Seeing Ponyo

My mother took MLO to see the movie. It was on Labor Day so after two and half full days mommy got a little break.

My mom said MLO made an impression as there is one point in the movie when the water level raises up on island, putting everything but the top of the house the hero is staying at, under water.

The entire theatre is hushed and watching what is going to happen. The heros of the movie are looking down from their roof and MLO exclaims: "They have fish in their driveway", apparently the entire theatre starts laughing.

My comedian.

The New Year and Snow

Happy New Year, we started out the year with MLO's first visit to the snow.

My daughter only likes to wear dresses so I had to convince her to put on jeans, a long sleeve shirt and her new boots.

We drove up to the snow and when she got out of the car her teeth started chattering. I gave her coat to her and she gave it right back to me. She said she wasn't cold, with her teeth actually chattering.

I told her we could only go out on the snow if she put it on, so she agreed.

We went walking on the snow and she was giggling, laughing, falling and having a great time.

She finally wanted to actually do something with the snow so I then had to convince her to put on her gloves. After she tried to do it with her bare hands she discovered how cold that really was and quickly asked for the gloves.

So it only took about half an hour to convince her to get fully dressed for the snow.

After that we had a great time. We wondered around the snow and forest. We built a snow man and a reindeer (the reindeer didn't come out so well, but she thought it was "cool").

The only reason I got her to agree to leave finally was because she had to go pee. However we have already made plans to go back on Sunday, should be great!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all and

to all a fabulous 09!

Thanksgiving 2008

It all went very well, we love our house and I am happy to have everyone over. It has some great entertainment features which make it a good choice (and therefore has been the choice) for our family parties.

Last year I cheated on the Turkey and got it pre-cooked so I just had to warm it up.

This year we had a little tighter budget, so I got to do all the hard work. Well sort of, I got to call my mother-in-law and have her come help me so it wasn't too hard. We cooked for 8 people so did a 16 pound bird, which turned out to be just perfect (we were expecting more left-overs).

We got compliments on it being the best Turkey ever, so we must have done ok.

MLO loved sitting at the table and having dinner with all her favorite people in the world. Her favorite was the corn my mother made for a side (I made people bring food so I didn't have to do everything), she had about three helpings of it.

Through-out dinner she kept pointing at people and saying how happy she was they were there. After that she just kept naming who was sitting next to who, over and over again.

In between dinner and dessert she went outside with my brother and they played "soccer" for a little bit. It was hilarious to watch because my brother was tired and very full so he ran sort of funny.

We were all up late talking and MLO didn't want to go to bed, even after everyone was gone she wanted to keep getting and giving hugs.

Thankful

So it appears to now be the tradition to have Thanksgiving at my house.

This means a lot of cleaning and preparing which seems like a lot of work. However once dinner starts and we all sit around the table and laugh and eat, it does seem worth it.

I meant to do a what am I thankful for post, but in all the big event preparations I didn't get to it.

So, a little late (better late than never) I am thankful for:

My strong and supportive family. They are always there if I need them, they love me no matter what and while we may not always agree, it never reduces our love.

Most especially my husband who is most happy when I am happy and loves making it possible for me to do whatever I want.

And of course, my fabulous daughter whose love and kisses warm my heart. I am so grateful that I have gotten to see her grow into such a smart and intelligent girl and look forward to seeing her continue to expand.

I am thankful that everyone I love is in good health, with any physical problems, currently under control and them feeling good.

I am thankful that both my husband and I continue to be successful so we can provide the best life possible for our daughter.

I am so thankful I have a large group of friends who love to come to my silly parties and invite me to their parties, or even just call on the phone and chat about ridiculous things.

I am grateful for getting to live in the United States which while it might not be perfect, the freedoms we have are something not everyone gets to enjoy.

Thank you!

Trick or Treat

It went very well. MLO had a great time and loved running around outside with a bunch of other kids.

Her favorite part was saying the words "trick or treat", of course this was at all times, and never at the right time.

We would be walking in between houses and say "trick or treat" to the air.

She would see a squirrel and ask it "trick or treat?"

Then she would turn around and look at me and smile and say "trick or treat".

Of course, I was carrying her bag and she wanted to carry her flashlight more than the bag. She would forget about it and run up to the door and smile her cute smile while I was still catching up with her bag in my hand.

We went with a bunch of her daycare friends to a place that was packed with kids. The houses really got into it, with their front lawns covered in "scary" stuff.

MLO lasted about five blocks (all around) and when we got home, she happily traded me all the candy she had for a huge stack of stickers I had just for the occasion.

Happy Halloween

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween.

Lucky for me MLO is insisting on re-using her costume from last year - Arial.

