Winter go Bye-bye

It's was 64 degrees today. Warm although a little windy. We took the opportunity to get outside and run around. All the huge piles of snow everywhere are melting away. Leaving icy bits of white that make a satisfying crunch when you step on them.

We asked Athena why it was so warm and she said "Winter go bye-bye!" Although it probably has alot to do with global warming, it was really nice to be outside and not freezing. It's been so cold and snowy already this winter that Zoe, who only has a vocabulary of 20-25 words, can point out the window and say "snow" when she sees it.

One year ago today

One year ago today we handed our baby over to an OR nurse in green scrubs through glass double doors that we were not allowed to go beyond. A year ago today we waited impatiently for close to four hours until they called us to post-op. A year ago today I felt my whole body go weak as a nurse carefully placed a sleepy, bandaged baby with splints and attached to an IV in my arms. A year ago today Chris and I took turns sleeping, feeding Zoe with a syringe and rubbing her temples as we cradling her on a pillow on our laps for a 24 hour hospital stay.

One year ago, and this is today...

Zoe's Top Ten Right Now

Oh my sweet Zoe. Why has it taken me three days to come up with a Top Ten for you? In my defense most of Saturday was spent caring for and cleaning up after you 'cause you got a bit of a stomach flu. Then yesterday I had to prepare for a big meeting. Today I have a ton of work to do, what better time to blog about my baby?

1. Right now, Zoe's most constant and defining trait is her love of books. If she finds any one of her adults sitting, she'll pick up a book and plunk herself in your lap in one swift motion, and hand the book to you, like "Read to me now, puhleez!" After you read it, she'll get up, pick another book and sit right back down again. You have no choice, you must obey.

2. Zoe surprises us several times a day with her new words and will repeat almost anything you say to her. Among her ample vocabulary are words such as: apple, shoe, cracker, all done, night-night, milk, mine, sister, kitty, book, dog, duck, baby, up, out, nose, fish, sock, Elmo and the list goes on and on.

3. She calls Mimi "Ma-Ma" and me "Mamm-Ma" ...there is a difference...I think...

4. At any given moment she is apt to lift up her shirt and say "Belly!" Usually prompting her father to do the same.

5. Stuffed animals are her thing. Zoe likes to grab her animals and bury her face in their soft fur. We had an unfortunate accident this weekend where one of her favorites, the bear that nods and sings "You are my sunshine," was thrown into the washing machine with the crib bedding. Now his head spins maniacally to an eerie cacophony of jumble high pitched notes. (It really freaks Mimi out, which is why she will probably find it in her bed tonight).

6. The other day at dinner, we were trying to get Zoe to say everyone's names then point to her and saying "Zoe!" She shook us off and pointed to herself with both hands and said "Bay-Bay!"

7. You keep using that word -- I do not think it means what you think it means. She loves to say the word "No" usually in response to us saying "No" to her. She'll repeat it again and again in a sing-songy almost mocking tone as she continues to do the exact thing you don't want her to do.

8. She will fling herself backwards over the couch if not properly watch. She loves to be upside down or spinning or flying like an airplane or high in the air, she has no fear.

9. She has recently discovered the power of laughter and is so delighted by it. If she gets a laugh out of you she will do the same thing three more times with even more joy.

10. It is almost one year since her surgery. With her bright eyes and peaches and cream complexion, there are many times a day when she simply takes my breath away. I cannot believe her beauty.

Athena's Top Ten Right Now

It's bitter cold here and there is not much going on. We've had a handful of very uneventful days. Athena got a funny haircut, Zoe is constantly surprising us with her language skills, I've got a big project at work and Chris is teaching Athena about calendars and the meaning of days with all his travels.

After the mania of the holidays, this peace is welcome. But there isn't much to say lately. Just a handful of little stories that I don't want to forget. So, to help preserve this time, I thought I would write an Athena's Top Ten Right Now Stories (and next I'll write Zoe's).

1. Athena has named her newest two-year molar "FaLa". Every night, when we are "making Happy Teeth" (aka brushing) Chris (who makes voices for all her teeth as they are getting brushed) has to make a particular point of brushing FaLa and make the other teeth welcome him.

2. She's started cleaning up her toys by herself. Without any prompting, she'll just begin to put her toys away at random moments. There is no organization at all, everything is just thrown in the toy chest in a big heap. But, we are amazed nonetheless.

