Curly Straight

Mama: TJ, we are about to go over the Newport Bridge.

TJ: Are we on it?

Mama: Yes, we are. See the water on both sides of us down there?

TJ: Praise God for the water!

While watching TJ's soccer lessons, yesterday and chatting with the other parents, TJ comes up to me and gives me a big hug and kiss. It was very sweet. Then he decided to settle in, quite uncharacteristic of him. As he's sitting on my lap, I'm loving it, but he needs to go back with the other kids to play soccer so I send him out there.

He doesn't listen.

"TJ, I'm taking out my phone, I tell him. Do you want an X or a star?"

"A star! A star! No X!" he says.

"OK, then go back out there."

He hesitates.

I say "Five."

He runs out there before I can say "four, three, two, one" which would cause an X on a memo on my blackberry.

One of the other moms looks at me and says "You are like one of the moms they write about in Parents Magazine. I would have just yelled at my kids."

Hey, I'll take that.

My little girl is getting so big.

Of couse, she's still little. So little that when she sits in my lap, and her legs are straight out to the side, just her two feet hang over my legs. And just barely.

And thank the Lord, she loves sitting in my lap. She's a cuddly girl.

She's speaking very well now, a ton of words.

My favorite, I would have to say is "ham" - every now and then when you ask her what she wants to eat, she says "ham." Which I find hilarious just because it's funny that a one-year-old asks for ham. I also absolutely love the way she pronounces it. Haaaahhm.

Excuse me. lovely, could you please pass the haaaahm.

It's really quite cute.

She doesn't like to be in the dark so she will lead you to the light switch, point to the ceiling and exclaim "Yight, yight!" until you turn on the light.

She also puts words together. "Goodnight, TJ. Goodnight, Mommy. Goodnight, Daddy."

Oh and can she dance. Put on Jingle Bells and she twirls and twirls and twirls around until it ends and then she asks for more. No More Pie from Music Together is another favorite. The first song from the Let's Make Music cd from Sesame Street Live causes excited yelling while looking up at the ceiling. "AAAaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" as she is bending way back, looking straight up. Every time.

Her hair is still way longer in the back than the front, she wants nothing to do with ponytails or barrettes, the only addition she likes to it is when she wipes her sticky maple syrup hands in it. Thank goodness for No More Tangles. It works wonders for maple syrup in her thin little hair.

She has the softest, cutest, little hands. She grabs yours and leads you where she wants to go. "That way," she'll say and pull you in that direction. "Read book."

She chants "DVD, DVD, DVD" when she wants to watch one.

She still has quite an affinity for Elmo and often when she is crying, we will find her naked in the crib. The only thing that settles her down is Elmo anything, pajamas, shirts, pants, etc. It's no fun when they are in the wash. Sometimes she'll settle for Dora, or a giraffe, but Elmo is definitely the main man for her.

A fabulous part of the day is getting her in the morning, the hugs are spectacular. Her head on my shoulder makes everything right in the world. Sometimes a morning kiss, with an accompanying "mah" noise. Really, what better way to start off a day.

I love my Squee.

Mama: TJ, around Valentine's Day, I am going to take you to a restaurant at night, with Ava and her Mama. And you will get dressed up and have a fancy dinner. Won't that be fun?

TJ: Do they have macaroni and cheese?

If brown eggs are local eggs, then where do white eggs come from and why are they cheaper?

Waiting for my battery to die so I can walk away from the laptop. It sucks me in...

In the photo I honestly thought I looked much better in, the website told me I looked like these people.

It must start drinking later in the night and was in a very mean and ornery bad mood when I did it the other day.

Gabriel Byrne (male).
Neve Campbell.
Gemma Ward - what?! Blonde. I don't even know who she is.
Richard Stallman. Looks like a lumberjack.
Francesco Cura. He actually is a really beautiful model. I am assuming he's a model. I have never heard of him.
Victoria De Los Angeles. Who? None of these people look like each other. Or me, I'm hoping!
The aforementioned Ronald Reagan.
Ralph Nader. I'm not even kidding.

I'm going to go see who myheritage.com says I look like now. I just took a photo of myself from photobooth on the Mac.

It's a website that tells you what movie stars you look like when you upload a photo onto the site, but really I just think it picks anyone with similar features, such as dimples. Because I really hope I don't look like Ronald Reagan, like it told me the other day. Seriously. He was one of the ones that came up.

Now that I'm in my pjs with crazy straw looking hair, I'm sure it will be someone equally as hot.

OK, here's who it told me. Some of them I have no idea who they are.

Jena Malone. Oooo, Kristin Davis (Charlotte from Sex and the City - I'll take that one!), Grace Kelly, Brooke Shields, Lisa Kudrow. This is working out MUCH better today. Anne Hathaway, Shiri Appleby (no idea who she is), Woooo! Sandra Bullock. I better quit while I'm ahead. Julia Roberts! I think the site is drinking and quite possibly beer goggling. Ashley Tisdale (don't know her either). This is way better!

I will go back with the other photo and post the names here in a second. I remember Bob Geldolf being on the list....

Need tea desperately.

Tonight was the first night out that Julia sat in a booster seat instead of a high chair.

Also the first night she stood in front of and jammed out to a guitar player playing Pink Floyd, while wearing pink rubber rain boots on the wrong feet.