The Absolute Funniest Moment We've Had with Ari Thus Far

Ari has created a song to commemorate something that happened a few days ago with Daddy. She has sung it twice now, once while playing the piano and then today while I played the balalaika and then the ukulele. Each time the words change a bit, but they pretty much have told the same story each time.

I doubt you need any kind of explanation, and perhaps it's best to let you see the lyrics and nibble upon it all as you wonder at the details. Andy and I could not stop laughing today. It's the hardest I've laughed in a very, very long time.

Ari's Song for Daddy
First sung 8/8/08

Daddy drop poop me
Daddy drop poop me

Mama no drop poop me
Si-Si poo poo pee pee

Daddy drop poop me

A Lesson in Glee

It seems the train trip to DuQuoin Ariana took with Num-Num and Papa left quite an impression upon her. (It's amazing what a $3 Amtrak ticket can do for a 2 year old!)

That evening, she requested a "blue choo choo" song before bedtime. Having no such song in our repertoire, my mother had to make one up. But she forgot it and was not able to sing it for me... and then she went back home to North Carolina. So, I had to create a new song. Which, thankfully, she happily accepted and embraced.

Andy laughed when he heard it, but it remains a stable and expected component of Ari's and my evening ritual.

The Blue Choo Choo Song
for Ari

Ari and Num-Num and Papa
Rode on the blue choo choo
They bought some tickets
And went to DuQuoin
And then they came back home

Ari and Num-Num and Papa
Rode on the blue choo choo
Ari ate dinner
And looked out the window
Then Daddy picked her up

Ari and Num-Num and Papa
Said they laughed and played and smiled
They sat on the seats
And they walked down the aisle

Ari and Num-Num and Papa
Had a great time that day
When they rode on
The big blue choo choo train

Ari and Num-Num and Papa
Rode on the blue choo choo
They sure had fun
But now it's done
And maybe they'll do it again

Sweet/Home

Andy and I are planning a trip to Chicago with Ariana for this coming weekend and are very excited to see all of our Chi-town friends and for Ari to get to hang out with her buddy, Lily, who is almost exactly one year older than Ariana. Even though they are miles apart and hardly get to spend time together, they still have this strangely strong bond... it's like they knew they were friends before they even met.

Although this move has been difficult and it is sometimes lonely or stressful to be down here in the midst of so much transition and change (as if we are en route to the next stage... though even that becomes a stage of its own), it has afforded us some incredible learning opportunities. I think we've both grown tremendously and - although we would both probably say we're not quite at our destination yet - we have a better sense of who we wish to be.

It's a hard thing to feel lost. Not so unusual... but potentially very painful and sad. When it connects to your career, your home, your lifestyle, your values, etc. - it can be even stronger.

I have faith direction will be found... or at least that we will find a greater sense of purpose and balance within the unknowing that is the unavoidable chaos of life. We suspect the answer ultimately lies within, rather than without (an internal rather than external issue). So it will be interesting to see how those inner rumblings continue to shift and change as we alter our location in the coming days.

Whatever the result, it will be nice to see those we miss, and great to reintroduce Ari to the city where her mother and father first met.

Unrelated S&J (two-for-one special)

"S"
Why in the world are people still reporting media stories using language like, "We may be in a recession"?

With unemployment rising another .5%, the dollar dropping in value all around the world, gas and energy prices rising, foreclosures continuing to effect individuals and families at multiple socioeconomic levels, multiple companies shutting down factories or closing down offices leading to hundreds of thousands of layoffs, and people looking for work and finding none in nearly every industry imaginable: WE ARE IN A RECESSION PEOPLE.

Instead of blithely pretending it isn't so, or trying to persuade the American public to forgo panic and remain hopeful that such an ecomonic categorization is as-of-yet unconfirmed, why not just be upfront about it and start looking at ways we can make things better for the millions of Americans who are truly struggling?

Intentional ignorance is helping no one, and pretending as if it might actually be debatable or some kind of collective cultural myth is ultimately pretty insulting.

Forgive the soapbox, but consider it a kind of angry sorrow.

"J"
We bought a Snoopy Sno Cone Maker from our local toy store for Ariana in a fit of nostalgic glee, believing her love of ice and the inclusion of a sweet, syrupy topping would make it an indisputable hit with our ice-chip-loving daughter.

Hoping to spring it on her at just the right moment, we had hidden it away in the closet of Andy's office. Tonight seemed perfect: Ari was hyped up on Benedryl for a weird rash on her legs, has not been getting enough sleep, and was generally feeling grumpy and unpleasable.

So... Andy opened it up, cleaned every part, set it all up, and prepped her for what to expect... ice! With grape flavor! Yummy!

I had not remembered that the special syrup for the sno cone maker is actually a kool-aid knockoff. You make 2 quarts of it, put it in the little snowman squirty guy, and voila: flavored sno cone.

Here's the nice part: Ari hated it. She didn't like the grape stuff and kept saying, "pleh" - which essentially means it tastes yucky and she wants no more. We don't give her sugary drinks, she's never had caffeine of any kind, and we try to stay away from anything too chemical-y where she's concerned.

So... our little girl tasted this stuff, from which she has been shielded thus far (stuff Andy and I both grew up on and drank like some sort of kiddie ambrosia), and she detested it. Pleh, Daddy. Pleh, Mommy.

Which made me feel very happy.

Outside Eye

Hello all. This is Andy, Genevra's husband. She asked me to write her blog entry tonight as she's currently sitting in a hospital bed in St. Louis awaiting emergency surgery on her eye.

It's been a day.

