On Thursday, we all took a day off and went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Was it a hit? Take a look.
Category: Family and Friends
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Happy Halloween! Or, Costume Drama
Weeks ago–right after Baguette broke her leg–we went to Costco and explored the Halloween costume options. Mr. Sandwich brought her an array of choices, and she picked the elephant.
It promptly became a stuffed animal.
So we weren’t sure whether she’d wear it. But we weren’t too worried, because we had been given a tiny UCLA cheerleader outfit, and we figured that would work if the elephant didn’t.
What we utterly failed to consider was that somehow she has determined that she will not wear layers unless one of them is a jacket or a sweater. So both the elephant costume and the cheerleader dress led to crying and screaming.
Each of these looks delightful but is wholly unacceptable. Not anyone’s Dream Halloween.
After we read a few books and calmed down (all of us, frankly), Baguette decided that she would wear her “Elmo shirt.” We added red pants and “Elmo shoes,” and then she topped it off with three hats. Somehow we made it to several houses on our block, but she went back and forth on whether or not she wanted to take candy from relative strangers, which, when you think about it, is probably not a bad thing.
Now, some might say she was dressed as Elmo, and others as an Elmo Enthusiast. But if you are a loyal watcher of old Sesame Street episodes, you would realize that she was in fact dressed as an entire episode.
La la la la, la la la la, Elmo clothes -
We All Are Strong
I’m delighted to have a new guest post up at Meagan Francis’s blog The Happiest Mom! As I did with an earlier post, I’m writing about what I’ve learned as a new(ish) mother:
Labor is hard, and after 32 hours of it, I was truly exhausted. But when the time came to push, I gave it my all. After the first push, I looked up at Mr. Sandwich and said, “I can do this.” He said, “I know you can.” And I said, “No, you don’t understand. I can DO this.” Because he may have believed in me, but until I got there, I wasn’t so sure.
To read the rest of the post, visit The Happiest Mom.
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Sick
I’ve been sicker.
For example, I was actually able to get Baguette to day care on my own. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Why?
On Friday, Baguette came home with a stomach virus. After several bouts of vomiting, she was done–and the next morning, she was fine. (We skipped swimming and a Halloween party in the interests of Calm, but she clearly was back to her regular pizza-loving self.)
And all seemed well. But then, last night, it turned out that I had the same stomach virus. And between trips to the bathroom and just feeling lousy, I think I got maybe two and a half hours of sleep.
As the night progressed, I also started to feel very achy. And my feet got cold–so cold I dug out the ancient cashmere socks that I bought I-don’t-know-how-long-ago.
We didn’t sleep in much after Mr. Sandwich left for work, and I got Baguette to day care about 30 minutes later than usual. Then I went back to bed and slept until about 10. When I woke up, I was still achy, and my feet were cold again. And eventually, the aches turned into an actual fever. So not only did I have some kind of stomach bug, but I got to top it off with the flu! Huzzah!
I spent most of the day on the sofa bed trying to keep warm. I felt so bad that it was too hard to get up, walk 15 feet to the hall thermostat, and turn on the heater. It was going to be a warm day–surely the house would heat up on its own. But it didn’t, and the socks and a fleece throw could only do so much, so eventually I succumbed to the lure of the heater.
I tried a little water, and then a little weak tea, and eventually some Gatorade. And with the exception of one piece of toast, which clearly was a bad idea, that was all I had until Mr. Sandwich got home from work. (Dinner: broth and a little rice).
I’m feeling better now, as indicated by the thermometer above, although I’m not sure how much of that is due to the Tylenol I was finally able to take. And it’s definitely not as bad as the time three and a half years ago that we got swine flu.
But it was still miserable, and I hope Mr. Sandwich doesn’t get it.
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5 Things I Found While I Was Looking Around
8 Cute and Refreshingly Non-Slutty Ladies Costumes on Unreality Magazine
For those times when Halloween makes you despair. Don’t despair!
Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks Clock on Laughing Squid
Tick, tock, silly walks.
I don’t really want to live in a place this small, but I kind of want to be able to.
Yes, please.
A Child’s Letter About Her Beloved Departed Dog on Itchmo
Oh, you’ll cry.
Photo by qmnonic, via Flickr.
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TV and Us
Mr. Sandwich and I have different TV histories.
I grew up in a house where we watched a lot of TV. I remember watching The Lone Ranger not because I was a fan–I actually found it kind of boring–but because it came on between Adventures of Superman and Batman.
