Happy Birthday, You Little Two-Year-Old, You!

Look at that little face! It's two now!

Can someone please explain to me when and how this tiny nugget:

(Jungle Cruise, 6 weeks old)

...turned into this giant boy?:

(Jungle Cruise, 2 years old)

Weston,
we love you...

SO MUCH!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I Brought My Camera to IHOP

"You brought your camera to IHOP? You're so weird, Jean."

I know! It's why you like me and read this blog! But I had to! After all, today IHOP celebrated National Pancake Day by giving out FREE stacks of pancakes ALL DAY!!! They simply asked for donations to the Children's Miracle Network in return, which makes them even cooler:

We arrived mid-afternoon and expected large crowds nonetheless, but we were pleasantly surprised. Tim, Weston, the ever-present Thomas and I only waited about 10 minutes until a table was ready:
(This is the face that I get 90% of the time when I ask Weston to take his picture; it says to me, "Confused But Judgemental Nevertheless"):
After we were seated, our server hooked us up with some beverages. Weston likey the chocolate milk:

And then it was time for the good stuff:

"They're fluffity! They're puffity! 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!" (Do you think I'm crazy? I guess you have to know Homestar Runner and Marshy to get that.)

For the purposes of an amusing photograph, we got Weston to start tucking in with a knife and fork:

Then Tim and I each stole one of his pancakes (haha, sorry kid, but there's a food chain, see), and then let him get to the serious eating:

"Mom, I'm eating, ix-nay on the otographing-phay":

Tim decided to up his flavor palette with a little boysenberry syrup:

But I stuck with the old standard (and plenty of it):

The aftermath:

Thanks, IHOP! We'll be back next year!

Why We Loved That Brief Spell of Lovely Weather

This past week, we had temperatures in the 70s and low 80s. Y'know what's better than lying outside on a beautiful, sunny, warm day, gazing at the bright green leaves above you churning softly in the breeze? Doing all that in a HAMMOCK.

That's right, Felipe the Brazilian Hammock (a beloved family nickname that I just invented two minutes ago) made his annual debut!!! I don't remember if we put Weston in the hammock last year, but boy, does he love it now. We had such a nice time that I not only allowed Tim to take pictures of me without makeup, but I went ahead and published those very pictures on the blog. YEAH. That is how much I love Felipe.

We gazed at the leaves (and tried to ignore the horns honking and people yelling at the gas station):

We cuddled:
We swung gently from side to side:

We generally lazed for a while:

Weston even scored an earlobe massage (OH, HOW HE LOVES THAT!!):

And just as I was on the verge of kicking everyone out so that I could have a turn by myself, Weston went ahead and did it himself:

I think Felipe is smiling here:

P.S. I don't have the right words to thank you guys so much for your support and love during our whole icky job turmoil. We really, really appreciate all the kind comments. FYI, my mom is extremely impressed with the caliber of my friendships. She loves to read the comments on this blog (almost as much as she loves reading the blog posts, I think), and she has mentioned a few times how wonderful you all are. So, big thanks from me, and big thanks from my mom, too. :-)

Ramblings

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

We had a fun weekend, what with the mini-Olympics party on Friday night that we hosted (USA! USA!) and the Japanese-themed Valentine’s dinner on Saturday night that our church hosted. Seeing as Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday this year, we didn’t want to go out to eat, so instead we exchanged cards and little presents while Weston was awake, and then transformed our living room into a romantic little restaurant after he went to sleep. This might sound corny, but I realized that (minus the décor, service, and clean-up) we can have almost an equally pleasurable dining experience at an expensive restaurant as we can have in our candlelit living room (especially when curried shrimp is on the menu - yum - one of my favorite shrimp recipes!).

Anywho, on to the scandalous/degrading/uproariously hilarious job update (because I know many of you have been wondering what's going on). In lieu of the nitty-gritty, here's the basic recap of events:

Nov 2009: Luxoflux (a.k.a. summer internship company) offers Tim a full-time job. Hooray! Tim considers it, counter-offers, and waits for their response.

Dec 2009: Tim graduates from Art Center, and Luxoflux tells him that they can't get back to him right away about his counter-offer, because HR and Accounting have basically shut down for the holidays. So, we wait longer.

