1982

My Mormor

My mom's mom is very sick and not doing well. They do not expect her to recover from a recent fall. Please keep her in your thoughts. Here's a picture of her and I at our wedding. 

Sing, Sing a Song

It confounded me for weeks: how in the world could Lucia learn an entire SONG and the full lyrics and verses, but be unable to say the following: Can I have some _________ please? I'd have her repeat each word, but she couldn't string them together. She'd say More Please, but not the full sentence. We'd practice it over and over and over, but it eluded her. 

I figured she was just being stubborn. I mentioned it to our daycare provider, in hopes that she would encourage her to use the full sentence. Once I told her Lucia had no problems learning songs, she had a surprising suggestion: make up a song and have her sing it. 

So that night I sang Can I have some more please? for her and she caught on immediately. It's hilarious. She says MORE at the top of her lungs, then I ask, what do you say? And she says Please? I say, no what do you say? And here she comes with her little ditty: Can I have some more please? To the tune of a basic scale warmup. Do Re Mi La Ti Do. It is so funny. Tonight she was banging on the door because she wasn't quite ready for bed, and she cried, I want some water! Now, she does this almost every night and most nights it's a ruse to prolong bedtime. But tonight, she said PLEASE Mommy! Then, in between cries, I heard her sing her song. Which I mean, was really hard not to laugh about. I brought her water of course. 

It's so funny the way kids learn; I would have never ever thought to try teaching her a song. This will inevitably come in handy in the coming months and years. 

Vay-Gus!

My good friend Megan, who I met in Annapolis at a Christmas party 10 (!) years ago this year, celebrates her 40th birthday this week. To celebrate, her husband gathered a group of us to make merry in Las Vegas for the weekend. It was great, great fun. I shared a room at the Monte Carlo with her niece, who I cannot seem to fathom is almost THIRTY; I still imagine her being a mere teenager. The hotel was nice; not lavish but definitely nice. Mad props to Shannon for selecting it. I arrived very early (maybe too early?) Saturday morning and the rest of the gang wasn't scheduled to arrive until 3 or so, so I lollygagged around, which mostly consisted of trying to find a spare outlet in the casinos to charge my phone. Then! On Facebook, one of my sister's high school classmates happened to be in Vegas and said come by and see her. And so I did! I haven't seen her in about 20 years, and it was wonderfully fun to catch up. She has a business making baby bibs and burp cloths and sent Lucia a gorgeous set when she was born. So sweet.

The gang arrived and soon we were off to celebrate. I was really thankful they were on East Coast time, as I had gotten up at 3:45 that morning to head to the airport. We had a nice dinner at a burger place, then headed to bed. At 10 p.m. On a Saturday night. In Las Vegas. But what can I tell you? We were tired. Sunday the girls went to the Spa at the Monte Carlo; I had forgotten my bathing suit so I dashed across the street to Ross and unbelievably, found a cute suit for $20 so I could properly soak in the hot tub. After we cleaned up, we headed to the Venetian for an impromptu lunch at Bouchon, which was so unbelievably amazing. I had quiche and housemade sausage (with veal!) and a crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc. After brunch the server asked if we'd like a private tour of the kitchen. UM YES!! It was absolutely gorgeous and fascinating, despite the hairy eyeball we got from the head chef. 

Making croissants

The Birthday Girl

Head chef way in the back

MMMM Butter! 

Afterwards we did a mini photo shoot with a friend Megan met from launching her photography biz. We then headed back for a very long walk to the hotel, where I may have whined because I was tired. I managed to squeeze in a quick nap before dinner -- yay!  We headed to the Bellagio for an amazing birthday dinner at Sensi. Our table was amazing with a full view of the kitchen: see? 

Afterwards we played a little blackjack and I won $100! Wheeeee! Both nights I was in bed by midnight -- a definite Vegas first. But it was nice to take a medium speed; there's massive pressure once you're in that town to PARTY HARD and we just weren't up for it. We focused on laughing, eating great food, and making memories. I had forgotten how HILARIOUS Megan is and several times I giggled uncontrollably at her quips. She funny! 


The last day I went to the MGM Grand Spa, which ahem, is a mere 48,000 square feet. For $25, I soaked in the hot tub, took three showers, and sat in the steam room, and snuggled on the chaises with trashy magazines and an extremely comfortable robe. I have dreams of that robe. We had a nice lunch afterwards, and I headed home. It was such a fun weekend; I'm so happy to be included in Megan's posse. 

The Artiste

While we await to hear more about Japan and ponder our earthquake kit and whether we should just fly to Delaware or Norway immediately, I filmed a video tonight of Lucia drawing, since it was very hard for me to believe she drawings we posted earlier today. See for yourself. I was really impressed. 

Hey Thats Me!

Cannot stop laughing because I'm positive Pete is messing with me. Unless I drew it and just forgot? I can't remember. I vaguely recall drawing with her last week. The fact that we are trying to determine if the art skills belong to me vs. Lucia is also hilarious. -- Heather 

I found this little drawing this morning. She drew it a couple of days ago. I think its me wearing glasses.

