Funny things she's said lately

I forgot to tell you about the Goo Goo Goggles. Roan got some Dr. Seuss books for Christmas, which she loves. Her favorite is Dr. Seuss's ABC's (followed closely by The Cat in the Hat). For those of you who haven't read it lately, the general format of the book is to go through each letter of the alphabet enumerating a list of silly things that start with it. The most controversial of these is the letter G: The book goes "G, g, G, goat, girl goo goo goggles, G, g, G." The goo goo goggles are just a big pair of nerdy looking glasses on a funny characters face, but somehow Roan finds something sinister in them. "Goo goo goggles scare me!" she often says. She will talk about the goo goo goggles even when we're not reading the book. They seem to be a window into the philisophical musings of her soul. Anxiety: "Goo goo gogggles hurt me?" Confidence: "Goo goo goggles no hurt me." Assertiveness: "Go away goo goo goggles!"




Another book she loves to read is Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. It's about a little boy named Peter who enjoys a snowy day in New York. At one point in the story Peter packs a snowball and puts it in his pocket before going into his house. Later that night he's crushed to discover the snowball is gone. The other night she got really upset when it was time to leave the neighborhood Valentine's Day party. She cried for a while on the way home but by the time we got to the house she had calmed down. Reflecting on her previous frustration, she said "Roan sad. Like Peter. Snowy day. Peter sad. Him snowball go bye bye. Roan sad too." I never expected a child under two to draw upon literary allusion to express her feelings. Which is so totally what she was doing.



Arwen was impressed the other day when, in response to the way she wolfed down three bowls of mac n cheese and two bowls of yogurt, he remarked "Wow Roan, you have a big appetite." I quizzed her, "What does appetite mean Roan?" She replied, "Means you're hungry."

And then that night when we were reading Cat in the Hat, when we got to the part where the cat is precariously balanced on a ball while holding a goldfish, a cake, a toy boat and a bunch of other things, and he suddenly falls down. The fish yells at The Cat and he looks rather dejected. Roan observed, "Cat sad. Him make a bad choice." Woo hoo! I thought to myself. She is already thinking about cause and effect.

It's just fun to see how her wheels are turning and watch that little personality continue to blossom.

Here's a random video.

Tutu cute

Here are some pics of Roan in her new fairy outfit, and also some of us just hanging around the house.

"Yeah I can grant you that wish, but what are you going to do for me?"




Abra cadabra! I'm adorable!




Sorting rubber bands with Daddy. Notice she's still wearing the wings.


No, I don't want my picture taken!


I love my blue bathrobe


And then here are a couple of videos too. Here is Roan (mis)identifying the animals on the blanket I cross stitched for her eons ago.


Here is a very brief video of her in the tutu getup. For whatever reason, she kept wanting to sit in my lap that morning instead of being on camera. Very out of character!


And here she is the other night at tooth brushing time. For some wacky reason she wanted to wear her snowboots with her pajamas. Notice at the end of the video she keeps saying a word I can't figure out. It turns out it was "caballo," which is apparrently the Spanish word for "horse." I think she was trying to say that she was wearing cowboy boots, but I wasn't clever enough to catch on.


So let's see, what is new... Well we are weighing whether it is wiser to try and make use of the downturn in the economy by making some savvy investments, or to bury what little savings we have in the backyard. We are also weighing the similarly confounding decision of whether or not to expand our family.

Here are the arguments for:
1. Roan is so cute/ smart/ wonderful we have a responsibility to the betterment of human civilization to reproduce again
2. We aren't exactly spring chickens anymore, so if we ever want to have more kids we better get it in gear
3. Roan would be an excellent big sister
4. More than 1 means they can entertain each other
5. Without a sibling, Roan will have to make all the decisions about what nursing home to put us in all on her own.

Here are the arguments against:
1. Roan is so cute/ smart/ wonderful we could not possibly get that lucky a second time around and would therefore be tempting fate.
2. Between the bomb scare and the emergency C-section, it's hard to get excited about facing labor & delivery again
3. Two kids = ten times the mess/ noise/ insanity
4. The residual pregnancy hormones have only recently worn off, and I just recently started being nice to Arwen again
5. What were the other arguments against? I know there were more...

So who knows. We will have to weigh the benefits, crunch the numbers, and see where all this shakes out.

Also I don't know if I've mentioned lately, but I am so very grateful to be blessed to be Roan's mom. She is an amazing human being. When I think that I will get to see her grow and change through so many stages of life, it makes me really happy. I do get a little sad sometimes when I see a teeny tiny baby and know she'll never be that small or helpless again. But then I try to remind myself of the sleeplessness and the crying. And then I think am I really considering going through that again?!?!

