Dill Tough

Sofi helped me make lunch today. As we set out the pickles we'd canned this past summer Sofi says to me "Dad, do you want to know what makes me so good?" She then exclaims "When I eat pickles I don't even blink!" And then, in order to demonstrate, she looked straight into my eyes, took a bite of her pickle, and true to her word she didn't even blink.

Definitely one tough cookie she is, able to resist wincing at even the sourest pickle!

They say the darndest things

Since this blog is serving as sort of a living memorybook for the coming years, I have a few random anecdotes that I would like to record here.

This past weekend was my (Mary's) birthday. It was a busy day, I had to work. I left before Sofi got up to be at solo ensemble festival all day and then went out to dinner with Andy and some friends after that. When I got home she was in bed. As seems to happen often after one of these long days, Sofi woke up in the middle of the night calling my name. I went to see what she needed and heard her tell of her bad dream (something about Daddy and Isaac and she being in the library and not able to get out - no doubt an idea spurred by a recent episode of Arthur). And then all of a sudden she sat straight up and, sounding hurt and incredilous, she said "Mommy! You skipped your birthday! It was your birthday yesterday and you skipped it! There was a present and everything!" This was my first realization that my birthday, like everything else now as a mom, is not really my own. It's a family holiday. However unbenounced to Sofi, Andy and I have sort of agreed to celebrate my half birthday on August 16th instead of my real birthday on February 16th since I ALWAYS have to work on my birthday and February is just too busy and stressful in my life to really celebrate much of anything.

Tonight I noticed that on Sofia's dresser there was a picture from my cousin Sue's wedding in which I was the maid of honor a number of years ago... maybe 6 or 7?. Sue and I were in the picture dressed in wedding formalwear. Sofi said that she put that picture there (lifted it from it's home in the living room) so she could see me every morning. I asked her if she recognized the other girl and told her it was Noah and Nathan's mommy. A smile spread across her face as she said "from the cabin!" Then she commented on how pretty we look, and pointed to Sue and said "and look how BIG her chest is!" (A comment that I am sure Sue would appreciate having probably not heard it too often in her life :-) ha ha!

Isaac has now added monkey sounds "oo oo! ah ah!" to his existing vocal repertoire of dada, hat, hot (they sound very similar :-) and countless squeals, grunts and giggles. He loves to practice the monkey sound when Sofi is watching Curious George. I hope I never forget the sound of his giggle when I pretend to eat his toes or nibble his neck. He also enjoys our nightly ritual of dancing in a diaper on his changing table to my mouth percussion "It's jamma time! Break it down! bm ch bm bm ch..." and then is very good at snuggling in quickly for a "slow dance" (ala the high school prom) on cue. Although I can tell he prefers to dance to a strong beat!

I am so thankful that both my kids are happy and affectionate at this point in their lives. The other day I was struck with how readily they snuggle in. I came home and picked up Sofi, fresh from a rare nap, and she immediately tucked her hands in between us, put her head on my shoulder and completely relaxed in my arms. To me I think that is the image of true faith and trust. Oh that we all might readily snuggle into God's arms just like that, releasing all of our fear and tension.

Cuts!

We all got hair cuts today. All of us. Not just Sofi, but dad (it's been a while and it was showing), and even Isaac. And we are not talking the economical home trim that Mary does so well with the number four guard. We actually "splurged" and went to Great Clips... and they used scissors!

I forgot to bring my camera, but I took this fuzzy photo of me and Isaac on my PDA.



Isaac did REALLY well. I think it helped to see Sofi go first, and she sits really well because she knows they give suckers to kids who behave. Isaac sat completely still for quite a few minutes, so well in fact that I decided to go all out and do more than just the bangs (I went in with low expectations, feeling I be happy if she could just get a few quick clips at the bangs). But he did so well she trimmed all of it, and even used a trimmers to touch up around his ears and neck, which surprisingly didn't bother him! Eventually he got squirmy sitting in dad's lap, and I did my best to distract him with my mobile phone. The only time he fussed was when she was done and she tried to blow dry the little cut hairs off his head. But overall his was extremely good. No sucker for him though, but they did give him a sticker.

Isaac's 14th Month

Showing more interest in books.

Has started hitting when he gets upset with his sister, or with us even. In turn, he has started taking his first time outs. In our house that is one minute for every year old, so Isaac's are only one minute long.