It will be interesting to see how she does. Between the shyness around strangers, but all her daycare friends (we are all going together) around I will have to remember to write down here how it actually goes.

My Sister's Birthday

We went to see my sister for her birthday, MLO came along and the whole drive down to see her she couldn't stop talking about seeing her Aunt.

We took her on a dinner cruise and MLO sang her happy birthday several times . Then another several times again and a few several times more until everyone else on the cruise was laughing and shaking their heads.

I got a tour of her campus (she is in college)

We slept on one of her room-mates beds in her little apartment (the room-mate was spending the weekend with her boyfriend). MLO loved her apartment and kept running around it (though it is pretty small).

Even more fortunate is that her apartment was across from a park with huge playground visible from the entrance to her apartment. So, while everyone got to sleep in on Sunday, MLO and I woke up bright and early and played on the playground for hours and hours.

The whole time we were driving home MLO kept saying over and over she want to go back to her Aunt's house. They have always been close and I am so happy that even when MLO goes month's without seeing her she loves her to pieces.

A Tale of Two Cities Review

This last birthday was my 30th and my hubby and I have been talking about going to NY to see a Broadway show as my present (I have never done this).

It turned out that the new show A Tale of Two Cities' opening weekend was the exact weekend we could go. So that was the show.

A little background on me (since this blog has mostly been about my daughter). I started performing in professional theatre when I was about six. I have done a lot of shows in front of the curtain. While going to college to get my degree I first started seriously working behind the curtain, as a stage manager, director's assistance and more and fell in love with that part even more.

My birthday present is usually a large show (like at the Pantages here in LA) and I see smaller shows often through-out the year. So I consider myself more than your average theatre goer.

With that said, I was overall very impressed and loved the show.

There were some interesting decisions, like no curtains over the wing or the back (later when I got a backstage tour I saw why they did that). There was one time that the set changes plus the obviousness of the pieces in the wings was a little distracting (near the end of the first act there was a set piece still leaving the stage and it was a little too obvious as the acting was staged right in front of it).

The costumes were beautiful and Lucie's dresses looked very authentic and well made.

The lighting was absolutely amazing with fabulous spots and colors that helped set the mood.

Overall the acting was likewise fabulous.

The only one who seemed to be fighting a little fatigue was Gregg Edelman (who played Dr. Alexandre Manette). His voice lost some of its power and the lines became a little automatic and just being delivered to get through it.

Natalie Toro usually plays Madame Therese Defarge but we saw her understudy instead Rebecca Robbins, who was amazing (and with such talent as the understudy wish I had gotten to see Natalie too).

There were two people who totally impressed me:

1) Kevin Earley as Ernest Defarge, I felt every emotion and bit of struggle. Fabulous voice that brought me to tears from the stage.

2) James Barbour as Sydney Carton is just a WOW! I felt all of the characters pain and was amazed at how much I was crying for him and with him. Plus that voice, really just melts me.

Overall, if there is anyway I can make it back to NY to see the show again I will be there! I will also be sure to follow James Barbour and look forward to see him in anything.

Neglect

Wow, I have been neglecting my personal blog.

Life is just going at 100 miles/hour and I haven't had time to even think about a blog post, let along write one.

Everything is going great, my business is booming (part of why I have no time to come here), MLO is growing like a weed and we just got back from a business trip to NY.

Of course, while I was in NY I had to go see a Broadway show (something I have never done before). We saw A Tale of Two Cities, oh my god!!! I am going to do a whole separate post on that show. It was amazing!

This weekend is MLO's birthday and her promised Disneyland trip because she is fully potty-trained.

I joke that other than December, September is our most expensive month (both my birthday and MLOs is in September).

Well, there are some ramblings to at least prove I am still alive and didn't fall of a cliff or anything. Be back again soon (I hope).

Birthdays

Quick note (OMG, so busy): MLO loves birthdays, really, anyone's birthday.

She has been telling me over and over all week that it was my birthday (my birthday was on the 13th and I turned 30).

She loves to sing happy birthday to me, over and over again.

It is really sweet, of course, she is very excited about the fact that it will be her birthday soon too.

Labour Day

Chutes & Ladders

MLO got introduced to Chutes & Ladders while we were in Tahoe. One of my aunts decide she would have fun with it and went out and bought the board game so they could play (game is for 3+ and she will be 3 the end of September).

They played it one of the times I needed to do some work and needed someone to distract her. So I didn't get to watch her first time, but everyone says she had a great time.

To get her not to try and play with the wheel after it was spun, my sister came up with the idea of everyone throwing their hands up in the air while it is spinning.

She loves slides in real life so having her characters go down the slide makes her giggle, so apparently the entire game was spent laughing.

The best part of it all was MLO actually won (and they weren't letting her).

