The Boy and His Cat

Some have called him kingly, aloof, dog-like, and loyal only to those who feed him. There may be some grains of truth in those labels, but the plain truth is: Scout is a lap cat. We thought he was our lap cat, our nightly leg-warmer. Not anymore. Each afternoon and evening, he sits on the bottom of Will's bed, waiting. He'll stay there patiently, until Will is too asleep to notice his heavy paws climbing across him (if he tries this while Will is awake, he'll get pushed back to the bottom of the bed.) Once settled, he'll stay until Will wakes up. It continues even while Will is in school. Scout curls into the bedcovers, as if keeping Will's spot warm.

Even though we're the ones who feed him, brush him, clean after him, and keep the kids from destroying him, we're old news. Scout is all about The Boy now.

Welcome Ben!

Congratulations to Jodi and Adam, who welcomed baby boy Benjamin Eli into the world early yesterday morning!
Weighing in at 7 lbs, 4 oz (same as Will!) and born on my Dad's birthday! Hooray for all!

Meet the Crab

Mr. Crab-Like Orb Weaver. He's camped out between our fence and our neighbor's bush on the far side of our house (note houses in picture below... that's us on the right.)
Here he is close up. It's not a great picture, I should've used flash, but I did not want to get close. I understand he's not poisonous, is generally helpful in getting rid of bugs, and makes a very impressive web... but that does NOT mean that I am interested in being friends.
I'm quite unsure of what to do about this guy. There is no doubt that Will would love to meet Mr. Crab. There is also no doubt that Mommy Does Not Like This Idea One Bit.

Saddle Sores

We're just barely keeping up with Kate. Considering her brother moves at Mach-4, this is saying something.

She rolls to her stomach, pushes, slides, and grunts herself around the floor. It's all fine until she tires out, loses control of her head, and lets her noggin hit the floor. Ouch. We've tried to tell her that it's okay, no one expects her to crawl for at least another 3 months. It hasn't slown her down. Next step: bricks in her diapers.
As of this morning, I am TA-ing a graduate course on Health and Nutrition in Complex Emergencies. Don't ask how it happened; the other doctoral students are giving me enough grief. I thought it was a good way to get me back into Tidewater on a regular basis and to connect with some faculty that I hadn't had the opportunity to get to know. Plus, the course is a good one. But it's also a lot of silly organizational details and lab work for little pay. What can I say... if my decisions were based on finances, I would not be in a PhD program. So, it's a learning experience.
Along with the "paid" work, things are finally happening with the various projects within the exploding Latino communit(ies) in the greater New Orleans area. (These include a Latina Prenatal Care study, translation services in clinics, and designing a violence program.) This week and next are filled with meetings. Oh, and then that pesky dissertation! I'm meeting with my committee chair tomorrow.

Oye! What's that feeling? Saddle sores!

CNN called...

No, really, they did. Yesterday. Meryl Page of CNN called me to get permission to use one of my photographs for an article on Abeona House. I was dropping off the kids and went into the office to sign them in, where several board members were talking around the desk. They turned and saw me, did a double take, and suddenly exploded: "CNN is calling you!" Ms. Page had already interviewed them and was calling me for the final pieces to the puzzle.

We've been watching CNN and trying to see if it's hit a dark recess of the webpage... no luck yet. If you see something out there, please send it on, we're so excited!

Face Painting!

I've volunteered to do face painting this Saturday for the kids' school as part of "Art on Oak." This is a regular event (traditionally held every last Saturday of the month) in the blocks of Oak Street from Carrollton to the River (which includes Abeona House). We are a few blocks from the big Oak Street attractions (Jacque-Imo's, Maple Leaf Bar) so Emmy is contacting the Oak Street Merchants board for more information. If we get the go-ahead, the current plan is for Paul to juggle and me to face paint and get the kids involved so that we are part of the event.

The face paint hunt begins tomorrow (I've found some recipes, but for the cost of the ingredients and the reports that it's nowhere as good as the premade paints, I'm going to go for the real thing.) But I need some ideas of what to paint! I think I should stick with small, quick, "cheek" designs. I can do decent butterflies and flowers... but what works for the boys? I know I need to be able to do a decent Fleur de Lis by Saturday... but what else? Any ideas? What other small, quick things can I draw on preschooler kids' faces?

Who Dat?

Something new happened in our household yesterday. We cared about a football game.

