Sisters

Now say hello to upside-down Ella!

Say hello to upside-down Marina

Apologies

This is the problem with having two bloggers in one house.

Your Daddy totally called this picture and said he was going to write about what's going on here.
But I stole it. Because it's too hilarious.



Plus there are five other pictures in the set and he's going to write something all poetic and beautiful about it. And also! He's out having breakfast with a friend and I am in my pajamas for the third day in a row like a crazy shut-in lady.

So whatever. I'm just taking it.

Anyway, our blogs have totally different audiences.

Big things

On Saturday, something big happened.

But I haven't written about it because I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing that will haunt you when you're older or give you weird bathroom issues.



I figured, however, that because you were so obviously proud of yourself, you wouldn't mind just a little mention that you peed in your potty! Wait, maybe it's not so embarrassing if I say it more dignified: You urinated in your child-sized toilet on Saturday!

Saturday was also the day you said your first sentence. Well, since you've been spending so much time with Daddy, it's probably just the first time I've heard you speak a sentence. You're probably saying sentences all day long and I have no idea.

But Saturday, we had our first outing since Ella arrived. We went to Borders for coffee and cookies and you said, "No moe cookee, da book!" (Translation: "No more cookies, the book."

And, wow. It's like one day I went to the hospital and the next I came back with a tiny baby and a very grown up Beans.

Why he gets paid more than me

The person who sort-of set me up with your Daddy said these things about him before our first date:

1. "Matt can be very stubborn. You can tell him the sky is blue and he'll argue that it's green."
2. "The best thing about Matt is that he wears his heart on his sleeve."

I didn't really understand what she meant at the time.

The stubborn thing, that one I caught on to after I suggested that his almost albino skin could benefit from a bit of sunscreen, to which he said "thanks Mom" and then did not call me for three days.

But the heart on sleeve comment, I did not have to wait very long to figure out what that meant. Three weeks, actually. Which is how long it took for us to exchange the I Love Yous.

You, however, won't even have to wait three weeks to understand what that comment means because your Daddy has started his own blog:

http://keystothecenteroftheuniverse.blogspot.com

As you can see, it's way better than this one. There's no sarcasm or a need to be jokey or whatever. It's just an honest account of how much he loves you and your sister and me. And we're so lucky to be able to read it all in his own words. Even if it means putting up with Cranky Ricardo every now and then. (See, your Daddy would never feel the need to add that last sentence.)

Anyway, Happy almost Birthday to Daddy.

Interrupted

Hi Marina.
I finally had, like, three minutes to write something and then . . . these horrible noises keep coming out of your sister's diaper area.

Now I have to attend to that, so I'll just leave a few more pictures of you looking cute.





And, P.S. why have you stopped sleeping through the night?

Ella!

This is a picture of Ella that I took on my cell phone.



I'm posting it despite the bad quality just to prove that she exists.
And to say: Two babies = hard!

One day I willhave enough of an attention span to get back to regular posts.

OK, Sort of daily photo: Days 2 and 3

Daily photo 1

Because our lives are a bit hectic at the moment, I won't have much time for blogging.
So instead I will post the amazing pictures your Gima took (on her cell phone!) at the exact time I was giving birth to your sister.

Here is today's:

Baby Ella

She is finally here.
Ella Luisi Hall was born on Nov. 24, 2007 at 11:16 a.m.
She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. She is very sweet and looks a little bit like you, only with darker hair.



You didn't want to have much to do with her when you came to visit us at the hospital. But tonight, when we were all home, you finally got close to the baby and touched her head a few times.

I am so super exhausted. So I'll stop now.

Liveblogging: Thanksgiving Salt Sticks Hour 4

So, DAAAD made his best batch of Salt Sticks, ever, which probably had something to do with this look.



This is the kind of look that says, "my daddy is perfect and would never burn the bread," even though he totally burned the bread the first time he made this with me. But anyway. That kind of look is a lot of pressure for a man. Good thing your City Hall-reporting DAAAD is used to this kind of stress.

