Really?

More snow?!?!

I left my house amidst a mild drizzle and drove a mere 2.5 miles north into snow!

Spring, where are you?

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Bad Mommy Moment

Both E and I have been pretty adamant about restricting Indio's sugar-intake since he started eating solid foods, but lately that area seems to be a big-fat FAIL.

Indio had his first bite of cake when he turned a year old. His next bite was somewhere around his 2nd birthday.

But with all the recent birthdays and celebrations, he's had more than his fair share of tooth-decaying goodness. Now he seems to think everyday is a birthday.

Luckily, we are still able to distract him with bribes of mango or berries. Yes, I've progressed from feeding my kid cupcakes for dinner to bribing him.

devouring papa's bday cupcake [made with love by patricia]

mini ice cream cones to celebrate papa's bday [again] with nani and nana.

mickey mouse never tasted so good! indy is hoping angelina has another party soon!

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Question of the day

How is it that I never have anything to wear, yet I never seem to be able to get through all the laundry in our house?

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My husband, my heart

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be.
[Robert Browning]

baby E

Happy birthday, my love.

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Weekend Update

I know, I know, it's late Tuesday and I'm just getting around to a Weekend Update! Forgive me; E is away in NYC, I'm battling strep throat [again!] and still managing to get myself to work and Indy to daycare on time.
We incorporated a new *tradition* into our library that I saw on inchmark: tracing Indio's wee hand along with mine on the end paper of his books. Cassius tried to get in on the action too!

Our daily walks have made a comeback into our lives and Saturday's was one Indy won't soon forget. It was my little boy's dream: Mighty Machines galore wrecking an old wine-making warehouse. We went back on Sunday to see the remains. I wonder how soon condos will be up in this spot.

mesmerized by the machines.

Sunday aftermath.

Saturday evening we finally got to catch up with K, V and little Jason. We ordered "greasy Chinese food" as K lovingly calls it and watched the hilarity that is Jason playing Dance Central [this boy's got moves!] while the big boys played ping pong. Can't wait for our next get-together.

armed with chopsticks and ready to eat.

This one's not from the weekend, but I couldn't resist my boy drinking his milk out of a Sbux cup in the bookstore . . . the apple doesn't fall far from this tree!

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Finally!

I know spring is still 4 days away, but signs of warmer weather are finally popping up all over!

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Weekend Update

Why is it that a week can go by so slowly only to have the weekend over in a blur???

Friday was a chill evening at home with the boys. We had the perfect rainy-evening dinner: chicken pot pie with a salad and of course, wine.

Saturday, Indio woke up under the weather. We knew something was up when he refused to eat. [The men in my family don't do that very often.] Lucky me, I was holding my little guy when he proceeded to throw up all over me and the computer keyboard. That was fun. Needless to say, our afternoon plans of a playdate and dinner with the Nurse family had to be postponed.
I still made the baked ziti I had planned for the evening, and after a 5+ hour nap, Indio even tried a bit.

Thankfully, Indy was back in action on Sunday. After a family walk in the misty morning, we headed uptown for a birthday lunch for Nanaji [my dad] at The Host. It was great to hang out with my folks and brother, even though the consensus was that the butter chicken wasn't up to The Host's regular standards.

Because we were still so full from lunch, our dinner tonight consisted of a cup of tea and some wine. Indy had some leftover ziti, though he tried to get into the wine.

How was your weekend? Did the time change affect you?

all better and his appetite is back with a vengeance!

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Shakespeare in Action: The Diary of Anne Frank

^via

Last week, my class and I went to see a theatrical version of The Diary of Anne Frank. The show was done by the company, Shakespeare in Action.

I know this story fairly well, having read it in junior high and taught it about 7 years ago to my middle school class in Brooklyn, but seeing it live on stage was still as moving as if reading it for the first time. The actors were so real, taking on the personas of the various characters in Anne's life. The woman who played Anne was amazing! She relayed Anne's innocence and youth so well that you truly thought this 20-something-year old was 13.

The play told the tragic story of Anne's family going into hiding during World War II in Amsterdam. Though the plot is somber and atrocious, the play also showed the personal side of each character, including the sweet first love between Anne and 16-year old Peter, who was also in hiding with his family.

Of course, no amount of lighter material could make the ending easier to digest. The final soliloquy by Otto Frank, Anne's father and only survivor out of the 8 people who were in hiding in that cramped attic, reduced me to a sobbing mess.

