Let's Break Out the Booze and Have A Ball...

We took Donovan to Klavons today. If you've never been there, Klavons is great, not just for the atmosphere of the place but they are very generous with their hot fudge and they have flavored whipped cream. Mike got a Banana Split, I got a Hot Fudge Sundae with Strawberry Whipped Cream and Donny got a cup of Strawberry ice cream.




Which he wouldn't eat. So much for the eagerly anticipated Klavons debut.

Next, we took him to the park. He'd been sort of fussy and we thought we'd let him run around. Which worked alright, until we kept stopping him from running into the street. Apparently, the only direction that's good is forward. Turning around? Nothin' doin', no sir.

I might also mention that he wouldn't eat breakfast, he spurned the chicken salad he used to love at lunch and all he does with the big crayons I made him by melting regular crayons down in muffin tins is drop them on the floor.

I was pretty frustrated by the middle of the day--all week he's been refusing to eat the food I make him, getting whiny when I want him to hold my hand when we're walking, and he definitely thinks his empty yogurt cup is better company than his parents. Luckily, he ate alot of salmon at dinner and he was fun to play with after that. I was probably getting on his nerves too, what with my force feeding efforts and my unreasonable demands about not running into the middle of Forbes Avenue. I'm glad we were able to rally and end on an up note.

Thru The Smoke, Behind The Veil

Its late. Late, late, late. I used to stay up this late all the time. I'm nocturnal but I can't let anyone know that. That's part of how I pretend to be an adult.

While many people stay up late pursuing nonconstructive pasttimes, I've always been more of a night time baker myself. I didn't plan on staying up to make Hungarian Apple Squares, but I did and I have to tell you they are damn good. Damn good as in, "why did I ever stop baking? Why do I even look at the vending machine at work? Why would I ever buy cookies in a box?" For the past couple of months I've been really disappointed with baked goods--everything tasted to me like it came from the same base recipe but was just shaped/colored differently. Tonight, I am Cured and its because I was able to, as the Spiritualists say, Go Behind the Veil to access my old self. Say what you will about my old self: girlfriend can bake.

I'm also very proud of myself for using up the apples I impulsively bought at the Farmers Market yesterday. Thank You.

Do Not Read If You Are Eating Yogurt

When I went to get Donovan at daycare today he was SHRIEKING. In all caps, honest to god. I have never heard him be so upset! I picked him up to soothe him and *BLURT* Curdley milk baby vomit all over both of us. The SHRIEKING continued while I changed him into clean clothes, wiped myself off, wiped off the canvas bag his bottles were in, grabbed his stroller and got him out the door. He calmed down once he was in the stroller and moving but he started fussing when we went to Goodwill. Why Goodwill? Why, to buy Mama a new shirt, of course! I asked the cashier if I could pay for the shirt now and put it on to wear it out. She took one look at me and boy and said, "Sure. Let me cut the tag off for you." Donny has never liked dressing rooms but I like to think he started shrieking when he saw his Mom in a polo shirt. I felt like shrieking too but, hey, its all they had that fit. Once we got home everything was fine. Of course.

E.M. Bigelow: J'Accuse!

Bad planning led to me taking the boy on yet another cemetery tour. He was very good to his old Mama and fell asleep almost immediately. We caught a bus after and went into Oakland.

Oakland, My Oakland: I love you, I hate you. I gave you the best years of my life and you gave me The Beehive (now, tragically, a Verizon Wireless Store), 2am post coital O Fries, cheap apartments, sweet Italian landlords and the lily ponds of Schenley Park. But, Oakland, you are a very cruel hostess. THERE IS NO SHADE IN OAKLAND. Schenley Plaza, the new park in front of the library? No Shade. Schenley Park itself? Some shade if you want to drag your kid and his stroller up a hill. Phipps? In a Wildean page from "The Selfish Giant," Phipps has locked the gates of its little garden with the fountains and the Majestic Hornbeam. The message? Welcome! Enjoy your stay! And remember to leave after 20 minutes or you and your kid will be covered with skin cancer! I have to make the same assumption about the collective mindframe of the powers that be that I attribute to the lack of benches at bus stops: the type of people who wait at the bus stops are not the type of people we want waiting at bus stops. The type of people who would like to sit in the shade in a park are probably the sort of people who should just keep moving along, thank you... Needless to say I'm taking this personally.

