Christmas Countdown

"Christmas, Christmas time is near, Time for toys and time for cheer."

Name that Christmas tune. I'll give you a hint. It's not one of Bing Crosby's.

Lily could tell you. It's the trademark song by Alvin and the Chipmunks.

So while everyone else, including retailers and ABC Family television, has officially begun their countdowns to Christmas, I myself will be counting exactly how many times I will have to listen to that song between now and the big day. I guarantee it will be A LOT MORE than 25 times.

Not to sound like a Scrooge. I adore Christmas, as I do most holidays, and revel in the hoopla, the food, the decorations and the music as much or more than most people. It's been particularly fun the last couple years, as Lily's awareness of and interest in the holiday has deepened.

There's the wonderful magic when you see the gleam in her eye and hear the cackle in her voice when she sees Santa Claus, especially when only two years ago she was frightened of the big guy. Then there's the pondering in my mind when I see her strap the baby Jesus from the nativity set on top of the donkey. Do I tell her to put it back in the manger or just be glad she's interested in the Christmas story at all?

This year has a built in bonus for me as well. Being pregnant, I figure I can get away with drinking GALLONS of egg nog. Baby likes the nog!

But, as the song goes, 'Please Christmas, don't be late,' because I won't want to wait even one day more to stuff the Alvin CD back in its case until next season.

Bring Back the '70's!

I'm feeling wistful and nostalgic these days. I long for the days of yore, or at least the movie days of yore. Any by "yore," I just want to turn the clock back a few decades.

Last week Peter and I took Lily to see the Disney flick "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." It wasn't insufferable (at least not completely), and it was heads and shoulders above Dreamworks' entry "Kung Fu Panda," perhaps one of the worst movies ever made and a strikingly bad choice for Dustin Hoffman.

But clearly Disney has past its prime.

I think it's saying something when my favorite scene in BH Chi goes something like this:

Chloe (title character voiced over by Drew Barrymore.) - "I am a Chihuahua. Chihuahuas are mighty!"

Delgado (a German shepherd voiced over by Andy Garcia.) - "Yeah...mighty annoying."

Pixar, Disney's animation studios, has clearly eclipsed its parent company in recent years, putting out some fairly decent flicks like Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and the recent Wall-E.

But it's increasingly rare to find children's films these days that match the zany, madcap comedy of "The Apple Dumpling Gang," or "The Love Bug," or "The Shaggy DA." Give me a sweet romance like "The Little Mermaid" or "Lady and the Tramp." And there's few films that match the classic feel good style and musical panache of "Mary Poppins."

Now THOSE were the days.

And speaking of music, "BH Chi" has much to be said for it in the music department as well. They have one original song that I sort of recall, "Chew-wa-wa, Chew-wa-wa" but it's largely forgettable. The rest of the soundtrack relies on covers like George Thoroughgood's "Bad to the Bone" (pun intended), Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy," (remember that one?) and the token song by a Latino group, Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven."

Token to Carrie Bradshaw coming...

I can't help but wonder, "What would Walt think?"

So I'll wait, with baited breath and enduring hope, that Disney's upcoming "Bolt" will represent a return to the days of yore.

But I'm not placing any bets on it.

And now that I've waxed nostalgic, I think I'll go soak my dentures and sit in my rocking chair for a while.

Pregnancy Dance, Round II

12 weeks into my first trimester, and thankfully, almost out of it, I can say without a doubt that this pregnancy is nothing like the first one.

With Lily, I glided, even sashayed, through pregnancy. Aside from my conspiuously growing belly, I daresay everything else remained as normal. I was not bedridden with morning sickness, had only the rare bout of heartburn, and my feet didn't even start swelling til the final, final weeks.

This go around, I feel decidely more....well, pregnant.

Exhaustion, check. Smell aversions, check. Heartburn, check. Shortness of breath attributable to increased progesterone (sp?) levels, check. Round ligament pain, check. Check, check, check.

All I can say is baby keeps acting up this way, it's aiming for a name it will detest for the entirety of its life.

Something like Bertha.

Or Maynard.