Mus!

This is Lucia's drawing of a mouse! I can't believe she drew this; maybe she'll have Pete's art talent.

You Spin Me Right Round - Third Time is the Charm

I've tried to post this THREE times. Sheesh.

***

I took this video the other night after we cleaned her room and stored the chair ottoman to make more space for her. She's singing along with her Elmo "ipod," with which she's totally obsessed.

These pictures

The one of the mother and daughter trying to talk made me cry. Please donate to the Red Cross if you haven't already. This country is devastated.

Fresh Air

It seems that YouYou, Girl, Toy and Bunny collectively needed some fresh air yesterday, so after getting them dressed and ready, we piled them into her pram for a quick walk. Someone quickly decided that pushing a stroller wasn't as fun as just walking, so mommy had to offer encouragement to keep pushing. Which meant Mommy also had to hunch down and push for a while too. Which may have made Mommy's back hurt. But it took a good half hour to go one block, so we'll consider this a win on our list of activities.

Keep Dreamin, Kid

Lucia ate a gigantic bowl of blueberries today while I searched online for curtains. She repeatedly asked me what I was doing, despite the answer being exactly the same each time: looking at curtains. So I asked her what she was doing: "Eating ice cream," she said. 

"Ice cream?" I asked. "Maybe in your head." 

Her: "No I'm eating them with my mouth." 

Riiiiiight.

Houston

I went to Houston last weekend to see my good friend Robin for a girls weekend. It was really fun; we marathon shopped, ate lovely food and my favorite part -- the Houston Rodeo. We saw some really fun competitions -- my favorite was the Mutton Bustin', which is when a young kid (like age 5) holds onto a mutton for dear life. The kid that makes it the longest wins. So simple but so funny to watch. We saw Janet Jackson in concert, which was amazing. The highlight of the night though was eating my childhood favorite: Frito Pie. For $5, I got a bunch of Fritos, smoky Texas chili and freshly grated cheddar cheese and plenty of jalapenos. It was so so awesome.

Saturday we shopped more and made grilled pizzas at Robin's house. I brought the kids the Just Dance kids version game, and here's a hilarious video of the whole family dancing. So so funny. I couldn't stop laughing, as you'll see.

I had a great time in Houston -- thanks Robin for the hospitality!

Trainspotting

Lucia got to spend a whole day with Eddie and had a dream date. Here we are at the Atherton station waiting for passing trains, giving out hugs and laying pennies on the tracks.

There There BoyBoy

After being thrown down repeatedly, what BoyBoy needed most of all was a comforting snuggle from his mommy.

Let's Play A Game

I suggested as we had a power struggle over ate breakfast that we make faces while I take some shots. They turned out pretty funny.

Sad

Happy

I have no idea

Silly

Sunshine

When I was little girl, my mom would stand in the doorway and sing my sister and I to sleep with the sweetest rendition of You Are My Sunshine. I recently started singing it to Lucia as I rock her to sleep each night. At first she just gazed at me, soaking in the lyrics. Then one night she surprised me and sang both verses right back to me. My favorite part from her "and I hung my head and I cwied," closely followed by "You make me happy, when skies are gweat." Awwww. So now it's her favorite song. Each night I collapse onto the rocker, gather her in the nook of my left arm - she prefers to sit on my lap and face out so she doesn't miss anything. By that time of night we've already been through the decision tree of what stuffed animal she'll tuck under her arm and what blanket I'll wrap around her as we snuggle. I kiss her hair and temples. Then she whispers, "Sunshine." So I start: You are my sunshine --- then she interrupts me and says no it's too loud, "baby" is sleeping. So I lower my voice to a whisper, enunciating each word so she can follow along, You Make Me Happy -- only to have her change her mind: No Mommy LOUD. LOUD. LOUD. Ok then! I crank up the volume for the rest of the song, which generally includes both verses all the way through at least three times. Oftentimes she'll ask for Freight Train next, but we always start our evening routine with Sunshine. 

It's funny, I think often how hard we don't want to be like our moms in some ways (and this is universal -- most daughters want to do things differently than their mothers), and in so many ways I wouldn't do it any other way. She's my sunshine, and I was my moms. It not only makes sense to pass this on, it makes me happy to do so. 

Gifts from Ninny and Farfar

Gifts arrived from Norway today! Lucia walked out into the hallway tonight to model her new skirt and loudly proclaimed it was "from Ninny and Farfar!" So funny. Then she shouted, COME SEE MY ANIMALS!! And so here she is showing me her animals. Complete with sound effects. Me-wow is my favorite one.

Banking with McDuck

You never know who you may meet at your local bank.

Comments, one-liners welcome.

Naturally

Team Hansen as interpreted by Lucia: baby taking a "baff," Daddy washing his hands and Mommy on the toilet. Of course!

I'm all seriousness, I think she's getting closer to potty training with all this talk and role playing of pooping and peeing. Interesting to observe.

Everyone's Favorite Hat

Still a huge fan of her "hat."

Afternoon snack