Mmmessy

This past Friday it was so beautiful out I decided that Genevieve and I just had to go play in the backyard... with water. I knew this was going to be a messy endeavor but boy howdy did I underestimate her capacity for filth creation. By the end of our backyard playtime she was soaking wet with mud, grass, leaves and dog hair. So bad that I felt the need to strip her down to her skivies before letting her back in the house. It was great! The best part about it though was that she was totally oblivious to just how wet and messy she was!

EVS DAD

A pretty momentous weekend for the Lacroix household. No Evie did not say her first word... no she did not finally figure out how to open the fridge (aka baby mecca)... it wasn't even the momentous I can really truly walk weekend.... No indeed this weekend was the weekend that her dad graduated from just plan old Patrick to "I-am-super-cool-I -have-a-fast-car Patrick" Yes as many of you know this day has been long in the coming. Many nights were spent purusing E-Bay, Craigslist and you name it. Many days were spent a-dreamin' of the speed and now that the moment has finally come let me tell ya Patrick has an unerasable smile etched onto his lips. So with out further ado I present to you... the newest member of our household, our 2003 Honda S2000 in Belgian Racing Yellow named Puppy!! (You'll have to ask Patrick about the name :)

A thankless job

I tell ya what folks; this motherhood gig is a thankless occupation. I know, I know its trite and has been said before by many before, but by god add me to the list of millions….

After all my hard work and sleepless nights, my babbling baby girl will not utter a single mama for her mama. Her skills in the dada department are, however, very well developed. So well refined in fact that she does a perfect, clear as a bell, “daddy”. Now this isn’t to say that Patrick is undeserving of her vocal attention, he certainly does his part, but even he will admit that most of the more grueling baby tasks fall onto my shoulders.

Being the proactive parents we are, and in an effort to right this wrong, we have begun Say Mama Bootcamp. Genevieve now has a series of daily Say Mama exercises that must be repeated ad nasueum:

Exercise One: Patrick points to me and says there’s Mama. I then wave and say Mama. (We originally played this game with me pointing to myself and saying Mama and Patrick pointing to himself and saying Dada…. But after a week or so the result was a baby who pointed to herself whenever we said Mama or Dada….)

Exercise Two: Whenever I leave the room Patrick says “Where’s Mama” I then respond by calling out Hi or some other such thing to her.

Exercise Three: Stare at Evie and repeat over and over and over again mamamamamama.

Exercise Four: (This one is hard core) Set Evie up in her highchair facing a doorway. We then hide on either side of the doorway and take turns jumping into view and saying “I’m the Dada (or Mama)” or just a plain old excited proclamation of “Mama!” or “Dada!” (Sometimes we have to quit this exercise early because Evie gets nervous with us disappearing and reappearing on her like that.)

So far this workout has led to mixed results. A few mama utterances have been recorded in recent weeks but never in my presence. Here’s to hoping she gets it soon because this sort of routine really wears you out!

In other news we went on a fabulous hike this past weekend with Ben, Annie and Maxine. It was really great to get out and spend sometime in the desert. Evie figured out how to use the camelpack and I think spent the entire hike drinking water because at the end of the hike all 1.5 literes were gone! The other momentous event of the weekend was Evie taking two honest to goodness steps… only two at a time so far but she is definitely on her way to walksville.

B-day Party!

Last weekend was a blast! Patrick and Annie threw me a 30th b-day party at our new digs. The theme was shoes and beer... two personal favorites, everyone was supposed to wear their fav shoes and tote their best beer. (As a result we have a ridiculous amount of beer in the fridge now but hey I think Patrick and I are up to the challenge :) Annie made fabulous carrot cake cupcakes and Patrick put together all sorts of yummy appetizers. It was pretty funny though... given the age of some of the participants (i.e. the babes under a year old) the party was all said and done by 8 pm... woohoo are we crazy or what!

Because we got to sleep so early we were able to easily make it up to Phoenix for the annual Wheels of Britain car show. Dad had both of his Lotus entered into the show so he needed Patrick to drive one of them home (goodness knows mom and I didn't want to stay for all 6 hours of British cars... been there done that :) At Patrick's request below is a picture of his favorite car... a Lotus Formula Ford... in British racing green of course.



Anyway, thanks to everyone who came to my party this weekend or who sent their well wishes... y'all certainly made me feel special! Here's looking forward to the next fabulous 30 years!!

