my little windchime girl

Eleanor sings all the time, and my reactions to it vary from amazement at how well she can match a tune perfectly, to pride in how she can come up with the most wonderful lyrics, to complete annoyance that she just won't stop! This morning I was feeling completely annoyed that I had gotten up at 6 and 2 1/2 hours later I still couldn't get the girls dressed to leave the house. As I looked in the mirror, brushing my teeth, thinking to myself, "why is this so difficult?" I heard Eleanor's sweet voice coming from her bedroom. From the lovely lilting tone I could tell that she was singing to herself while immersed in some imaginary world of fairies or princesses. She sounded so content that for the first time I experienced her singing as something comforting, like the soft tones of a windchime in the distance. I brushed my teeth feeling peaceful for two precious minutes before I had to re-enter the stressful reality of getting 'out the door' in the morning.

Bye Bye 2008

I don't blog much anymore now that Facebook has taken over my life. But I know that there are a few of you out there who are not on Facebook so here are some links to photos taken in 2008.

Here are some shots of our fantastic and freezing trip to NYC this December. Sarah was kind enough to let us stay in her lovely apartment and even keep us company on our various adventures in Brooklyn and in the city. Thank you Sarah for making our trip possible!

Here are some photos of the girls (taken just the other day) on a mundane trip to the supermarket. Corduroy and Ballet Kitty came with us, as you will see.

These photos were taken in Baltimore last weekend, my own personal Brooklyn-substitute. I get my fill of urban-ity by visiting Canton and Patterson Park as often as possible. It's only 15 minutes from our house, even though we're in "suburban" Catonsville.

In November I completed the design, installation, and opening of the Albert H. Small Documents Gallery for the renovation of the National Museum of American History. Here are a few photos of the gallery.

I got a new bike before the weather got cold... I have ridden it ONCE, but I swear that I plan on riding it more once I get back into the swing of things at work. See, the goal is to bike between Union Station and the museum on the days that I go into the office. Good luck to me on actually doing it in the cold weather.

And, (how can I leave this to last?) we bought a new/old house in August! Here are some pictures from before we moved in. And here are some pics after we had lived in the house a couple of months. We hope to finish the basement someday, and we're currently working on painting various rooms. So, stay tuned for more pictures as the work is completed.

The girls are growing sweeter by the day and we are having a lot of fun together (between tantrums and whining, of course). I have high hopes for 2009, and although there are parts of 2008 that I don't want to say goodbye to, I am looking forward to Spring on our new screened porch, making new friends in Baltimore, and inviting old friends to visit us in our new house.

So cheers, everybody! Have a drink for me to ring in the New Year. I'm sure to fall asleep at 9PM next to my snuggly warm Eleanor. But hopefully I will wake up in time to toast you all properly at midnight.

National Museum of American History -- Re-opening Gala

Last night was the Gala for the Re-opening of the National Museum of American History. I have worked there since last September as the designer for the Albert H. Small Documents Gallery. This gallery is intended to exhibit precious documents related to American History. The opening exhibit features the hand-written White House copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address!

So, finally last night was the opening - and what an opening it was! For those of you who want to see pictures check out Clare and Jer at the Gala!

There's so much more to tell - like the fact that the staff were all in hard hats up until a couple days ago, and that tensions have been more than a little high, but the end result is that it is done, and I'm so proud!

The museum is beautiful and the gallery is lovely. I hope all of you will come down to visit and see it for yourself.

My new bike!

This is my new folding bike that will enable me to zoom around on the National Mall, and to Union Station! Watch out folks.

This shows how light it is.
Obviously I need to start lifting weights.
Or - the bike, for that matter.

recent photos of the girls

Here are some recent pics of the girls:
This one is was taken yesterday at the mall - Eleanor is having a grand ol' time on the teacups on the carousel.



The following pictures are from a few weekends ago, when I took the girls to Tryst in Adams Morgan for lunch. Eleanor had fun building structures out of sugar packets, and Rose had fun being a wrecking ball. (And hiding behind the sugar... as per below).

awesome fridge

I've found the fridge I want. Now I need $2700. yikes.

Family photo

This was the day of Chong-Lim and Christian's wedding. What a beautiful day and a lovely wedding too.

Eleanor's art

Here are some shots of Eleanor's art. First, a family portrait. Notice Jer's beautiful dress (it's the black one). Second - potted flowers.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

Here are some pics of Eleanor back at the old house - dressed to the nines. I mean nine princesses in one. She is very serious (as you can tell by the expression on her face) that more princesses makes you prettier.

how did 2 years go by so fast?

I am embarrassed to say that I finally looked at the blogs for Oliver and Bea. And once I got over how cute they are I decided that maybe I'd try another go at doing this blog. I ventured into Facebook (again I am a late-comer) and uploaded some videos, but I can't quite convince my mother and father to sign up for Facebook to see them. So - maybe - no promises - I will try to get videos and pics of Eleanor up on this blog for the world to see.