My first political memories are of TV: my mother spent hours watching the Watergate hearings.
My first political action was because of TV: I saw something about whaling, and wrote letters to the Soviet premier and the Japanese prime minister. I think I was five. (And I was clearly no Samantha Smith; I received neither a reply nor an invitation to visit either country, and whaling continues. Also, RIP, Samantha Smith.)
I don’t remember when my parents bought our first VCR, but I do remember that first we would rent one. That’s right–people used to rent VCRs like they were videos. You know, back when you went to the store to rent videos. Or maybe you don’t know. Wow, I am old.
Mr. Sandwich grew up without TV.
But that didn’t stop us from connecting over TV when we started dating. One of the things that we bonded over was not just TV. Not just that we watched the same shows. But that we watched them the same way.
Today we love the DVR because one of us can say, “Pause!” and we can talk about what we just saw. (Don’t worry, we won’t do this if you come over.)
We treat TV like it was a movie or a novel. We dissect it, we analyze it, we discuss whether or not particular actions reflect a specific character. We may be couch potatoes at times, but in our house, there’s very little that’s passive, much less lazy, about watching television.
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Monday Listicles: 10 Halloween Costumes I Have Known
These days, I have trouble coming up with Halloween costumes. But that wasn’t always the case. Of course, back then I also had a moving box full of “dress-up clothes” that offered inspiration (and parents who were able to fill in my gaps in both inspiration and execution). So what have my Halloween successes been?
1) Batman. Let me say that again: Batman. We went to any number of houses where the person giving out candy would spot my long, red hair and say “Oh, Batgirl!” And I responded, every single time, “I’m not Batgirl. I’m Batman!” (This was the only year we had store-bought costumes; we had recently moved across the country. My brother was Superman.)
2) Jockey. This was basically a shiny polyester track suit (it was the 70s) tucked into my riding boots; the outfit was topped off by my riding helmet.
3) One half of a pair of dice.
4) Colonial girl. I don’t remember if I asked for it, or if my mother just really wanted to make this costume. Which would have been odd. But it has always been my favorite period of history. Also, the guy next door later wore part of it in a very strange class production of Cinderella.
5)Speaking of which, Cinderella. My mother got her cousin to help make this costume. It didn’t really look like Disney’s Cinderella, but it was very pretty.
6) Pirate.
7) Cyclist. (It was asserted that since I was already a triathlete, this didn’t count as a costume; I replied that since I hadn’t been on a bike since before Baguette was born–and that is still true–that it was, in fact, a costume for me.)
8) Sailor. (I was stumped–but it turns out that if you go to a thrift store in a military town, you may just find a variety of uniforms.)
9) The winner? Haunted house. That’s right, an entire house. My dad and I painted a box with cobwebbed doors, shutters hanging off the window frames, and ghosts peeking out of the windows. A corner of another box made the roof. It was epic.
10) The loser? Guinevere. I wore what was essentially a teal velvet dressing gown with a ribbon as a sash. And I looked like someone in a dressing gown with a ribbon tied loosely around her.
So what are your memorable Halloween costumes?
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Rain!
Yesterday we got our first real taste of fall and winter.
Baguette loved every minute of it.
At one point, she even brought the umbrella inside. But it was already open, so no bad luck there.
I assume.
Although on second thought, maybe that’s why they’re predicting highs in the upper 90s for next week.
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Safety in Numbers
A while ago, I wrote about our parenting approach, in light of the concept of attachment parenting. Take2Mommy has a post about bed sharing in their family, and while I hope that Baguette is comfortable in her own bed soon, what I really hope is this:
I hope she feels safe.
So I totally get where Take2Mommy is coming from, and I’m glad her son knows what he needs to feel safe. We should all have that.
Photo by JMaz Photo, via Flickr.
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5 Things I Found While I Was Looking Around
Why should your toddler get to have all the fun?
Using Discarded Books, Artist Recreates The Streets Of London on DesignTAXI
One person’s trash is another person’s art project.
12 Different Ways to Cuddle, According to Cats on Babble Pets
Because my days could always do with a little more squee!
9 Mildly Disturbing Scenes Discovered at Legoland on Mashable
Well, maybe not this much squee.
Lake Wakatipu on Wallpapers Get
Damn, New Zealand. You just don’t know when to stop with the gorgeous, do you?
Photo by Mr. Sandwich.
