#2 Lost Tooth

Here is our girl with two bottom front teeth missing. The tooth fairy seems to roll rich these days and apparently leaves personalized notes.

You Got Chocolate in My Peanut Butter!

Alas, I have neglected to share the good news - I was too busy shouting it from the rooftops. After 17+ years, I found out that I am indeed NOT allergic to nuts or peanuts. As it turns out, it's possible that I never was, but let's not waste time worrying about that - there's lots of catching up to do!!

This week I had the orgasmic experience of rediscovering peanut butter cups. I was holding out on those, sorta saving the best for last as I worked my way through the various nut experiences. Now that I'm a chocolate snob, I opted for the Trader Joe's variety, and omg, they did not disappoint. I have to admit that I have enjoyed almost the entire tub with little help over the course of a week. Can you say "won't be buying those again for a long while??" Sigh. Gone are the days of eating pizza and chocolate eclairs for lunch and then having a WHOLE BAG of Reese's after school (the minis, of course - the chocolate/peanut butter ratio works out better with them). Now I gotta double up on the yoga, but it was worth it!!

More Reasons to Love Los Angeles

Glorious swimming on Saturday afternoon, then went out to Spaceland on Saturday, with kiddies tucked in bed at Grandma and Grandpa's house (thank you!). I hadn't been to Spaceland since oh, about 1999! Saw Amanda Jo Williams singin' and playing her kids' guitar. That girl has some balls. Went from singing "How Much is that Doggy in the Window?" to one that was, ahem, not for the kiddies ("The Sexy Love Song", which can be heard on her myspace page ). Country girl from outer space. Happy to see friends and have late-night tacos with my hubby in Los Feliz taco garden.

More swimming and relaxing on Sunday a.m., then to amazing beach house in Malibu to see east coast family. Lots of cousins! Glorious, joyful beach day! Cartwheels! Low-tide, warm water, sandcastles, cool breeze. Yummy food (heirloom tomatoes! :)), and two tired-out children, driving back home under huge beautiful golden moon. I'm sorry, but I can't help noticing that it has been hovering around 60 degrees in San Francisco these days. My body is happy to be warm and living here!

P.S. Got popped for talking on my cell phone whilst driving. That's nothing particular to L.A., that's just my own stupidity. So embarrassed...

Catch-Up

I skipped a long period in blogging, and, after having jumped back in, I feel the need to fill in some gaps. Between having no computer of my own over the summer and expressly trying to be in the moment with my kids, I didn't pause to reflect and post here. Sooooo....what has gone on? A couple of trips to the Bay Area (once for my dad's 60th Bday and once for Peter's and my 40th Bday (hurrah!)), the birth of Annabelle Olivia King (GORGEOUS!), loads of swimming, some great days at the beach, some fun parties, enjoying our Apple TV, and playing. Philip on the ultimate job search. Yoga. 11-Day Detox Diet (why wasn't I documenting *that* on a daily basis? Wow!). Favorite book of the summer = Barbara Kingsolver's new one. Incredible growing and developing amazing beautiful children. Now looking for every angle I can garner to have a positive attitude re: returning to work, such as:

• lucky to work in school with kids
• lucky to have a job
• lucky to work only 3 days/week
• really enjoy a good deal of the work
• work with a lot of good people

I am trying to resolve the workload issue in a direct and productive manner. I am so bored of hearing myself talk about it, that something's got to give.

Other than that, I am also looking forward to the fact that Henry is now of age where it is much easier to have a babysitter (thanks, Grandma, Grandpa, Chris, and Eric!), so that we can actually get back to going on dates (big smiles, as I do love my husband oh-so-much).

Now time to enjoy every last drop of summer fun. I do feel so grateful and happy in this life.

Ba!

This morning I asked Henry if he wanted to have some breakfast, and he signed "eat" and said "more more" (I guess he associates eating with asking for more). When I went to get him a peach, he proclaimed "na na na na!" (translate: BANANA!!). Just when we were beginning to be afraid that Henry's brain scan might look eerily similar to that of our favorite dog Annie's (hers was rumored to be simply a dirty old tennis ball), he's added to his vocab of "ba" and "ba-ba," which, depending on context, intonation, urgency, and luck may mean "ball," "balloon," "bottle," "book," and ...pretty much everything else.

Sadness, Hope, and Love

Today I received news that a San Francisco friend lost her baby daughter, Tikva Ahava ("Hope Love" in Hebrew). Since I had been out of touch with my friend of late, I had no idea what had been going on, and sat with the heavy weight of it all and cried. Reading through her blog, I am beyond awed by her writings and her experience. The positivity that I struggle to cultivate in my day-to-day life was incredible to see manifested in this context. Her beautiful girl was lucky to have such a fine mommy.

This is one of those times when, for me, it's more challenging to be an atheist. I don't necessarily have a prescribed "go to" place, a framework to easily allow me to reconcile what's going down. It's just my own cobbled-together sense of spirituality and philosophy. I don't pray per se, but I send love, love, love, and good energy to my friend and her family.

And, of course, I gave my own extra kisses before my beautifuls were snuggled in their beds. That's just a no-brainer.

I went on a walk with Violet tonight and I was talking with her about why I felt sad and why I always say that I'm such a lucky mommy. Violet said, "so you're feeling happy and sad at the same time." And that pretty much summed it up. These tears and laughter and joy and pain that we are lucky enough to experience, sometimes in one jumbled-up mess.

My thoughts are with you, Gal, Dave, and Dahlia.