfully dealt with similar issues with Josh by letting him cry it out (CIO). I know CIO isn't for everyone, but it's always appealed to me (obviously only when the baby is old enough) as a way to train a baby to fall back asleep on his own if he wakes up in the middle of the night. And, like I said, sleep is just about the only area of parenting in which I'm a "tough-love" kind of person. So, after asking Donna a ton of questions, we started CIO on Wednesday. After Derek's bedtime routine and bottle, I put him down awake. Lo and behold, he fell asleep on his own, without rocking. If he cried in the middle of the night, I'd go and peek in to make sure nothing was physically wrong, and then leave him to cry for five minutes. If he was still crying, I'd go and pat him and put in the pacifier, then leave again and go in five minutes later, if necessary.
It was hard to hear him cry, for sure. Wednesday night, after an hour of this cycle, I chickened out and picked him up, thinking he must be hungry to cry for so long. Well, the little imp took only three ounces before zonking out and snoring away for the next five hours. Thursday night, I was wiser. He woke up at 2 a.m. and cried for almost 45 minutes (with me going in every five minutes), and then slept for the rest of the night, waking up cheery and bright-eyed shortly after 6 a.m. Last night -- wait for it, wait for it -- he slept through the night again for the first time in two weeks! Tonight, he again fell asleep on his own, and so far, so good. He's been happy in the morning, and (I don't know if this is connected), he's been a lot better about eating during the day. We've been able to (for the last few days) stop the constant eating and instead do four big bottles, and solid breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm really happy with the progress we've made, and I feel like Derek's been in a much better mood during the day, too.
Finally: Am I the only mom out there who doesn't feel like her baby's growing up too quickly? I just can't wait to see Derek and Jack really playing together, and for Derek to be able to join in the fun for real. Plus, I'm eager to be done with bottles and drooling and all the baby stuff. As trying as toddlers can be, what I've learned since July 2007 is that as much as I love kids, I'm not really the biggest baby person! With that being said, I do love hearing Derek's baby belly laugh, and seeing his whole face light up and his body wriggle with excitement whenever I come back into the room, even if I've only been gone for a few minutes. That's something you only get from babies, and I will miss that when he grows up. It's also heartwarming to see Derek watching Jack's every movement with an expression of utter admiration. I really hope the boys are best friends (or at least very close ones) as they grow up.
OK, I'll stop writing my novel now. I hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Sunday, 10 January 2010

Happy 2010!

How is it 10 days into the New Year already?! Happy belated New Year, everyone. Our year is off to a great start, but things have been busy, so I haven't gotten as much of a chance to update. Just wanted to pop on really quickly and share some pictures and videos.
Here's Derek -- he's six months old now! Where does the time go?

One of Jack's favorite pastimes is to "help" Derek play with any toy that lights up or plays music. Here he's saying, "Good job, Dee-Dee!" (That's the Mandarin word for "little brother.")

And ... Derek is now eating solids! Just really simple stuff so far, but still exciting nonetheless. My kitchen is turning into a baby food factory again.
On the left: Derek's in Jack's old high chair for the first time, trying to figure out a sippy cup. On the right: Derek's not such a huge fan of pureed peas, but we'll keep trying. He loves butternut squash, of course.

Jack's been into his Mega Blox lately. Here he's putting out a fire with some "water."
He's also making spraying sound effects. Cute!

Just some more Derek cuteness. I wish I could remember what was making him giggle in the second pic!

He loves his exersaucer!

I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone who knows us, but Jack's an attention-monger. Johnny and I were merely talking about the camera at dinner one night, and Jack turned to us to request, "Take picture Jack, OK?" When we obliged, he struck this pose:
"I'm cute, and I know it!" (Also, looks like Jack's mastered the old "tilt the chin down for a more flattering angle" trick.)

What good is a baby if you can't put him in hilarious positions?

We took a trip to the Madrona Marsh last weekend. It's a vernal preserve right here in Torrance. The scenery changes each season -- during the rainy months (I'm not sure when those months are, but supposedly they exist), the water level gets really high. Anyway, it's 10 acres of fun for an energetic toddler!
Look at these iconic toddler photos!

I had fun wearing Derek in the Babyhawk while Johnny ran around with Jack.

Finally, I have two great videos to share. Thanks to a PBS Kids show called Super Why, Jack's begun to show an interest in phonics. One day, he just started saying what sounds letters make. Sometimes he makes mistakes, but more often than not, he gets it right. It started with Jack saying, "Buh buh buh butterfly!" whenever he saw the letter "B" and just went from there. Tonight Johnny and Jack lined up all the plastic letters and played a game of "letter sounds." This video shows Jack's newfound skills:
And then there's this video, which just goes to show that this will be a long learning process, indeed (as it should be):
Fun stuff. I'm really glad that Jack is showing such an interest in reading. We've read to him since he was Derek's age (even younger), but never pushed anything on him. Both of us love reading, and one of our greatest hopes for Jack and Derek is that they enjoy it as much as we do (or even more). That being said, although we can take credit for Jack's love of books thus far, we can't really take credit for Jack's great letter recognition or for the phonics thing. We have TV to thank for that -- those Preschool Prepco videos got him started on letters, and now there's Super Why and Word World. While researching for one of my Examiner articles recently, I came across a statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that said that they don't recommend any TV for children ages two and under. I welcome the AAP to visit our house in the late afternoon, when dinner prep, bedtime and a cranky baby all collide, and not turn on the TV -- a hundred bucks says they'd amend their statement after that.
Hope everyone's having a great January so far!