But back to Roan. Back before I had kids, probably even when I was a little girl playing with my dolls, I would think to myself, "When I grow up I'm going to have a daughter and she will be just like me in this way and that way, and we will see eye to eye, and we will get along great and it will be so fun." And then as I got older and became aware of my shortcomings, I would think to myself, "If I have a daughter I hope she's not like me at all in this way and that way."

I don't know if the universe was taking my order or what, but I just feel the most incredible closeness to Roan in all the ways we seem similar - she is compassionate and kind, so loving and sweet, a total bookworm - and at the same time so relieved to see the ways she is different from me. She's not shy and afraid, she is outgoing, confident, an explorer. How did I get so lucky?

Well I'd love to keep waxing philosophical here, but the little dear has just awoken from her nap, so off I go...

Photos, phinally

Well I'm not sure how it happened but nearly the entire month of January has zipped by in a flash. Things here are good. We've been having a lot of fun, working hard, you know, the usual stuff. Roan is growing and saying and doing new things all the time. Here are some photos from this month.

This is at an indoor playground some friends recently turned us on to. Really comes in handy when it's too cold for the playground. The animals are all made of a squishy foam, in shapes that are fun to climb up and slide down.








Here's a smattering of photos from our recent company trip to Winter Park. Here's Roan with Lindsay, who is now due in July.



Two adorable snowbunnies



Posing with her snow lady Penelope



Here's Roan proving that there's nothing more fun than shoes that are too big for you and an empty laundry basket



And here is our homemade kitchen hutch that Arwen and I made for Roan. This was a fun project. I came up with a design that was "so easy" it was supposed to be my first attempt at a woodworking project. I did learn how to operate the table saw, but thankfully Arwen had mercy on me and took over the actual assembly. I sanded and painted it with a kid-friendly non-toxic paint. It gives a place to stow all the toy pots and pans she got for Christmas, as well as a spot to hang her broom, dustpan and apron, which were all previously littered about my kitchen. I wish I could say that she actually loves to play with it. Hopefully it'll grow on her!

This is from the snow we got on Monday. It came down heavy most of the day and left us with 3-5 inches.

Now here come some videos. This one is from back at Christmas - Roan singing Jingle Bells.

Roan playing with her beanie buddies Carmen (the kitten) and Marshall (the puppy). She named them herself.

Dr. Roan gives Daddy a checkup

Roan and me sledding down the luge at Winter Park

Roan & Daddy playing floor games

I have gotten multiple requests to post a photo of Roan in the tutu, wings and magic wand she got for Christmas from Great Grandma Gamber. Let me assure you, said photo will be posted promptly as soon as I manage to snap it. Getting Roan to do anything on my schedule is a rare feat these days, and getting photographic evidence of it is even tougher.

Still no photos?

Wow, that is just mean. Someone should beat me up.

We're going to Winter Park this weekend for a company retreat, so hopefully we'll snap some cute ones of her on the sledding hill.

Happy New Year

First I would like to say to my faithful readers out there, thanks for not shredding me a new one for the long pause since my last post. I didn't want to publish this one until I got some videos posted, but since that's taken longer than I expected tonight I'm just going with what I've got.

Warning: This post is a lot of words with no pictures or videos.

I love this time of year. The New Year - a fresh beginning, a chance at a better "me," time to get my affairs in order, time to start checking things off lists.

Last year my New Year's resolution was rather pragmatic, not very esoteric: to go all year with no library fines! As much as I use the local library - and as much of a space cadet as I can be - that was a tall order. I'm glad to report, however, that I went all year with (almost) no fines.

Building on the tremendous success of last year's resolution I was emboldened to really go for something great this year. My resolution for 2009 is simply: Gratitude. Be one with it.

Ever since oh about month 8 of my pregnancy with Roan I've found myself tending towards a cup is half empty point of view more often than I'd like. It's the littlest things that can put a cloud over me - yarn shop closed unexpectedly, cross-town traffic, lines at the post office, the everyday inevitable inconveniences and disappointments. I've been letting those little things really get to me.

So gratitude. That means when Roan wakes up at 4 in the morning ruining my plans to hit the gym at 5:30, I try to channel some gratitude for having a child that is (mostly) healthy. And smart. And so sweet.

When Arwen and I get in an argument (not that we would ever do that) about how to (not) spend our money, I try to feel thankful to have a husband who is so responsible with our finances.

It's not that I am denying myself permission to get angry or sad any more. It's just that I'm trying to create a tiny space, a pause, just long enough to get some perspective before my emotions go off the deep end.

Now that we're two weeks in to the new year I can honestly say I am amazed at how much this tiny change in attitude has turned things around. I would say I'm about 60% happier. Just happy period really. I haven't felt lately that something needed to be "fixed" with me. Arwen and I have been getting along great, and I've noticed Roan and I are enjoying are time together more.

