jolly days

Viola pulled herself up to sitting! She was so proud of herself the first time she did it. And now she is doing it all the time. I just think about her journey through gross motor skills development and it is so much funnier than Zola, who was just happy to sit in one place until someone brought her something to eat. Viola on the other hand has been constantly a wandering soul, whatever it takes. As soon as she figured out how to roll front to back and back to front, she was looking over her shoulder at what she wanted and starting to roll to it. And like those robot vacuums and remote control cars, she would get jammed between chair legs and walls, or ram something she didn't see too hard and it would end badly. But that never stopped her. Then she figured out that the push-up inched her backward a little. So, she'd look back behind herself to orient and start chugging off backward. As soon as she could add the toe-push and go forward like an army man under razor wire, she was unstoppable. Like a snake, she could edge along head-on. Just in the last couple of weeks, she has mastered her leg movement and is doing a lot of yoga now... downward facing dog and cat pose. Pretty soon, she is going to figure out the stepping motions for utility and the rug-burned calluses on her knees and elbows might reduce. But, it hardly matters. I clocked her crossing the room in 5 seconds yesterday.

She and Zola have figured out how to interact. They like to lay on the floor and climb on one another. Viola gets up on Zola's tummy (with a spotter) and they tickle each other. They play patty cake, hand each other toys, and sometimes Zola plays "mommy" and takes care of Viola... or lets mom &/or dad know if baby needs a diaper.

Zola's language skills are through the roof and everyday she surprises us with what she knows and can repeat. She can do three syllable words. Her favorite things are elephants, kisses, going to the gym childcare (she knows the building so we have to avoid that street when we aren't going there or she will cry), swinging, cooking (helping mom make dinner or pretending in her new play kitchen), books, and pushing carts/strollers. Her favorite foods are milk, cheese, eggs, and meat (deli slices, pepperoni, but not chunks of chicken or beef unless it is chopped up fine and has taco seasoning.) She loves chips with salsa and spicy food. She can drink from a glass, although she still wants her milk in a sippy cup when she is tired. And she can feed herself with a spoon and fork (but prefers to eat with her fingers for convenience.) She's not a messy eater and gets very upset when food gets on her. She doesn't like her stuff to be put away. She wants everything out at once. She loves her tutu and boots and wants to wear them every day. She still hasn't shown any interest in potty training, and we aren't going to push it.

For the holiday, I was off for a 4-day weekend. Mostly I cooked and baked and cleaned the kitchen.

For Christmas Eve, we had a Mexican food feast. Since you can't really find good mexican food here in Cleveland, I learned how to make tortillas and used a mock Filibertos rice and beans recipe to make everything from scratch. We also had queso, ground beef taco bar, and tacquitos (from a box.)

For Christmas morning, I prepared (in advance) homemade cinnamon rolls with lemon cream cheese frosting. (MMMMM!)

For the afternoon feast on Christmas Day, I prepared a half-ham in a peach and brown sugar glaze, a cheesy broccoli rice casserole (a family favorite from Aunt Viola), and homemade focaccia rolls. The rolls were a little hard, so I made a second batch of bread later in the day so that we could enjoy fluffy rolls. The second batch turned out perfect and I realized my mistake. Whenever you half a recipe, always re-write the amounts so you aren't just doing the math in your head. I always forget and use the full amount the recipe calls for with at least one dang item and spoil it.

On Monday, since I didn't have to work, we had a family day. We took the kids to the zoo, tried out another (sadly disappointing) mexican food restaurant, and then looked at houses. We only have a couple of restaurants left... and so far, there is only one type of south of the border food here. It's bland, not spicy at all, all the stuff on the plate is either runny or covered in a runny sauce and touching and the meat is always stewed and shredded. I miss the nuances of El Salvador, Cuba, and the baja coast of Mexico and their limes and grills, when chipotle was a spicy pepper in adobo sauce that could burn your eyeballs out, and the fresh corn and black bean goodness of Tex-Mex, and burritos that you put in your fist. You would think I could open a restaurant and make a killing, but the sad truth is that people here cannot palate the flavors. Things on the menu here that are marked "spicy" can compete with Taco Bell's mild sauce. Things are bland here for a reason.

