I was sent an Angel

Today was a different day. Gigi and I spent the morning at home instead of being out anywhere but home as we usually do. I was skeptical of this, since it hasn't worked before. Usually a morning spent at home ends in an afternoon of tears, mostly mine. The kind of tears that flow easily after the nerves have rattled all they can rattle.

But today was new. Gigi played by herself for almost a half hour. THREE TIMES. That's almost 90 minutes of peace! I hardly knew what to do with myself.

The first time, I read the news online while Gigi played with the large plastic box of Easter stuff I took out yesterday. It was stuff she'd never seen before - plastic pastel eggs with cute cutouts in them, a variety of colorful baskets, plastic green and straw grass, miscellaneous chick and bunny things. She only looked up at me when she sensed I was spying on her, then just went on with exploring.

The second time I did some paperwork. I sorta cheated and put on Baby Einstein. She's never sat by herself and watched it, so I expected her to come pitter-pattering back to me within minutes. Nope, she sat there in a car seat (I hadn't put it back downstairs yet) for 25 minutes. I rustled my papers as quietly as I could, afraid if she heard me she might notice there was life outside the TV. When it was over we had lunch and I tried to put her down for a nap. 45 minutes later, she won the nap battle so I took her out to play in Harrison's room.

The third time, I read a book while she played with Harrison's Legos. Yeah, you read that right, I READ A BOOK. This has never happened with her, and surely never happened with Harrison, who expects to be entertained every waking hour as if he were a King. She played long enough that I was able to comprehend what I was reading without reading the same paragraph 15 times. Granted, the book I was (re)reading is the most brainless book I've ever read, and arguably the most brainless book ever published. My only saving grace is that I stopped halfway through and decided I could do better, must do better.

As wonderful as this day was, I'm not keeping my hopes up. Only last week I had the worst night with the kids I've ever had. The three of us maintained a tantrum that lasted almost two hours. It was bad even before Gigi stepped in my steak. Which I was eating. At the dining room table. That part made me laugh. I do have a sense of humor. But I lost it and didn't regain it for quite some time.

If I have just one day a week like today, I'll be thrilled. It'll be something to look forward to during those endless evenings when I'd hand over my spleen for just 5 minutes of peace, let alone 90 minutes.

The French Revolution

If I came across a blog about a documentary, I'd be like: Spare me the critique and give me the bullets I need to know so that if the subject ever came up at a cocktail party, I'd sound smart. That said, I gave The History Channel's The French Revolution 5 stars because not only did I enjoy it, it was relevant to Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, which I had just seen.

Now the bullets:

1. The French Revolution happened mostly because the people of France were starving and felt neglected by the monarchy who lived lavish lives at Versailles. A few opportunistic men with ideas born out of the Enlightenment took it upon themselves to makes some changes.

2. The Revolution changed the political course of French history by eliminating said monarchy and bringing about more democratic forms of government.

3. Maximilien Robespierre was the mastermind behind the Revolution (there were other names, but he's the main guy). He started out with noble intentions, even wanting to abolish the death penalty, but as the Revolution got going he became a terrorist, calling for the executions of tens of thousands of "enemies of the revolution". In the end he was executed by his own colleagues, who feared being executed themselves.

4. Louis the XVI was the incompetant king who did nothing to stem the fury of the Revolution. In the end he was executed for his neglect.

5. Marie Antoinette was the last Queen of France. She was a major reason for the revolt. She epitomized the part of royalty that was hated by the French. She bathed in gratuitous luxury while the people starved. The stark contrast between her life at Versailles and her precipitous fall to the Guillotine is particularly intriguing. (Sidebar: Sofia Coppolla's Marie Antoinette ends at the beginning of the Queen's fall. It only shows, in extreme technicolor, her decadent life. If you are female and have not yet seen this movie, rent it, invite your girlfriends over, get a bottle of champagne, and get fat on the mouth-watering, girly eye-candy that is this movie.)

6. The Guillotine was invented at the beginning of the Revolution, precipitating the executions at an incredible rate.

I'm sure if I'm missing an important piece of the puzzle, or if any of this is historically inaccurate, my mother will promptly call me with some constructive criticism. But if you have any interest in finding out why Marie Antoinette had her head chopped off, this documentary is an easy one to swallow.

Milestones

Last night Harrison brushed his teeth by himself. All sides, no follow-up brushing needed. This morning after Gigi ate her cereal without throwing any on the floor, she placed her bowl on the table from her tray and did the "all done" sign with her hands.

For any parent who's been brushing their child's teeth every night for three years, or feeding (and cleaning up) 5 meals a day for a year, these are major moments. Causes for celebration even. But since there are so many of these moments, you hardly notice them as they pass before your tired, glazed eyes. So let's review.

I think baby milestones come in two categories: Aw, How Sweet and Rad.

First the Aw, How Sweets:

First smile: This one introduces you to milestones as well as makes you wonder how you survived so long without this little creature.

First laugh: There is no sound or vision more heavenly than this.

First tooth: I'm not sure why this is so darn cute, but it is.

Crawls: Seeing my babies zip through the house on their hands and knees is really the first time I thought they were growing so fast. Although it also made me lament the time (usually just days earlier) that I didn't have to worry about them crawling head-first down the stairs.