Thursday, 31 December 2009

Guide to Making Your Own Baby Food

I can't believe it's time, but we're introducing Derek to pureed peas tonight. The other night, I cooked up and pureed tons of butternut squash, apples and peas. The freezer is looking quite full again! Seems like just yesterday I was doing this for Jack.
In honor of this great milestone -- and to indulge my great passion for making baby food -- I wrote three articles about homemade baby food (a how-to, a few simple recipes, and a guide to buying organic produce) and put them in this guide to making your own baby food on my Examiner page. Check it out if you're interested! And yes, I will share pictures of Derek's first bite of peas.
Last but certainly not least, Happy New Year's Eve! I hope everyone has a wonderful start to 2010.

Saturday, 26 December 2009

An Awesome Christmas

Hello, everyone! We had a great Christmas, and I hope those of you who celebrate Christmas enjoyed the day as much as we did.
Our festivities began on Christmas Eve. That was the first day of Johnny's holiday break from work (his office shuts down between Christmas and New Year's). We hung out at home and then put together Jack's train table after the kids went to bed.
Jack and Derek on Christmas Eve
"Santa" assembling the train table

Poor Atari was very disturbed by all the lights we had on and the ruckus we were making as we assembled the table. He put his paw over his eyes!

Part of what made Christmas extra special this year was that Jack really got the concept of Santa. On Christmas morning, when he woke up, I rang bells outside his room as Johnny went in to get him out of bed. When he heard the bells, he turned to Johnny with what Johnny reports as an expression of absolute wonderment and said, "Baba! Santa! Santa!" Jack then went to his window, lifted the curtain and looked for Santa's sleigh. I walked in to see this:
Where's Santa?

Johnny had written a letter from Santa to read to Jack. "Santa" had addressed it to Jack's Mommy and Daddy. The letter said that Jack had been very good this year, and had tried hard to keep his underwear dry, so Santa brought him Edward, James and a "few surprises." Jack then dashed to the den, where he had put a plate of gingerbread men under the tree for Santa the previous night. The plate was empty, and in the cookies' place were Edward and James. As you can see in this video, that made Jack very excited:

Jack discovering Edward and James under the tree
After that, we unwrapped some more presents. Most of the items under the tree were for the kids, but Johnny and I also made out very well with generous gifts from our parents, and we each got one big gift for each other (even though we had agreed that there would be no big gifts!). I upgraded Johnny's phone to a Palm Pre, and Johnny got me the "Pop C" tote from Coach's new Poppy collection. It was a great surprise!
Putting on one of Derek's stocking stuffers

After the presents were unwrapped, we brought Jack into the living room for his big surprise from Santa: the train table! Jack was so stunned he was rendered speechless. This is a rare event -- usually Jack chatters from the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep at night.

He played with the train table for hours, needing to be reminded to eat and drink, and stopping only to nap and play with his Handy Manny tools (thanks, Aunt Victoria and Uncle Chris!).

Meanwhile, Derek was also excited about Christmas.

Johnny took his big gift from his parents, a new bike, helmet and other accessories, out for a spin.

I stayed inside and fed Derek, then enjoyed a nice long nap (the best gift ever!).
Now we're chilling at home and anticipating the arrival of our good friends Lily and Leon. They're flying in from New York to meet Derek and spend a little time with us. Tonight, my mom will be home with the boys after they're in bed so that we can take Lily and Leon out to dinner. We're having Korean noodles and then heading to the Melting Pot for some chocolate fondue. Yum!
I leave you with this adorable picture of Jack:

Too cute!

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

Two New Articles

I published two more articles on my Examiner page: one about Travel Town, and the other about nature walks in the South Bay. Check 'em out!
Coming soon, by popular demand: A guide to making and storing your own baby food. The timing might have something to do with a certain baby turning six months on January 5. Hee hee.

Monday, 21 December 2009

Party Time

Last night, we went to a holiday party hosted by Milena and Michael (Marcus' parents). The party was at Michael's house, which had an awesome playroom. Jack had a great time. I'm sure he doesn't remember the frequent playdates he had with Marcus when we were living in West LA, but the two of them certainly interacted like long-lost friends. They talked to each other and took turns with toys. It was the first time I'd seen Jack talk to another toddler. They were taking turns pushing each other in a toy car, and Jack would say, "Marcus push Jack?" when it was his turn to sit in the car, then "OK, Marcus turn! Jack push Marcus!" when the time came to switch. Marcus would reply in kind. Very cool.
This was during one of the "Jack push Marcus" moments
Jack loved playing with Marcus' awesome trike

Inflatable pool filled with rubber balls ... genius idea for indoor winter play!
Meanwhile, I watched from the floor with Derek, who's on the verge of independent sitting
Milena, Derek and I

Family shot!

