magical tummies

Sofia: I'm not going to have a baby in my tummy.
[After some more thought...] Some girls are magic and some are not. You are magic
Me: Why?
Sofia: Because a baby came out of your tummy.

The next day:

Me: Do you want Lhasa to get up on your bed?
Sofia: Yes. Did she come out of a doggie's tummy?

emerson eating

hammond's candy factory

as a special holiday outing, we toured Hammond's Candy Factory with some friends.

zoo lights

We went to the zoo to see it all lit up with Lyle, Jade and Rylie. It was cold, but fun! I think we were all crazy, as we planned a night out at the zoo and then dinner... that was just a little bit too much for one evening for these little ones! Oh well... we can try! Next time we'll just plan one evening per activity. :)

By the way, Fia didn't want her picture taken...

emerson at 5 months

at 5 months, emerson is playing peek-a-boo, rolls over, pushes up on his arms, wiggles around all over the floor, reaches for anything and if he gets it he grabs on, and is still a sweetheart. we started feeding him brown rice cereal last week, and he absolutely loves it! tonight he tried avocado mixed into his cereal. it was a little different, but he still asked for more.

speakin' spanish

The other night, as Kent was putting Sofia to bed, as is our routine these days, it came time for story time. Usually Kent will read two books to her. But, this time, Sofia kept telling him the book she wanted to read in her gibberish-Spanish. After three tries, Kent finally got frustrated, and told her when she could tell him in English, he would read the story. He left the room, and Sofia ran after him in tears! She came to me, and cried that daddy wouldn't read to her. I told her that she has to tell us the book in English, because we don't speak her Spanish. She said, "but you speak Spanish with me!" I told her yes, I speak some Spanish it is true, but not the kind of Spanish she is speaking (i.e. not the gibberish-Spanish!) She said, "but you have to ask Ms. Rachel (her teacher). I said, "I don't think even Ms. Rachael could help us with this one! Sofia, you've got to speak to some people only in English."

This is only one of the many incidents we have lately with Sofia telling us that we have to speak in Spanish now! It will be nice when her Spanish is really Spanish, so at least I'll understand her! She does say quite a bit in Spanish, but it is usually phrases here and there.

the kleenex incident

On Friday, Sofia, Emerson and I went to friends house to play. Sofia and Rowan went back to Rowan's room, as usual, and played. We heard lots of giggling, and wondered, what were those two doing! As you would think, of course they were getting into trouble!

When I walked back to check, they had managed to completely destroy a kleenex box, tissue spewed and shredded all over the room! Sofia and Rowan looked like they had had the time of their lives!

Sarah came in, and said, "oooh, how wasteful!" Sofia responded, "that's OK Rowan, you can waste kleenex at my house!"

Fia and the Magic Wand

Hi, it's Kent blogging this time...

I just wanted to preserve the memory of Fia and this Christmas. First of all, everything is Cinderella. Anyone can be Cinderella. Our Shelf Elf is Cinderella, Fia is Cinderella, Lhasas or Leone can be Cinderella, and even I can be Cinderella on my best days. If someone is bad, they're Anastasia. Rounding out this magical princess/fairy trio is Tinkerbell.

So, we are in the land of princesses and fairies for sure. This despite all of our Jayhawk basketball watching (sidenote: She *does* love the Jayhawks. You'll be glad to know, that Fia's favorite player on the Rockies baseball team this past summer was... the Jayhawks).

Now with all of this as background, Fia is getting a Magic Wand for Christmas. Every day, 10 times a day, Fia is getting a Magic Wand for Christmas. This much, she is 1000% absolutely for sure. We're trying our best to communicate with Santa Claus in hopes that he's able to bring Fia *just* the right one.

The outcomes of this to me personally are a bit frightening. For instance, what if Santa doesn't bring the right one? I think he has 5-6 to choose from. And then...what if, once Fia has the Magic Wand, she's unable to "Wand you" with the desired outcome?

This is something Fia says all of the time: "If you are a good boy, and you say please and thank you, then I will wand you into a princess".

It'll be an interesting Christmas time for sure, this Christmas of Fia's Magic Wand.

opt out of phone book delivery

So, we never use our phone books - not even as booster seats! We definitely prefer to search online for phone numbers and addresses. For years I've wondered how we can stop receiving such a waste of paper! Luckily, we can recycle them, but it's still wasted energy and trees to just receive them.

Now I've found it!

http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/

Just go to this website, and opt out of delivery!

