First Day of Christmas Break

Well I finished my finals. And now the Christmas season can officially begin for me.  Since this is my last Christmas with an official break where I don't have any work responsibilities to worry about, I've decided to make the most of it.  So, I spent my first day of vacation at the jail, and riding in an elevator with a convicted felon.  Gasp.  Okay, I'll stop being so dramatic.  The jail was to get fingerprinted for the Bar Exam, and the felon wasn't even at the jail - he was at the doctor's office - and I only know he's a felon because he's also a celebrity.

I woke up on Friday expecting to clean the entire house.  Did not happen.  Instead I played with Peanut, picked up lunch for BA and me (yummy BLT's with avocado), and wrapped presents.  I did normal Christmas stuff that I'd been dying to do all during finals and could finally enjoy now that finals are over.  Then in the afternoon we went to a doctor's appointment for BA.

As we were walking into the medical building, there was a black Cadillac Escalade idling at the entrance.  I hate when people just park their cars in the middle of the road, as if they are too important to be bothered to use the parking lot.  I'm a lady with a stroller, let's move it, folks!  The passengers had just gotten out of the car and the driver wasn't moving out of the way fast enough for me.  So I glared into the drivers window to make my irritation known and looking back at me was this young guy with a huge handlebar mustache.  That struck me as odd, what kind of chauffer has a handlebar mustache, but I was so focused on making it to the appointment on time that I didn't bother to see who got out of the car.

We followed the passengers into the lobby and waited for the elevator.  At this point BA was already thinking that the man might be someone famous.  I guess I'm desensitized to L.A. celebrities because all I remember seeing was a guy with baggy grey jeans, boots, a huge silver chain and cross around his neck, and tattoos on his arms.  No big deal - millions of regular people look like that out here.  Well, as it turns out, he was the rapper and actor DMX.  The elevator came and since it was such a small elevator and there were 4 people in front of us, including DMX, I was planning on waiting on the next elevator.  DMX turned around, looked at us, and said, "come on in, there's plenty of room."  BA said at that point, when he heard DMX's voice, he had pretty much figured out who he was (never mind the fact that my husband is able to recognize rap stars from the late '90's).  I didn't think anything of it, except that it was nice for that man to insist that we get on the first elevator and that it was indeed a small elevator.  I actually didn't know it was him and it wasn't until we arrived in the doctor's office lobby that BA said to me, "was that DMX?"  I said, "who?"  BA said, "he's a rapper and he sings, 'ya'll gon' make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here..."  I said, "oh yes, of course I know that song.  That was him?"  A quick Google search on our phone confirmed that it was.

Anyway, what I can say is that DMX was very nice and polite, and he looked exactly like he does in pictures online.  Turns out DMX has several convictions for various felonies and is probably on probation right now.  Whoo-hoo!  Needless to say his music or his past are not exactly family friendly, but Leah made friends regardless.  She always does :)

After our little celebrity run-in, we went to the jail.  Where you would expect to see convicted criminals.  But didn't.  And that's it for my jail story. 

So that is how I spent my first day of vacation.  Today we did our final Christmas shopping of the season and mailed a bunch of packages.  Leah had a teething episode this afternoon which quickly turned into being over-tired and she's spent a good deal of the past hour screaming her pretty little head off.  Poor baby.  But I'm not in school, not taking finals, Christmas is a week away, and there is a bottle of wine with my name on it, and an automated baby swing with Leah's tushy in it, so we'll make it through.  

Leah's response upon hearing that she met DMX, "DM who???"

BA's Corner: Happy Helper

While AA was studying for exams, I tried to get Leah out of the house as much as possible so AA could focus. Leah is pretty great at running errands with me. She's so good-natured about everything. Typically she sleeps a lot. But when she's awake, she just sits back and takes it all in - the sounds, the sights, the people, etc. It's great.

I took Leah to the grocery store with me, and she proved to be an excellent helper. She didn't throw her toy on the floor, and she made excellent conversation (with anyone who passed by). But mostly she was in charge of the grocery list. (Yes, I have no shame...I will stop and take pictures of my daughter in the grocery store if she's doing something funny).

 Leah: Ooooh...shopping. This is going to be fun! I'll hold the list for you, Dad.



Leah: You didn't forget the milk, did you Dad?



Things were rolling along fine, until my helper decided to eat the grocery list.




 I've always heard that you're not supposed to go to the grocery store hungry....

BA's Corner: Hold my Hand, Part 2

As AA finishes up her last few finals of the semester, here's the continuation of "Hold my Hand."

On Leah's first day of daycare, AA couldn't handle it. She cried too much and I had to take Leah that morning. Leah seemed okay, but she also seemed like she knew something was different. After all, she'd been at home pretty much the whole time since she'd been born, except for some doctor visits. So she knew when we were getting out of her "routine." I walked her out, loaded her in the car, and headed off. She was pretty quiet, and I couldn't see her. So I reached my hand back into her car seat to see if I could feel her moving around or something. She immediately grabbed my finger. I smiled.