I have tons and tons of video of the kids right now. But for some reason, we've been negligent about taking pictures. I need to beat myself up about that. What's a scrapbooker going to do? I'll post some visuals soon.

snow days

My toddler LOVES the white stuff.

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thanks.

We drove up to Baltimore and Washington D.C. for the holiday, saw Nick & Tanya, ate wonderful food, toured the city, and showed off our cuties. We really enjoyed the city and had a great time.

Since coming home, Zola has demonstrated her ability to recognize every single letter of the alphabet by sight in no particular order and Viola has taken her first tentative crawls like a non-soldier / non-amphibian person. She also figured out how to laugh hysterically out loud and return her big sister's hugs (can't explain the adorable.) I have a cold now and a work load that might eventually kill me. I am spoiled from the vaca.

cute story

Zola thinks her name is "cute" or alternatively "you." Every once in a while, she will call herself Zoe or Zola. But most of the time she will argue indefinitely with you that her name is "Cute."

The other day, I caught her using something as a step stool to get the scissors off the kitchen table. The step-stool she was using? Her baby sister. She was standing with both feet, full weight, on Viola's tummy. Viola was just giggling like a complicit accomplice and was not harmed in any way during the telling of this story.

My hair is too long. Not only was I able to create a mural of Michael Jackson on the bathroom wall with the hair that falls out during a single shower but I'm now worse than living with a dog. My hair is everywhere in the house. We found one long hair hanging out of Viola's eye. It was wrapped around the back of her eyeball. (I was able to gently massage it out.)

I asked Zola if she needed a diaper. She bent over, touched the floor in what yoga calls the "Downward Dog" and subsequently farted on command - five times (while laughing her head off.) She makes more fart jokes than anyone in the house. Also, on a similar note, I mastered my chili recipe using dry beans and spices (not canned beans and packets) - very proud of myself.

I think Zola has upwards closer to 50o words now. And Viola is sitting up for nearly a half-minute by herself now. It is so hard to see them grow up so quickly and not be home with them more. I get the cranky, tired final moments in their day -- dad gets the happy, playful, joyful moments (but also the monotonous daily grind associated with meeting their basic needs hour after hour throughout the day.) Wish there was a way to spread out their care between us better.

the good stuff

To keep you coming back....

photo nuggets from this week

I don't know what MJ was talking about. As far as I'm concerned, THIS is it.

OH!

In a shocking twist of events, I like Ohio a lot! Who would have guessed? But here we are, transplants in a four-season State for the first time ever for Mark and the first time in 18 years for me. In a month or so, the leaves will change as a symbol of our new chapter.

Here's how we got here and why I haven't been updating this here bloggie:

We packed our entire household into shipping/storage containers Jun 27th and left Los Angeles for our great family odyssey while we are both on leave to bond with Viola. We packed in so much activity and travel that we really haven't had a chance to post, which is a shame. We had some of the most epic times of our lives.

First, we went out to Arizona. JJ made some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten and helped with the babies so much. McKay was in town, so we took a break from the Black Ops marathon with Evan to go out to ride the train and pan for gold at the ghost town, go swimming, and grill and chill.

Then Ev, the babies and I drove up to Utah. Austin, Sade, Chan, and Blondie drove up in another car. It was the first real test of long-road driving with both kids, and they surprised me by being pretty easy. Utah was seriously amazing. We camped, hiked, shot guns, bows & arrows, jumped on trampolines, sat in hot tubs, drove four-wheelers and dune buggies, rode bikes, got fountain drinks, did some crafting, and made 4 million trips to Walmart. Utah can be so beautiful and it was great to see everyone.

We went hiking, camping, roller coastering, shopping, scrapbooking, sewing, bicycling, walking in the rain, four-wheeling, dune-buggying, movie watching, and so much more.


While we were there, Zola had so many cousins to play with. I hardly saw her. She was off adventuring (as evidenced by the bruises,) But, when I got her back entirely to myself at the end of the two weeks, I was surprised at how grown up and full of attitude she was. Baby-zilla, for sure! With double the vocabulary and a skill set that takes ordinary life and makes it a roller coaster.