Now if we could just do the same to stop receiving so many useless catalogues!!! (argh!) I feel sorry for our mail carrier, having to deliver all of those!

We've got a Shelf Elf!

We started a new - and very magical - Christmas tradition. It's a "shelf elf". He appears every year before Christmas, and watches and reports back to Santa whether we've been good or not.

Sofia has been totally taken in by this magic of the shelf elf! He appears in different places around the house. She asks questions about him, and thinks a lot about how he does what he does. She has named him "Cinderella"!

The first day we met the shelf elf, she said, "why doesn't the shelf elf blink?" Then she answered her own question with, "I know, because he's plastic!" (of course I am a bit worried here...) Then, she asked, "why is the shelf elf plastic?" I didn't know what to say! Luckily, she answered her own question again, with, "I know, because Santa is plastic!" Well, I guess I hadn't considered the fact that to Sofia, plastic does not have the "cheap, fake, evil" connotation that it has for me, so it could very well be magical for her!

We're enjoying looking for the shelf elf and talking about all that he does!

I got a kiss!

Today I swear that Emerson gave me a kiss! He put his little mouth on my cheek, twice! Is 4.5 months too young to do that? Anyhow, I swear he did it on purpose.

He also played peek-a-boo with me. While I was taking a bath, I was playing with him with a washcloth, putting it over his face. After a while of doing that, he started peeking around it purposely and smiling at me!

letssaythanks.com

I stole this from a friend and fellow blogger, but I thought the timing too perfect to not copy her post. (Thank you Kj! I hope you don't mind...)

"If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com , you can pick out a thank you card and message (or compose your own personal message) and Xerox will send to our troops serving around the world. It is FREE!"

sofia-isms

Lately, Sofia loves to ask me, “are you bien or mal?” then answers “que fabuloso!” or “pobrecito!”

I eventually had to ask her to say “nice try mom” when I don’t pronounce the Spanish as she wants me to! She was getting so picky, and I could never do it right, of course!

Sofia feels very empowered by the number 6 these days. I'm wondering if someone in her class turned 6 perhaps? Or, perhaps she just realized it’s bigger than 5? Anyhow, it’s pretty funny!

Today she asked me if she could watch a movie when we got home. I told her perhaps. She responded, "Mom, one time when you were a little girl, you watched too many movies, and your brain squashed and squashed down and down until your head disappeared!"

our family

sofia dresses herself

The first day we had snow, Sofia looked out the window and said, "I need to wear my Santa coat today because Christmas is coming!" (Sofia's Santa coat was my coat when I was 3.) Here is a picture of her, ready for school!

4 months (and mom's 34!)

On my birthday, Emerson turned 4 months! :)

the greener challenge

I found a blog, http://www.enviromom.com/, started by two moms in Oregon. They have a "one bag a month" challenge. See if you can reduce, reuse, recycle to the point that you are only tossing one bag of trash out per month! I want to try, and I think it is even more possible now, with the Denver composting program we just started! I believe that between the recycling and the composting programs, we are actually recycling/composting more trash than we are tossing in the dumpster. But, I know we could do better!

anyone want to join me to see what you can do to become greener?

Much of it has to do with going back to simpler ways that our parents and grandparents used. Two easy things to do:
1. there is no reason to use a paper towel or napkin, because you can use towels and cloth napkins and reuse.
2. take bags with you shopping, and never let the store give you a bog.

oh, sofia!

Sofia was taking gymnastics, for about 2 months. Then one day, she asked me, "mom, when gymnastics is done, can I take ballet and dance on the stage in front of all the people?" I of course, thinking gymnastics would be done in a few months, said "yes, of course, honey!"

Well, the next Saturday, when we were getting ready to go to gymnastics, Sofia said, "no, I'm not going to gymnastics."

I guess she was done with gymnastics when she asked me to take ballet classes!

the palin parade continues

Oh my, Palin continues to be an embarassment! I can't believe the latest interview, where the turkey is slaughtered right behind her, during the interview! Disgusting, tasteless. It should have been stopped!

This beats the interview upon her return to the Governor's office in Alaska, when she said that whomever leaked to the press that she didn't know that Africa was a continent and not a country was just "mean-spirited"! Please... it may be mean-spirited if it's on Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segment, where average people on the street are asked about trivial knowledge. It is downright scary when someone contending to be Vice President doesn't know this!

For some reason, I like it when the people who lead this country who are SMARTER than me. Sarah Palin makes a better cheerleader than a politician on the world stage. Not to say that being a cheerleader is not influential. I am sure she will have an impact on the party politics, and we have yet to see what that will bring.

harnessing the power of the fairies!

