Welcome to toast & cereal

One year ago today

Happy birthday, Viola!

Merry Christmas Eve

Viola is napping on my lap, Joe is out picking up oysters (according to Alton Brown, they were a popular Christmas food in the US about a century ago, though I can't find it corroborated anywhere), and we've finished a batch of peppermint truffles, with a batch of port truffles in the fridge ready to be rolled. It's a far cry from the bounty of homemade goodies we made last year, fueled by the nesting instinct and trapped by icy roads. Still, it feels festive around here nonetheless.

Tonight we'll head over to Joe's parents to spend the night and await Santa's arrival!

Welcome to the holidays, Viola

In the past two weeks, some stuff has happened.

We put you in the car at bedtime and picked up your grandparents at the airport. You woke up when we walked in the house, near midnight, and stared very seriously at them for 15 minutes or so, then gave your grandpa the full lower-lip treatment. We left you at home the next day with these strange people while we went to work.

Your laundry built up for a day or so while the pipes to the laundry room froze.

Your mama went to Seattle for work and forgot a part for her breast pump, so spent most of the day worrying about the front of her shirt. Then she waited on the wrong side of the street for the bus for 90 minutes before making it home with mammary glands ready to burst. Meanwhile, your papa took the car in for an oil change and found it needed $500 worth of new rotors.

We dragged you out in the rain and dark to pick out a Christmas tree. You marvel at it every day, and we tell you not to touch it.

Your parents left you alone all night for the first time. While they were staying in a luxurious waterfront bed and breakfast, you were wondering where your nighttime food source had gone. You banged hard on the windows the next morning as we walked up the sidewalk.

You picked up a mouse turd off your cosleeper bed. Your parents and grandparents started getting jumpy when they entered new rooms. Some strange people came to set up traps all around the house; another thing you aren't allowed to touch.

You mistook your mama's nipple for a chew toy, and drew blood. You cried with her.

You were trapped at M-Space for two long days for the annual blow-your-own ornament event. You were nap-deprived and walking-deprived.

And then tonight, you sat on the floor of the laundry room while mama shut off the valve to the hot water heater, to stop it from spraying energetically around the laundry room. You watched while we carted out soggy photo albums and lots of other old stuff from before you were born.

On the other hand, you got to spend a precious seven days with your grandma and grandpa Balsam, who you adore and who adore you right back. They got you lots of fun new toys and clothes for Christmas already, though mostly you're interested in the box they were shipped in.

All this, and Christmas isn't even here yet!

Viola's First Steps

We shot this footage November 11. Sorry for the delay!

Tools we have used to operate the furnaces at our last two residences, in order of frequency of use

Thermostat
Wooden chopstick
Hammer

Month 11

Month 11 is upon us, and the mad skills just keep coming. Viola took her first unaided steps on November 11th, and she can now walk successfully for 5 feet or so.* Last night she even launched herself toward the crib from a standing position at a wall. Once she learns to stand up from a sitting position on her own, we're done for.

Here she is standing all by herself in the yard this weekend. She keeps herself balanced like a tightrope walker, with lots of arm movement.

The next skills we hope she develops are sleeping skills. Specifically, going-to-sleep skills, and staying-asleep skills. And ability-to-sleep-away-from-a-warm-lap skills. Any of these would be an improvement.

We closed out the month with a fun Thanksgiving celebration. Viola met her second cousins from Montana and kept them on their toes.

*(Some video of the first steps is forthcoming. That's Joe's assignment.)

Another year older?

If you find yourself wondering if it's my birthday, please don't hesitate to check the Is It Jessica's Birthday? site.

Overheard on campus

Both of these conversations were overheard while standing in line at the Flaming Eggplant, the student-run eatery on campus. I am not making any of this up.

--

Male student, wiping glasses: "I got this fucking menudo all over my glasses."
Female student: "Ha. Yeah."
Male student: "It's so greasy."

--

Student 1: "Here you are again, playing your cigar-box ukulele, riding up on my territory."
Student 2, playing cigar-box ukulele: "That's right, but only on Tuesdays."

Taking bets on when she's able to text.

"Uh, Papa, this phone is so old and slow. How am I supposed to text using this prehistoric device."

"Will you buy me the newest one, it has GPS, it's 3G and like 300 times more memory."

"So you can have even more pictures of me."

Beware the baby ninja

She might get you with her fierce nunchucks!*

She also has throwing stars in her arsenal!**

Look at that ninja creep in her step!***

*Made from wood-grain fabric and stuffed with rice and cotton balls
**Cut from industrial felt
***Also known as slipping on hardwood floors, occasioned by wearing mama's socks with no grippies on the bottom

It was pretty fun getting Viola dressed up for Halloween, but she didn't get an overwhelming reception from the wider world. No matter; we thought she was cute and hilarious, and we had a lot of fun making her cache of weapons. No doubt there will be self-chosen princess-fairy-unicorn costumes in her future, so the dark nature of Halloween '09 will stand in stark contrast.