The Zoo

Today Erin had her first trip to the zoo. Apparently all animals can be divided into three categories: meows, doggies and monkeys. Apparently goats and sheep are considered to be doggies ( they don't look like meows or monkey thus they have to be dogs). It appears that those impressed Erin the most. She did not think much of either the elephants or the rhinos. The big red balls in their exhibits were much more interesting.

We also saw some pig-looking creatures, that were not asleep ( about 70% of all animals seemed to have been enjoying a nap :).

The Zoo was crowded. Everyone had the same idea on how to entertain their offspring on the Memorial day. It took us an extra 40 minutes to get to the place because of the very poor driving directions from MapQuest (we are not using it from now on). After finally reaching our destination we discovered that the front parking lot was full and we had to go to the South Entrance. The line at the ticket booth was half a block long. Some dude in the ticket line was haggling over the ticket price with the cashier and held up the line for 20 minutes. I was getting rather depressed at the prospective of being stuck in the queue for another hour after already being late. Things just were not going right. The dude eventually got through and our very long line moved at a rather remarkable pace. We got in, met up with our friends (Tyson and Diane), Erin saw the doggies (mountain sheep) and started running around. After all it turned out to be a lovely trip.

However, next time at the zoo:

a) bring your own Erin friendly food (hot dogs don't tempt her, and the rest was pretty much sweet junk (not like hot dogs were not junk))

b) come on a weekday

c) come in the afternoon (the zoo inhabitants might be awake than)

d) wait until Erin turns 3

Ta ta for now!

Summer!

The pool season has officially begun. Our pool was opened this Thursday afternoon. Erin detected the noise and splashing coming from behind the club house and ran there. She could not figure out how to get inside the fenced area and kept running along the perimeter back and forth. It looked hilarious though she was not laughing. Eventually she stopped, grabbed my hand, pulled me to the fence and tried to enlist my assistance. I imagine she envisioned me tossing her over the fence or pushing her through the bars. Oh boy, was she frustrated when I refused! I eventually showed her the gate and she ran towards the water. She almost hoped into the pool. The child has no sense of height or depth! We were not dressed for the pool and had to postpone dunking till the next day. Here is Erin all ready for the pool on Friday.

We got the entire pool to ourselves and loved it! Erin splashed, kicked and squealed in delight! I was done in 40 minutes, but Erin was not. I had to forcefully remove her from the pool and drag my kicking and screaming baby home. We'll be back another day!

Erin likes to sit on the bank of a little stream running through our complex and toss rocks in it. I estimate that it will be another year before she creates a dam.


She also likes to throw dirt and similar stuff into a storm drain. I hope she won't clog it, he he.
Erin is a little monkey!

Pooky at the playground.

Here are a few photos from April and May.

Last visit to the Westmore park before the move.


Just giving some pointers on how to pack properly.


Demonstrating the FOR RENT sign.


Erin helping me garden in the backyard.


It is probably a good thing that Andrew has never let me cut his hair. Erin is not as lucky. I am her personal hair dresser. The problem is I can't even trim her bangs in a straight line. However it does not help that she won't sit still, if she did I might have done a better job, hehe. Here is the result of her second haircut by Mama.

With a new house Erin got a booster seat. She loves it! Eating became more messy, hence a kitchen towel with a clip in addition to the bib. By the way, the shirt was clean at the time of breakfast.

This is the same shirt at the end of the day. Erin had some tomato soup for lunch and an ice cream for desert at dinner. Most of the damage was from the ice cream. Erin discovered that she can fit a cracker between her toes. I almost caught on camera her admiring the deed.