This next picture is from before the party, but it show's Jack full get-up (we had to take off the awesome sweater once we got there because the playroom was so warm!) and his freshly gelled hair.

We've been having merry times here at home, too. The boys are very sweet with each other.
Totally unprompted, Jack went over to Derek one afternoon and inserted Derek's "fire" in his mouth. Look at Derek's expression!

Another unprompted sweet moment

Jack is also very encouraging of Derek's accomplishments. Whenever Derek successfully makes the toy bar on his bouncy seat light up, Jack claps and says, "Good job!"
Derek's like, "Please, can I have a turn?"

My cousin sent a package last week with Christmas gifts for the boys -- hand-knit hat for Jack and booties for Derek. Here's Jack modeling his hat.

In that picture, he's eating a post-dinner dessert of Asian pear and persimmons. He loves persimmons. He's always liked them, but recently he's gotten obsessive. We have to use them like treats, otherwise he would just eat them all day long. Yesterday he ate a whole one (cut up, but it added up to a whole persimmon), half an apple, half a large Asian pear, and a banana. I swear, fruit trees are going to start growing out of his tummy.
Finally, last week, we met Santa on "Candy Cane Lane" in El Segundo. This was actually Jack's second time this year meeting Santa. He was still starstruck. While waiting in line, Jack kept telling us what he was going to say to Santa (much talk of James and Edward trains, also a little self-introduction in which Jack was going to say, "Hi, Santa! Jack! Two!"). Alas, once he got on Santa's lap, he could only grin sheepishly, pick his nose and stare at Santa.

"I, uh, I forgot what I was going to say!"

Santa was very patient, and at last Jack whispered that he would like James and Edward. That night, after we put Jack to bed, we heard him talking to himself. We opened the door to find him standing up on the bed, in front of his window. He had lifted up the curtain edge, and was saying, "Santa? Santa?" as he looked outside. When Jack turned around and saw us in his doorway, he said, "No Santa out there." So cute.
Only four more days left! Hope everyone's having a great week.
p.s. Please send some good luggage vibes to June. She and Charles are spending Christmas break in London and Paris. It's their first time there, and lo and behold, Northwest has lost their luggage. They took a connecting flight from Minneapolis to Heathrow. We know the luggage made it for sure to Minneapolis. When they got to London, they were told that their luggage didn't make it, and that "maybe it's in Amsterdam, or maybe not." I've been calling Northwest for her, and as of now, more than 12 hours after she landed at Heathrow, they still don't know where it is. I was just told five minutes ago that it "could be in Minneapolis. Or Amsterdam. Or maybe London. Or elsewhere." They're only in London for five days, so please send them some positive energy. Maybe we can will their luggage into existence. Poor June had her contacts in her bag, so she only has her glasses. Charles opted to put his heavy winter coat in his luggage and only wear a medium-weight one on board (yes, we did tell him that was not a good idea). It sucks to go on vacation and know you have a limited amount of time, and to spend the first few days of that worrying about your luggage. Ugh.

Saturday, 19 December 2009

New Job as the South Bay Parenting Examiner

I have a lot of fun updates from the last couple of days, but those will have to wait for another entry. I only have time for a short entry tonight, and I wanted to tell everyone that I have a new writing gig as the South Bay Parenting Examiner.
Donna told me about Examiner.com last week (she's the newly minted Orange County Pregnancy Examiner). I hadn't heard of it before, but Examiner is a web site with over 200 local editions -- basically, one for every major metropolitan area in the United States. It employs writers (that would be the "Examiners") to write about hundreds of topics in each location. You can apply for any topic that interests you (or suggest a topic), and Examiners aren't all professional writers. The only prerequisite is that you are passionate about your topic, and that you focus on the "insider" local angle.
I figured that since 95% of my posts are about parenting, anyway, that I might as well get paid for it! Granted, the pay is only pennies, but the greater opportunity is the chance to be discovered someday by a magazine or newspaper. And even if that never happens, well, I love to write, to dispense unsolicited advice and of course, I love being a parent (most of the time). Win-win!
So, please, visit my Examiner page often -- I put a little badge up on the right-hand corner of my Xanga page. I'll also take any story suggestions! I have three articles up so far (and two in the works); not bad for someone who started on Wednesday. Over the next few weeks, I'll be adding a lot more, and also making my page more interesting with link lists. Thanks in advance for reading.
p.s. If you're interested in being an Examiner or have any questions, let me know!

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bevconeal

- Name: Beverly
- Country: United States
- State: California
- Metro: Los Angeles
- Birthday: 9/30/1980
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 9/30/2004
- True Lifetime

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About Me

I live in sunny Los Angeles with my husband, Johnny; our toddler, Jack; newborn son, Derek; and our Shiba Inu, Atari. I'm a stay at home mom to Jack and Derek (and Atari) and also do writing and HR consulting work on a part-time basis at home. In my spare time (haha), I enjoy trying new recipes, shopping and working out. I graduated with a bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. I'll always have a soft spot for Chicago!