Jan 2010: After Tim inquires as to when his contract can be finalized, Luxoflux tells him that they still want to hire him, but they just don't have the funds for new hires until the next videogame project is green-lit by Activision (the parent company). We are told it might take 2-3 more weeks. We start to worry, and Tim starts searching for other jobs and freelance opportunities just in case.

Feb 2010 (this past Thursday): After five weeks of waiting, we receive a cryptic and distressing email from the (awesome) Art Director at Luxoflux (Tim's would-be boss). Soon enough, the internets are awash with reports of Activision closing their studio Luxoflux and downsizing some of their other studios. (See the LA Times article HERE.) Yep. Tim and I realize that our solid-as-a-rock backup plan has just evaporated, take turns having panic attacks, and then start applying with extreme vigor to other job openings.

Today: Nothing yet. Tim and Jean alternate between sobbing and laughing deliriously at this most recent turn of events.

Okay, just kidding about that last part -- there have only been a couple episodes of sobbing, and they were both me, and they were both a few weeks ago and not since. I am so happy that Tim has graduated, but since then, there has been that horrible, constant battle inside me between faith and despair (that ol' battle). Despair was winning in the beginning, but lately (surprisingly), faith has taken the lead. I truly, strongly believe that when one door closes, another one opens, and that things will ALWAYS be okay in the end. I just wish we could get to our happy ending sooner than later, and then laugh about how crazy and stressful that whole job search period of our lives was. :-P

But in the meantime, we're hanging in there, and there have been many blessings during this trial, too, which tells me (as usual) that all will be well. Right now, we're just trying to find a practical plan for our future. We'll keep you posted. Oh, and if you have some space in your prayers, we'd really appreciate if you could give us a shout-out to the man upstairs. :-)

Last but not least of my ramblings... this week Suzanne Collins released the title and cover of the third and final installment in the Hunger Games trilogy!:

WOOHOO!!!!! Click HERE to see an article about it. I CAN'T WAIT!!! Anticipation for this book will get me through ANY struggle that we may face. I love this story!!! :-)

Belly Laughs

Grandparent Alert: cute grandchild video below!

Yesterday, Weston introduced our hallway mirror to his belly, and I managed to catch it on video. Enjoy!



This video will be added to the collection that I will keep on repeat playback when I'm 50 years old, after my children have all entered their teen years but before there are any grandchildren, when I will cradle their childhood toys and weep about how cute and little they used to be and how I should've appreciated it more at the time. (Haha! Yep. I probably should.)

Friday Favorites

#1

Museums galore this week!

On Tuesday morning, the Natural History Museum:

Also on Tuesday morning, the California Science Center:
On Tuesday afternoon, the Kidspace Museum (file photo):
On Thursday afternoon, the Skirball Museum:
#2

This girl:
...who watched Weston ALL DAY along with her own FOUR girls so that Tim and I could have an all-day date (a dayte?) at Disneyland. WOW. Thanks to her, we strolled without a stroller, we lunched without a highchair, and we gave nary a thought to blankies or diaper changes. THANK YOU, ABBY!!!!!!

#3

LOST

It's back for the final season, y'all! My brain can start aching all over again as it attempts to understand what the H is going on.
#4

Super Bowl XLIV

I love football, and I LOVE THE SUPER BOWL.
Costco pizza + Diet Coke + smashing helmets + interceptions + 40-yard field goals + halftime show + commercials = HAPPY, HAPPY SUPER BOWL FUN

(Isn't it funny that I married the one male human being on the planet who doesn't enjoy football? At least I can lure him with pizza.)

#5

The new Heinz ketchup packet:
Look, you can squeeze OR dip!!!

It will finally replace the frustrating, rectangular packet that they've been peddling for the past 40 years. My life is now complete.

Weston Is Funny

I must say, having a talking toddler is the best thing ever. Here are a few recent Weston tidbits:

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Last week when the State of the Union Address was on TV, I told Weston a few times that we were watching "President Obama." Then, after a few minutes, I asked him who was on TV. First he said, "Obamie!" and later he said, "Cubbins." The next morning, we asked him again who we had watched on TV the night before, and he said "Robot man." (?)