Genevieve heart Boys

Ohh the trouble it is a startin’ early. Two weeks ago Nicole took Genevieve and Riley to the baby story hour at the library near our house. The girls had a great time… especially Evie who seems to have taken a liking (or more accurately put a licking) to one of her baby peers of the male persuasion. Apparently Nicole was just hanging out watching the kids play and looked away for just a second and when she looked back she saw Evie kissing one of the little boys, her big ole maw open on the poor unwitting kid’s cheek! Well once was enough to get her dad worried (I mean he thought he had a good 10 or 11 years at least before he had to purchase a boy-warding firearm of some sort!) I am sad to report however we have now two data points on our the chart for our little vixen. This weekend at my mommy book club she came up and accosted (well really it was just hug) Ksenija and David’s little boy Joe. (At least she has good taste in men… what a cutie) David managed to take a picture of the event so I even have proof this time!

In other news it is high time we post a picture of Nicole and Riley… so here they are!


I also caught Evie this weekend contemplating her cookie….hmm yeesss, brilliant yes brilliant....

Bike Ride!!!

Last weekend when I was up in Phoenix I picked up yet another fabulous Scottsdale garage sale find that my mom came upon; a brand-new-esque baby bike toteting thing. I had been eagerly awaiting the weekend to use it but unfortunately we all got sick this weekend and spent most of our time inside sleeping and hacking... (that makes at least 3 of the 7 colds a "year," right? I think, pray, we are more than half way through our fair share!!)

Anyway we were all feeling a bit better today so we decided to take the new toy out for a spin. Halfway down the block though we realized that the helmet that came with the baby trailer was ohh about half the size of Genevieve's body and therefore quite simple for her to take off. For the sake of fun we went up and down the street a few times (don't worry mom it really was just up and down our street) Then later in the afternoon Evie and I walked to the bike store and bought her a snazzy new helmet that fits much better (although she still has some growing to do before it will be a perfect fit! Woohoo weekend rides to the zoo and beyond here we come!

Zoo and to Grandma's House

Evie and I had a great weekend! On Friday we went to the zoo with our friends Soren, Jameson, Monica and Haylee. I think Genevieve had more fun looking at the other kids than the tigers and bears but hey it was certainly nice for us moms to have an hour or two to talk together about our babies :)

On Friday afternoon we headed up to Phoenix. Patrick was at a meeting in Sedona all weekend so he dropped us girls (Kita included) off at my folks place. We had a nice relaxing weekend of much clothes shopping for Evie... good thing too because she had been wearing the same two outfits day after day. Which I guess she could care less about but sure did make for lots of laundry sessions.

Night-Night

The Rime of the Bleary-eyed Mother
(adapted from -and with apologies to- Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)

Night, night every where
And the baby she did shriek
Night, night every where
Nor any sleep a wink

The very bed did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, the crying baby did crawl with legs
Upon the matressed crib like a tree.

About, about, in reel and rout
The wakeful-one danced at night;
The mom, like a sleepless owl,
A red eyed, pale faced, fright.

And some in dreams assuréd were
Of the rest that eluded us so;
Nine suggestions for better sleep had followed us
From the land of doctors, nurses and know.

And every shh-pat-pat, through utter irritation,
Was withered at the insemination;
We could not leave the room, just as if
We had been chained to obligation.

Ah ! well for that ten a-day ! what evil looks
Had I from my young!
But at the end of it all, instead of a bawl
The sweet sound of 10 hours sleep was sung

Please don't feed the animals....

Ahh the developmental milestones we never expected…. Yes it is a running theme here. Her latest passion is for the weak, the downtrodden... the very hungry pets of the Lacroix household. Yes, she feels for them so much that she is compelled every time she eats to share a little (or a lot if she doesn’t particularly like the fare) of her meal with Kita (and Whiskers if he can manage to sneak in). And like most acts of charity we do because it makes us feel good… Genevieve’s joy is evident in the range of giggle to out and out crack-up every time she gives Kita or Whisky a morsel of her meal….

Die cold, die

All is well in Mott Lacroix household… hmmm truth be told maybe “well” isn’t the word for it. Poor Genevieve has had a cold for going on 3 weeks now. Who knew that those darn viruses could be so persistent. Of course it doesn’t help that she now cringes and cries whenever the nose bulb (aka snot sucker) gets within a five-foot radius of her head. And to think, most babes get about seven colds a year. So seven a year times about three weeks a piece…. By god that means that she’ll be sick for almost half of the year! Man I better find a way for her to make peace with the snot sucker…..

Well, even in her ill found state of snot she still manages to look pretty cute. This morning we played dress up with a nice vintage number that was mine when I was about her age. The tights were a hit given that her new favorite pastime is to rip off any sock placed on her foot.

And for my next act....

