Baby Spartan's Mom

I'm on a deadline so will be on a short hiatus from blogging for the next week. That and my daughter has a hideous cold making it impossible for me to get anything done. Good thing I dragged Grandma & Grandpa here to help.

Meantime, I will let you enjoy a friend's blog post featuring ME!

http://velovogue.blogspot.com/2010/02/venice-beach-vogue.html

That photo was taken last summer while Baby-daddy's mom was visiting...hence giving us the freedom to take a bike ride down to the beach and pretend we were once again footloose and fancy free!

Ahhh...the good old days of dashing off to carefree, impromptu dates. We'll never be the same exciting couple again.

My daughter is practicing for her role as CEO of Lia’s World Enterprises Inc.

Hold all my calls please, I’m in a meeting.



Sorry about that…I really need to get a new assistant. You were saying?



Do I pay you to think? I said HOLD ALL MY CALLS!

We’re going home today. Really looking forward to seeing Baby-daddy again. It’s been a looong time this trip. The longest we've been away from each other since Lia was born. Boy has she GROWN since we got here and learned many new skills. Skills that make it harder and harder for mommy to keep an eye on her. In the past month, she’s morphed into a baby octopus with velcro for fingers and Nike wings on her feet. I swear some days I wish I had a full-time nanny. That would be a luxury. Of course, then I’d feel guilty about it. But what mom doesn’t feel guilty about something? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that is part of the job description for “Motherhood”.

Anyway, Baby-daddy is going to freak when he sees her. And probably cry. Since he rarely reads this blog, I don’t have to worry about him getting upset by that. And if he does read this…if YOU DO read this…I was just testing you, honey. We all know you’re not a crybaby.

{but really, if he does read this post and sees this photo… he’ll cry. I’d bet on it.}



She’s had lots of fun and finally embraced her snow gear.



Enjoyed shopping for new shoes at Grandma's shoe store.



After playing coy with the men in my family for weeks, finally made friends with her Uncle Mike…



Uncle Ricky…



Uncle Jimmy…



Had fun lots of fun hanging out with her cousin Jeremy who shares the same birthday.



Holding court with a few cousins



I couldn’t possibly show every photo of every family member she’s spent time with on this trip. There are just too many. My family is HUGE.

She’ll always know where she comes from. I’ll make sure of that. Family is important.

And finally, on our last day here we experienced "Wildlife Day". A gigantic hawk swooped down in the field behind the house yesterday and killed some sort of small, furry woodland creature. Probably that damn mouse behind my bedroom wall that has been driving me crazy at night. And then 10 minutes later 3 deer bobbed across the field, down to the creek and back up to disappear in the woods on the other side. All so very cool and very different from our LA existence. I will have to remember to take Lia out in nature as much as possible so she doesn't grow up thinking wildlife consists of skateboarding dogs and Paris Hilton-wannabes.

But as much as we’ve enjoyed our visit, we can’t wait to return to the land of sun. And we’re bringing Grandma and Grandpa with us!

Here's my baby helping mommy pack…"Don't forget all my new toys!". (I hope we don't exceed the weight limit for our luggage)



California here we come!

My daughter has become very vocal. Her voice is amazingly strong coming out of such a little body. I know this because when my parents let me “sleep in”, Lia’s voice travels down the hall like a freight train, foiling any attempt to catch extra Z’s.

Even with a pillow over my head.

My baby is no longer a baby…she is a very LOUD toddler.

My mom, after raising 5 children of her own, said to me the other day that Lia’s voice is louder and projects more than any of ours ever did.



I am afeared.

She has always shown an affinity toward music with a preference for anything percussion. She dances when I clap my hands in rhythm. Now, she’s actually humming along to the instrumental sounds coming from her toys. Quite charming.

I should look at the bright side, maybe she’s the future Beyonce or Pink (did anyone see her Grammy performance? BRILLIANT).

~ She’ll audition for American Idol.

~ Outshine any other competitor.

~ Win by a landslide.

~ Bag the best record deal in the history of music with the biggest record label of her time.

~ Become world renowned for her powerful voice and amazing emotional depth in her lyrics.