Imagine my surprise when, caught in the throngs of fans approaching the Superdome at 4pm, a lump suddenly appeared in my throat. Will and Kate were in the back, watching horsebuggies and foot traffic wind around the waiting cars, everyone decked in gold and black. "Where they going, Mommy?" Will asked. "They are going to a football game Will. A very important and special... football game." The last two words stuck as I worked to swallow down that lump, blinking away the mist growing in my eyes.

A football game? Important? Could I really feel that way about football? Even in my most nostalgic, home-team supporting, proud-of-my-school moment, I have never really, truly cared about a football game. It's not that I don't like football. I have a general respect for how well-loved it is and the importance it holds for others. Still, the armchair quarterback, the shouting living room conversations with the television, the lost Sunday afternoons... these annoy me enough that "does not watch football" was a key characteristic I sought out in potential partners.

But yesterday, as the Superdome reopened for the New Orleans Saints, I found myself caught up in it all. Children came to Abeona in mini-jerseys. Everyone was wearing t-shirts supporting either the City, the Saints, or both, as yesterday the two issues seemed intertwined. The Superdome was completed, ready before schedule and against odds, and the Saints were home. The symbolism seemed clear, it's message loud: New Orleans is worth it; New Orleans has survived.

Cheered on by local artists (including Theresa Anderson, remember her from the Children's Museum?) and stars like U2 and Greenday, the Saints won. Even the most diehard Falcon fans had to have a little part of them cheering for the Saints. Yesterday was their day, our day.

Lovebirds

Audubon Zoo added a pair of lovebirds to it's exhibits on Sunday. Will and Aya.
The pair had a great Sunday morning at the Zoo. They were joined by friends Pablo and Emma, who they were great with, but there was no mistaking that Will and Aya are The Item.We managed to arrive at the Zoo about 15 minutes before a huge downpour. The adults (and Kate) avoided getting majorly soaked by hanging out by the Carousel. The kids for the most part stayed dry... if you don't count all the huge splashing in puddles left by the rain.
Will and Aya heard the storm coming... they are listening to the thunder in the picture above.Always the gentle giants, the giraffes were our favorites this trip. They seemed particularly interested in the kids (maybe they've learned that kids sometimes have food?) and stayed close by, calming munching away on leaves.Although I think the kids liked the giraffes, they really liked climbing up the fences in front of the animals. More pictures from the Zoo (including many more super cute Will-and-Aya moments) are in the Shutterfly page.

Treats

On the way back from the photo shoot Saturday morning, Will announced in the car: "Daddy, we go to store to get treats for Mommy and Will?" It came unprompted, as much a surprise to me as to Paul. But hey, who's to argue? So Paul and Will walked up to Whole Foods while I put together lunch -- and brought back Daddy's favorite, chocolate covered pretzels. Will models them in the picture below:We were going to go to Brocato's reopening Saturday afternoon. But we forgot. So we decided to go after dinner. And then saw the line snaking down the street. So we went to the Creole Creamery instead. We passed up some of the Creamery's more memorable flavors (e.g. Cayenne Lime Butter, Cucumber Dill, Lavender Honey, Beet Generation, Creole Cream Cheese). After watching part of the process of making cookie ice cream through the viewing window, we were inspired. For $4.75, we enjoyed the Cookie Crumbles Sundae with cookie monster ice cream, cookies, and sundae topping. The guys were kind enough to let me have the cherry.

They're ready, Mr. Deville

Last night, we enjoyed dinner out with friends Natalie and Robert (and 14 month old cutie pie Amelia, owner of the world's most astounding crystal blue eyes.) This morning, we followed up our social schedule by meeting them again at Robert's parents' house -- an incredible stucco home off of St. Charles not far from Tulane's main campus. Natalie is a professional photographer, specializing in children. She kindly gave me some great pointers and together we shot some pictures of the kids in the family garden. Will was a ham. A total ham. By the time we got through a little lesson and began to try to shoot the kids together, he was about done with sitting still. So we didn't get a huge amount of the kids together. Natalie is going to burn the keepers from her set. I can't wait to see them... she used some filters and had a wonderful flash set up (I learned a ton).
These are just a few... the rest are on the Shutterfly page.

Shaving Aslan

Our Lion King, before Thursday:Fluffy, full, regal, mighty.
Our Lion King, after:(Another) unfortunate episode lead us to drastic measures. In his third shower of the day, the scissors joined us... and the cat got a haircut. We held off on pictures for a few days to let him fully dry and endure a few brushing sessions. Now that he's filled out a bit, he looks a bit less ridiculous than he did look.

Abeona End-of-Summer Party!