So stay tuned world!

Weekend Junkets

The weekend began Friday evening with Rose, Eleanor and I watching the clock, literally, waiting for Cap to come home from work.

Friday night the rain lashed at our house all night long and Saturday followed with gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Knowing that most of the mulch-covered playgrounds in our area would be muddy messes we opted to take Eleanor and Rose to the handicap-friendly playground in Rockville. There the ground cover is entirely rubber and, therefore, dry, even after a night of rain. After playing on the playground for a while we took a walk around the playing fields where we snapped these pictures of the amazingly dramatic clouds and of Eleanor climbing, being chased, and finally captured.




On our way home Cap had to change Rose's diaper in the car using skills he has perfected over the last two years.


Today the weather brightened considerably and we decided to take advantage of the nice day by going to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. It was GREAT, the perfect place for kids and parents because, well, who doesn't love big ol' trains?

There was a beautiful wooden Round House filled with incredible old trains, stage coaches, and even an original covered wagon. The Round House collapsed under the weight of snow several years ago destroying many of the trains, but it has been rebuilt and many of the trains and exhibits have been upgraded. Cap and I were really impressed.


One of my favorite trains was one that had a series of spikes sticking out all around it. Each spike was hinged and numbered. The train was used for surveying tunnels at a time when new trains were built larger than some of the existing, but less used, tunnels. The crew of the spiky train (I can't remember what it was called) would go out for several weeks at a time exploring old tunnels in remote areas like West Virginia. As they would pass through the tunnels the spikes would be pushed down if they encountered obstructions. Detailed measurements were recorded by the train crew and this information was used to determine if the tunnels needed to be rebuilt.

Another highlight of the visit to the railroad museum was the 20 minute train ride on an old MARC train from the museum into West Baltimore and back. We all loved it, especially the kids, but perhaps for different reasons. I think Eleanor was just so excited to be on a train. Cap and I found it completely amusing that the train moved at a snail's pace, and included a wonderfully hokey narration complete with banjo accompaniment. The picturesque views included abandoned train cars, collapsing buildings, and we were even lucky enough to witness two couples disappearing into the brush for romantic track-side trysts. Good stuff for the kids.

But, actually, aside from the teenage depravity, the old trains and grungy buildings made for some beautiful (in my opinion) photos. Here are a few:


And, speaking of beautiful... (again, in my opinion!):

Looking back, looking forward

Writing the blog about some of the "Things I love" got me thinking about some of the "Things I miss" and the "Things I'm Looking Forward To." Don't get me wrong - I love my sweet Eleanor and Rose more than anything! Any normal person, however, would feel, as I do, a sense of loss of one's pre-baby life and goals! To be honest, I MISS my old life!

• I miss my friends in New York
• I miss Brooklyn
• I miss walking around the city in the evening after work
• I miss carousing on the subway with my happy gang of friends
• I miss wandering through Central Park with Cap
• I miss working in my museum, knowing that Cap was working at his museum across Central Park
• I miss savoring my tea and toast for breakfast on a quiet early morning
• I miss being able to have long, uninterrupted conversations with my sister, sometimes serious, but mostly hilarious
• I miss pretty much anything that involved having time by myself (guilt free)
  

I know that in many ways most of the things I miss will return over time, and that I should appreciate this time with my little girls, I know I know I know... but just for now, I'm missing the old way.

On the other hand, there are lots of thing I'm looking forward to.

• I can't wait to start traveling again!
• I'm looking forward to buying a used RV, renovating it, and driving across the USA with Cap and our kiddies
• I'm looking forward to taking Eleanor and Rose to Europe
• I'm looking forward to working more
• I'm looking forward to having time to do my personal art and design projects (not just the ones I do for work)
• I'm looking forward to all the great conversations I know that I will have with Eleanor and Rose as they get older
• I'm looking forward to reuniting with all my friends from New York without having to worry about putting babies to sleep at night
• I'm looking forward to going to the movies again

Ah, there's a lot I am looking forward to.

But, then again, there are great things happening each day. Today, on Rose's 4-month birthday, she showed real signs of sitting up all by herself! Oh the sweetness of it.

This photo is terribly dark but I hope you can see the cuteness shining through!

Today at the playground

Mommy Moke Incognito

Sleeping like a baby

The many faces of Eleanor

Things I love

I don't know if you know, but I spend a lot of time criticizing the world around me. Yep - it's true - I can't stand a lot of things and a lot of people, but... to offset all that negativity sometimes I can't help but think about all the things I just LOVE! So, here's a list (which may have to be continued later, as wakeful children might invade my typing-time).