The first alarm was rung this morning when Genevra called me frantically from downstairs. When you have children, this happens often, but it always feels like you're running in quicksand to get to the emergency. Today's first emergency: Ariana's ear. It was swollen, red and pointing almost sideways. There she was, naked in the bath, smiling carelessly, her mop of a hairdo finally wet and revealing her giganimous ear. "Look at it," Genevra remarked, sproinging it down gently. "Is it broken? Can ears break?"

After a lengthy game of charades during which we tried to ascertain what happened to Ari, we're pretty sure she told us that something bit her. I'm thinking spider, maybe? Genevra's thinking brown recluse. This is motherhood.

We called the doctor and not long after I saw Genevra off to work this morning Ari was in his office being examined. He's not sure what happened but an insect bite isn't out of the question. He prescribed a topical and oral antibiotic and Ari and I then ran off and had a great day together tooling around the mall, playing on 75-cent mall rides and eating lunch at the food court. (She was thrilled to be drinking a non-watered down bottle of orange juice and was so very careful with it--as if to prove she was a big enough girl to handle it and would love to do it again sometime.)

The middle of the day went like most do. I put Ari down for her nap and got to work on my writing.

Genevra called at 3-something from her eye doctor appointment. She had been seeing some ghosting that troubled her, I think on Wednesday. After she discovered that her contacts were not the cause of the problem on Thursday, she made an appointment for today.

Come to find out she has a detached retina. This is serious and if left unchecked can lead to blindness in a matter of days (and we're already at three days and counting,) so her eye doctor recommended surgery at once in order to "save the eye." The nearest chap who fixes up eyes is in St. Louis, which is 2 1/2 hours away.

I'm at home because someone needed to put Ari to sleep, because I'm a father now and I have to make decisions like this, and because Genevra's friend Becky (the kind of friend who shows up on moving day) was able to put down everything and drive her to the hospital.

The procedure she's having is called a scleral buckling.

You really can't tell from reading all of Genevra's posts that her life has been difficult lately. The sorrow that I'm sharing with you today isn't just about Genevra's brush with blindness, it's that this brush with blindness has punctuated several months of stressful work, school, family and health problems that have left us shaking our heads and wondering which god she's offended.

Please, if you believe in such things, if you're inclined to do such things, put her in your thoughts, prayers, blessings. She believes in the power of prayer. And I guess when I'm really honest with myself, so do I. I just don't like to admit it.

Genevra, honey, I love you. I'm with you.

Lullaby from year one: a coda of sorts

Little pumpkin, pumpkin pie
You're the apple of my eye
Don't deny it or even try
Pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin pie

Mi bambina, mi amor
Little one that I adore
Mommy couldn't love you more
Mi bambina, mi amor

Little Ari, Ari-bean
Prettiest girl I've ever seen
Always sweet and never mean
Little Ari, Ari-bean

Mommy loves you, loves you so
More than you will ever know
What you change and watch you grow
Mommy loves you, loves you so

Two Years Old

Ariana is officially two today. Not that she knows it, necessarily. We keep trying to emphasize this is a special today and oh how we love you and happy birthday bunny... but I think she doesn't quite grasp the magnitude of the day nor understand why everyone seems to be extra smiley and overly bubbly around her. She might even be finding it kind of annoying. Or maybe she's just sick. (She's a wee bit grumpy today.)

It's been a whirlwind. I don't think any amount of advice, information, horror stories, anecdotes, gushings, etc. from other parents could have adequately prepared me for the actuality that is my daughter: powerful, spirited, willful, observant, insightful, empathetic, bubbly, infectiously happy at times, insanely chaotic at others. She is equal parts empowered and dependent.

I've always been stunned by how many things changed during the pregnancy and first few months of being a new mother... heightened hearing and smell, softer bones and joints, increased sensitivity to potentially dangerous situations, and an uncanny ability to worry about everything (perhaps that was mine to begin with).

What's funny is that I still have a superhuman sense of smell... I still worry about her constantly and fret over her safety, her happiness, her comfort, etc. It's funny how my world view and perspective shifted to reorient around her so completely. I didn't really expect that to happen as fully as it has.

Two years down and countless ones to go if all goes well. It's been an insane, blessed, difficult, and rewarding ride so far. Kind of like Mr. Toad meets Indiana Jones meets skydiving meets swimming with hungry, man-eating sharks wrapped in crazed monkeys. Something like that.

When I celebrate my daughter's birth tonight, here is what I will silently toast in her honor:

• her laugh and the way her smile bursts upon her face
• the little dances she makes up (the infamous butt wiggle among our faves)
• how her feet sound as she runs down the hallway... her little legs blurred with speed
• the excitement she feels when we understand something she's said
• how she likes to make Andy or me jealous by kissing the other parent... or a chair... or the dog... or her toes
• the way she runs to show Andy what she's wearing and how her hair looks as soon as her bath is done
• the exploding joy inside of me when she wraps her little arms around my neck and squeezes as hard as she can... her happy "Mama" sounding like greeting an old friend or finding something precious long-forgotten in the flurry of life

Two

There is nothing so beautiful
as Ariana's smile
and the gentle, excited, gleeful way
she gives little kisses,
her eyebrows raised and
eyes wide.

There is an excited spark,
a ticklish discovery
with each new day.
She is risk-taking and trail-blazing -
a whirlwind of explosive energy
equal parts tsunami and supernova.

Every day is new... she is
my poochy-belly pumpkin,
my coffee bean,
my sweet face, scruncy nose
all and every angel.
My joy, my challenge, my daughter.