I hate that this story was ever written but am so glad that it continues to be told, especially in a world where such evils still plague humankind.

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The Good Stuff: Battery-Operated Toothbrush

Since Indio was 6 months old, bedtime has always been a fairly easy time in our household . . . except when it came to brushing his teeth. In the beginning, before those pearly whites even made an appearance we were diligent about gum massage, and up until more recently, Indy continued to allow us to brush his teeth for him.

With his recent explosion of independence and stubbornness, he began protesting and fighting me. I had to pin his arms down and between all the thrashing and screaming, try to polish each one of his tiny chompers.

I turned to some of other moms for pointers and that led me to a battery-operated, brightly coloured, Go, Diego, Go! brush by Colgate.

What a fabulous invention! Indio wants to brush his teeth all.the.time. He asks for his "Day-go brush" even when it's not time to brush his teeth. And he still finally lets me get in there to rid his mouth of the "sugar bugs" [another tactic picked up from another mom].

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Card Catalogue

One of my New Year's resolutions was to try and not incur any library fines this year. That lasted about 12 days, but I'm still proud to say that so far, I've only racked up 60 cents in overdue charges -- pretty good for a gal who was regularly paying a couple of dollars each month!

The Toronto Public Library has a great collection, which I take full advantage anytime I hear of another *great read*. I love that I can put a book on hold and then when it finally comes up in my queue I've totally forgotten about it so it's like a surprise as to what I'm going to read next!

Lately, I've devoured a few good reads:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

This book has been on my *to read* list forever and I finally got around to picking up an audio copy for my commute.

I was a bit annoyed that at the beginning and end of every cd the announcer stated "this is disc ___ of The Perks of Being a Wallflower" but in the end this was a blessing in disguise as I realized that after listening to disc 5, disc 4 was starting! Oops! Luckily, it wasn't too hard to listen to the discs slightly out of order.

As for the actual story, I love this book. it is such a great coming-of-age tale of a sweet ninth grader who is socially awkward and brilliant beyond his years. Though it's been a few years since I was in junior high/high school, this book brought back a wave of memories and emotions of a time that was both tumultuous and triumphant. A perfect quote from the book: "So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."

Definitely read it before the movie comes out next year!

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This was our Book Club pick for February, but I was a bit delinquent and didn't get to reading it until after our meeting. My consensus only 50 pages into it was that I was a bit worried it was going to be too gruesome and gory for me. Once I got going, I'll admit it was hard to put down. Even with the brutality, the story was compelling and left me wanting more. I don't think I'll jump right into the 2nd and 3rd books of the trilogy, but they're definitely on my radar now.

• Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

I really wanted to like this book, and at the beginning, it was fairly engrossing, but by the middle I found myself skipping passages and almost entire pages. I think this would've have been an excellent magazine article, but as a book, I felt it went on a bit too much. I could relate to some of what Portia went through, but again, felt like it was just a really long diary entry that wasn't especially interesting.

• Little Bee by Chris Cleave.

I think I've used the adjective "heart-wrenching" a lot this year when describing the books I've read, and Little Bee is no different. The story was difficult at times, and more than heart-wrenching, it was gut-wrenching. but it was very well written and captivating. I definitely couldn't put it down and often fell asleep with it on my face. I can't really divulge too much about the story because the author explicitly asks that readers let other readers find out for themselves, so you're going to have to pick it up and tell me what you think.

• Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

I wouldn't have picked this book up on my own, but luckily it was sent to me by the lovely and wonderful, Claire. I loved ending my day with a few pages at the Homesick Restaurant and was sad when it was finished. The story follows Pearl, a single mother, and her 3 children as they grow up in their dysfunctional family in Baltimore from sometime in the 1940s to 1975.

At first, it was really hard for me to connect with any of the characters because I didn't like any of them, but by the end I felt empathy and even a bond with them all. I liked that each chapter was from the point-of-view of a different character, with some overlap so I got to read how each character may have reacted to a particular instance.

I'd recommend this book to anyone...though it is not "beach read", it was fairly quick to get through and very thought-provoking.

Well, there you have it, just an inkling of what's taking up real estate on my night stand. Oh, and at the time of this post's publication, my fines were up to 90 cents and an official block was put on my account! Have to remedy that pronto!

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