You were supposed to share the first piece with me. But you ran off with it to the fireplace.



Same with this one.



You didn't share the third piece either. But, uh, yeah, that's OK because this one looks like it's been infused with crazy juice.



Happy Thanksgiving!
(No, no baby yet.)

Liveblogging: Thanksgiving Salt Sticks Hour 3

It's time to roll the dough.




Which is fun and all . . .



But really, we'd rather taste stuff.



Like caraway seeds and kosher salt.




And French Breakfast tea. Yum.

Liveblogging: Thanksgiving Salt Sticks Hour 2

Next step in the breadmaking process: checking to see if the dough is, as the recipe says, "soft as a baby's butt."



Then it's time to butter the bowl.

Liveblogging: Thanksgiving Salt Sticks

Every Thanksgiving, your DAAAD makes these little bread things called Salt Sticks, but this year he got some help.

An attempt to stay under my cell phone minutes this month

Here is the latest on Ella:

She is overdue, but the doctor, a very nice one named Dr. Garg, is letting me wait it out as long as possible: Tuesday.

The baby has enough oxygen, and after an ultrasound at the hospital, we saw that she also has plenty of fluid. So if she decides to stay as cozy as she looked on the monitor, then I will go to back to the hospital on Saturday for more oxygen tests.

Then the official induction process begins on Monday night.

Of course, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and these small Halls seem to like being born on major American holidays.

A moment of calm

Happy and mellow on a Saturday morning while your mommy has contractions.

Update

I went to the doctor yesterday.

And it turns out this baby sister of yours is not at all ready to come out. She's pretty cozy where she is and not ready to give up her diet of iced coffee, scones and Cap'n Crunch.

She doesn't care that my doctor is going to Italy tomorrow for three weeks. I guess she's just not the kind of girl who finds the fact that Dr. Shonbrun delivered both me and you as some cute family tradition that she needs to be a part of.

Tomorrow

is the baby's due date.
And so far there's only been one contraction.
One.
Yesterday.
For about 15 seconds.

Even you are getting impatient.
Today you spent the morning with a burp cloth on your shoulder and a baby doll -- not Lambie -- in your arms.

Nine months

So, we've all just been waiting for the baby.

It's kind of a weird feeling to just, like, do things as normal. But at the same time, it's like we're in a movie and we're watching ourselves act like a family of three, only to know everything will be different soon.

And, I don't know, I just got to thinking that how for the last 2 years, my life has been lived in nine-month increments. I was pregnant with you for nine months. Then not pregnant for not quite nine. And now this latest nine-month installment is about to end.
But I can tell you now: this nine month cycle things ends the minute baby Ella is born.

Sixteen months

Hi Beans,
On Sunday you turned 16 months, which is a big deal because this is the month you become a big sister.

I've been saying it for a long time now. Things like, "they'll be 16 months apart, crazy."
But now it's actually here.

And even though you don't really understand what's about to happen, you are stepping into your soon-to-be role quite nicely.

We installed the baby car seat next to your car seat and instead of getting all weird and moody, you pointed to it and said "baby."
This morning, you fed yourself yogurt without spilling most of it on your pajamas.
You also share, with real people, not just Lambie. Even if it's a chocolate chip cookie that is split between me and DAAD and your uncle B.

I imagine this new phase will be hard for you. You won't want to go to daycare when everyone else gets to stay home. I'm sure, in a way, it may be even harder for you than it will be for us.

So I just wanted to tell you, before our life goes totally crazy, how proud I am of what a smart, sweet, funny girl you are. And even though you will have tantrums and throw food on the floor and bite things, you are nonetheless going to be a wonderful big sister.

It may not rain in Southern California but . . .

Today you discovered puddles.

She can read?

It's a long story that I won't get into, but your Gima has been telling people that you can read.