There are other times too....strapping Leah into the Express and heading out for a walk, middle of the night feedings, etc. And the first night we officially put Leah in her crib for the night, I had to keep running in to soothe her. She held onto my thumb until she was finally snoring away.

Secretly, when I'm soothing her back to sleep in the middle of the night, I like to hold her hand. I think it makes a difference. I know she won't want to do this forever, and I just love how small and soft they are. Plus, one of the first things I discovered about her (and that I still love) is that she has AA's hands. When I picked her up from daycare that first week and all the babies looked somewhat the same to me, I could be sure I had my Leah by looking at her hands.

5 Months

Leah turned 5 months old on Sunday! We didn't go to the doctor this month so we don't know her "stats" but we do know that she is healthy and growing, and super super happy.

Our sweet 5 month old baby. When did she get to be so big!

The sneaky smile of a rascal in the making.

"Oh great, another birthday cake that I can't eat. Ho hum. This sucks."

"Happy 5 months to me!"

BA's Corner: Hold My Hand, Part 1

Since AA is feverishly studying for exams, I figured I needed to step up to the plate with a new post for the weekend.

Moms have a connection...it's just built in. It's part of the reward they get (if not the only unique reward) for all the suffering they go through to bear a child.

So it's nice for dads to have something too. The night Leah was born, I was so thrilled when Leah finally came out, because I knew that AA's pain was almost over. And I wanted AA to hold her first. She'd been the one to shoulder most of the load, and certainly she'd been the one "taking" Leah to the doctor multiples times a week. She'd been the one doubled over the toilet in the middle of the night, not me. And when it was my turn to hold Leah, I mostly focused on not screwing up...not dropping her, not letting her head fall, not waking her up, and not making her cry.

But when we moved to the recovery room and the nurses came to take Leah for her first bath, I jumped at the chance to tag along, while AA stayed in the recovery room. This was one of my first tasks as a Dad without AA there. Granted, all I had to do was watch the nurses and pay attention.

The nurse finished bathing Leah, and she finished crying (for the time being). The nurse walked away for a few minutes, and there were a couple of other babies in the room getting cleaned up. There was one in particular, about 5-6 feet away from us, who was really crying. His dad was standing there with his arms crossed, just watching him. Must have been a second child! I was a deer in headlights staring at Leah, with a trigger finger on the camera. And I was slightly afraid to touch her for fear that I would do something wrong!

I imagine what Leah must have been going through during those first few hours of life. How strange it must have been for her, and how scared and confused she probably was. And while I was excited, I was also pretty terrified. It was probably 2 a.m. after a long, life-altering day. We were in a strange place, and, to some extent, we were strangers to each other.

I knew she was scared. As I had imagined for months, I reached out my hand and she grabbed onto my finger as tightly as she could. I like to think it was the first time she realized that the voice she had been hearing all these months was her Daddy, and that no matter how strange, confusing, and scary this new world was, she knew she was going to be okay because Daddy was right beside her.

And I like to think that, in that same moment, Leah was thinking the same thing about me...that I must be scared at the unfamiliar burden ahead of me, but that she was right there with me, hanging on. And together, we'd be okay.

And that's why this is one of my favorite pictures. It was our first moment together, alone.

July 12, 2011 taken at approximately 2:00 a.m.

Passed!

I got my MPRE results back yesterday.  And I passed!  I needed a 75 to pass in Georgia, and I got a 122!  Yippie.  I can cross that off my list forever.  One more step in the direction of the Bar exam.  Now if I can manage to pass 3 exams this semester, 2 next semester, and then that "little" test (haha) in July, I'll be golden.  But for now I'll just enjoy the minor victory of passing the MPRE. 

Leah and BA were super excited for me.  And just because I love this picture so gosh darn much, here it is again!

My new favorite picture of the Peanut. She really is this happy most of the time.

Peanut's Post: My Great Aunt Joanne

Peanut here.  I have a great aunt, named Aunt Joanne.  I say she's great for 2 reasons. #1: she's actually my mommy's aunt, and #2: she really is great!  My Aunt Joanne came to visit me last weekend and I just had to share some pictures. 

I was so excited when Aunt Joanne arrived

We did all sorts of fun activities.  We read books ...

We picked out a Christmas tree ...

I selected the tree - isn't it GREAT!

This was the moment when I expressed my dismay that such a
beautiful tree had to ride home atop a car with only 3 hubcaps.

We opened presents ...

This was an ornament from my Granny D. that Aunt Joanne brought with her.

Oh and one last exciting thing happened during Aunt Joanne's visit ... this is REALLY cool, so listen up.  I discovered my TOES!

Thanks for the visit Aunt Joanne!



Love, Peanut.