We went back to Arizona for one last week just to wrap up our loose ends and get ready for the great drive. The gravity of our undertaking started to hit me. Ugh. What had we done?

Mark was doing everything in his power to make things less stressful for me. He drove every single mile through New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and finally, Ohio. About the time we reached Iowa (2 days before we got here) I started to relax a little. Iowa was really pretty rolling hills of corn fields with these gorgeous romantic looking farms... and it sort of chilled me out (even though we saw plenty of pretty country before that.) I don't know why.


We sort of "camped" in a hotel while we sorted out the final details on our place in Ohio. By the time we could move in and get our shipping containers delivered, we had 48 hours until Mark's parents were expected to visit. Much of our items didn't survive the trip, so during that time, we bought a new couch and kitchen table and made six trips to target, unpacked the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and all but 5 or so boxes in each of the kids room and our room left to unpack.

We ended up renting a two bedroom condo in Lakewood. It's a block off of Lake Erie, but a little over a mile from the big recreation areas attached to the lake in either direction from us. This town is a dense, urban area much like our old neighborhood in L.A., so we feel like the transition to the slower paced rural lifestyle will be less obvious at first. I'll share some more pictures when I get a little more unpacked and can find the cord that connects my camera to the computer (or even still, the camera.)

Mark made this video about it... please enjoy.

17 Months

I say this every time I post about Zola, but she is changing and growing so fast. Now she is fully walking almost everywhere she goes, chatting up a storm, and getting MOLARS! She is kind of a bully and goes WWF SmackDown! whenever she doesn't get what she wants (and sometimes just for no reason.) We always take her hand gently and say "be nice" and pat ourselves with her hand softly. So, yesterday... she hit her dad's leg and then said "nice" and patted the same spot gently all by herself. I think we might have taught her that hitting is somehow nice.

Her favorite position to sleep in is on her knees and elbows with her bum high in the air. It's so funny and I have tried to take so many pictures that don't quite do it justice. You have to see it for yourself.

She must have seen me doing this. Periodically, she comes up to me and just rubs my tummy. It's very precious. Especially when she puts her cheek up to it and pats it like she can't wait to give her little sister a hug. But, when she's mad, she smacks my tummy. And that ticks the sequel off so she kicks back. And then everyone is beating me up! (And by the way, sometimes this exchange will bring tears to my eyes, since my skin is stretched to it's limit at this point and having my clothes touch it can be enough to feel like it's burning and splitting.)


Last weekend, Caleb, Zola and I went to the desert to visit my friend Tiffany. While we were there, we drove out to Death Valley to tour Scotties Castle, drove past the sand dunes, and climbed a few miles into Mosaic Canyon.

Zola learned how to slide down the marble rock in the canyon and this beautiful, tucked away natural wonder was my favorite spot.

new favorite

Funniest math cartoonist ever.

houseboat with legs

This wonderful pic of Me, Z, and Madhuri was taken 6 WEEKS AGO at 24 Weeks! I am defying the laws of physics with this tummy.

fave

This picture of my mom and dad when they were first starting their lives together reminds me of Mark's Valentine's Day gift to me... He reminded me of the times when we were young, naive, and silly in love.

Mark and I think that Valentines Day is for people who suck at expressing their love and appreciate for each other every other day of the year. We don't celebrate it, in other words. But, because it has been harder to find the time for dates, thank yous, and because we are both pulled at both ends by the demands of life... this year we both gave each other something. Ironically, we gave each other almost exactly the same surprise. We told each other the story of us, in our own way. I gave him a small picture book with every picture ever taken of both of us together along with a little children's story of mom & dad that he can read to our girls, and I told him that he could name the new baby the name he likes. He gave me a long, eloquent, deeply personal love letter telling me about how our history together has shaped our future to be awesome... and the ends says that we should name the new baby the name I like.

Now we both have insight into how our lives have impacted each other and still no clue what to call our new little one.

28 weeks

My friends, who are also throwing me a traditional Indian party for my baby shower in a couple of weeks, pitched in their wedding jewelry and the dress outfit I am wearing for these pictures to celebrate my entré into the 3rd trimester.