I know you can't read. It's ridiculous. I mean, what 15-month-old reads?
Seriously.

But it's a good thing she wasn't around for last night's story time.

You went to your box of books and gave DAAAD this:



Because you can't read, I will tell you that this book is in Spanish. And while DAAAD knows many Spanish words, he doesn't read books en Espanol.

Still, DAAAD opened the book and said the English words from memory. But he paused a few times and it was clear he needed some help.
You got out of his lap and went over to the box.
This is what you grabbed:




Which, OK, is pretty weird.
But, could still be a coincidence, right?

Then, as if trying to prove that your Gima is not just an overly-proud grandmother, but someone who knows what she's talking about, you took the Spanish version and handed it to me.

Um. ?

Mas!

Marina Hall has made the perfect mix tape. Here's what's on it:

(Translation: These are the songs that make you say "mas" when they are over. So instead of listening to "Dance Tonight" 15 times in a row, I have created a CD full of all your "mases" to make our car rides more musically tolerable.)

1. "Dance Tonight," Paul McCartney
2. "Good to Sea," Pinback
3. "The Devil," PJ Harvey
4. "Australia," The Shins
5. "La vie, l'amour," Edith Piaf
6. "Kelly Watch the Stars," Air
7. "Iron Lion Zion," Bob Marley
8. "Stereo (Mono Mono)," The Brunettes
9. "Futuresex/LoveSound," Justin Timberlake
10. "15 Step," Radiohead


Clearly I have had a tiny bit of influence. Except for the reggae, that's all you.

Baby Crack

I never really understood what people meant when they said "baby crack."
I mean, I get what the point is.
Like that pacifier or whatever is so addicting it's like crack. But, not being from the street or having actually tried crack, I always felt awkward saying it.

I avoided the expression (which is more common in baby circles than you'd think) in the same way I avoid writing LOL or :)

But because of the fires, we've been inside for a week.

We've been reading books and trying on hats and listening to your favorite song, Paul McCartney's "Dance Tonight," all from the comfort of our ash and smoke-free little bubble.

But those things get old after three days.

And that's when we found it. The Baby Crack.




You wake up in the morning needing a fix. The first thing you say is"Lala?"
You will not eat breakfast until I tell you we're eating "Tubby Toast."
At very random times throughout the day you run to the TV and say "Lala? Lala? Lala? Lala? Lala? Lala?"

I try not to encourage it. I think crazy things like: "If I just sit here, she will forget about it and move on."

But you keep saying it and saying it until my brain goes numb.

"Lala? Lala?"

And as you notice that I'm not turning it on for the NINTH time in one day, your voice gets more and more frantic.

"LALA?? LALA??"

Until there's nothing left for me to do but be the enabler and turn it on. Plus, now I'm one of those mommies who says "baby crack" and uses emoticons :0

Cookies

Our city is on fire.

Even though we can't see the flames, they are all around us. The TV shows non-stop bad news and the mood around town is very scary.

Your school, like all the other schools, is closed. You and I are stuck inside. I don't want to open the windows because I don't want us breathing in all that ash and smoke. So we have watched hours of Signing Time and have finally found that Animal Planet channel, where you like looking at monkeys and meerkats.

But it's really stuffy in our house. And it's not big. So yesterday after we read every single one of your books - twice - I was at a loss. What can we do now? It's only 4:30 p.m. I can't put you to bed this early, can I?

And then, some weird 1950s maternal instinct hit me. I don't know where it came from. But the only solution to all the awfulness outside and our stir craziness inside, was warm chocolate chip cookies and milk.

We have a bag full of cookies leftover from my birthday in the freezer (thanks Tia Patty). I stuck a few in the oven, poured us a glass of milk, and for ten minutes, everything was OK.

Guilt

There are legitimate reasons you are still going to daycare even though I have started my maternity leave.

