SF + TKT = :-(
I know San Francisco is a great city and so I figure there was something out of whack with me during our visit. It’s not that I had a horrible time or no fun at all, but I never fell into a groove with the city. Since I don’t have much to report, I thought I’d share a few photos instead. Click through the pictures if you want to see the full image or read the description.
Deep-Fat Fried
I’m feeling like a horrible mom. I tend to be pretty blasé about certain things and the sun is one of those things. I know, I know, not putting sunscreen on your kid is a horrible crime and I’m so guilty no jury is needed. I could easily count the number of times I’ve applied sunscreen to Mazie on one hand. She’s never burned before; she’s always been the same shade of off-white. I try to ensure her sun exposure is low, keeping her in the shade or making sure that when she does get sun it’s early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Anyhoo…
We were at a park in sunny San Francisco on Saturday, getting some quality time with the all-important swing, and by nightfall a small part of Mazie’s face was puffy and red. It’s now Tuesday and she still has red spots on her face. Jamie, who is much wiser about sun things than I, had put sunscreen on her, but even that wasn’t enough to counter the devious plans of this particular sun. I remember him being worried about Mazie getting too much sun and me thinking that he worries far too much and should just chill out.
As with all things like this, I learned my lesson and changed my tune immediately. After realizing that my stupidity got my kid burned, I’ve become the sunscreen police. So, to all you moms and dads out there who religiously put sunscreen on your kids, good job.
Wiki Sticks
If you are looking for an interesting craft project to do with kids, may I introduce the Wikki Stix. Mazie was gifted a few Wikki Stixs at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and the whole Thingelstad clan has enjoyed playing with them ever since. They are colorful, easy to sculpt, wax-covered yarn pieces. With only eight “sticks” Mazie has managed a ladder, while I’ve sculpted many a person and Jamie has fashioned multiple geometric shapes and the Seattle Space Needle. Just imagine what fun could be had with a whole package!
Larger than a piece of poop
Warning: If you are easily offended or have a problem with stories of poop, even cute three year old pooping stories, please do not read any further.
As we were walking alongside the redwoods today, Mazie decided that she needed to poop. She dropped trou’ right there in the middle of the path and plopped down a couple of turds. It was awesome! I gave her a high-five immediately. I know most people would feel differently, but I couldn’t help but to applaud her adventurous spirit in the face of adversity. As soon as she finished we saw a group of kids approaching. We did a quick stick-stab and throw of the specimen deep into the forest floor, wiped her clean* and had her pants back up before the approaching kids could utter the word “poo”.
*The toilet paper used to wipe clean was packed out and disposed of properly. Over and out.
Larger than a woman's butt
Jamie has handed the camera over to Mazie on a couple of occasions and I think during her brief encounters she has managed to log almost 1,000 pictures. Thankfully, Jamie has had the good sense to delete many of them. She has a knack for photographing the ground and people’s feet, but today she found a woman’s butt to be of particular interest. She took this picture in the middle of the Redwood Forest. If you are interested in more amazing Mazie pics, Jamie has created a set in Flickr just for her photographs.
Quotes from the Road...2nd Installment
Yesterday at breakfast Mazie commented that she was cold and I replied that I was too. She looked at Jamie and asked him if he was cold; he shook his head no. Mazie then pointed to Jamie’s forearms and asked in all seriousness, “Cause of that white fur?”. Classic stuff, but she does have a point. He’s one hairy guy.
My Favorite Hotel Ever!!!!
Lots of favorites lately and another to add to the list. We stayed for one night at the Kennedy School just outside of Portland, Oregon. The Kennedy School hotel used to be a school and the evidence is still all other the place. The McMenamins brothers carefully restored the place, added lots of interesting art, turned the auditorium into a movie theater free for guest with comfy couches, added a couple of wacky bars, a outdoor hot tub soaking pool, a restaurant and lots of swanky charm. All of the rooms are refurbished classrooms. Our room was huge with an awesome closet that had three fold-up type garage doors that contain chalkboards. The place is funky with capital “F” and I loved every minute of our time there. Mazie loved that they had drinking fountains all over the place that were kid-height, perfect for catching a drink or two or ten. It’s hard to describe the place and do it justice, but if you ever need a place to stay in Portland, I highly recommend the Kennedy School. They have a few other properties around Washington and Oregon and I’m sure they are all worth checking out. Did I mention that you get all this coolness for $99/night. That’s what we paid to stay a night in the crappy-de-crappy hotel in Glendive, MT. Oh, and I almost forgot, our room had a recycling bin - a happy first for me.
