And boy did we ever receive!

Marc, Harrison and I were lucky enough to receive plane tickets to fly back for Christmas courtesy of two very special grandparents and aunty. It was beyond generous and we are extremely grateful. Because without that we would have had to decorate our own house, cook for ourselves and do our own dishes! In all seriousness it was amazing to be able to spend what will likely be our last family Christmas in California. Which, when we think about not getting to see the Katos every year for the extraordinary meal and revelry, makes me incredibly sad. So, thank you mom, dad and Kylies for getting us out there!!!!

Harrison got a ridiculous haul again – half of which is in route via UPS because it wouldn’t fit in the suitcases.

So Merry Christmas everyone… on the last day of January!

Listening: Black Mountain

H: “I don’t want to go to school. I want to stay at MY HOME and play.”

It has been three weeks + 2 days since the kid has been in school. Three weeks of being sick (for an entire week with stomach flu, fever, sinus infection then chest infection – that was all in 1 week – the week before we left for California – uh yeah – it sucked), traveling across country, getting showered with gifts and chocolate and love and chocolate and cookies and more chocolate then traveling back home on Saturday night.

Me: “But, you get to play and do work with your friends. And play outside…”

H: “No.”

Me: (let’s try a bit of bribery) “There’s a special treat in your lunch box!”

H: “What is it?”

Me: “It’s a secret surprise.”

H: (will not be put off) “But, what is it?”

Me: “What is your most favorite treat in the world?”

H: “ummm…. hmmm… mom, you tell me.”

Me: “Gummy Bun…”

H: “GUMMY BUNNIES!!!!”

Me: “Yes, there are some in your… LUNCH BOX! So, at lunch you get a treat, but, only if you go to school.”

H: (will not be duped) “But, I don’t want to go to school.”

Me: (appealing to his latest obsession) “But, it’s SUPER HERO SCHOOL! And you can go show off your new BLASTER skills”

He has discovered a deep and profound love for all things superhero. He, as well as his imaginary friend Gregor, are super heroes. He has taken pretty much anything – including a single duplo block and turned it into a mini-blaster… H: (pointing to the various parts of the duplo block) “Mom, these are the lights and this is where the fire blasts out and…. SHOOTS THE BAD GUYS.”

H: “But, I want to stay here and play.”

Goes to his fun-room picks up a car, rolls it around for half a second, looks around the room and announces:

H: “I want to go to school! School is FUN!”

And just like that Marc and H are out the door.

Me: “Bye! Have fun! I love you!!!! See ya!”

H: “Love you! See you next Sunday!”

He has a fascination with the days of the week and uses them incorrectly which we don’t correct because it’s so darn cute and we are terrible parents.

Listening: Sufjan Stevens

NOTE: Grandma is not a total clean-freak AND we are sitting outside so, the urgency with which she tends to Harrison’s drips is, in my opinion, brought on by the desire to keep the sugary mess off the kid himself not the furniture… my mom didn’t raise any boys, so, she never learned the art of not-caring-about-how-stunningly-messy they can get.

Listening: Band of Horses

And while we’re celebrating stuff… how about Baby’s First Roller Coaster?

Yep – Harrison experienced his first roller coaster while we were in California. And, had my mother (the one who is terrified of most things gravity-defying) not suggested it we would have sadly passed right on by.

He was just tall-enough-to-ride-this-ride with the help of his hat. I sat next to him while Marc captured the bewildered, then nervous, then full-fledged-scared, but, ultimately triumphant Harrison on video.

Please, as always, excuse the obnoxious woman with the screeching commentary.

About halfway through he asked to “I get off now”. But, as soon as it was over we got a “Go again!”

And while walking away we were treated to his two-year-old-impression of a roller coaster: “Super Fast… zoom – zoom – zoom – zoom!”

(and sorry that the videos are links outside of the site – for the life of me I cannot figure out how to embed them!)

Listening: The Suzan

I have made this photo my desktop background to remind myself that we did indeed have a vacation. It’s easy to forget a thing like that given that I spent a great deal of our three week trip to California shackled to my computer dealing with client “emergencies”. The working-while-on-vacation thing is nothing new. It has been almost exactly 6 years since I took a trip without bringing my computer. We went to Paris in 2004 where, from the looks of the photos all I did was eat and stare at Marc adoringly.

Listening: The Black Keys

So, rather than a peak into our Bay Area-Tahoe-California-summer-extravaganza, I give you a look back on a chubby 1.5 year-old learning the finer points of present-opening

cupcake eating

skateboarding

and family-hugs

There are tons of new photos from our 2009 California Xmas here.

Listening: Gayngs

If it isn’t obvious – we’re on vacation and because we are short on cash and other things that make a vacation really fun and indulgent I have allowed myself to not blog for three weeks without guilt.

For vacation – some people go to Italy and experience great art, food and wine… others go to their parents’ house and not-blog.

Great friends that we so rarely get to see.

But, whom after years and years we never loose a beat with – we just start right back up with the stories, the laughs and mutual-admiration.

Movie. With Wine/Beer.

Back to the Chow’s place to stay the night sans kid while they are away (THANK YOU!). Jeremy and Annika came over for an hour of more laughs and some stolen borrowed Chowanec beer (THANK YOU!).

Listening: Real Estate

Yet another awesome smile from the kid on Christmas #2.

: )

Listening: Vampire Weekend (the new album – BUT, I just can’t stop thinking that this is the new “Your Mom’s Favorite Band” – which makes me not really want to listen anymore)