Genevieve has become quite the performer in the past few weeks. Grandma Nicole gave her a piano and as you can see she is quite fond of playing it. No Mozart yet but she does enjoy a good round of the itsy bitsy spider. Not only does she enjoy “playing” the music she also does a pretty nifty little dance to it every so often when the mood strikes her ☺

When she isn’t tickling the ivories or dancing she is performing the “anything you can do I can do better” routine. This little ditty involves her imitating things that you do and let me tell you she is building up quite the repertoire. To date she does a mean imitation of the pirate (arrrrr), an African bushman (click, click, click), a person laughing (ha, ha, ha) and my personal favorite “devil baby” (a low growl followed by a shaking head). The pirate is her Dad’s favorite and as a result it seems like whenever I leave the room I can hear them arrring to each other and giggling. She also does a few impersonations, her most common one being of her friend Riley, the nanny’s 1.5 year old daughter who likes to go around saying “that” and pointing at things. As a result Evie is constantly saying “that, that, that” and using her pointer finger… ahhh she must be brilliant!

And finally there is Evie the movie star! Here she is in her latest film "Snow is Cold"

Scare tactics

One of the great debates for the eco-minded with babies is whether to use cloth or enviro disposable diapers. Which is “better’ for the environment, believe it or not, is a hotly debated subject. There is one, albeit infrequently considered, option that is hands down the most eco way to go. This path is known as conscious elimination or going diaperless. Now I must confess I am not enough of a hard core greenie to travel this road but we have had some experience with what it might entail. Every month or so Evie starts to get a diaper rash so we give her bum a break and have a diaperless night (or at least a diaperless hour or so). During these times of trouble we have learned her “cues” for when she is going to eliminate and can usually act accordingly, i.e., make sure she is sitting on a towel or bring her to the toilet.

After Christmas my family all went skiing together and stayed at a condo that was a classic circa 1975 wonder. On the second night Genevieve started to have a rashy problem so we decided to let her roam free (the carpets were far from pristine so we figured no one would really notice should there be an incident…and this my friends is why I don’t want to rent our old house). Patrick and I quickly discovered that a diaperless baby was a terrifying notion to my father and little brother. All of a sudden the once adorable baby was compared to a one shot, fully loaded, game of Russian roulette that was to be feared as though her nether regions contained an atom bomb instead of the innocuous and decidedly mundane baby poo and pee. They both watched her like a hawk and when, inevitably, she relieved herself they were both so horrified that they immediately vacated the family room and only returned when Patrick certified that it was “safe”. Being the kind, understanding sister I am I found this phobia of my brother’s to be quite entertaining so of course I had to exploit it by waving her naked bum in his face. Poor Genevieve, nothing but a pawn in my evil design.

In other news, and pictures, Genevieve’s first Christmas was great! She got to spend the holiday with my family and Patrick’s dad, Monique and Sarah. Mom made her phenomenal a stocking, which, as you can see, was rather large. Evie’s favorite part of Christmas was definitely the ribbons, of course a close second was the wrapping paper and certainly last were all the fabulous clothes that everyone bought her.




New Years was spent in Utah at Brian Head where we all got to go skiing and Genevieve was able to see and (sorta) play in the snow for the first time. It was so cold out (5 deg) that really her first snow experience was more of a quick photo shoot ☺ The snow was just one of the many exciting new experiences…. Tops on the list though were spaghetti and the New Years fireworks; she laughed and pointed her way through the whole show.

Evie's new "crib"

Well it was touch and go there for a bit but I am happy to report that last weekend the whole clan successfully moved into our new digs.... we are still in boxes and everything is just a bit chaotic so not too much time to post but I thought I'd put up a few pics. Hope everyone has a merry christmas and a chilly wonderful solstice and I'll update with stories later

Cookies

Mmmm cookies. Last year Annie and I hung out and made Christmas cookies and it was a lot of fun so we decided to do a repeat this year… only this year we had two additional “helpers", which of course we had to dress for the occasion. Maxine was fabulous (except when Aunt Kelly tried to hold her, then she would cry) but Evie was trouble… Luckily Maxine let Evie use her swing otherwise cookie making would have been nigh impossible. This picture of Annie says it all!



Anyway over about 4 hours we managed to make one batch of cookies… not nearly as productive as last year (ahh story of the life of a person with a small child) but man was it fun!

In other news Patrick and I are buying a new house this Tuesday so stay tuned for pictures of Evie and Kita in their new digs!!!

Look out world... here I crawl

Here is a little footage of Evie crawling her stuff after Thanksgiving last week.