When we gave Donny a bath tonight I noticed he had a farmer's tan on his chubby little baby arms. I feel like such a lousy mother.

Bebe Avec de Joie

Donovan is officially full of Joie de Vivre. That's how I'm going to phrase it. Some might call it Being Overtired In Light of Not Taking a Nap Even Tho You Are SO TIRED You Have Rings Around Your Big Blue Baby Eyes. No: It's Joie de Vivre.

Saturday we had a busy day that included running around the park in front of the library. I thought he'd want to run in the grass in his bare feet but the grass seemed to freak him out a little bit. Once I put his shoes back on him I turned him loose in the paved and/or gravely maze of flowerbeds and benches. Much running around and shrieking with joy ensured. He's reached the point of having no fear as far as running away from me. As long as its somewhere where I can see him and he's nowhere near traffic, I've just been letting him go. When we got home last night he fell asleep in his highchair with a blueberry halfway to his mouth.

Today we went to church and I stayed with him in the Nursery there. We are trying to get him comfortable in the Nursery so we've been taking turns staying with him. Today was a nice day because the kids were mostly close to his age and while everyone took a turn crying there was no hitting or tantrums going on. At one point I saw Donny playing with a couple other kids and I motioned to the gal in charge that I was leaving. 10 minutes later, she brought my traumatized child to me so I could hold him in the vestibule and get him to stop, as Mike, Bill Cosby and I call it, "sup-supping." Later on, Mike went to Aspinwall to look at some records from an estate sale. Just to get out of the house, I took the boy to the Waterworks stripmall, or whatever its called. Note bien: the afternoon nap did not happen. Oh, we tried but after about 45 minutes of laying in bed with a flailing, moaning baby I gave up and took him downstairs to play with his blocks and empty yogurt containers. ANYhow, the boy did NOT want to be in his stroller. I finally took him to Barnes and Noble where he was very happy to run around shrieking. Misbehaving? No, Joie de Vivre. In his defense, the shrieking was happiness and he did NOT manhandle any of the merchandise. In fact, for a boy that loves to be read to, he did'nt care about the merchandise at all. And come suppertime, he fell asleep in his highchair for a second night in a row.

Joie de Vivre can tire a person out.

Good Enough to Eat?

When I went to pick Donny up at daycare, Miss Erin met me at the door with this look on her face. "DONOVAN had a GREAT day [she can be loud when she's excited, hence the caps]but you will not BELIEVE what HAPPENED." Apparently Donny was standing there, "minding his OWN BUSINESS" when one of the other children pulled down Donovans pants and tried to bite him on the ass. Whichever kid it was (no names were given) only got a mouthful of diaper and my boy's butt came away unscathed. Erin finished the story by saying, "NEVER BEFORE in the HISTORY of THIS CHILDCARE FACILITY has there been a BUTT BITING."

Butt Biting. In a Jesus centered Christian childcare facility.

My, my, my.

A Little Classical Music For You Kids

Mike and Donovan met me on campus after work today and I took them to the Kraus Campo. Donny has been having so much fun running around that I thought the trails and the numbered platform would be safe places for him to blow off some steam. As you can see, he proceeded to do exactly that.


I'm sure all cities have their little secrets but Pittsburgh has so many--its been fun sharing them with Donny. And since he wont remember a lot of them, I can premier them again and again and again! At least for the next year, year and a half... Donny listened to my iPod a bit on the way home. He got to hear the Live at Brian's version of "Stars are Stars" by Echo and the Bunnymen plus the beginning of "Sweet Jane" as done by Mott the Hoople.