on the eve of three

tomorrow owen will be turning three, and it already seems like i need the slideshow retrospective, a looking back to when my little boy was a little baby boy. but really he's been "bigger already" for quite some time and has of late started categorizing activities in which he's "not big enough yet" (like wearing bandaids) and those which he's "bigger" for (riding his trike). here's one of my favorite "big boy" shots from last week--when he decided it was definitely cool to wear shades.

and then last week he was both my baby and my big boy (which really isn't that what he'll be to me always always?) when he put on his nemo swim diaper, his purple crocs, and his blue and red crab bucket hat and watered i. & k.'s garden.

but lately i've felt plagued with that journaling flu of sorts--the one that keeps you from writing because it seems you can't possibly catch all those moments or give meaning to the ones that are most important. i've been reading joan didion's slouching towards bethlehem and found an essay that i'd photocopied back when i taught english 1a to college freshman and reread it in the larger context of writing and not writing. the collection as a whole is amazing--but i love that she discounts wholly what she calls "diarying" because of course we run into that anxiety of "catching up" and missing events. she talks about how writing, and now it seems all so relevant to blogging, is really personal--her notebook is filled with random lists and snippets from overheard conversations that are meant as personal reminders, not of the events themselves--but on who she was at that point in time. i guess i disocvered somewhere around owen's third week that i wasn't the kind of mother that kept a baby book but have been intensely interested in owen's life as part of a notebook--one that is inextricable from my own (owen would say, of course "my oWen") and of course one that is far more interesting than any kind of diary that i would ever keep. mostly i can't believe how incredibly beautiful this notebook is--and colorful, and hilarious. if i were taking videos today, of course, i would have recorded owen's spontanteous dance medley (inspired both from a previous episode of c&l when lola is trying to find a dance style she can do and our attempt at a.m. yoga this morning mixed with his own creative spin) in which he did a very rigorous "exercise dance" and then a "ladybug dance" and then took requests from me & m. for everything from snake dancing to train dancing. . .

on a more banal diary note, tonight i made the spinach with ricotta and penne
from martha's everyday food with tj's wholewheat w/ flax penne and in a fix tossed in their nut medley (pepitas, slivered almonds, pine nuts). it was quite tasty and utilized my favorite one-pot technique by tossing in greens to the boiling water just before draining. the key is toasting the nuts, but it was a satsifying, simple meal. although owen is quite the gormund he's not quite into the leafy greens (yet) so i steamed some frozen broccoli quickly and then did my neighbor's kiddy mac & cheese trick--melted one lite laughing cow triangle, cooled with milk and then poured. all the boys were satisfied. mmm.

also in the diary: been packing for norway; trying to finish my diss. chapter before takeoff; addicted to starbucks new pike's place blend and tj's chocolate ice cream bonbons.

fyi: the countdown off to the right is for our departure from SEA to CPH--we'll actually leave the OC the saturday previous and road trip it up to p-town (with dog and tot) then spend a few days in copenhagen before settling into our norwegian home in aalesund.

but mostly, good night sweet two year old. looking forward to what three will bring . . .

best(er) friends

so while we're all cooing over the new baby the boys just kept right on being beautiful boys. here's one of my favorite moments from last week when o. & w. just sat down and decided they'd color cars pictures together and they were such an enthusiastic team cheering on each other with their choice of color and scribble shouting look! owen is coloring mcqueen purple! and wow! west colored tow mater's tow red! and then just cracking up. nope, no baby is slowing these guys down ;)

a star is born

"There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. Such fools we are, she though, crossing Victoria Street. For heaven only knows why one loves it so, how one sees it so, making it up, building it round one, tumbling it, creating it every moment afresh; but the veriset frumps, the most dejected of miseries sitting on doorsteps (drink their downfall) do the same; can't be dealt with, she felt positive by Acts of Parliament for that very same reason: they love life. In people's eyes, in the swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwich men shuffling and swinging; brass bands; barrel organs; in the trumph and the jingle and the strange high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved: life; London; this moment of June."

-Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

Stella Dalloway Mulholland
April 6, 2008

7 lbs 4 ounces - 20 inches

look at that beautiful family! i love the "what's up?" face with big brother, and come on, could she look more peaceful in my arms?

and now for the pics...

hello fidfam adventurers! apologies for the lax posting-- it's been a frantic but productive last few weeks as we try and wrap up projects here at home before joining michael in norway for the rest of spring.

and our super sidekicks b&w (or perhaps we are their sidekicks--i think it depends on the day of the week) had a new arrival: *stella dalloway* and she couldn't be more gorgeous or perfect--we steal over to see her every chance we get!

today the snyders came out and joined us for some respite from this ridiculous heat and we had one of those aha! moments down at the montage beach and just gorged on the absolute beauty of the sand, the sea and the sun. i had to share these pics: owen posing by the beach access sign before he ran all the way down the purple bloomed path shouting "this way! this way matty! to the beach!"; sakura discovers blackberries; owen glistens in the sun by the tidepools--he was searching for sand crabs with no luck (we did see some gorgeous purple urchings and one orange seastar!); tomoko, matty & sakura--who loves the seaside berries but not the cold cold sea!

tonight we changed gears and owen tried out the raingear i'd ordered for our norway trip-- a new rain coat and some puddle stompers:





it'll be hard to leave behind the sunshine but we can't wait to share our adventures together! as soon as owen put his boots on he was ready to stomp all the way to the airport. . .

owen on the ipod

3 down.. 1 to go

I visited my 3rd scandinavian country over the weekend -- flying into Copenhagen on my way to Alesund, Norway (only Finland left). An airport is no way to judge a country, but when Cara and Owen come over in May we will spend about 3 full days in Copenhagen, so we will see more of the city later. I've grabbed some photos using google images (so they are not mine), but give you a good idea of what the airport looks like.
I was on the inagural flight between Copenhagen (CPH) and Alesund (AES) using a Bombardier CRJ. Typical first flight stuff happened -- delayed for 3 hours, needed to get the right maps (a bit scary), trouble with the cabin lights -- had to switch planes because of this one... But at least they had champagne and cake for the passengers. I skipped on the freebies and headed off to the Starbucks found in Terminal 2.