I'm open to other evil naming suggestions, so here's your chance. Let me know what name you think a child would least like to be saddled with. If anything else, it should make for some good laughs.

Star Wars - The Second Generation

So yesterday Lily announces to me that Yoda is her favorite Star Wars character. Never mind that her ONLY exposure to Star Wars has been a single themed birthday party she attended. At least as far as I know. Who knows what P. Daddy lets her watch on TV when I'm out of town? :)
So I asked her WHY she like Yoda, and she told me, "Because he's the crunchy green boy." Gotta love kids' responses to questions sometimes.

Amputated Bovine and Horses Named Harley

Isn't it ironic that the more content you have to write about for a blog the less time you have to do it?


A friend of mine mentioned the other day that my blog was a bit, ahem, "stale", so I'm trying to make amends. What can I say - I've been busy!



Between Lily's birthday and Halloween, late October is a flurry of activity. And in case you were wondering whether a newly-turned 5-year-old was aware that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, I can affirm that- they are. Or at least Lily is aware. Less than 24 hours after collecting 3.2379 pounds of candy (approximately) while trick or treating, her mind has already ventured forward to the upcoming holidays.



Me on the other hand, well, I want to take a break from thinking about the holidays. At least for a week or so. And the new olive green, soft, supple leather Michael Kors purse I splurged on yesterday just might help keep my mind elsewhere for a while. :)


But I digress.


So yes, we had the milestone 5-year birthday last week. Hey, they are all milestones at this age, right?


More than three hours before the party start time, Lily began asking every 15 minutes when her "customers" would arrive. No amount of correcting her and telling her they were her "guests," not customers, could get her to use the right word. I'm not sure what the use of that word bodes for her future. Hmmm....


I opted for an at home "down on the farm" themed party, complete with Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Moo-sical Chairs, a cow pinata and even pony rides. I went into the party thinking an at home party would be both easier and cheaper than renting out one of the myriad of children's party venues. I ended up wrong on both counts, but if I do say so myself, it was a raving success. It was not just a party, it was a PAHHHHHH-TY!!!!!

Without going into a ton of detail, I'll just let some of the pictures tell the story.





Lily in her birthday ballerina outfit

On one of the ponies. This one wasn't Harley, but I forget its name.

The cow pinata (with missing leg)

Lily with her birthday cupcake tower

And yes, completely un-birthday related - this shot's from Halloween obviously - but Lily finally got her tail. (See blog entry Feb. 27).

It's the Great Pumpkin, Lily Lee!

Yesterday, I woke up with as much anticipation as I had in a long time, eager to drop Lily off at school where she would then embark on her first-ever field trip. To the pumpkin patch no less.

I then whiled away the long hours at work, equally eager to arrive home and have Lily regale me with the tales of her great adventure. I pictured her brimming with excitement, running out to the car with her treasured pumpkin in hand, grinning from ear to ear, and rambling on about how "e'siting" her day had been.

I was wrong.

"So Lily, tell Mommy all about your field trip!"

"Well, we went on the bus, and then we went to the punkin' patch, and then we came back."

Maybe she just needs some prompting, I thought.

"So how was the bus ride?" I asked.

"Good." This from the child who yearned to ride the bus almost as soon as she could pronounce the word.

"Who did you ride with on the bus?"

"Clara."

"So what exactly did you do when you got to the pumpkin patch?"

"Well, we walked around, and Jacob's daddy (or maybe it was Elijah, Evan or Devon's daddy) picked up the pumpkin for me."

At this point, Lily has concluded her end of the conversation and walked away.

Indelible impression the field trip was not. And here I thought the trip was going to be a big milestone, and the ensuing conversation would result in an idyllic moment of mother-daughter bonding.

I guess I'll have to wait for the next opportunity, I thought. Then Lily returned.

"Jacob's daddy (again, or Elijah, Evan or Devon's daddy) said good cookers can make a pumpkin pie. Can we make a pumpkin pie?"

"Yes Lily, we can."

Cute Kid Quip #3 (or maybe #4 or #5)

So this morning, Lily is helping stir the soon-to-be-scrambled eggs in the pan and pronounces, "We're making scribbled eggs!" Interesting perspective.