A snap shot of me and Marylin at the pumpkin patch

Marylin loved playing with the pumpkins and, interestingly, the straw under the pumpkins.

Marylin checking out the animals at the petting zoo

Marylin's First Blood

Following the purchase of Marylin's new shoes comes Marylin's first blood :( That's right folks, for the first time ever, Marylin has bled from an accident. I know that her toddler years will be full of little bumps and bruises (and she has already had a nasty bruise) but it's still hard to see your little one year old with a bloody lip. Marylin was out playing today and bit it on the cement outside. On top of having to learn how to walk in new shoes and get the whole walking thing down in general, she is going to have to learn how to fall. She fell face first today and although she held her arms out to catch herself (nice try, babe!) they gave in under her weight. In any case, above is a picture of Marylin with her fat lip from her first blood. Yes, that is a little bit of grass on the side of her lip ... the picture was very fresh. :(

Marylin's first shoes

Now that Marylin is a walker she needed a good pair of shoes to walk in when we go outside. When we stroll around the mall or play in the grass in the yard, her little Robeez shoes do just fine (and boy don't we love them). But her Robeez won't hold up to typical toddler wear-and-tear so I took her to Nordstrom and bought her an excellent pair of Stride Rite shoes. So far she thinks they are pretty cool but will take some getting used to. Here's a picture of her adorable first pair of shoes :)

Here is Marylin taking some of her first steps. She's been getting braver by the minute and has managed to walk across her room all by herself. How exciting!

Marylin, smiling for the camera!

Being a Mom

I don't tend to talk about my role as mother on this board too often as I like to keep it about Marylin and all the interesting stuff she has been up to. But one of the moms in my neighborhood mom's group forwarded this to me and I must say, it puts into words the role of motherhood with all it's joys and anxieties better than anything I've read to date.

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that sheand her husband are thinking of "starting a family.""We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?""It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral."I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneousvacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of childbearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper withoutasking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, everyhouse fire will haunt her! That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that matter how sophisticatedshe is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!"will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation. I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she would be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That rightthere, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring,but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change,but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she would fall inlove with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand, and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble they're way into this most wonderful of callings.

... Here is a shot of me and Marylin.

Mike, Marylin and I recently went to our dear friend Dave and Dalia's wedding. It was fabulous! Here is a shot of us ....

Meticulous Eater

Marylin's eating habits are truly those of a virgo! For example, when I give Marylin her peas and corn (her favorite veggies) I place them in a little heap (all mixed up) in the middle of her high chair tray. Marylin does not simply stuff the little veggies in her mouth. No, that would not be virgo behavior at all. Instead she goes through the pile and eats all of the peas one at a time and then proceeds to eat all of the corn. OK - who taught her this? I always try to keep the items on her tray separate (for aesthetic and flavor purposes, obviously), but I have never gone so far as to feed her all of her peas and then all of her corn. Clearly Marylin was not born tabula rasa.

Marylin has a new little friend

Meet the new addition to our family, little Pinot. Yes, I named her after the pinot noir grape ;)
Marylin just loves her little puppy and the puppy loves her right back. Naturally we're having to teach Marylin to be gentle but so far little Pinot has been handling things just fine.









Here is Marylin and Pinot ... our idea of walking the dog :)

Thanks "Auntie" Allison!

As busy as Allison is, she still found time to put this adorable picture together for Marylin. Thanks "Auntie" Allie :)

What's that?

Marylin's new thing - pointing at everything she wants (which is everything) and saying "that, that" except it doesn't really sound like "that" it sort of sounds like "wasthat" all wrapped in one word. Who knows. The point is - the child wants to explore and I'm very thankful she has such a curious little personality.

Note to self: you may change your mind when she curiously goes through your lipstick drawer :)

OK - a normal picture of Tim ;)

Marylin and Uncle Tim - Tim, that is one LONG ASS TONGUE!!

Princess Marylin. The outfit is new and is size 12 months but the hat doesn't fit her :( I swear, the doctor was right when he said the size of her head is in the 90th percentile! She's packing some serious brains in there ;)

Two tricks in one day!?

Wow - what a smartie.

Marylin has started to do two new things.

1. When she sees the fish (who are still sitting on my kitchen counter) she makes this little fishy sound with her mouth. Kind of like "bop, bop, bop" or "pop, pop, pop" ... impossible to write what she is doing so I'll get it on film as soon as Mike buys me my new camera (LOL) and share it with you then.

2. "All done" - she holds out her little empty hands when she is done. It's adorable.

She is clearly understanding language much more than she used to. For example, I'll ask her "Marylin, would you like some milk?" and she will nod yes or no, depending on what she wants.

She is also getting more daring in the walking department - we've been having lots of talks about courage - I've seen her let go of the coffee table to get to the couch a couple of times now. She has yet to just take off but it will simply be a matter of time.

Marylin - sound asleep for a very long nap after I gave her some Benadryl. Good thing I didn't give it to her before going out.

Marylin - Sad from her three shots! :(