Ostrich weekend

Here in California there is a land of ostriches, windmills, wineries, and general fun. This January we made a trip on a whim and had a fabulous gateway.
We fed ostriches and emu, or, to be exact, tried not to become a pecking victim while trying to amuse ourselves feeding them some pre-purchased food pallets. There were warnings everywhere not to annoy the birds by standing too close without food in hand. So C did just that, to get the perfect photo of an angry ostrich:

This one was quite a lady, she gently ate her food, unlike pretty much everyone else there:

There we also purchased a fabulous malachite-green Emu egg, to be eaten later. It was quite expensive, around $30. But the shell is beautiful, and paying money for a new experience is something that i consider to be worthwhile, so we did. A few weeks later we made an awesome omelet out of the egg, documenting the entire process.Egg pictures to be added later.

While there, we walked around the small pretty town of Solvang, did a few wine tastings, which both of us enjoyed, and even purchased some $28 bottle of awesomely yummy wine:

Another wine encounter at a winery wasn't local at all, it came from New Zealand and tasted like grapefruit:

Overall, this was a nice gateway, with more pictures to come: windmills and all!

2 year One-Roof-Anniversary

Feb 10, just a few weeks ago C and I went skiing at the Big Bear. We had our special 2 year One-Roof-Anniversary, so we took a few days off to ski and spent the night in Wolf Lodge. After checking into the hotel and spending some time driving back and forth to get our skiing passes, we stopped for our traditional bloody mary mix and some jello shots, which were pretty awful, but fun. The day was super warm with no snow on the ground other than the mountain. But, the mountain was covered with snow and enough lifts were open for our enjoyment. C did great, although he got a little frustrated with my constant instruction/correction, combined with changing snow conditions and zooming snowboarders. So, it was a fun, but not the most relaxing day. It was doubly nice to unwind and have a romantic dinner at the best local restaurant in town. We very much enjoyed the lobster ravioli, and the ahi tuna, and the bottle of EOS Estate 2009 red zinfandel wine, which was super yummy.

 

After dinner we took a little walk in the quiet village and headed back to the lodge with dreams of starting up our fireplace, which never happened because we fell asleep. But, C started it up for us in the morning, and we enjoyed it long enough to warm up our socks and head to the mountain. On this beautiful day the snow conditions were much better and C enjoyed much success skiing down the far left slopes with some grace and zoom. A perfect day on the mountain and a perfect gateway with my perfect soulmate :)

key to a happy life

my personal notes on a key to a happy life:
"don't compare yourself to other people"
"don't compare your feelings to those of other people"
"recognize when you need help and learn how to ask for it"
"let some things slide"
"don't let important things slide"
"learn your lessons so not to repeat them"
 "take emotional clutter out"
"err on the side of love"

Lessons do pay off!

Lately, to be exact, approximately from the beginning of the year, the kid has been into me. Perhaps she is transitioning into the mode of greater independence and requires less of physical comforting that C provides and a little more of adult treatment that i tend to lean towards. I already know that she likes the true and honest feedback that i provide her, along with direct listening to her comments, concerns and questions. So, my life has been a little easier as S has been more friendly, happy, and cooperative.

She is also capable of understanding fairly complicated sentence structures with my touch of sarcasm:
S: "i want my cup"
me: silence
S, now more whiny: "i want my cup!"
me: "Now, when you want something, what usually gets you better results?"
S in a calm, non-whiny voice: "can i have my cup, please?"

Wow, what results we have! :)

Also, she has had a bag of candy, since Valentines day at preschool, and she has been allowed to eat one or two a day, after dinner.
After eating, she is asking if she can have her candy before getting it. After getting one, she is asking if she can get another one before grabbing it: "only one?"
I ask her, "how is it?", she says "good, you want one?" :) Nice lessons in sharing paid off as well!

Going to bed last night was a little rough. Daddy was really sleepy, while S was wide awake. So, naturally, she asked me to come and lay with them. I declined sighting too much to do, she asked, "just for 5 minutes" and even though i knew pretty well this was a ploy to stay entertained while her daddy was fast asleep, i could not refuse. So, i laid down and hugged her. She says, "daddy, hold Julie". C extends his arm. S says "Two girls and one boy -- daddy, Julie, Sari - all together". Sweet!  The lesson of togetherness paid off right there!