I had a conversation with a few friends this morning about how the various fairies help them and their children (both 3) throughout the day. I thought that was a great idea, and I'd have to try it sometime!

I decided to try it out today when picking Sofia up from school, yet again having forgotten her "car snack"! When we got to the car with a very unhappy Sofia, I said, "Caylah's mommy told me that there is a fairy in our car! Oh, there she is! I have to brush the car fairy out of your seat, so you can get in!" Sofia stopped crying, and became very interested in this fairy, who rode home on her lap.

This afternoon, she announced that we have a "car driving fairy" and a "house living fairy" and a "new-new sleeping fairy" (new-new is her bed). I told her that I have a helping fairy on my shoulder, and she helps me whenever I need it. This fairy even helped Sofia to get off the floor when she fell down!

With the power of the fairies, I think we're onto something magical!

i'm a domestic goddess?

I, in my independent life or wildest dreams, never imagined this description of myself! But, this is the name Kent bestowed on me after we'd all been sick, I'd cared for him, Sofia, and Emerson, made multiple batches of chicken soup with rice (with lots of garlic and fresh ginger), completed 10 loads of laundry, cleaned and disinfected the house, etc. etc. Actually, I think it was the evening that I surprised him with BEEF stroganoff for dinner that he made the declaration. Anyhow, I will take on this description, and feel empowered by it. DOMESTIC GODDESS I AM!

old mother west wind

Lately, Sofia has really loved a set of books that Grandma Nori bought her while visiting last month. They are a collection called Old Mother West Wind. Grandma Nori remembers her grandmother read to her when she was a child. The neat thing is, these are chapter books, meaning there are no (or few) pictures! I have been amazed at how Sofia will sit quietly and listen to the stories, and then ask for more and more! This evening, she even paged through the books all by herself! (Thank you Grandma Nori!)

more Halloween pics

dead bugs

Sofia: Mama, I saved a bug from a spider web!
Me: Oh, great [insert sigh]. Is it alive?
Sofia: No.
Me: Oh, do you want to put it in the trash?
Sofia: Sure. Well, no. I want to put it outside. It will start flying soon.

My Peoples

Hi there. It's the lesser-blogging part of this dynamic duo, Kent. We're sitting on the couch on a Wednesday night, the kids are asleep, we're 1/2 watching a movie, 1/2 laptopping. I'm trying to get my new laptop setup (ugh) and Kristen's sorting photos.

Mom and Jerry visited 2 weekends ago, we had a lot of fun! We went to the zoo for "Boo at the Zoo", and on Sunday, Mom found + gifted to Sofia a series of stories that her Grandma read to her. Mom and Fia had lots of good play time together!

Last weekend, my friend Dave came to visit. We cleaned up the garden on Saturday, saw game 1 for the Nuggets (Lakers), and saw the Broncos-Dolphins game on Sunday. And then, Sofia and I got the flu that Kristen had. Blech. The familia's still digging out from our collective colds.

Update on the kiddos... Fia can read the Madeline book through by memory, can count to 10 in Spanish, is recognizing the letter S all over the place ("Look - it's a ssss" [phonics]), and is really enjoying school and gymnastics. Emerson is more alert all the time, grabbing things, and was turning himself over today. Kristen will bring him down to visit while I'm working, and he's so full of smiles and alert - he's adorable.

If you're reading this, I hope that you're doing really well. We're so blessed and thankful to have such great friends and family. We love you!

Lots of love from Sloans Lake, Kent

PS - Kristen posted a bunch of new pics below - check em out!! :-))

"cloth diapers make my pants look bigger"

we have the most beautiful children!

Yes, I AM biased, but I believe it to be true! They were just lovely today!

sofia

We all had the flu over the weekend. Here's a memorable picture of Sofia. Poor thing!

first attempt at a video

So, this is my first attempt at uploading a video to the blog. This is Emerson, lying in his favorite spot - the bathmat in the bathroom! enjoy!

why i voted for barack obama

Here we are, one day before the election! I have high hopes!!

I have read both of Obama's books, Dreams From my Father, and The Audacity of Hope, and knowing what I know about Obama's youth, education and career development, perspectives on America, respect for the Constitution, and world view, I don't understand how anyone could accuse him of not being in touch with the average American, of not having a vision for how to improve their situation, or that he is not ready to lead this country. I have incredible respect for him and what he has accomplished. I think that he will be able to lead this country, and I hope unite us.