The gift the universe keeps on giving is is a cold that I haven't been able to kick for weeks, which continually reminds me that my last will and testament is out of date. I believe that I may, in fact, be the first woman to suffer the much more serious and even life-threatening "man cold." I've never coughed this hard (until I actually throw up on myself!) or hurt this bad (that I dip my entire face in hot water to relieve the sinus pressure!). Ugh.

And did I mention that I'm in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy? This means I am suddenly and completely physically miserable from the neck down in ways unimagineable. My darling blossom is defying gravity by standing on my spine and poking her head straight out as realistically depicted in the diagrams shown here:

Oh, and Zola has some kind of stomach virus and is throwing up and peeing out her butt with a fever.

In generally, what I'm saying is that it's a really joyful time at our house.

[Editors Note 3/8: As of today, we have been properly verbally abused by both my doctor and Zola's doctor for waiting too long to finally jam pack our cupboards with antibiotics. Zola has severe dehydration, stomach flu, 2 teeth coming in, and an ear infection and I have a seriously advanced sinus infection, e.g. tooth and neck nerves are involved and I can't open my right eye all the way. Don't be so foolish. When you or your baby doesn't recover within 5-7 days, just go to the doctor. No need to wait three weeks to "tough it out.")

the root of my square root of two.

I just realized it's been a while since I talked about math. Let me tell you about the exponential function. It models those situations where one axis has change that is disproportionately different from the other axis. So, let's take an example. One axis (horizonal line above) is pretty constant... lets say it's time... which (believe it or not) only goes at one speed no matter whether you're having fun or not. Then the other axis represents something that occurs more frequently every day at the rate of whatever it was yesterday times by the number of days since it started really increasing like nut-balls. In this example, this is the verticle axis and it represents all the crazy new things Zola learns everyday.

The square root of two is totally opposite of the exponential function. It's when things happen less frequently every day, like the number of things you can remember as you get old.

At one point, we were a family of two, but now we are a square root of more like 3.65... which is an irrational number around 1.91. But, since Zola has the energy of at least 5 average adults and has developed a football tackle relationship with Akira... I feel like we live with He-man and her side-kick cat. Especially the way she wields the remote like a sword and likes to hit people in the face with it.

She is still not walking, and no one is really looking forward to the time that she does. Because we can all see how correlated that will be with climbing. She already pulls out the drawers and climbs into them, climbs up on her toys and stands higher to get a better view out the window, and is trying to get her knee up on the (glass) coffee table. So many things to bolt down, screw in, and re-surface.

Meanwhile, her language skills are out of this world. Here are a few samples of things she regularly says in correct context:

"Hello" --When someone comes into the room or the phone rings

"Right there" --Where is you pacifier?

"All done." --Do you want more?

"No" --Can I have it?

"Yum, Yum" --Do you want some food?

"Up" or "Down" (depending on which she currently is)
"Kitty" (Pointing to the cat)

"Daddy!" (When he comes in the room)

Caleb is here for a while to help us with childcare and she just adores him. So do we. He really takes some of the stress off of me and Mark and makes it so we can spend more time together. Our house is so small, that I feel bad for making him sleep in the closet... but he seems to appreciate being here. The weather is great and there is a lot to do. Plus, even though Zola is more work than ever before, it's a little more fun now that she communicates and asserts herself. And she is really great at helping you figure out what she wants.

candids of the monkey

With Eva...With Mommy...

With Tatyana...With Dada...
With food... (she just shoved an entire pretzel in her mouth here)

I finally got around to downloading the old pictures onto the computer. (Now I just have to do the new ones, ha ha!)

So, Zola is every day surprising us with new or advancing little skills and I feel like I can't keep up. She can really get around the room and we are NOT ready for that yet. As I type, I had to get up twice to set her away from the drawers with batteries in them that aren't child-locked yet. I know, I know. We're awful parents. Tell me about it.

Cha-cha-cha-changes

So I decided that with my family obligations, I can't keep fooling myself that I'm getting anywhere with the actuarial exams.