Julie's Spanish

S is getting into Spanish more and more. She is asking daddy to speak Spanish to her, she is asking how to say certain things in Spanish and repeats it. It seems that its a combination of a few things: she finds Spanish to be more comforting and/or special, because both her mom and dad speak it, but not her preschool, and because it makes her feel like she has a special connection with dad when she speaks it. I find it very cute. C tries to also fix in some Russian when we are learning words, but for the most part she is not getting into it, except for yesterday:
J: "we are cooking rice"
S: "what does it mean in Spanish?"
C: "Arroz"
S: "aros... ok, now in Spanish"
C: "Arroz"
S:"no, the other Spanish, Julie's Spanish"

"S said"

and, recent developments:
1) Jan 26, 2012 S said, for the first time, "this is not good for you"when she saw daddy get a beer
2) "J, you should wear penthouse because its cold. Daddy, J is going in underwear."
3) about a paper Dinosaur: "no, its not going to run away, because it doesn't move"
4) over the holidays, we were trying to set it up that it was Santa that delivered her the Play-doh station, we even went to the movies to watch Santa deliver presents, and she didn't object to the motion at home, but when she was telling K about it, she said that J and daddy got her the station. So, no belief in Santa for us...
5) on Feb 7, 2012 S willingly and on her own accord shared her candy with us, and told us how to eat them "don't bite it, put in on your tongue like this"

the circle of everything

"Following a streak of misbehavior and whining, we are now upon a golden belt of positivity and perfection" - that's the headline of this post, and it refers to the change in S's attitude and behavior. This, once again, proves my earlier theory that everything in life (and in child's development) has a cyclical characteristic. We have already gone through several negative, defiant stages followed by honeymoon-like periods of sweet family love, explaining away the change by some brilliant action of ours, or blaming the bad times on something external. Now that we obverve it again, i am more convinced that its just a growth burst, a stage of development, that prompts her to act out, to push boundaries, in her attempt to make sense of the world. And then she settles in with this new understanding, and she is content, until something else arises that causes her to challenge her understanding, causing yet another grows spurt and, consequently, misbehavior.
But now, when things are calm and good, it my job to capitalize on it, to gather strength and to grow and nurture our mutual love. And, its my job to remember this when times are tough, and not to take  her growing pains personally, but take it like any parent would, without a chip on my shoulder.
Nobody said parenting is easy, but i think it is rewarding, when you can see maturing, growth and progress, you know that most of it is directly your influence.

Last week the Feras were in town. It was so nice to see them, and to have some company here. I am also super amused at how Rachel made an impression on S, and how her non-matching socks are now "the-thing-to-do", while my non-matching socks previously has been just a subject of a "it's not the same" comment in a slightly negative tone. 'This is another example that parents are not "cool"in the eyes of the kids, even at a very early age.

On our recent entertainment: last weekend we went to the Chineese new year parade, which was so totally lame, but we managed to have a really good time. And the following day, a free day at the Children's museum sent C to the semi-comatose state of mind, as S and I thoroughly enjoyed our time.

And, next weekend is some alone quality time for C and I, and i am already glad to have an agenda, starting with a much needed haircut on Fri for C with our hair goddess April, followed by perhaps some romantic walking around. In the morning, a run to East LA for breakfast and Modern Art Museum outing in the afternoon, and late night ice skating are to take place in the evening. A late wake-up with unlimited Mimosa brunch at Luna Park on Sunday, and Center for Photography trip later in the day. If this sounds full-packed, C also suggested to slide in a sunset campfire at the beach on Saturday, but i fear that would end up making us too tired (or too relaxed) for any ice skating later, which may be the whole reason C was trying to suggest it in the first place, as he would very much like to cancel ice skating, i think...

Overall, these can be officially called "the good times", because C has been feeling good at his job, ever since he took on drafting, S has been behaving, and i feel amorous, harmonious with everything around me and full of love for life, for my child, for my husband. I can't credit therapy for it, or the book i am reading, but i am sure its the sum of all things, and every little bit helps.