Obama understands diversity. He does not see the stereotypes, rather the unexpected nuances, of people. He understands people like me, who love this country, yet question or doubt that we are going in the right direction. As Colin Powell pointed out, the Republican party has moved too far to the right. It has become too divisive in its rhetoric. The mentality of "if you're not with us you're against us" has caused citizens like me to be uncomfortable to wear red, white and blue, to sing the National Anthem, to exhibit any form of patriotism. This divisiveness, this "us" vs. "them", is dangerous. I hope that President Barack Obama will help me again feel that pride about our country, and trust that we are moving in a direction that will re-establish the respect we have lost in the eyes of the world.

I also believe that President Obama has the strength and ability to lead. A good leader knows how to gather information from a team of people from all sides, and can make decisions based on that information. I trust that Obama will make the right decisions, not necessarily the ones he 100% agrees with. He will unite us. He will motivate us to once again work to help our neighbors. We have become a country of people who are in it only for ourselves. We have forgotten how to help each other, that it is our responsibility to help each other. Obama can help us to turn that around.

This is needed now more than ever! I truly believe Obama to be a unifying force that no other candidate has matched. My hopes are for the best!

Good luck to us all on November 4th!!

princess fia

Sofia's a princess for halloween!

(Doesn't she look like an absolute angel? How could she ever drive her mama nuts??!!)

fia's a realist

So, there is a technique of parenting called "playful parenting", where you animate an inanimate object, such as a trash can, pretending to be its voice, saying for example, "I'm hungry, feed me!" when you want your child to put their trash in the trash can. It's fun and playful.

Well, today I was trying to get Fia it climb into her carseat, so I gave her carseat a voice, saying, "Sofia, I want you to sit in me!" Sofia said, "Mom, carseats can't talk!" I said, "Mine does! My carseat wants me to sit down and be safe so that the car can drive." Sofia retorted, "Mom, cars don't drive themselves!" "Oh, they don't??" I asked. "No," she answered, "YOU drive the car, mom!"

manifest obama

I'm putting it out there in the universe!

President Barack Obama...
President Barack Obama...
President Barack Obama...
President Barack Obama...
President Barack Obama...
President Barack Obama...
President Barack Obama...

obamamania!

Today I took Emerson to see Barack Obama speak in Civic Center Park. I met my friend Micah, who had her 2-month-old son Asher with her. The crowd was amazing! It was a sea of people from the state capitol to the city capitol, and so much positive energy! Obama currently has a 12 point lead in Colorado, according to the polls. It's hard to believe he can't carry this state!

The energy was so positive! I'm really glad I went. Even though I didn't get close to Obama, it was amazing to hear him live!

sofia, emerson and rylie

I made these hats for Sofia and Rylie. I hope to make one for Emerson once I have some material that is not so "girly"!

sofia and emerson at play!

emerson at three months

be responsible for the energy that you bring...

I just had to post this again, because it has become my main mantra these days!

sofia's first conference

Sofia had her first parent-teacher conference yesterday. The teachers, Ms. Jen and Ms. Rachael, came to our home, and she was so excited! Ms. Jen is the English teacher, and Ms. Rachael is the Spanish teacher. Sofia has equal time with both.

They brought a few "works" for us. Works are Montessori terminology for the learning activities they do in the classroom. These included working on recognizing and counting the numbers 1-5, recognizing, recalling and naming the shapes triangle, square, trapezoid, hexagon, and rhombus, and working on the starting sounds for the letters a, s, o, d, and h. Both Jen and Rachael commented on how "cute" and "smart" Sofia is! (Of course Kent and I knew that already, but it's so nice to hear it from the teachers!)

After demonstrating the works, Sofia got her book Cat Goes Fiddle-i-Fee by Paul Galdone, and said "I need to read this book to you." Then, she, with a little help to get started, read (or actually sang) the book to them! They thought she was great!

Of course, the proud mother in me wanted to say, "Oh, she can read Madeline verbatim, too!" but I resisted. Madeline (the original one) has been Sofia's favorite book lately, and she knows it inside and out! She reads it to Emerson while I take a bath in the evenings. Emerson loves it, too!

Oh, such joy!

my new mantra

be responsible for the energy that you bring

This is a partial quote from Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who experienced a cerebral hemhorrage, and wrote the book My Stroke of Insight. There is a fascinating interview with her on NPR's Talk of the Nation, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91965230.