When I broke the news to my work, they didn't immediately make things easy for me. They made it sound like I had until May to find a new job within or without the company. Ughhh. Not exactly the best time to be unemployed.

So, I put out some feelers with my peeps around the company and got a few calls and an interview right away.

Eva came out for a week and was here during the thick of it. I interviewed for this awesome position on Monday and it went so well that they asked to talk to my supervisor and have me call-in interview with the VP.

This makes my supervisor and her boss nervous, because my plate at work is very full until at least Christmas, so they will have a lot of work to reallocate if I go right away. I think they thought it would be harder for me to find something in this job market. So, they make my job more secure and offer me something indefinitely. This will make it easier to push the salary negotiations with the potential offer and not accept it if it isn't a good move (it was going to break even or a little net negative considering transportation and daycare additions to expense.)

So now that things are feeling a little more stable, I feel like I can post about it. It was pretty hairy for a while.

In other news, aside from pulling my hair the whole time preparing for the job interview and stressing, it was AWESOME to see Me Sista. We scrapbooked, went shopping, had a dinner party, chilled out, and saw a dodgers' game.

Then, the day we took her to the airport to fly back, Mark and I left for our monthly couples retreat. (I decided to take days off every month so we can hang out and be married -- we NEVER see each other and it sucks.) We drove out to Palm Springs, caught an art exhibit, ate some good food, stayed in a not-suckin-hotel and Zola and I even got to swim in a real swimming pool at the hotel. She was so cute in the water, kicking and swimming. Didn't like the back float, but loved the doggie-paddle.

Anyway, I'm off to a BBQ to welcome Mahi's mom from India and then the week begins. Hopefully I'll have some more info about the job prospect soon.

tgi summer-fun-a-rama-DONE

So, I am finally getting around to bringing you up to speed on weeks 11, 12 and life since the conclusion of the whole festival of fun.

Week 11:
We got our craft on, cycled twice, took pics at the hollywood sign, went shopping at melrose AND sunset, went to California Chicken Cafe, got pictures taken at JCP for both Chan and Zola, and went to "Make It Funky" street festival with DJ's, live bands, cool crafts, street artists, etc. Awesome. Again, so inspired I could die.

Week 12:
Breakfast at Charlies Diner, Padres vs. the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, Marmalade Cafe and shopping at the Grove, Cycling, Assembling the crib/packing, Dinner at Madhuri's LOST season 1 marathon, Venice Beach, Hiking Topanga Canyon, and finally a tearful goodbye at LAX. We definitely miss our Cha-nanny-gens.

Technically, Week 13 was pretty crazy too. I took 2 days off work so Mark and I could have a weekend together in Santa Barbara. We had reserved a campsite at El Capitan State Beach, but couldn't hear each other over the generators, traffic, and someone drove by in a golf cart. That was the death-knell for our 45 minutes of camping. We went home, drank several bottles of wine and talked into the night.... and spent the next day lounging at the beach. It was nice.

I have caught up on everything, including sleep, since we assembled the crib and have Zola sleeping in her own space now. Ahhh, the bliss of being able to ignore her in the night while she tosses and turns and gets herself back to sleep.

My exam season is well underway, and I am studying for half of part 3 (of 9). It's going okay, but I'm not getting my hopes up on passing or anything. My new job is starting to feel like an old job, and I'm more often working than wondering.

And it is hot in California... so summer is not quite over. Let's hope I don't have any more fun.

tales from the scale, volume 1

Let's take the starting point that I just had a baby....I'm not posting any "before" pictures or anything, but I'm sure you know where I'm at, Internet. We've been together long enough to know this much about each other. You know what I'm talking about.

Well, Dr. Oz just told me that the worst day to start a diet is Monday or Tuesday because you have all week to fall off the wagon before you get into your routine. I'm sorry, Dr. Oz. I completely disagree. All that free time to munch and lounge on the weekend... I do my best work on the week days because I hardly have time to fall off anything.