This Friday Abeona held an end-of-summer party. After enjoying two days of wonderfully temperate (low 80s) temps, the end of the week sweltered back up to the mid-90s in relative heat. Pool party? No problem! Paul and I took the morning off to share in the event. (Well, actually, we dropped Will off at his normal time and went down the street for breakfast at Oak Street Cafe -- and THEN went back to the house for the party!)
Paul juggled; I played photographer (note: we have become addicted to our hobbies.) In the picture above, I capture Kate thinking on one of her nefarious plots of world domination. "Yesssss...."
She didn't last long in her Bumbo. And I got more input from other parents who were there on our Bumbo issue: she's probably a little young to sit for that long and she's HOT in the thing. There's hope yet for our intented Thanksgiving centerpiece!

The kids had a blast at the party. They attempted to make homemade gelato (it was too hot for it to properly set, but they had fun rolling the cans as part of the process), played in a pool, with a hose, and in a newly built sandbox, and painted the sidewalk with special paints and chalks. The teachers were amazing. Everytime I am there, I learn so much -- and leave feeling so thankful toward this community of people helping to raise my kids.
I am just posting a few pictures here (just ones that are mostly Will and Kate). Abeona has posted more of the shots (ones not on the blog) here. Check them out, they are really fun!

Audubon Juggling

We have been enjoying some wonderful afternoons.
These outtings have included daily walks to Whole Foods, a visit to the neighborhood bookstore, Octavia Books (where Will got an autographed copy of Mo Willems' new book), snacks from Laurel Street Bakery (one of our neighborhood bakeries), chats with neighbors, popsicles from the Farmer's Market and running around the playground.
Yesterday, we all went to Audubon Park for Wednesday afternoon juggling.

A few jugglers showed up to practice. Will took some video.
And then played in the park fountain, splashing with the birds and butterflies.
The jugglers meet at the St. Charles Avenue end of Aubudon Park, Tulane and Loyola's main campuses are across the Avenue. It is a beautiful spot, so I got all artsy-fartsy with the camera. The favorites from the afternoon (including more juggling!) can be viewed in our Shutterfly albums.
Attention Gods and Goddesses of the world! More afternoons like these, please!

Who out there has a Bumbo?

The Bumbo is the much-loved babysitter, adored by my friend, Gwen, whose opinion I trust implictly. It is now widely considered THE must-have baby item. It was unknown to us prior to Kate, making it one of our baby items not previously tested on Will. We reluctantly admit that, at least for us, and at least for right now, the Bumbo is not a very popular item.
It's best use (to date) has been as a photography tool. Kate definitely sits unsupported in it... for about 5 minutes. Then she begins to throw her arms back (see above) and can actually lift her little butt up from the chair. If it weren't for the fact that her Michelan baby thighs get stuck in the leg holes, she would easy be able to catapult herself out of the Bumbo.
She also has a sideways manuver where she uses her arms to push out to one side -- again, the thighs protect her from landing on her head (or in one of our plates, as we frequently seat her in the Bumbo as our dinner centerpiece.)
So we are left wondering... is Kate simply an errant Bumbo user? An unusually active infant? Is this something that she will outgrow? Inquiring Bumbo-owning parents want to know...

Brocato's Grand Reopening!

Brocato's, the beloved NOLA gelateria, is reopening this weekend! Enjoy live music (noon-7) along with yummy italian goodies.

Angelo Brocato Ice Cream & Confectionery, Inc.
214 N. Carrollton Avenue
New Orleans, LA

Current Obsessions

- Compact fluorescent lightbulbs
- Aged gouda
- Italian Boule
- Tummy time toys
- Temps in the high 70s
- Gymboree outfits
- Big Easy Roller Girls
- Pushing Kate's hair out of her eyes
- Lit Review/Dissertation Research

Sunday in the Park

After a very busy Saturday, we enjoyed a more low-key Sunday. An afternoon of light drizzle made for a great escape to a humid, but not unbearably hot, playpark.




In case there was any question of where Will got his crazy slide-habits from...

While we're on the subject of fear...

Rolling Stone has a wonderful article about the rigging of the 2004 election.

Nightmares

Will thinks monsters are scary. I wonder if, like his parents, this is sort of stuff that he will recognize as truly, truly frightening.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Aya!

Will's best girl, Aya, had a party at The Fly on Saturday. (The Fly is the section of the Mississippi River Levee behind Audubon Zoo. It's a beautiful park with a great playground, athletic fields, and the launch site for the Aubudon River Cruise.) We had a great afternoon!