Like, I need to clean the car. And install the baby car seat. And do laundry. And bring up your old clothes and crib from the garage. And get our lives ready for baby Ella.

There's no way I could do this AND stop you from eating lotion at the same time.

So you're at daycare.

Except this is wht I've really been doing: drinking mini cans of Coke, eating Pirate's Booty and watching hours and hours of "Project Runway" reruns.

Please don't hate me.

The truth about Lambie

Just because I have not been writing about Lambie much, does not mean you have forgotten all about him. The truth is, that stuffed lamb blanket thing is the real love of your life.
More than me. And, if you can believe it, more than DAAAD.

Lambie used to just be the thing in your crib that made you feel better at night. Then he became the thing that comforted you when you were sad or hurt. But recently the love affair has become much more serious.

The first sign was when you started saying Lambie all properlike: "laMBie."

Lately, if Lambie is not in your range of vision you will freak out. You will stop whatever it is you're doing - reading books or playing with my cell phone or eating ketchup with a spoon - and go get him. You give him a kiss, put him somewhere visible and go back to your mischievous activities.

So, today, you left the room for quite some time.
And it was really quiet.
And you know what they say about how if a baby is quiet it means you will walk into that room to find that baby setting the house on fire.
And, OK, once when we didn't check on you for a full five minutes, you walked into the living room with a weird look on your face only to discover you had dunked Lambie in the toilet.

But, back to today.
We went to check on you because it was unusually quiet. But instead of finding you with a fistfull of electrical sockets, you were sitting on the floor with Lambie and an empty cup. We walked in to hear you say "agua?" And then give Lambie some make-believe water to drink.

OK. So, do I just think this is amazing because I'm your mom and 8.5 months pregnant and totally emotional?

I mean, since when do you know how to share and imagine and be so caring?
I just really hope these qualities stick around when we bring Ella home.

********************************************************************
On a totally unrelated note, I downloaded the new Radiohead album, "In Rainbows." It is amazing. The band leaked its own album online for a "pay what you want" price, with free being an option.
I paid 5 pounds which came out to be about $11.
I think it will be a bit too complex for you, with its jazzy parts and erratic vocals. But then again, you have been surprising me with your musical taste lately.
Like when I played the first song off the new PJ Harvey record, when it was done you said, "mas? mas?"

Actually, maybe that was just as amazing and emotional for me as this whole glass of water thing.

Ghetto Toys Volume Two

Feet

A few nights ago, you did not want to sleep.

OK, well, maybe you wanted to sleep but your parents didn't realize that it gets freezing cold at night and put you in pajamas that were not the warmest. This made you wake up like, every two hours. And in the morning we were all exhausted and cranky. Plus your hands and feet were ice cold, which made us feel even worse.

So last night we broke out the new pajamas your Grandma (Gima) bought you. Purple! Fuzzy! Pajamas with feet!

Usually, when you wear anything with long sleeves you get very annoyed and immediately say "no more." But you didn't even notice the long sleeves because . . . WOW . . . your pajamas had weird shoes at the bottom! And this was super cool!

We put you on the floor (the hardwood part so that we could hear the classic foot pajamas sound) but you just stood there looking down. Then you laughed and laughed. And finally, you walked a few steps, but still never looking away from your feet.

And best of all, you didn't wake up at all during the night. Feet pajamas are really the greatest thing.

This is not an endorsement

Your father (we call him "father" when we talk about serious things) does not approve of this photo at all.



Because he is a politics reporter and no one on the face of the earth can know who he votes for. Ever. And to have his offspring show support for a candidate at a public street fair?? How can I allow this to happen?
(To his credit, he didn't make a big deal about it. But he did rip it off the second you two left for your Daddy Daddy Daughter Time adventure.)

But really, it's not that we're so much about Obama in this house (and if we were, I wouldn't be allowed to say) but it's more that you just really liked the pretty, colorful rainbow.

Shop til we drop, girlfriend!

I've been running out of activities to do with you.