Trader Joe's ... How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I was just at Trader Joe's which is why it is top on my list today. I love that they have balloons for the kids, I love that they have coffee samples, I love their low prices, and I love the crazy luau atmosphere. Some of their products that I just adore are:

• Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzels (perfect in the evening while watching the boob-tube... I mean BOOB-TUBE since I usually spend at least an hour nursing Rose while watching tv at night)
• Frozen brown rice (4 minutes to tasty, healthy rice for dinner!)
• Chicken and Cheese Tamales (tried them for the first time last night, mmm mmm good!)
• California Style Complete Protein Bread (this stuff keeps you going! in more ways than one, if you catch my drift)
• Honey Bran Country Bread (under $2.00 and TASTY)
• Irish Breakfast Tea (just as good as Lyons tea... the tea I fell in love with in Ireland...)
• Organic Milk (cheaper than elsewhere)

Trader Joe's is just great.

Other things that I love include:

Sleeping babies
New York City
Rum Raisin Ice Cream (especially the way my mom serves it... on top of oatmeal!)
YouTube (because it keeps Eleanor occupied while I work on the computer)
Old Sesame Street clips (as can be found on You Tube)
Tea (a day without at least three cups of dark, strong black tea with a little bit of milk is really rough for me)
Toast (to go with the tea for breakfast)
Cooking big, spicy, yummy meals
Spring and Summer (Now that the weather is getting cold here I'm getting that sick-to-my-stomach-feeling that I get each Fall. I love the beauty of Fall - it is really wonderful to be in the car or in the house and to look out at the changing leaves, and the dramatic skies, but MAN, that cold air is just too much for me. Maybe it is because I grew up in Africa? One thing that doesn't help is that twice I have suffered awful morning sickness in the Fall. The smell of decomposing leaves outside, and the feeling of the heater turning on inside, still bring waves of nausea.)
The way Eleanor gets all lovey-dovey and says "I love mommy SOOOO much!"
The way Rose can't help grinning up at me when she nurses
Reality Television (oh yes, I can't help it. I like to pretend that it's the anthropologist in me... maybe it is... but I find it facinating! Highlights of my television world right now are The Bachelor, the Biggest Loser, and the Amazing Race. Believe me, I am not proud of this, I just can't help myself!!)
LOST (more television...)
The way that Cap can crack HIMSELF up and send himself into a fit of uncontrollable laughter!

Okay, I guess that's enough for now. But - to be sure - there is more to come.

To potty or not to potty?

Yesterday I thought Eleanor was potty trained. Oh yes oh yes. She went the WHOLE day doing her business in the potty, including a dry car ride to the store, a pee in the toilet in the store, and a dry car ride home! It was unbelievable! It took NO coersion on my part, she just wanted to do it! She pulled her pants down by herself, peed in the potty, dumped it herself, flushed by herself, and washed her hands by herself! Joy of joys. We diapered her last night just in case, but she only did a tiny bit in the diaper and then peed a boatload in the potty this morning. But it went downhill from there. Too many fun things to do in the house and she lost focus. So, after FIVE "accidents" I decided it was time to give up until another day. But, OH yesterday was so great.

Okay... so that was last week, and I still haven't published this post. The latest development is that we have had several days of off and on potty success. Today is an off day, and I'm thinking of retiring the potty all together for a couple weeks so that we can regroup, as it were. Maybe Eleanor is too young? She's 27 months old... she is really aware of when she needs to go to the bathroom and it seems like the few times she has not made it to the potty are when she has been upset or fully engrossed in playing, or the toilet was too far away (as in at the playground where we were about a quarter of a mile away from the bathroom). I know she can do it, but I think we should take a break for a few days. Maybe a month. I don't know.

We all have our own little addictions.

what's up?

I have just finished watching this week's episode of LOST and so my mind is a little blurry right now. What's up with Desmond? Who is he really? How come Hurley doesn't know about the Polar Bear? What's up with Locke? How did he become part of that commune? Ah... I love to escape from my daily life. Tonight was difficult, however, because Rose seems to have lost her ability to fall asleep by herself. She's really into nursing these days, and I think I may have nursed her to sleep one too many times and now that's what she wants. RRRRRR. I wouldn't have done it (nursed her to sleep) but for weeks now I have been worried that she would wake up Eleanor in the evening, so I just stuffed a boob in her face to keep her quiet. The problem is that she probably would have just fallen asleep on her own if I had been able to tolerate the little crying noises. Too bad we have to have a veil of silence at night to keep Eleanor sleeping. We are such captives to her sleep (or NON-sleep) cycles, now I'm afraid I'm creating another NON-sleeper! AAAAAArrr.

Guess what? Rose is crying again - what do I do???? Let her cry? Go pick her up? The problem is that she WILL wake up Eleanor. I know it. So, I have to go.