Canditate Match Games

USA Today
V.A. Joe
DEHP
Speak Out
Select Smart

It was Glen Phillip's website that brought these "Candidate Match Games" to my attention (and considering that Glen Phillips is a musician, not a politician nor pundit, I just got to say, how cool is Glen Phillips!).

They were interesting to complete, as the results were surprising. Before I took them I was leaning toward Borack Obama. But after answering their survey questions pretty much all the sites (with the exception of one) put Dennis Kucinich as my top choice (above is a screen capture of my results from the USA Today site). Which really shouldn't have surprised me, as he is the only one who voted against the war from the start, and is proposing the most comprehensive form of health care, all issues I agree strongly with. Unfortunately, although he is still in the race, he is pretty much being ignored by the media (including NPR, to which I say "Shame on you, NPR!") and by CNN who refused to let him in the Democratic debate in California ("Shame on you, CNN!"), and therefore really has no chance at building momentum and winning the nomination. (In closing, I just attempted to include a link to his site and went there to copy the URL, and while there discovered that he has withdrawn from the race as of today. I've yet to hear about this on MPR, which is interesting, because they interrupted their morning shows to announce that Edwards had withdrawn).

But my initially leaning toward Borack wasn't too far off, because he often came in second in my surveys. Which is good to know as well, because at least he is still in the game.

In regards to Hillary, while I think it is time for a woman President and I'm excited by the possibility of a woman as President, there are four things that keep me from backing her:

1. The legacy. I'm definitely tired of the Bush legacy, and I don't really think a Clinton legacy is going to improve bipartisanship on "The Hill". There is too much animosity there toward the Clintons, including Hillary, and I don't think she would be able to promote bipartisan politics enough to get much done. I think there would just be more division with her.
   (An interesting point I just heard while listening to the California debates: at age 35, I've never had a Presidential ballot in which a Clinton or a Bush was not on it. If I'm running the math correctly, you could actually go back as far as 1967. That is to say, anyone born in 1967 or thereafter has always had a Clinton or a Bush on a Presidential ballot. The last ballot that didn't was in 1984. Anyone born in 1967 would have been 17 in 1984, and unable to vote. If Hillary wins the nomination and the presidency (which would assume a run for a second term), that means that I'll be 43 and someone could be as old as 49 years old before they were able to vote on a ballot without a Bush or a Clinton! Half a life time of having two legacies on your ballot! I suppose by then Jeb Bush would want a turn! Seriously, it's time for a change!)
   
2. Because of the above Hillary offers the Republican party an excuse to unite and rally, just like the Democrats had with Bush (think "anyone but Bush", they'll be saying "A.B.C... Anyone But Clinton", which I've already heard from one caller on NPR). I think the Republican Party will have a more difficult time rallying against Obama, and Obama has a better chance of winning against the GOP. Unfortunately with Obama, race may prove a uniting factor ("anyone but a black man"), but the same may unfortunately prove true regarding gender ("anyone but a woman").
   
3. Health care. According to a health pundit on MPR, during a debate the Democratic candidates were asked when they would have their health care package complete. Edwards and Obama said by the end of their first term. Hillary said by the end of her second. Given that Presidents really only have the first 100 days to make any change before they loose goodwill, and that you can't rely on being re-elected, I don't think Hillary is making health care a big enough priority. Also, she has accepted campaign money from the pharmaceutical industry, so there will be pressure there when it comes to health reform.
   
4. The war. She has been too supportive of it for too long.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email me or to leave comments on the site.

Grandma's Beautiful Swimsuit

Mary had wanted me [Diane] to document some of the conversations I have had with Sofia. Here is another one...

The first weekend of February we decided to use a RCI bonus week and chose to go to Christmas Mountain in Wisconsin Dells. We arrived early afternoon on Saturday and decided to do a little swimming at the Village pool. Mary, Sofi and I went directly to the locker room to change into our swimsuits. Sofi’s response on seeing my suit was as if she had just laid eyes on the most beautiful garment ever! It is a bright pink suit with a floral pattern in deeper colors of pink and maroon with a bit of white. A metallic gold stroke was used to outline the floral edges.

Sofi proclaimed with much drama as she ran her fingers along the gold outlined floral pattern: “Grandma, that is so beautiful. I just love that, Grandma. You know, I could paint that. You could come to my house and wear your swimsuit and stand there, and then I could paint that.”

And I admire a four year old little girl who loves to paint, who can see the beauty in the swimsuit designer’s creativity, who just absolutely knows she too can paint that thing of beauty – and of course knows that her Grandma would make a perfect model!