This quote is applicable to all things in life. I have used it most recently when Sofia when she is in one of her not-so-pleasant states. It has helped me so much!

Recently, I have been working on reframing how I view Sofia when she is in one of these states. The traditional model is to assume she is "misbehaving". However, here is the paradox: by viewing her behavior as "misbehavior", we assume that a child (a) knows how he/she should behave, and (b) has the ability to control his/her behavior. For a three-year-old, both of these are questionable. So, by reframing her tantrum as Sofia either not knowing how she should behave (considering how many repititions it takes any of us to change our habits!)and by understanding that she has not yet fully developed the ability to control her behavior (especially when she is in the fight-or-flight mode with the brain stem firing during a tantrum) I have been able to remain calm, neutral, yet still show her love. By doing so, I have ask her if she wants me to hold her. Where she used to pull away, she will now curl up in my arms and calms much sooner! She has also had fewer tantrums - meaning full-out meltdowns - than she had been having, because, I think, she feels that I am there for her. I truly feel I have developed a new trust with her!

more of wichita

Another highlight of our trip to Wichita was going to the Pumpkin Patch with Nana's Kindergarten class. Fia even got to ride with the class on the big yellow school bus!


Sofia was a prolific artist at Nana's house!


And Emo continues to route for Obama! :)

fia feeds the giraffe

While in Wichita last week, we met Grandma Nori and Grandpa Jerry at the zoo. Sofia loved feeding the goats in the petting zoo, and the fish. One of the highlights of the day was that Fia got to feed a baby giraffe named Olivia!

fia-isms

Oh, the things children say! Here are some of Fia's latest:

* After lunch yesterday, Fia spotted a bald man talking on his cell phone, and she said "hey, mama, he looks like John McCain because he has very short hair on top!"

* At a store, Fia found a beautiful, frilly dress, and really wanted it. After I explained to her that it was expensive, and we wouldn't buy it, she said "but I need an expensive dress because I'm an expensive girl!"

* While Jade and Rylie were visiting us, Jade said something about Emerson not being able to sit because he's a baby. Fia responded, "but I have a babysitter in the basement!" She went down, and brought up a baby seat (hence, "baby sitter"!).

Fia and Emo

Yes, we do look like brother and sister!

Fia's Big Night

It was just another Monday night, and there weren't any big fireworks or events. But that doesn't mean that Fia couldn't have a happy, proud, shareworthy breakthrough!! :-)

After some Mommy + Daddy singing, and Fia dancing, Fia asked for 3 chocolate chips.

Fia and I (Kent) have been putting together the Ravensburger puzzle the past few weeks that Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Nori got Fia last year. So - we decided to put the puzzle together after we got the chocolate chips.

I cut up an apple, and 3 chocolate chips and an apple in hand, we set about to try the puzzle again. The past 2-3 times we've done the puzzle, it's been kind of frustrating for Fia. She kind of (..sort of..) gets where the puzzle pieces should fit, but can't fit them together very well, and gets frustrated.

But tonight - she got it! It was fun for everybody! She kept running to Mommy to tell her that "Mommy, Mommy - I fit another piece of the puzzle". She did it all by herself, with only a few hints. I didn't fit any pieces - it was all Fia.

Afterward, I asked Fia if I could take a picture of her with the puzzle, to commemorate the event. Pic of our proud little girl is attached.

She ended the night by falling asleep while I read her the book Olivia; rare for her to fall asleep while she's being read a book, but when all is so very well with the world, I guess it is easy to drift off into some sweet dreams.

Happy Monday!!

emerson's brush with fame

Last night our bookclub went to see the author Anne Lamott speak for a Jefferson County Public Library event. It was a fabulous mom's night out! Emerson joined us of course, and really enjoyed himself, too.

After the speech, as Anne Lamott was walking out of the room for her book-signing, she noticed me and Emerson, and came right up and said, "oh, thank you for bringing your baby! It's so wonderful for this crowd, and he did so well!" Then she (jokingly) asked whether he had any time for volunteering for the Obama campaign! (Well, he did bring 12 lbs of bananas to our neighborhood office!) Anyhow, he was noticed. The rest of the evening, women were oohing and aahing at him!

oh the trials and tribulations of parenthood!

Sofia had a few hard days.

On Tuesday, it all came to a head, and Kent and I really had to crack down on her whineys and back-talking. We think she is really trying to figure out where she has power in the family. The poor girl had many consequences. First, she lost her bedtime stories. Then, she lost her playtime with the next-door neighbor. I was seriously wondering if leaving your child in her room for the rest of the day was OK, because I was exhausted!