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Weston is currently obsessed with spatulas. They go with him everywhere - to the playground, to church, to his crib at night. If need be, he can be quickly spotted in a crowd of children because he is the one clinging tenaciously to a spatula:

Therefore, you can probably imagine his delight when we introduced him to this internet video. It has become his absolute favorite thing to watch on the computer, and he can watch it eight times in a row ("Pascha cidee gan, peese!!") without losing interest:

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When Weston does something funny, we usually chuckle and then say something like, "Hey, Weston, you're a funny kid!" One time, he did something funny, and then laughed at himself and said, "funny kid."

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One morning when I came into Weston's room to get him up, I happened to be wearing a red t-shirt with my red pajama pants. Weston looked at me and said, "Santa!" Then he went on to talk about "peasants" (presents).

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One of our child's favorite playthings is his Zurg action figure. Weston makes me and Tim hold Zurg and talk like him, so that he can then show things to Zurg and have a conversation with him. Usually it starts when Weston looks at us and points to Zurg ("Zug!"). After we've picked him up, Weston will look at him and say, "Hi Zug!", or sometimes he'll feed us a line by saying, "Hi Wetton!" Then he'll proceed to show Zurg all of the other toys in the room. Zurg is required to be extremely excited about this.

(When Weston is especially well-behaved at breakfast, sometimes Zurg will come and give him his gummy vitamin. If only you could see the joy.)

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When Tim was cooking dinner one time, the smoke detector went off. While Tim ran around opening all the windows (we don't have a stovetop fan), I grabbed a pillow and started waving it under the smoke detector to get it to stop screeching. Weston was fascinated with the whole operation. Over the next several days, he kept talking about the "pee-yoh" (pillow) that kept beeping ("BEEP BEEP!!") because Mommy was waving it around. He'd run into our bedroom and point to the beeping pee-yoh.

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On the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, there's a piano on one side of the captain's quarters that appears to be playing itself. Tim and I pointed it out to Weston one time, and now every time he sees it, he gets really excited and yells, "PI-WET PINANO!!!!" (pirate piano)

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Weston caught me making a face like this one morning when I was putting on makeup, and now he likes to do it all the time. After a few moments of doing it, he CRACKS up and hops around for some reason:

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Sometimes I let Weston have some of my cereal while I'm eating breakfast, and one time when the cereal was all gone, I let him have a taste of the milk in the bowl. I'd been eating Cinnamon Life, so I asked him, "Does it taste like cinnamon?" Now, whenever he tastes the milk from my cereal bowl, he yells, "CIMMANIN!" (Even if I'd just eaten Kix, or Cheerios, or whatever. I think he thinks that "cimmanin" basically means "cereal milk.")

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Weston fancies guns very much. He has a little water gun that he plays with often, but when he was at Gangy's house, he had a whole arsenal of Jerebrett's Nerf guns to hold and shoot. Ever since then, he has started shooting people as a greeting. When he sees someone new, he'll either grab a gun-like object (straw, wooden block, etc.), or just use his hand, and yell, "Boom boom!!" That means you've been shot. Really, it's a compliment. (And don't worry, he has mastered the healing art of tickling, so he knows how to tickle you alive again.)

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Weston has gotten very good at anticipating the end of his favorite TV shows. When the end is near, he starts his "BAH BAH!!" (bye-bye) shouts. For instance:

Thaaaaaat's Elmooooo's woooooorld!
("BAH-BAH ELMO!! BAH-BAH ELMO!!")

Hip-hip hooray, the Super Readers saved the day!
("BAH-BAH SUPAH WHY!!")

Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog!
("BAH-BAH MICKEY MOUSE!!")

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I attempted a photo shoot with Weston recently while he was playing with his ramp. (He loves when Tim and I build ramps with his wooden blocks.)

First I took some candid photos of him playing:

Then I said, "Hey Weston, can you smile for the camera?"

Then, when I thought our photo shoot was over, Weston stood up, walked over to the TV, and then turned around and looked at me (ready with his official pose, I guess?):

Then, he struck a new pose and looked at me like this:

Hahahaha! We love that kid.