Quotes from the Road
Mazie confirms suspicions that she’s a little bit weird by reciting for 5 minutes in the car all of the various parts of “dad” that should be taken apart: ears, eyes, nose, back, arms, legs, head, hand, and on and on. She concludes the monologue with the statement, “I want someone to take dad apart.” Neither Jamie or I have any idea what this all means, but we are happy to report at this time that “dad” is still all put together.
Jamie, while looking wistfully at the mountains in Glacier National Park laments that he doesn’t quite have all of the necessary craziness to climb mountains and says, “I lack the salt for that.”. Huh? Sometimes I think I married an ole’ man from the hills, instead of some uber-techy geek guy. Confounding…
larger than a piece of chocolate cake
mazie is really into her toes. she spends at least 30 minutes a day examining the space between each toe. sometimes while trying to change her diaper she throws a fit because i want her to put her legs down so i can get the stupid diaper on and she wants to keep her legs up so she can continue looking at the space between her toes.
this is a reasonably new obsession, probably two or three weeks old. it seems that she is interested in finding any dirt or small bits of stuff that might be in between her toes. she doesn’t necessarily want to remove the bits, but she does want to identify that the bits exist.
some say perhaps it is a manifestation of an inherent weirdness placed in her genetic code by me or her dad; we both teeter near the brink of mild ocd. i’d say the perhaps is warranted.
larger than a 5 x 7 picture frame
like the song, mazie has a few favorite things. however, her favorite things do not include girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes that stay on her nose and eyelashes, and brown paper packages tied up in strings. instead mazie likes shoes, watermelon, banana bread, cats and dogs. the watermelon and banana bread are just temporary likes. she doesn’t stay with a particular food interest very long. next week apples could be the new banana bread and crackers the new watermelon. but shoes, cats and dogs, these items have staying power.
shoes would have to top the list. the child loves shoes. my shoes, her shoes, stranger’s shoes, her dad’s shoes, she isn’t picky. she likes to say the word “shoe”, she likes to play with shoes, she likes to put the shoes on and walk around in them, she likes to take them off, she likes to de-lace and lace them. she loves shoes. i don’t know what this says about her or me or the world, but i’m sure it says something. i’ve asked other people with kids and it seems the whole shoe obsession is not a normal toddler phase. it’s a mazie thing and i’ve come to appreciate it.
mazie lives with two cats. she’s been interested in them since the day she realized they existed. she pets them, waves to them, hugs them, offers greetings and generally makes their lives miserable. i think it’s typical for kids to like animals, but i do think mazie likes or loves them more than most. she fares better with the dog world as dogs are more accepting of the sort of smothering love that mazie offers to members of the animal kingdom. so far she has exhibited no fear whatsoever of any dog or cat. they can hiss, growl, bark, bat, and she just keeps on loving. have no fear, sooner or later she will learn that she needs to be careful and cautious around animals, but for now the adults in her life can bare that burden for her.
that’s all folks…
larger than a mushroom
that’s what my kid is. she’s a crazy one year old that can’t sit still and is in a state of constant flux. she’s great and she drives me crazy. for the most part people always described parenthood to me as this amazing and awesome experience that was the “hardest job you’ll ever love”. i wasn’t one of those people that fell in instant love with my kid the second she was born. i didn’t suffer from post pardom depression, but i did suffer from a post pardom reality shift. it’s still really difficult for me to have the selflessness needed to be a mom. not being able to do what i want when i want sucks a lot of the time, but this crazy experience of raising a kid is something that i’m ultimately glad i signed up for.