All this positivity seems to have spilled over into other areas too. I have found myself more oriented towards solving problems rather than complaining about them. And I've felt more joyful, more playful, and more like the me from before kids that I liked better.

I think I need all that positivity too. There seems to be an awful lot of fear on the horizon with the economy where it's at. I think probably everyone is worried for their jobs. Myself, I plan to focus on the things I do have control over, make the best choices I can and try to let go of the things outside my power.

Here's to peace and happiness for you in the New Year!

"Mewy Kissmas!"

From the Vaughans and the Longs, best wishes for a very Merry Christmas/ Hannukah/ Kwanzaa/ Festivus! You know it's been a good Christmas when you've managed to stay in your pajamas all day long.



On Christmas Eve Jen and Micah joined us and we had another couple over for dinner. There were supposed to be 9 adults total, but at the last minute three had to drop out due to pink eye. You've got to have a wide social circle with kids because any time you try to plan something, folks inevitably have to bow out sick.

Anyway, it was a lovely evening. We had an Italian feast, with Jen's famous tomato bread (sounds healthy but is deliciously naughty!), penne pasta with spicy sausage tomato sauce, a lovely garden salad wtih homemade dressing, and my first ever tiramisu from scratch. We had white Russians, red wine, apple cider, gluwein (German spiced wine), and champagne. It was oh so festive. Roan wore one of her Christmas dresses and her Santa bow in her hair. Adam and Elisa, our dinner guests, are expecting a baby any day now (due Jan. 6th) and they already seem to have the magic touch when it comes to kids. Roan thoroughly enjoyed having them as an audience, er, I mean, reading them every book in her library, showing them how high she can jump, etc. We finished off the evening with a girls vs. boys game of Cranium.



Jen and Micah stayed over last night so we could open presents together first thing this morning. We had not played up the anticpation of Christmas morning to Roan beforehand, because honestly it's been tough enough lately getting her down to bed without her wanting to stay up for Santa. So this morning she was a little surprised to learn that Santa had been here and that we could finally open the enormous pile of presents that has been under our tree for weeks.

She started out opening presents with incredible enthusiasm, but before long became overwhelmed by the huge volume. And, slave drivers that we are, we felt compelled to encourage her to tear into present after present just to keep the festivities from dragging on all day. As it was it took us almost till noon to get everthing unwrapped!

We shot lots of video of the morning on our camcorder. We rarely break it out because our little digital camera is so covenient, but special occasions like today seem to warrant it. I just want to say a big thank you to all our loved ones out there who sent packages. Not a single gift went unappreciated, I can promise you. It had been quite a long while since we had updated her stash of toys. Most of them were from around her first birthday or earlier. Even her books were starting to get stale. So now she is sitting pretty. She got a new baby doll, a doctor kit, a t-ball set, some clothes and blankets for her babies, art supplies, some adorable clothes, lots and lots of terrific books - some even with audio CDs - just all kinds of terrific things.

She was literally worn out with excitement. Each single item so elated her, that the combination of them all was overwhelming. It was almost impossible to get her down for a nap. We heard her talking to herself and playing with toys over the baby monitor for quite a while. And then when we went in to get her up from her nap we laughed at how she had piled up virtually every new posession into her bed with her - even her new socks and training pants. It's a wonder she could sleep in there at all; there was no room for her.

She's been going through this "my" phase lately, feeling compelled to claim everything in her vicinity as her own. My mommy, my daddy, my Jen, my Sasha... you get the picture. With all of these new worldly posessions today it's a wonder she hasn't sprained anything claiming them all.

Santa wasn't just good to Roan. He also brought us grownups some fun things. Micah got a compressor, Arwen got a wii, Jen got a new coat, and I got everything on my list. We have spent most of the afternoon and evening playing games on the wii. It's really a blast. I'm not a video game person at all because I don't really like sitting in one spot for long. But with the wii, a lot of the games are physical. In boxing you actually punch. In tennis you swing the racket. In golf you swing your club. It's a hoot. I figured it would be something fun Arwen and I could do together this winter when it's too cold to go outside. And it's great for parties too. Oh and by the way, I kick @ss at boxing!!!

One other thing I thought I'd post photos of is the wardrobe I sewed over the past couple of weeks for Roan's doll Baby Marty. She loves this little cabbage patch kid, but the clothes it came with just do not stay on. I can't have folks scratching their heads any longer about why my kid is toting around a naked dolly! Since you can't really buy clothes for this doll line I thought I'd use some of the fabric scraps I had lying around. I had a lot of fun doing this. Probably too much fun. It was hard to make myself stop.

You can see the rest of what I made here here.