So, yesterday I finally went and renewed my gym membership. I didn't get a fabulous deal or anything. I could have haggled a little more, but I got the guy down to the point that I had budgeted for - so that's what matters. And including the unlimited daycare, it's still less than I was paying for the past 10 years (which was too much.) I get to bring 2 guests with me every visit, so free-loading workout buddies are welcome! By the time the guy finished my paperwork, I only had 15 minutes left before the childcare closed, so I ran a quick mile! Go me! Then, we went to a clothier (sounds nicer than Ross, doesn't it) and I got a work out outfit that doesn't make me look like a tube sausage. Why is it that athletic attire is always made "form" fitting as though the people working out don't have a reason to need to?

That's hot.

Chana is into fitness, so we are planning to go every other day at the minimum to take in a class or swim some laps or something. I'm going to make her cycle with me, because that's where all the fat burning happens for me. Once I get into the habit, I'm somewhat of a gym rat. And I get really warm fuzzies about life in general from all that seratonin. I'm really looking forward to it. The fun starts tonight. Not the average summer-fun-o-rama.

Oh, and did I mention... bank of america lets you download transactions into excel and do data analysis on how you are spending. I am embarassed to share this... but, we ATE (as in food purchases/restaurants) $1,500 in food last month. I think it's time to work out, don't you?

light and dark

Roger and Aubri were here to drop off Chana for a few days last week and we filled our days with Yogurtland, Six Flags, the beach, and walks in the city. As usual, it was a blast to see them. Chana came with us to Arizona to drop off Stephanie and enjoy a laid back 4th of July. Our traditions are nothing compared to the Moroni 4th.



We've just been grillin' and chillin' and enjoying family. We talked Stephanie into getting her pictures taken with Zola by suggesting a punk rock / Twilight theme.

But we also had a few "cute" ones taken in normal clothes.

week 5 of summer-fun-o-rama

It seems like I have more and more to say and less and less time to say it in. You will have to live with a few pics and short, informational sentences. You will have to live without my magnificent humor until Zola goes to college.

Last weekend Stephanie, Caleb, Zola Jane and I went to San Diego. We loved gawking at those poor caged animals, trashed a hotel and made fun of people gutting fish off the pier at Imperial Beach. We had a pretty good time, ate ridiculous amounts of sugar and watched hotel tv until the wee hours.

Caleb flew home Tuesday, and since then Stephanie and I haven't really done much. It's been a more relaxing installment of Summer-Fun-O-Rama this week since Stephanie has "been there, done that" for most things. On the week days, the most exciting thing we have done has been walk to blockbuster for more "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Friday night we went to the Grove. They had a live band and some of the kid-faces of Disney were there. We met and got Zola's picture with Vincent Martella, the voice of "Phineas" on Phineas and Ferb and plays "Greg" on Everyone Hates Chris.
Stephanie is trying to "friend" him on Facebook. He messaged her a few times to figure out who she is (and remembered getting the photo) but I told her not to be disappointed if he doesn't friend her. She is friends with a band we went to see last year at the El Rey, and I guess they message all the time, so maybe Vincent and her will be laughing about this post together in a few years when they get married. Who knows.

Saturday early, I took Zola to get her pictures done. I've tried to do it every month on or around her birth day. I skipped 6-months because we took family self-portraits in Arizona. But, it seems like so much has changed from the baby who just laid on her back and smiled.


She was COMPLETELY ADORABLE in this photo session. After that, I took her to get her ears mutilated. We can now start the gender training in full. Next week, I am going to bind her feet.

Afterward, Stephanie and I went back to the Grove. They were doing a "Hawaii" event with hula, music, and free food, drink, lei making, etc. We toured Kauai while we waited for our showing of TOY STORY 3 in 3D... very, very worth seeing. We took Zola to her first movie in the theater and she was very well behaved. I was worried because people in LA are serious about their movies. She appeared to love the movie as much as Stephanie and I did. She laughed, she cried... and so did we. (Although we did it at appropriate moments and no one shoved a pacifier in our mouths.)

I think the big plans for today are to go hear some DJs perform at a public park and do some household maintenance. If we don't buy groceries soon, Stephanie will be forced to eat the baby. She's sweet, but I don't think it will work. I'd never be able to figure out if the sides should be savory or not.