Baby Momma's B Day

We just returned, exhausted and starving from Houston, and so I will report on our adventures in the next 24 hours. However, I couldn't let the evening pass without wishing M a very happy birthday. Along with December 27th, it is my favorite day of the year.

Also, I must give a early birthday shout outs to DDK who celebrates tomorrow. Cheers!

I'll bet the house

Seeing as how O is a Jew and I am a lapsed Episcopalian trying not to eat a lot of candy, we spent our Easter weekend practicing a new religion, "Bracketology." You see O and I are in deep in a serious, and potentially lucrative, NCAA Final Four pool. (I thought it is never too early to get O interested in gambling and hopefully she can win a little spending money in the process.) After kibitzing for several hours and reading extensive background on ESPN, O and I made our picks and ponied up our dough. So, after the first weekend, I am tied for first place, but am not that excited as I know it won't last. You see, every year is the same story. I am riding high after the first weekend, only to then fall apart during the "Sweet Sixteen." The Davidson upset killed O as she had Georgetown through to the finals and so she sits close to the bottom pool. But, she is a little trooper and is taking it fairly well.

Happy Birthday Mikey B!

Because he turns 40 today, Mikey B gets his own birthday post.
So . . . Happy Birthday, Mike! Wish we could be there to celebrate!
Lots of love,
M, C and O

"Don't wake me, I plan on sleeping in"

Here is O this morning after sleeping through the night for the first time. I am not counting the other evening where she went from midnight to seven because, on that day, she had decided that naps were for babies and so she was up from 10 a until midnight. But yesterday, she was back on her "normal schedule" and went to bed around 7:30, got up for a bite from the late-night bar menu (as she usually does) at 10:30 and then went back to bed until 6:30 am. (She even went back to bed after breakfast.) I love that kid! M and I, of course, woke up a few times, wondering "what the hell?"

There were so many owls down there, I could hardly believe it!

I have been meaning to post this for days. Orly is now enjoying making all kinds of noises. Her favorite and most accomplished sound is the "hoot hoot" she rocks from her crib. You can see that she also has the outfit to match.

Back to basics

The last two weeks have been a blur . . .the Ohio primary, Orly's shots (I cried), a visit from my mother (aka Susu) and the blizzard of '08. We actually got nearly a foot of snow and it made me excited for the years to come when we can take O sledding. M and flirted with bundling her up and taking her out in the backyard to look at the snow and document her first "blizzard," but, in the end it seemed too cold and we never made it out of our PJs.

What has not been a blur is O. She is growing so fast. Last night in the bath she was practically sitting up all by herself. She has also begun to more acutely experience and enjoy the world around her--her pure delight in story time and the pleasure that sucking her thumb brings. Yesterday she was alternating thumbs. Good times!

O is also a playa'. She knows already how to get your attention with tears and melt your heart with her gummy, gummy smile. When my mom was visiting she would be fussing about something (food or diaper) and then see my mom come in the room, turn her head and smile at her Susu and then return to fussing at me or M. She already knows who is going to buy her the pony and the Barbie dream house! But as H reminded me in an email the other day, "don't hate the playa', hate the game." So, play on little playa. Play on.