3. She thinks that there are monsters in my mother's house that they can be chased away by saying "Meow." (This may be due to the fact that we told her that monsters live in the rooms where Mom keeps the kitty litter and only cats can go in there because the monsters are scared of them).

4. Athena has a crush on a boy called Nick. He's at her school and I hear her talk about him all the time. When I dropped her off at school the other day, she saw him and chased after him and said something compelling like "Nick, Nick...I watch Dora before school today..." Nick, who is at least five, just dismissed her with a "Hrmph" and ran into the classroom. (Must they learn so early?)

5. Her favorite movie is Cinderella. I worry that this is a very slippery slope and soon I will have a house full of Disney Princesses. But the original movie, which I have not seen in some thirty-odd years, is actually quite charming. I don't mind watching it all the time as most of the film is about the birds and the wee mice and the evil cat and the dog. I just pray it does not lead to Belle and Ariel and Jasmine (ugh)...

6. See photo above. Her latest trick is to say "Lookit dis" and strike a pose like the one above. Each one sillier than the next. I laugh and tell her she's crazy, and she says "Unca Stuart is the craziest!"

7. She often makes her belly talk. Mostly this is in response to the Daddy belly that talks to her. (How much of weird behavior is learned?)

8. We can get her to do just about anything by giving it a voice or personality. For instance, if she eats her dinner with her fingers we tell her that it makes her fork sad. She will eat her green beans if they suddenly take on life and ask her to please let them live in her belly. It is an awesome power.

9. She can recognize instruments by sound. This is totally Chris' teaching as I cannot recognize a guitar from a whatever. But it's Athena and Chris' special game and she gets it right more often than I would.

10. We think, for the most part, Athena would prefer to be an only child. Zoe is a bother except when she is sleeping, then Athena can't live without her and must wake her up immediately. She is allowed to wake her up from her naps as a special treat and then she bursts into the room and says "ZOE!" like it's been years.

Happy New Year!

New years come and new years go,
Pieces of time all in a row.
As we live our life, each second and minute,
We know we’re privileged to have you in it.
Our appreciation never ends
For our greatest blessings are our family and friends.
(poem stolen from a greeting card...)

Happy New Year!

The Best Sound in the World

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A Christmas Story

All Athena wanted for Christmas was a rainbow ball. A rainbow ball. Like the one in her counting book. The one that is her favorite. Seems like a very sweet and simple request...too simple, in fact.

Of course, Walmart didn't have it, it's a summer item, and I found nothing at Target, KBToys, or Kmart. I thought for sure Toys R Us would have a whole wall of balls and at least one of them would be rainbow striped, but no. I considered getting a plain ball and painting the stripes myself. Instead I just asked her again. Each of the 17 times I asked she said she wanted Santa to bring her "a rainbow ball."

This dream of her opening a box on Christmas morning with the perfect rainbow ball filled my head, until I forgot about it in the last minute Christmas Hub Bub. Luckily, when it was time to talk to Santa, she was too terrified to approach him. And, that was my "out." See, she never technically asked him, so how would he know?

And then, the day after Christmas we all went to Chuck-E-Cheese. Unca Stu, because he has super human powers, accumulated 487 tickets. When the time came for Athena to choose what she wanted, she select one item from the 10 ticket box, one item from the 20 ticket box (you see where I'm going). The annoyed 16 year old at the counter hoping to speed us along said: "How about one of these" and guess what she was holding? The perfect "rainbow ball" with Chuck's head right in the middle of it. I hope I always remember the look on Athena's face at that precise moment.

So, what is the lesson learned here? Is Chuck-E-Cheese actually Santa? Have they ever been seen in the same room together? Or does Santa work in very, very mysterious ways? Hmmm.

Athena Eye View

Athena's number one gift this year, or maybe number two (the dollhouse was pretty cool), is the Little Tikes digital camera. Yes, that's right, a digital camera. It's primary colors with big buttons and fairly indestructible. The quality is not great but there's an artistry to these fuzzy over exposed photos that I kind of like.

Snowball Fight!

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

This great video brought to you by Uncle Stu (I don't have the patience).

And the reaction...

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Merry Christmas

Thinking of Grandma and Katie today. Much love to our family and friends who we can't be around. We hope to see you soon in the next year.

Julie, Chris, Athena and Zoe

For Photos, click here:
http://gallery.mac.com/stuart.steene/100050