baby steps

Zola took her first two shakey steps to independence on Monday evening. She's been getting closer and closer. She still prefers to crawl because she really lacks the confidence to venture off without something to hold onto... the balance and coordination is there. But, she just reminds me of me when I was trying to "drop in" at the skatepark for the longest time. I had no doubt in my mind that I could do it and that my fear of failure was the only thing holding me back.

I can't tell you how my whole chest swells when this little pooper does something magnificent like put a spoon level to her mouth without dumping the contents or weaponizing the thing. It's a heart-stopper, each and every acheivement. I get a little tear in my eye or a tug at my heart. And it's not like she's discovering some secret to world peace or curing all that ailes the world. Half the time she's just accomplishing the most ordinary thing that everyone under 85 years of age takes for granted.

Our #2 is really rocking out in there. No, literally. We went to a concert and she was really rocking out. She danced continually for over an hour. I had my 28 week check up today. I'm doing fine, but started gaining weight in some serious way... so now I'm feeling like all this work at the gym to keep things in check is pointless. If the baby needs weight, the baby will have what she wants. Just like Zola... asserting herself right up in there. At least I know I'll have the commitment at the gym for losing it afterward. That's comforting.

Anyway, more later.

where did I put my nap?

Mark wanted to know if he could strap the baby upside-down on his back in some kind of holster, and say "energize" and make the baby stiffen into a deadly weapon that he could draw by the ankel like a sword and fight crime with. I told him that infants are like dogs... you have to train them to do such complex tricks. If he can train her, I will personally buy him a holster with some fancy crime-fighting slogan leather-embossed on the front.

I've been making a routine of chai tea & long walks every evening. Saturday I started early, taking my tea & walk at 10 a.m. -- and walking farther than I intended, ending up at the mall. Needing to sit down & rest before the long walk home, I decided to see "My Sister's Keeper" which is based on a book that I have read... cried my hormone-ridden brain out. Good movie. I rarely say this, but the movie was better than the book.

When I got home at 6 p.m., Mark reminded me that we had tickets and had to leave in 30 minutes to go see "Explosions in the Sky", an instrumental post rock band that we missed last time they were in town. How did I forget this? I skipped ABBA to be able to see Explosions.

It was a great show and I never enjoyed slipping into bed and getting off my feet so much in my life. This morning was about recovering. I slept in, woke up, ate, and fell back to sleep. Now I'm playing catch up with myself to do all the weekend household business that piles up during the week. But, I took some time out to make Fried Green Tomatos for lunch. I was craving them so a lady at work picked them from her garden so I could fry them. It hit the spot, but now I'm paying for the greasiness. To distract myself from the heartburn, I'm watching Benjamin Button while I clean the house.

steph's first show

We walked down to the El Rey to see a few local bands play at a show that Stephanie picked out. She loved Cold Forty-Three, which was a kind of generic-punk novice band. She talked to them after their set for about 30 minutes, and they gave her a sampler CD, tickets to their next show, and a T-shirt. They even signed the CD (which was a big deal, because no one had a pen, so they had to send a groupie to the drug store for a sharpie marker, and he came back with candy, too - which they also shared with Stephanie.) They were really nice and ate up the attention from Stephanie and vice versa.
After their set, Karisa Winett played. She had all this attitude on stage, but she had the voice to back it up, and played pretty classic hard-rock. Her band was also very talented.

Then, Profit and Business... this was Mark's favorite, and probably mine, too. But it was hard to like them. They would go from this really melodic post-rock ambient loveliness, to screaming heavy metal and back again. It was a little chaotic, but going back and forth from yuck to yum made the yum part yummier. I don't know. It's hard to explain. Anyway, we had fun.