We can't go to the park anymore because I'm too pregnant to chase you around.
We can't go for long walks because I get tired after three steps. And you don't sit in the stroller much past three steps, anyway.
For a while we were going to Borders because it's air conditioned and there's coffee there. But you started throwing books and stuffed animals on the ground and my stomach is too big to keep picking things up off the floor all afternoon.

So our options are:
Lestat's coffee house? (Two blocks away.)
Play on the grass in front of the Catholic school? (One block away, but now that the students are back, sort of awkward.)
Watch "Signing Time" three times in a row? (Which we've done.)

Today, however, I decided to take you to the mall. And that flyer about the Bloomingdale's sale had absolutely nothing to do with my decission.

I consider myself a pretty good shopper. But. Wow. You totally, totally win.

First, you sat in the stroller and waved and giggled at everyone.

Then we went to the teddy bear store where you SQUEALED and LAUGHED and ran to all the teddy bears and hugged them and SQUEALED some more. It was so cute that even the bored dads out on the bench were pointing at you.

Then we went to Bloomingdale's where you actually let me look for a take-home outfit for Ella because you were busy hiding underneath the racks of clothes and cracking up about it.

After that, I took you to some kids clothes place that I hate and. OMG.
You ran around putting on all the hats and purses. Then you wanted to try on a purple, puffy jacket. Like the kind the guys wear in New York, and the kind your uncle Alex got when we were in New York. But as I said, this was purple. And you couldn't stop looking in the mirror and posing. Yes. Posing.

Finally we ended our journey with a cafe con leche for me, some water for you and chocolate grahams from Starbucks for both of us.

It was like I had just spent the afternoon with my friends. Only you are only 14-months old.

No, no, no

I've pretty much stopped using the word, "no" around you because it does not work whatsoever. You just look at me as if I said, "Oh, yes, go ahead and take all the trash out of the garbage can. It's no problem," and then go about your business.

But today I was very tired. And so when you grabbed a Costco box full of apple snacks and started standing on it, I said, "No, no, no, no."

You gave me a look and actually got! off! the! box!

. . . . .

Only to push it forward a few inches and then stand on it all over again. But this time, as you climbed the box you said "No, no, no, no, no, no."

At least I know you are listening.

Summer babes

Look! I figured out how to take the pictures out of the phone!



These are from the first day of summer. June 21, 2007.
We went to La Jolla Shores, had snacks, put our feet in the water and played in the sand.

It's also the moment I decided I would love summer.

Early start

Your first marathon is just around the corner.

Baby rock

On Saturday we went to a music festival in Golden Hill called Sessions Fest.



It was the first time, ever, that activities we both like to do were combined into one event - local music and parks. And this made us very happy, especially the snacks (you) and soda (me). You were having such a good time, that you didn't mind wearing these ear plugs.



After that, you ran around in circles, screaming and dancing and showing me in your own way that our tastes aren't all that different.

Art in your heart

Today you took the camera from my bag, turned it on and snapped these photos before I even realized what was going on.
How do you already take better pictures than me?

Pre-natal influences

I thought going to New York Fashion Week when I was five-months pregnant with you would be harmless. But I should have guessed something was seeping into your developing brain.

Seems you picked up a few things. Like how to do a perfect cold stare. And how to make a piece of ridiculous clothing, something no one would actually wear in real life, look totally "fierce."

Happy Halls

Today was a happy day in the Hall house because we found out that Ella is looking normal.
We had our ultrasound and we got to see her face and spine and heart and even her liver and kidneys. And all of it is measuring average. Not too small or freakishly big. So, yay!
You are also happy because you are out of school for a few days.
Yesterday you spent all day with DAAADY. He claims you took two two-hour naps for him. Which, of course you did. Because you do these kinds of things for your best friend, I guess.
Today, while I was at the doctor, your grandmother let you play in the sink naked. And as you can see, you enjoy not wearing clothes.