Mugshot

I knew we shouldn't have let you on that reality TV show. Another child star gone bad.

Moonlit Reflection

Marian, it's been a long time since I've written about just how deeply crazy I am about you. I've covered some of the milestones, the miles traveled and some of your funny quirks of personality. Somehow, I've forgotten to slow down and just write about the wonder of belonging to you.

Last night I leaned over your crib (yep, that's right, you sleep in one of those now) and put my hand on your back and my head on the side of the bed and just fell into the rhythm of your breathing. The moon was full outside and it lit up the room enough for me to see you clearly as you twitched just a little bit under the lightness of my hand. I was overwhelmed by my love for you, my little baby, sleeping with one hand curled around Douglas the Dog and your legs all tucked underneath you.

It seems impossible that just over a year ago you were tiny enough for me to lift with one hand, that you couldn't talk or walk or bite. All this seems to be moving so fast and I'm well aware that in what will seem like a few months you'll be graduating from high school. That's why I'm definitely holding you back in kindergarten for three or four years.

If I could suspend time, I think I would be tempted to freeze it right now. I know I said similar things when you were four months, at six months, etc. I remember thinking that it just couldn't get any better than this--and then it did. You wake up every day and do something new, funny, smart (and often frustrating, like when you meticulously filled my tennis shoe to the brim with water from Peanut's bowl). Watching you grow is the most interesting thing I've ever witnessed and I anticipate the ways we'll both be challenged as you continue to question and learn. I love you in your active moments and I love you in the stillness of the night when the sound of your breathing and occasionally a little sleep talking sounds like a symphony. Being your mom is the sweetest job in the world.

San Francisco Images

Here you are clearly channeling Poppa Joe's tourist aesthetic

You're on a cliff and while it looks like the water is close enough to touch it's actually way, way, way down there.

At the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park

This is your windblown look

With Antenna and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

The Double Crown: Sign of a Traveler

I think I've mentioned before that you have a double crown; instead of just one swirl of hair on the back of your scalp you have two. Someone told me many months ago this is the mark of a traveler. The thought of you leaving me one day to traipse across the globe (no doubt to dangerous places where there are lots of insect borne diseases) sends shivers down my spine. However, after your first plane ride (cross country), a week spent traveling by subway, boat, car and foot and rarely sleeping in the same room more than two nights in a row, I'm ready to admit there's something to that superstition.

We returned last night from 10 days in San Francisco, Marin, Napa and Sonoma. Your dad and I agree that this is perhaps the nicest vacation we've ever had, thanks in large part to the hospitality of your Aunt Anna (heretofore known as Antenna) and Parker (Mr. Austin). With the help of their car we were untethered and free to roam on our own schedule. We spent time lounging at Golden Gate park, sampled the delights at Marin County Farmers' Market, lived the life of the rich and famous in Napa pretending we were wine snobs, stood in awe at the height of the Redwoods in Muir Woods and celebrated Tatyana's wedding at Fort Mason this past Friday followed by an excursion to Angel Island. The weather was absurdly perfect, even when they said it would surely rain, it didn't.

You made friends at every turn and seemed to trust that every time we put you in the car seat you would end up in some magical and fun place. You loved hiking, you tolerated the winery stops and you nearly exploded every time your Poppa asked if you wanted to go swimming. You ate your first sushi and loved it and didn't protest a dinner of two cereal bars and oatmeal on the plane ride home yesterday. You spontaneously started clapping after the pilot put the plane down on the runway and you greeted Peanut with squealing and (mostly) gentle pats on the face when we returned home. Momma G got lots of kisses too.

There are lots of pictures to post and more stories to tell. I just wanted to get something up before too much time passed by. You've certainly lived up to the expectations of a double crown.

A Rolling Stone

It's Monday morning after a weekend trip to Alabama and you are sleeping soundly. For the past few days you played your heart out while Poppa and I cut trees, hauled brush and pulled fallen trees out of a fish pond that may not have a lot of fish but sprouts algae like you wouldn't believe. It was stinky business but good, honest work and I'm feeling a little sore all over today. You are just worn out from playing with a host of indefatigable playmates (Mur, Nona, Grandaddy, Charles, Alyssa, Grandmomma, Jane, Lyn, Trent and Owen).

The pictures above are a smattering of the activities you enjoyed while at Mur's Resort and Fun House. There is some evidence that you pitched in to help rake some leaves but for the most part you colored, practiced walking up steps, and played gorilla. You were also not the least bit interested in watching your television debut Saturday night on HGTV; you went to the back bedroom and watched the fish screen-saver on the computer monitor. It's nice to see that fame has not gone to your head.

This month is one marked by travel every weekend. Last weekend (photo-less, how did that happen?!) we were in Nashville visiting a whole host of friends and watching Poppa play a game of Aussie Rules Football. We didn't make any trips to the ER so by all accounts the weekend was a raging success. You got to visit with your buddies Kate and Amanda and took up a new obsession with pushing a stroller everywhere you go.

In just five days you board your first aircraft for a trip across the country to San Francisco. Your Poppa and I are so, so looking forward to this long vacation and traveling with you. Again, you'll have plenty of entertainment--Aunt Anna is so excited to play with you -- and you'll attend your second wedding. We're hoping the time change doesn't totally wreck your sleep schedule and we apologize to anyone who may lose five or six hours of sleep each night (that would be you Anna and Parker...rest up now!).

In all, you're still the great little traveler that you've been since you were born. I am amazed at the ways you'll entertain yourself on the highway. You talk constantly (I am sure this will be annoying in a few years but now I just love it) read books, eat Clementines (a new favorite, even when I judge that they are completely dry and tasteless), loop Mardi Gras beads around your toes and sing songs with us. I'm not sure how many states you've visited (I think it's about 10 or 11) but you've seen quite a bit of this country in less than a year and a half with no sign of slowing down. Next stop, Hartsfield Jackson Airport!

Dinner

This may be the shortest blog entry yet.
Last night for dinner you ate smoked herring and pickled okra. Wow.

DIY

There are TV channels and websites devoted entirely to the DIY (do it yourself) lifestyle. In a few minutes you can learn how to make a fabulous holiday centerpiece or refinish old cabinets. There is DIY backyard chicken coop building (something we're getting ready to learn a thing or two about...shhh...don't tell Momma G) and DIY plumbing.

You are a huge devotee of DIY feeding and, increasingly, DIY dressing. The dressing bit has me tickled, the feeding less so. Somedays you feel like wearing panties, a bikini top and a fly pair of new shoes. Somedays you don't. That's fine with me.

I've learned never to dress you before the first bowl of oatmeal. Unless it's one of those days that bikini top and diapers is all you want to wear.