Wednesday was a complete turn-around!

Today (Thursday) she warmed my heart at bedtime, when she looked at me with puppy-dog eyes, and said, "we're friends, mommy!". Ahhhhhhhh, yes, Sofia, we're friends. After all of that, we are friends.

dreams tell all

I've had some really telling dreams lately - two of abandoning one of my children, and one of feeding on demand!

First, right after the economic crisis came about, I had a dream that something had happened, and there was a lot of chaos, and I had to say goodbye to Sofia, putting her on a plane to somewhere. I knew she'd be OK where she was going, but I couldn't go with her!

A few nights later I dreamt I took Sofia into the mall on an errand, leaving Emerson in the car!!

Oh, I awoke with such a feeling of guilt from both dreams!!

Last night I dreamt that the woman who owns Cafe Caliente, where I often go for coffee, was knocking on our door, and when she did, I had to have food ready for her, and it had to be the right food! She knocked over and over, and finally I tried to hide from her!

emerson at 2 months!

I am generous with my smiles, and I love to gaze into my mama's eyes and coo and smile (my mommy loves it, too)! I am almost laughing. I move constantly! Mama is amazed how she can put me down on my tummy and I will wriggle myself right off the blanket! At night, mama tries to sleep a little bit away from me, but I always find my way over to her when I'm ready for milk. I sleep pretty well, though, and mama is happy about that!

sofia eleanor gets dressed

We have a book called Ella Sarah Gets Dressed, which Sofia loves, and completely relates to the little girl dramatically exclaiming to her parents advice of dressing sensibly, "No! I want to wear my dress with green and white flowers, my pants with pink stripes, my purple socks, and my yellow hat!"

Her favorite dress these days is her "blue dress with yellow flowers and butterflies". Whenever it is clean, she wears it. When it's dirty, she says "I don't mind!" When it's cold, she puts on pants under it and her sweater (backwards!).

Right now, she has on her brown pants, pink socks, red ballerina skirt, green zebra shirt (backwards) and a beautiful crocheted blue and purple sweater from Grandma Nori (backwards), and is putting on her white sandals with flowers. We're going on a walk.

She came to me and said, "Mom, could you tell me the story from the class about the woman who gets dressed all by herself?" I answered, "Is that the story of Sofia?" She said, "Yes!"

Oh, my little independent girl!!

Emerson, on the other hand, still lets me dress him in whatever I want to. But, he does protest anything going over his head! :)

sofia-isms

Sofia says some funny things. Here are some examples:

"I want to play in the back-front!"

"The other day-night we went to a restaurant!"

"I'm just a little bit short-tall."

georgetown loop railway

I forgot to post that my Dad (Popi), Matilda (Mia) and GAB visited us mid-August. I have no pictures of Sofia's "uncle Gave", unfortunately, but I do have a few to share of our trip to Georgetown to ride the train. Enjoy!

the beer song

Sofia's song:

Oh, I don't know why I can't have beer.
Oh, I don't know why I can't have beer.

My mama says I'm too small.
My dada says I'm too small.

But I'm bigger than a kangaroo!

Oh, I don't know why I can't have beer... or wine!

my first bath

I gave Emerson his first bath today. He really enjoyed it! He cooed and cooed, and kicked!

(I've made three posts today - make sure you scroll down!)

down by the river

My cousin Mark visited us this weekend, from his current home in Long Island, NY. We spent the day down by Clear Creek in Golden. Emerson was asleep, so he didn't make it into any pictures! Sofia enjoyed playing with Mark.

their mama's for obama

On the 3rd day of the DNC, Sofia, Emerson and I rode the bus downtown to take part in a MomsRising.org march. Moms Rising works for women's issues, namely:

Maternity & Paternity leave

Open and flexible work

TV we choose & after school programs

Healthcare for a kids

Excellent & affordable childcare

Realistic & fair wages

(MOTHERS).

It was a nice gathering, and just enough for us! I think the best part for Sofia was riding the bus! But, I enjoyed the energy and the people watching as we sat in a Starbuck's cafe. It was great to feel I actually got involved in the DNC in some minor way. I wish I could have done more, but with two small children, one of them being only 6 weeks old, I just didn't feel that I could. I am envious of the 84,000 people who saw Obama speak at Mile-High Stadium on Thursday. What an amazing energy!! Everyone I've met who was there was just so taken by his speech. I have such high hopes!!