I know she had a great time, because the board game came home with us and she has made me play it with her several times. We don't get to the end of the game, because it is much funner with more than two players, but she laughs the whole time.

Tubbing in Tahoe

We just got back from almost a full week in Tahoe with my extended family (my grandma, her four daughters, including my mom, and all their spouses and kids).

It was great timing for me, I needed some time away to enjoy myself and really get back up to battery.

We did a lot of activities, including river rafting, jet skiing (my favorite), tubbing/water skiing. We were going to go parasailing too, but the wind kicked up too much so that got cancelled.

MLO LOVED going out on the boat. All my cousins went out and we went tubbing and water skiing (I had never done either before and it was great fun).

MLO sat in the boat with different people holding her secure (depending on who was out) and enjoyed yelling over the edge of the boat "you ok" every time someone wiped out.

The whole time I was out she was yelling to me good job, go mommy, with lots of clapping and cheering. Watching her enjoy watching me was as fun as actually doing the activity.

Happy 4th of July

We are out having fun this weekend, enjoying all the great freedoms we have that come with being citizens of this great country.

While I don't agree with everything "we" do and I would see many things change. Because of the way in which this country is set up, we do have the opportunities to express our views and push for change. Something that can't be done in many other places around the world.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Explaining to 2-Year-Old: Mommy & Daddy are Leaving for Vacation

This is only the second time I have left MLO overnight without me.

We did it once before, for our 10 year wedding anniversary. I put her to sleep Friday night, and then we drove to Las Vegas for the weekend. I had tried to explain it to her, but she obviously didn't get it as she spent the whole weekend yelling for me (she was 1 year-old and about 9 months).

So this year we wanted to go do it again. Except we wanted a long weekend and two nights out.

My mom actually came up with the best idea, she used MLO's blocks to demonstrate what was happening.

They built our house, they built grandma's house and they built a hotel a little further away.

Then they named blocks: MLO, grandma, mommy and daddy.

She then demonstrated the whole concept and what would happen over the long weekend.

MLO totally understood and while she has asked for us, hasn't made a huge fuss. In fact, she went and got grandma out of mommy's bed in the morning instead of making her come to her room (something I haven't yet gotten her to master).

We had a fabulous weekend, I dropped MLO off at daycare and then we managed to leave in the late afternoon. Lots of walks on the beach, window shopping and the best steak dinner I have ever had (restaurant called White Horses in San Clemente, CA).

We are currently stopped for lunch on our way home, and I will soon get my MLO hugs that I am in major withdrawal from. Iverall I am not as worried about my little girl who is growing up so fast.

Celebration

This weekend is my 11th Wedding Anniversary.

So hubby and I are leaving MLO with grandma for the weekend and we are going out to a surprise location (my surprise for him).

This will be the first time we have left her with grandma for two nights (we did one night, ONCE before).

I am nervous and will be missing her terribly the whole time I am sure.

But I am looking forward to the relax time.

I explained everything to MLO and she seemed to understand, though not happy about it.

When I went to take her to daycare today, daddy came out to say bye to her before we drove off.

She wouldn't let go of him.

When we finally thought she was okay he kissed her and went back in the house.

As soon as she couldn't see him anymore, she started crying and saying she wanted her daddy.

I promised her we would come back quick and we would see her again and give lots of big hugs.

Her answer: "But I love my daddy".

Easter

Hope you had a good easter.

I almost blew the whole thing (having forgotten it was so soon) but think I managed to recover.

Boiled the eggs on Saturday and instead of coloring them, all MLO wanted to do was eat them (she ate three in less than an hour).

Then I ran to "Whole Paycheck" (I mean WholeFoods) and bought a bunch of yogurt covered treats, some bread shaped like a bunny and threw together a basket and made a show of finding it with her.

She loved the treats in it (we don't do much sugar here, so yogurt covered things are a treat) favorite being the raspberry yogurt covered pretzels.

Definitely need to get back in the habit of watching holidays now that I get to enjoy them with her (Easter is definitely a holiday that went to the wayside once I grew up and it was just me and hubby).

Having a blogging block

You know writer's block, I got blog block. So just wishing everyone Happy St. Patty's day :)



(I stole this image from here)

My shy little girl

I have found that MLO does appear to be more shy than other kids. I think at this point we are okay, because I definitely don't have to worry about her wondering and talking to strangers. There will be immediately yelling and mommy crying!

However it is a little funny when she does know the people, but still refuses to warm up for awhile.

We went to a party for one of her daycare friends. She plays with this friend everyday of the week. Almost all the kids that were at the party were from the daycare (except two). She could name whose mommy each one was and so on.

Except she wouldn't leave my side and play with her friends.

However, it is fun to play like a little kid at a party though. We did all the kid activities together, while all the other parents just watched.