Holiday Cheer

I took the day off so I could do a few things around the house. My list for the day was pretty low-key: prep for Christmas Eve dinner, clean the kitchen, swing by the grocery store for said dinner.

I also attempted to introduce some holiday cheer to Archie. He didn't dig it.



Before you start to think that I have the most depressed dog in the world (which I probably do) and begin to believe that Archie is depressed because I torture him all day long (which I don't), please be rest assured that he is not the only member of this family that I love to dress up in silly outfits.



Lola just seems to tolerate me a little better. :)

Photo with Santa

When I was a kid, we usually attended the Christmas party sponsored by my father's employer. Hosted at the municipal gun range, we crafted ornaments and ate cookies with other cop kids while we waited to get a quick sit with Santa before he would escape out of the back of the clubhouse to chase down criminals. I remember loving warm fire, the smell of pine, and the token candy cane.

Ah, memories.


Wanting to create some holiday traditions for Lola, I thought it would be best to start with a photo with Santa. We already had a few pre-requisites like a cute Christmas dress and an adorable baby. I felt the other elements (such as finding a Santa) would be easy to add. I told Josh my idea.

"WHAT? Do you have any idea how many kids sit on his lap?"
"Uh. A lot."
"Yeah. A LOT. What about H1N1?"
"She was vaccinated."
"Well, she hasn't had her booster yet."
"She isn't going to have her booster shot until JANUARY."
"It's not safe."


Clearly, finding a daddy on board with the whole idea was going to be more difficult than I thought.

A few days after our initial conversation, I tried again, but was shut down. Finally, I decided that I was going to dress Lola up in her cute Christmas dress and sneak off to get my photo. Then, I researched the local mall Santa photo packages. The CHEAPEST I could find was $24.95 and it only included one 5x7 and four wallets! It explicitly said that I could not use a personal camera or cell phone to take a photo.

Even though I was willing to sneak off and get a photo of Lola with Santa, I knew I couldn't stomach paying nearly $25 for a few photos.


I felt defeated.

But then, a friend made a suggestion that Josh and I could agree on and we could afford.


And that is how, on a rainy Sunday afternoon in December, Josh and I took Lola to our local pet store to sit on Santa's lap. It was chaotic. It was loud. It created such hilarity that my face hurt after we left. Oh, but it was so worth it.

Half of our $10 fee went to the community animal shelter, Lola received a (human) germ-free experience, and a ten-year-old girl scout took the photo of which I now proudly own.




Merry Christmas.

All Archie wants for Christmas?

Dancing with Myself

Lola discovered that she is a fan of 80s Christmas music. Who would have thought?

Farewell

Dear Volvo,

I'm sorry we had to end things this way, but I guess it just wasn't mean't to be. See, you can't spew emissions out into the environment and think that it's OK. We live in California (see below) and that sort of behavior just isn't tolerated.

Besides, I need more stability in my life. I need some reliablity. I have a baby now and that sort of changes everything. I need accident aversion, not just impact protection.

And just so you know, this has nothing to do with the new Camry in my life. Had you been able to get your act together and just pass the stupid smog test, we would still be together. Yes, this is your fault, not mine.


Love,

d

Snow?!

Earlier this week, I woke up to find our yard covered in a light dusting of snow.



It was the strangest thing. According to the local morning news, the last time there was snowfall in our town was something like 1972. Oftentimes, the temperature in the winter is often in the 40s and 50s, but by moving here we certainly did not sign up for snow.



We do live in California (as evidenced by Lola's green pajamas covered in windmills, tree huggers, and recycling symbols.)

My favorite part of the morning was when the local weatherman declared, "This is Winter Snow Storm 2009!" I wanted, so badly, to pass a cup of cocoa to him and gently tell him no dear, these are flurries.

But, we do live in California, so I drank my own cocoa and enjoyed the little bit of snow I could see from our living room window.

10 Months

Our little dear Lola reached the ten month mark today. I feel like the transition from nine months to ten months is huge. Or, it's quite possible that November was just so chaotic that I wasn't paying attention because this morning I woke up and thought:

+ She pulls herself up on anything and everything. Couches, kitchen chairs, door frames, human legs, walls, and dogs. She does not discriminate.

+ She is a firm believer in appalause. Lola loves to clap. She claps to music. She claps mid-crawl. She claps in between bites.

+ She is really good about trying (and eating) new foods. This past month, we introduced havarti cheese, pumpkin, prunes, Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, acorn squash, a giant pretzel at Sea World, butternut squash, and Ann Stice's steel cut oatmeal.

+ She waves "hi" and "bye."

+ She likes to point at things. She LOVES to point at Gizmo.

+ She is too tall for her infant car seat. (She's somewhere around 30 inches.)

+ She can stand, momentarily, by herself and take a stumbling step or two.

AND,

+ Last night, when I walked into her bedroom at 3 AM, she was standing up in her crib (which is quite a feat considering she was in one of those gigantic baby sleep bag things) and she said, "Mama."

The last thought was a little freaky to me. I mean, really at 3 AM, it kind of spooked me because she said the word so evenly and clearly. At 3 AM, she definitely wanted her mama.

Oh yes, and she is a crawling machine.