Says "Mama" or "Dada": Nothing says "I'm all yours" quite like being called by name.

Says other first words: Anything that comes out of your baby's mouth (that isn't crying) is adorable, but it's doubly so if you can understand it.

Walks: This could arguably be in the Rads category because the baby is no longer tempted to eat every bug and piece of old chicken off the floor, but it's too smile-inducing not to be here.


And the Rads:

Holds head up: This marks the end of having to hold the baby as if at any moment you risk breaking his neck.

Sleeps through the night: You can now crawl out of the zombie fog you've been living in for 6 months.

Sits up: Ahh, your back finally gets a tiny break because you bend down 4 inches less to pick up the baby.

Safely comes down from high places alone: You only need a few scary falls to put you on edge any time the kid is on something higher than a sofa cushion. This one finally relieves you from that constant tension. Until they climb up onto the piano and start doing wobbly backward squats on the black keys, of course.

Stops breastfeeding: This one deserves a blog all unto itself, but to remain upbeat, suffice it to say that within 12 hours of stopping nursing I had more energy than a tapered Olympian.

Plays alone for more than 5 minutes: The start of you sitting down for more than 5 minutes. (I've had to get up 33 times while writing this one blog to entertain Gigi.)

Stops throwing 90% of meal onto floor: This may be the most important one, especially if you're home all day with the lil' stinker who perpetrates this.

All the teeth are in: Marks the end of cooking everything into mush or cutting everything into miniscule bites.

Dresses self: Granted, this is no guarantee that you won't have to dress your child (forcefully) for years to come, but if you had to, you could bribe your child with candy and he'd get dressed while you vegged out for 2 minutes.

Potty trained: Needs no explanation.

Brushes teeth by self: This part of the bedtime battle almost becomes a pleasure when your only involvement is technical direction.

I'm sure there were more and will be more to come. Regardless of their category, all baby milestones are fun to watch unfold (with the exception of potty training, which can be quite messy). And all are so worth the effort of the exhausting moments in between. Not sure when they can start doing the yardwork, but it's gotta be coming up soon.

Weeds

Weeds. I hate them.
They ugly up my yard.
Weeds. I hate them.
They make me very tired.
Weeds. I hate them.
They take too many hours.
Weeds. I hate them.
Why can't they just be flowers.

Guess what I did today.

Happy V Day

It's tiny, pink, and perfect in its simplicity. It has evolved to serve just one purpose. If you touch the right spots around the circle, it will turn on to start quite a party. Fear not boys, you can have one too.

Yes, we're talking about my new IPod Shuffle. It was my Valentine's Day gift from Robin and I can't think of a more romantic gift. It has changed the way I think about working out. I used to run to feel good, stay in shape, breath in some fresh air. Now I just run to listen to my Shuffle.

Most new electronic gadgets seem too complicated, expensive and useless despite their purported usefulness. The Shuffle is different. It's extremely simple, relatively affordable and more practical than any other audio delivery mechanism around.

Thank you Robin. You've managed to surprise and delight me every Valentine's Day for 16 years.

War with Iran?

In this month's Vanity Fair there's an eye-opening article about Bush's plans for war with Iran. They're close to being ready for an air attack, as this would be fought from the air (because the few ground troops we still have are already ill-prepared?).

This war is being pushed by the same people that pushed for the war with Iraq, with the same sort of deception, disinformation and fear-mongering. The article said that some $85 million has been projected to produce anti-Iran propaganda. Keep your news tuned to Fox.

It's pretty unbelievable that Bush is still poised to move ahead despite facing so much opposition to the current war. It's as if he's oblivious to the costs of war in lives, money and global karma and only cares about looking good with a win. In this case winning would be successfully creating regime-change in the region, which as far as I have read is impossible regardless of the resources.

I read in a previous article that Bush hates to lose and will continue with a contest until either he has won or his opponent gives in (because enough is enough). This sort of egotism doesn't belong in the White House. Keep it on the playground where you'll just end up losing your own friends, not our country's allies.

I'm hopeful that someone will get through to him and this craziness won't happen. I'm starting to take it personally. Let's see some of that money being spent at home.

"Earth laughs in flowers."

This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson made me smile and cry. So much perfection in so few words. I had to find more quotes by him.

Oh, please

It's sad to be reminded that there will continue to be people who find the time to do nothing but criticize those who are trying to do good. Who are these people anyway? Were they picked on as kids and are trying to regain their egos? Where's the benefit in attacking a good samaritan? This attack on Gore is such a pathetic attempt, it's laughable. It has probably gotten way more attention than it deserves, but it's so repugnant, that its defense is unavoidable.

Thankfully, there are people on our side who can quickly dispel the negativity so we can move on. Here's a short blog that provides a rebuttal to the claims that Gore is a hypocrite.

If he lived in a hut with one fluorescent lightbulb and was forced to ride around on a bicycle, he wouldn't be able to do his job. He's not asking or expecting that people give up their entire way of life. That would be unreasonable. He's asking that people try, as he's doing. If anything, he's an example that you don't have to obliterate your standard of living to make a difference.