DangeDar

It would appear that our daughter has a terrible affliction. (Or is it ability?) Some sort of evolutionary malfunction… I call it baby DangeDar. DangeDar is a radar for danger and let me tell you Genevieve’s DangeDar is acute. I suspected she had this ability when she was still a log-rolling babe and would frequently roll herself into awkward situations, but now that she is fully mobile there is no mistaking this “talent”. In any given room she is able to find the one item that should under no circumstances be placed in one’s mouth.

There are a number of different types of items that get caught in her DangeDar net. Some are floor errata, such as tags from recent purchases, rocks, kitty litter. Others are more vertical in nature like corners of coffee tables, edges of rocking chairs, trash cans and (of course) the almighty electrical outlet.

Now I am all about positive redirection of a seemingly destructive habit. So I have done some thinking and decided that Evie and I could open a business and channel her DangeDar for the forces of good (like say to start a college savings account). You see one of Genevieve’s specialties is dust bunnies. Oh yes, if a dust bunny resides within a good 20 foot radius of her she hones in and goes for it. So here is how the business would work… Genevieve and I would seek out any and all persons who are exceptionally neat-freaky. We would then offer her services as a guaranteed dust bunny locater, just place her on the floor of the client’s home and let her do her work. I would then follow her around with my dustbin and broom and wrangle any free-range dust bunny she should encounter!

Crazy times!

Whew what a crazy past few weeks. We went to Baltimore, Evie and I got (and still to some extent still have) yucky colds, I rode in the Tour de Tucson (33 miler), Sonja and Wili came to visit, we went to a baby party, Patrick's friend Elisa came to visit and then we just got back from San Carlos, Mexico for Turkey Day. What excitement all packed into just a few weeks... here are some photos of the fun!

Baltimore!!

The big weekend finally came! Last weekend Patrick, Evie and I went all the way across the wide ole U.S. to meet our nephew Dylan for the very first time! It was a whirlwind of a weekend but wonderful... albeit quite cold for us (well at least me) desert dwelling types.

Although many a pre-trip hour of mommy sleep was lost in anticipation of the plane ride I am happy to say that both the coming and the going were blissfully uneventful. Evie was a great traveler and mostly just slept on the ride to and fro.

On Friday we arrived after dark and stayed up late (including Evie....) talking and having fun.



On Saturday we went for a wonderfully cold walk around Nicole and Vivian's "hood" Including a trip to a great second hand baby clothes shop where Evie acquired an awesome new hat. The afternoon was spent at the Visionary museum... the place where loony (as in crazy) people's art is displayed. Lots of fun colors for babies to look at that is for sure!





That evening Evie and I adventured out on our own to Silver Spring so I could see some of my good friends from my DC days. Sarah and Jamie made a fabulous dinner and a good time was had by all (well as you can see toward the end of the night Evie wasn't too happy but really up to that point she had fun!) Of course I got totally lost trying to get home. Thank goodness for map guide and Patrick's ability to talk me through the streets of Baltimore at 11 pm....







On Sunday we went to the famous Baltimore farmer's market and had the world's best crepes and picked up some fine fixings for Genevieve's baby food. Sunday night was the highlight though. Erik made a wonderful lasagna for everyone and Monique and Karen came by to visit too. The evening's entertainment was (of course) sitting around watching Dylan and Evie play, play, play.

I desperately need to sleep so I'll have to let the pictures do the rest of the talking... Whew what a wonderful weekend!!

Faces of Evie 2!

When Evie was just six weeks old I put together a little collage of her funny faces. Well now at more than six months old I decided it was time for an Evie face update. Like many aspects of Genevieve her faces are certainly more exciting than they were at first. Given that food plays a prominent role in her little world I thought it appropriate to do a food themed faces collage!!

Halloween!

Genevieve's first Halloween was good but pretty uneventful. We dressed her up as a kitty cat (as you can see...) the only problem was that this kitty costume was clearly made for kids in colder climes... all nice a fleecy and way too hot for a Tucson Halloween! As a result we kept taking it off her during the day because the poor thing was sweating up a storm.

Evie's Halloween consisted of coming downtown with me to visit my work and then walking up the hill to Patrick's work. Everyone loves a costumed baby so she was a bit hit in both places :) That evening we hung out at home and Ben, Annie and Maxine came over with us to wait for a trick or treater or two to come to our door (of course not a single one did :( Maxine was supposed to be a leopard (a nice complement to Evie's kitty, but she had already outgrown the costume... oh well next year they can go as some sort of dynamic duo.) Well if nothing else it gave us a great chance to hang out with friends, eat pizza and drink beer (or in Ben and Patrick's case whiskey) on a weeknight!