Ears

The height of fashion since 2004.

Xmas in San Diego

An ice skating rink at the outlet mall in Santa Ana (not Claus) conditions -- 73° and not a cloud in the sky.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year, we're thankful for..

Little girls in yellow dresses.




Grandparents and great-grandparents.




And the fact that we're not a turkey -- be it a pine cone turkey...




or a orange/tomato/raisin/cabbage turkey...



-- on this Thanksgiving Day.

Baby Steps

To quote Bill Murray in What About Bob, "I'm baby-stepping. I'm doing the work!"

We haven't highlighted Jenna on the blog in a while, but we haven't forgotten about her. She's still walking around with assistance, as you can see here being provided by her big sister. From time to time she'll stand up on her own and when she does she remains standing for relatively longer periods. But she still hasn't taken those first few unassisted steps. Any day now, right?

Update: The reverse jinx wins again!

The Next Ansel Adams

We've just taught Melanie how to use the digital camera -- "See what you want on the tv. Now push the button and hold it until it beeps." -- and here are some early results. I've converted them into black and white out of sheer pretension.

America's Next Top Model

This is a photo that Tammy Vener, the preschool director, sent to Grandma Alicia. Not sure what the story is but it sure is funny! Evidently the boys fight over which one gets to wear the orange dress. Kids these days.

The Next Eric Carle

Original artwork by Melanie Lynn Spitzberg (above). Howler monkey from Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and Eric Carle (below). The former, which she painted at school and which Granny Franny and Laura "hung" on the wall in our dining room, just struck me as reminiscent of the latter. I hope you'll agree.

Literally

Let me see if I can do this story justice. On Saturday I took Melanie and Jenna to the coffee shop for breakfast. Melanie was wearing the outfit you see in the picture -- we went to the zoo later in the day with Emily and the rest of the Boodmans. Anyway, as is usual when I'm watching them they conspire to get themselves filthy. Eggs, muffin, butter and jelly, juice... it all ends up on their faces and on their clothing. So when we got home, Laura asked a particularly messy Melanie, "What is all over your shirt?" And without missing a beat, Melanie answers...

"Stripes."

Thank you, she'll be here all week. Be sure to tip your waitresses.

Vital Stats, 3rd Birthday Edition

At yesterday's Thursday's doctor's appointment, Melanie was:

• 29 pounds, give or take 1/2 a pound. That's around the 35th percentile.
• 35 1/4 inches tall. Which is around the 10th percentile.

So percentile wise, she's heavier than I expected but not as tall as I expected, especially compared to last year. Maybe I have my numbers reversed. Or maybe she just needs to eat more popcorn and drink more milkshakes.

Soda Jerks

Life and how to live it

I'm paraphrasing here:

"Mommy... how come, how come some people say they don't like popcorn?"

"What?"

"How come... um... how come some people... when I say, 'You want some popcorn?', and they say, 'No thank you.'?"

"Why are you asking that... because it's yummy delicious?"

"Yes, Mommy!"

---
photo by *a guy with a camera

Follow the Leader

Melanie and Zoe at the park/museums yesterday.

I LOVE this photo!

The Many Moods of Jenna Elyse Spitzberg

Curious




Insanely, fat-cheeked, drool-running-down-your-chin happy



The latest is a very irregular series.

Revelations

I just figured out why today has been so messed up -- not feeling well, going around in circles at work, overcast and damp in Southern California(!) --

I've been wearing my boxer shorts backwards all day.

*Sigh*

Sorry for the TMI, but I just had to share. And as Norm Peterson once opined, "It's a dog-eat-dog world and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear." No, really. I am. They're on backwards and the pattern is dogs and dog bones. Very cute, I'll assure you. But karmically incorrect.