how to unwrap a baby sausage

if you come upon a baby sausage in its defenseless state (say, having been laid on the bed to finish a nap that began while out for a walk in the babyhawk), approach with caution.

do not move too quickly, or you may startle your prey.

confirm that the baby is, in fact, asleep, before you begin the process of unwrapping the tasty treat.

slowly, carefully, unzip the outer casing.

again, working slowly and carefully, remove the legs. you may want to begin eating at this point, and while this is a perfectly normal reaction to the sight of chubby baby thighs enclosed in tight black leggings, try to restrain yourself. baby sausages are best enjoyed completely unwrapped.

using the utmost caution now, for you are so close to your delicious, mouth-watering goal, gently remove the arms. yes, the elbows beneath the sleeves have dimples in them, but don't think about that! you can't afford to --

oh no! your drool has woken the baby up. quickly, quickly, eat her up as fast as you can!

* * * * *

"mommy, you wouldn't really eat me up, would you?"

of course not, dearest. i've already had you in my tummy once, and that was not an experience i'd care to repeat.

"oh phew!"

i tell you though, people, it is HARD to resist the temptation to bite on her. look at how delicious she is!!!

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...dear mems

today is the anniversary not just of roe v. wade, but also of the birth of bebe's very favorite mems!

this whole have-the-baby-hold-the-birthday-sign thing is getting harder and harder to pull off.

it's getting tastier and tastier, if you ask beebs.

we love you mems!

happy birthday to you!!!

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smart baby

after learning her numbers, bebe has moved on to chapter books.

yum, they're delicious!

1/20/09

we've been waiting for this day for so long, it's hard to believe it's finally here. and it's wonderful to be celebrating, first and foremost, the inauguration of barack obama, and only secondly the end of the george w. bush era. to feel positive and excited about the future, not only glad that the last eight years of willful ignorance, narrowing of civil liberties, economic deregulation, and wasteful, unnecessary war are over. (heckuva job, bushie!)

of course, bebe's only had to wait 6 months.



watching the inauguration with my daughter is an experience i will never forget. if i cared about the future of our nation and the world before, it was nothing compared to how high the stakes feel to me now that it's her life, her world, her future i'm thinking about.

in preparation, we watched obama's election night victory speech, which is still on our DVR. bebe was almost as happy and emotional as i was.

yes we can!

the moment he was taking the oath:

and watching his address:

one of my favorite moments of the morning was the musical interlude, which included an arrangement of the shaker hymn "simple gifts." this was my senior class hymn in high school and has held a special place in my heart ever since. in case you're not familiar with it, here are the words:

'tis a gift to be simple
'tis a gift to be free
'tis a gift to come down where we ought to be
and when we find ourselves in the place just right
'twill be in the valley of love and delight

when true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed
to turn, turn will be our delight
til by turning, turning we come 'round right

in the words of the 44th president of the united states of america, "we have chosen hope over fear." we are finally, finally beginning to come 'round right.

rockin out with daddy

sometimes in the evening, josh plays guitar for bebe.

she thinks it's pretty cool.

tonight, she wanted to try it for herself.

luckily, daddy is better at sharing his guitar than he is at sharing his dolls -- i mean, action figures.

ps. in case you noticed that we missed yesterday, it was because our heat broke for the third time in two months and bebe and i went to stay with some friends where it was warm. it was pretty hectic and i just didn't take a single photo all day.

pps. 200th post!

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face meets the force

this afternoon, beatrix's father decided it was time to introduce her to the force. a few christmases ago i gave him this really cool light saber that lights up and sounds just like the ones in the movies (because i am the MOST AWESOME WIFE EVER). today, he showed it to bebe.

she wasn't sure what to make of it at first,

but eventually decided to check it out.

right after i took that last picture, she burst into tears. the force is scary!!!

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six month visit

now that bebe is like a big girl who can totally sit up and everything, waiting for dr. bastian is easy. she just hangs out on the table and plays with her toys.

would you look at these CHOOBIES??????

eventually, bebe caught sight of the baby in the mirror.

"why, hello pretty lady."

she reached out to touch her,

and then gave her a pound. that's my little terrorist!

the six month stats: 16 pounds 9 ounces (60th percentile), 27.25 inches (90th percentile). she's a long tall lady!

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MLK and DEM

today is the birthday of not one, but two important people: martin luther king, jr., and bebe marie's great-aunt diane.

beebs took some time out from her lunch (rice, broccoli, avocado, apple -- yum!) to mark the occasion.

we are sending lots of love out to flagstaff!!!
xoxox

_

six months old!

it's hard to believe that bebe is six months old. on the one hand, i feel like she just got here; on the other, i can't imagine my life without her. half of a year just doesn't seem to fit either way. but, here we are: january 14. six months old!

we went over to nora jane's house today for a playdate. nora jane and her mom were gone for a while, so we haven't seen them in almost a month. bebe was very excited to see nj, so much so that she actually frightened poor nora jane with her ebullience -- screaming with excitement, grabbing her face, pulling her hair. nora jane got comfortable after a little while though, and the girls had their first squabbles over toys. each kept wanting the one the other had, and ripping it out of her hands. just a taste of what's to come, i'm sure.

it was great to mark this six month anniversary with bebe's birthday buddy, and notice how much they've changed over the past few months.

my big girl.