~ People will weep when they witness her perform.

~ Small children and animals will be drawn to her like Snow White.

~ Spontaneous miracles will occur in her presence.

~ She’ll make lots of money.

~ And buy her mommy a big mansion on the Amalfi Coast with a bathroom the size of a small house.

And I’ll be able to sleep in whenever I want…Hmmmm…

{snort} {grunt}

Oh, sorry…(wiping slobber off face)…fell asleep there for a minute.

Gosh, I had the craziest dream…

Lia discovered the circle in her grandparent’s home as soon as we arrived. And she’s spent every day wearing a path in Grandma’s carpet since then.

It all starts with a look…



The challenge is set…



And the chase is on…



Our contender rounds the corner of the living room…



Easily slips past us down the hall…



She taunts from the laundry room, egging us on with her silly grin…



Her skills honed, she speeds into the dining room for the home stretch…



A narrow escape into the kitchen…



“You can’t catch me…” I imagine her saying with a sing-song in her voice…



Ha! Gotcha!



And I’m never letting go.

Learning about the importance of “bling”


















Hear no evil?















I’m gonna get you!

Are YOU talking to ME?
















Next stop, Vegas baby!

She’s already a little engineer…



…helping Grandpa construct her play yard.



Little does she know this will prevent her from running up to the VCR and pressing all the buttons any time she wants.

Look at what she’s holding in her hand.



She’s obsessed with controlling all the electronic equipment in the house. And she knows which button turns things on and off. Seriously. She’s brilliant.

Takes after mommy :)

Before…












After…

(a little crooked but I never claimed to be a stylist)










It was really only one snip (well 2), which hardly qualifies as a “hair cut”, but I saved those little Dracula hairs nonetheless :) By the time she's 18, poor thing will have to unload an entire storage unit of crap I've saved for her.

I still have the crusty stump that fell off of her belly button.

Is that weird?

What an amazing trip this has been to Ohio. I told my parents I was expecting them to provide snow for our visit…and it hasn’t stopped since the day we arrived! Yippee!





It’s been absolutely gorgeous.





Long after I moved away, my parents settled out in the country. It's a breathtaking view with all this snow.





Of course, we haven’t been out enjoying it much because Lia was getting over a cold when we arrived, then jetlagged, immediately followed by cutting teeth, and sadly suffering through yet another cold…so we’ve spent many hours by the fire gazing at the Winter Wonderland just outside the window.





Very calming actually.



Very peaceful.



Quite a diversion from the busy street we call home in Los Angeles.



My dad has been able to play with his snow blower almost every day. Lia loves watching her Grandpa push around the big noisy machine outside that makes geysers of white billow up in the air.



He always plows a path to the bird feeders, making sure all the living things outside are fed and happy during this cold, dormant season. Such a selfless and generous man. Lia is lucky to have such great role models.







We attempted to introduce her to snow again yesterday and she wasn’t thrilled with the idea. When we held her in our arms and walked around, showing her the bird feeder in the small tree in our front yard that we look at every day, she was pretty happy.



In fact, I think she rather enjoyed feeling the snowflakes land on her face.



However, when I put her feet on the ground, she would NOT let go of Mommy…



I know I complained for many, many years about the cold, heartless winters and couldn’t WAIT to move to sunny California. Now that I’m here again with my daughter, I remember how much I loved the snow growing up. Hearing the words “SNOW DAY, SCHOOL IS CLOSED” was like winning the lottery as kids. We’d go sledding, make snow men and snow angels, come inside and warm up with some hot cocoa, run outside again and lace up skates to tackle the frozen pond pretending we were Olympic figure skaters. Well, I did anyway. I can’t speak for my brothers – they were too busy trying to crack the ice and pee their names in the snow. Ahhh…the good old days.

I hope she gets over this fear and embraces it as much as I did. I think she will. She may be a California girl, but she’s got the blood of a Midwestern gal running through her little body. In fact, she may just grow up to be the champion figure skater I dreamed of…or snowboarder…or speed skater…or ski jumper…or bobsledder…

Yes, we’re watching a lot of the Olympics these days…just planting the seeds…