Marty got a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, two pairs of panties, two dresses, a bonnet, a hairband for her bald head, a bib, a backpack with a dolly sized book and teddy bear, and a blanket to match one I made for Roan. Normally I despise sewing and view it only as an unfortunate means to a necessary end, but this time it was a blast. Partly it was the mental exercise of figuring out the construction without patterns, and partly it was imagining Roan's excitement. It was a lot of work and there was no telling whether she'd like any of it at all. But I got the biggest thrill when I asked her if she liked it and she said, "I love it!" Aww, that's my girl!

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all our dear ones, near and far.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Lolli & G-Pop came to town for a nice little visit. We managed to cram pack all kinds of Christmas fun into the weekend. Lots of dinners in, a few strolls down the cute little commercial districts in the neighborhood, a holiday party at Roan's school, multiple Santa sightings, two tree trimmings, and cocoa and cider aplenty. We even had an early Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebration.

Such a big change from last year, when Roan was an oblivious lump. This year she's taking it all in. She loves all things snowman. She says things such as "Christmas tree, I like it!" and "Mommy have present. Roan help!" When asked what does Santa say she most often replies "Ha ha ha!" with a devilish laugh.

She has been such a joy. Now I can understand why parents go to so much trouble to make Christmas magical for their kids: the wonder and joy in their tiny hearts are multiplied for us. Seeing her response to Christmas lights, "Woah! so pretty!" makes me want to take her to see every light display in down. Her excitement at opening presents - even on behalf of other people - makes me want to shower her in gifts. Of course when she wants me to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reigndeer for the 10th time, that's an entirely different story.

Clearly Lolli & Pop understood this phenomenon, because they came prepared. On Christmas Eve Roan got to open her first present: some special new pajamas. This was always a tradition when Jen and I were kids. And I was hoping it might turn the tables on Roan's recent entrenched resistance to changing into jammies at bedtime. She either wants to go naked, close to naked, or wear her playclothes which are inevitably filthy from the day's fun.

If she disliked pajamas, that was all forgotten as soon as she opened her new pink and blue striped ones with matching snowman slippers. She adores them. Even when she's not wearing them, she likes to carry them around with her. She especially loves the slippers. When it turned out that I too got a pair of slippers on Christmas morning, she was over the top with excitement.

Of course now we have the inverse problem. She wants to wear her slippers all the time, even outside the house. We have had a couple screaming temper tantrums over this. And she often orders me to put my slippers on too. I try not to let her order me around, but she's so dang adorable!

We also had a Saturday Morning Breakfast while Lolli & Pop were here. We shot this quick video of Roan and Audrey playing in Roan's bed.


I think I forgot to mention that we have moved Roan over to a toddler bed. She took a flying leap over her crib rails, and would have landed right on her head were it not for an acrobatic diving leap by her daddy. Going to the big girl bed has brought on a new bevy of nighttime challenges related to settling down to bed, staying in bed, and sleeping through the night. She also has taken a step backward with regard to interest in the potty. My gut tells me these new freedoms and priveleges, while exciting, also bring with them a need for reassurance and comfort.

Sorry the pictures are rather blurry. The flash on my camera broke. I should be getting some pictures from Lolli soon - she took lots of good ones.

Also, soon to come - photos of my latest obsession. I am sewing doll clothes for Roan's Baby Marty (it's a cabbage patch kid that "pees"). She gave it a boys name but refers to it as a girl, so it's getting a whole new wardrobe complete with dresses, hats, underwear, and... if I can get over a couple last engineering hurdles... a backpack. Once I got going on this, I just can't make myself stop. It combines two things I love: creating something cute for my adorable little girl, and doing something useful with fabric scraps that would otherwise go in the landfill. Arwen is ready to have me sent off to the looney bin, however. "Can't we just buy this stuff?" Well, yeah, but what would be the fun in that?!?

San Francisco

Here are some belated highlights from our trip to San Francisco the week before Thanksgiving.

This is in the airport just before we got on a purple airplane. She was very excited. She's into purple. (Not as much as pink though...)


Reading books with Feefa in the car.


Playing in the discovery room at the Academy of Sciences


Dinosaurs go "Roar!"


Dim Sum: Yum Yum!


Feefa and Roan in their hats


At the beach


Roan's first time to see the ocean


Writing her name in the sand






Fun at the farmer's market


A quiet spot in the garden at the Hunter's Point studios




At the playground


Playing at the Louise Bourgeois Crouching Spider sculpture on Pier 14


Napping on Daddy


At the Palace of Fine Arts


At the beach


First time for Dim Sum


Penguins!


We had a really nice visit. Thanks to Feefa and Charles for spending some quality time with us, and thanks to Jim and Mike for the wonderful accommodations. We all had so much fun!