My plans for the night were ambitious. After I put Erin in bed I planed to a) go workout at the gym b) vacuum inside the car and wash its windows c) finish decaulking the top of the master shower panel d) finish unpacking our bedroom and there was something else that I can't quite remember.
I do not think that after the a) I have any chance of getting anything else done. Decaulking is out of the question. My legs will not support me tiptoeing on the edge of the tub, a possibility of braking a rib or neck is high. Vacuuming...I am not bending! The same goes for the unpacking. All I can do is sit in bed and update the blog. (I so wish I had my phone with me. Than I could call Andrew downstairs and request a glass of cold water...mmmm)
Life is good! The feeling of owning something is rather pleasant! Technically, the mortgage company should have these sentiments, but it is a bureaucratic institution and can have no sentiments, thus I'll go through emotions myself. I can finally put as many holes per wall as my heart desires, though I don't because it's MY wall :). For the same reason, Erin has no free access to crayons, pens and pencils. I allow her one writing utensil at a time and I watch her like a hawk.
Erin is already used to being here. She knows where the playgrounds are, where in the pantry to find her favorite snack that there is a plenty of doggies outside to play with and on some occasions even kids her age. The pool will be opening in about a week and I am so excited to teach her swim. I hope she'll love it.
My brain is following my exhausted body and I have to wrap up here. Here is a cute picture of Erin. She loooooves glasses!

My Little Lady

Erin chose to complete her morning ensemble with a pair of black pumps and two stylish bracelets (AKA teething rings). This aspiring fashinista definitely has a promising future.

So...We are just working on closing the house deal. We have to wait for the builder to fix odds and ends in the house, then he gets paid and we get our keys.
This past week and a half (or so) was kinda blurry for me. I packed - Erin unpacked, I cooked -Erin refused to eat ( I don't think she ate more than 2 dinners in past week or longer), I chased Erin-she tried to get away...

I can't think of much else to say. Thus here is a couple of pictures taken with our newly found camera. Andrew fished it from the couch guts while looking for the TV remote. The remote is still MIA, but at least the absence of the camera was explained.

We went for a walk and Erin brought her broom.

Erin's crazy hair in the morning.

The stuff inside the bone

Erin has a little friend-baby Evelyn. Pook gets so excited when seeing baby's pictures and the videos make her so giddy. This little girl is one of the cutest 5-months-old you can imagine. Unfortunately, she had been sick more days in her short life than it is fair. The reason for it was finally discovered but I won't try to explain this very rare genetic disorder. The only treatment that will assure little Evelyn's future is bone marrow transplant.

When I heard about it for the first time I imagined a procedure that involved drilling into someone's bone and sucking marrow out of it with some sort of a needle-vacuum. Then a hole is drilled in the one needing the transplant and the new marrow gets pumped into their bone. Apparently this is not how it's done (and oh boy! I am glad to know everything is much less gruesome).

In the worst case scenario a long hollow needle is inserted into your hip and some marrow (less than 5% of what your skeleton has) is taken. At that time the donor is under anesthesia. ( That was good to know, because I would go nuts just from seeing someone come even near me with that needle.) The side effect is pain as if you took a really bad fall, that goes away in a week or much sooner. This type of marrow donation is not that common.

Usually marrow donation turns out to be more like a simple blood donation. This is how it goes. For four days prior to donation you get shots that make your bone marrow produce more stem cells. They get carried into your blood stream. After those five days of shots you get hooked up to a machine (through a vein) that will separate the stem cells from your blood stream and will release your blood back into your system. After that you probably get some cookies and juice and go home. That's it! This is all that it takes to save someone's life!


The only difference between bone marrow and blood donation is that there is plenty of people with the same blood type and only a few in the entire country with the same bone marrow type. Becoming a registered bone marrow donor you might become the only person who can save someone's life.

Here is some information on how to register as a bone marrow donor at http://www.marrow.org/. Believe it or not you have to pay to register. Unfortunately, the government does not fund bone marrow donation to the same extent as the blood donations. The fee of $52 will cover the cost of typing your marrow. You will receive by mail a saliva swab kit. Mail it back with a sample. It is possible that one day you will be contacted and asked to save someone's life. It is also possible that no one will need your donation.

Please, consider the possibly to save little baby Evelyn or another person, desperately needing perhaps you.