snow day

daycare was closed on friday, and i was as happy as a kid on a snow day - at least this is what my southern california self imagines it feels like. violet and i took advantage of the opportunity and made her first visit to kevin at his office. even though she's obsessed with the simpsons magnets on our fridge, she ignored all the great artwork on kevin's walls and instead chomped my dirty keys the whole time. i imagine they tasted like nuts or honey or some other kid-killing allergen left on my fingers after a snack of snickers or baklava.



violet was in SERIOUS MODE, and although several of the writers tried to make her laugh, she was firm in her commitment not to crack a smile. i'd say they were demoralized, but i'm sure they're used to their jokes bombing. (not you, hubby.) then i made a few pig snorts in violet's ear, and she lit up. what can i say, the girl knows comedy gold. dangerously close to naptime, we stopped at the last office, and violet was greeted by the writer with "come to daddy!" her face wrenched up, and she melted down. like i said, comedy gold.

i'd reserved morning naptime for the drive to san diego. of course violet woke up smack in the middle of the camp pendleton stretch - the only leg of highway where i couldn't stop unless i wanted to breastfeed among war games - but i dropped a couple of toys into her lap and managed to avoid a fuss fit for almost the rest of the way.

i actually didn't bring too many toys because i knew nana would have plenty of household goods to keep violet occupied. i didn't know so many of these would hold such sentimental value for me, like my silver baby spoon with its bunny-shaped handle and my cookie monster bowl from back in the day when cookie monster ate cookies. violet's favorite was a goody from my baby shower - a baby bottle with the nipple cut off, in which alcoholic punch had been served. apparently my daughter can already sniff out the taste of champagne.



on weekends i like to "walk down" violet in the bjorn, where she's always content, so that we can avoid any pre-nap crankiness, and i usually time it just right so that she goes into the crib right after we walk in the door. not so in san diego. my mom and i were chatting away when suddenly violet became dead weight.



but masquerading as one of those easy babies i hear so much about, violet stayed asleep while i slid her out of the bjorn and into my lap, then continued sleeping while my mom and i watched two episodes of gilmore girls on dvd. is it wrong if this is the moment i choose to say that i've never loved my daughter more?

if you don't like that selection, i'll change it to this: i've never loved my daughter more than the first time she sat in a restaurant high chair, contentedly munching on apple puffs and watching the waitstaff buzz about, thus allowing me to eat AN ENTIRE MEAL with two hands, without a baby in my lap swiping at my knife. i'm slightly obsessed with making delicious food for violet, so it was also awesome to be able to feed her the buttery cinnamony squash from my plate. i'd been considering buying one of those seat things that fits into restaurant high chairs and grocery carts, but nana volunteered a couple of blankets, which worked just fine.



if you noticed the snot drip, you'll not be surprised to hear that violet brought home a fresh bout of daycare nastiness to share with me and kevin. she had two exciting play dates scheduled that i thought we might have to cancel, but the other mothers generously braved the germ storm (i'm so sorry if any of you guys get sick!).

first up, my good friend sarah brought over her two girls, thea and hellie.



i managed to get exactly one picture of the babies - adorable hellie is a couple months younger than violet - while two-year-old thea played showtunes on the piano with my sister. my mom made breakfast - we sat down at the table for about three minutes - and we squeezed a few snippets of conversation into the eye of Hurricane Baby. i'm amazed at how impossible it is to have any kind of linear conversation when babies are afoot. i constantly find myself asking someone a question and then saying "hold that thought" as i dash off to retrieve violet from the china cabinet. "that thought" rarely gets revisited because who can remember it two minutes later? nonetheless, it's always fantastic to see friends, and any adult conversation is like water in the desert these days.

violet and i were also lucky to attend a baby shower for another good friend, taryn, whose four-year-old son simon will soon be big brother to linus. five women, two toddlers, and three babies got together for brunch, which seems like a low-key affair until you realize that Hurricane Baby is in the forecast. but wow is it ever fun to hang out with my oldest and dearest friends as the next generation plays together... or at least hangs out in the vicinity of each other (i.e. violet on the fringe, entertaining herself with a choking hazard).







these friends - known from our more badass days as the pq posse (studying poetry and plotting the next art revolution from a booth at denny's) - are family to me, and although we're short a few members here, any time we can manage to gather in one place is precious, especially when we're celebrating the upcoming birth of the next member of the mini posse in all of its nerd destiny.

the return trip to los angeles wasn't quite as smooth thanks to traffic, but it wasn't disastrous either. it's nice to have built the confidence that i can solo parent a visit to the grandparents' house and give kevin a leisurely weekend of dog care, grocery shopping, babies r us running, crib mattress dropping, raccoon monitoring, and cooking a heavenly dinner of clams with crusty bread to greet me with upon my return. anytime you need a break, sweetie.