4th of July

While Kate and Mom were in the supermarket this morning, Chris trimmed the trees in our patio with a pair of hedge clippers...and accidentally sliced his finger. OUCH. Always the optimist, Chris was happy he injured himself in the morning, beating the usual Fourth of July rush of people with blown-off digits. Kate was so worried that she gave Mom an examination with her doctor's bag while waiting for her Appa to come home. Three hours, three stitches, and a tetanus shot later, Chris was good as new. Kate kissed his bandaged finger and gave him a Hello Kitty band-aid. Chris was lucky. It could've been much worse. After the morning's drama, Kate's best friend, Lucy, and her Moms, Amy and Hilary, came over to celebrate the Fourth of July with us. Hilary even made a "flag cake" decorated with raspberries and blueberries. Kate was so excited when she saw it, she burst into applause. Kate and Lucy burned off some energy by screaming and running around in the sprinkler in the nudie rudie -- truly adorable. After dinner, Kate played DJ and cranked up the music. She and Lucy spent the rest of the evening dancing in their underwear. Always the mark of a good party. Lucy is Kate's oldest and dearest friend (we met her Moms at Lamaze class), and it's been wonderful watching them grow up together. What's truly amazing is despite how different they are, they have always gotten along so well. During dinner, Lucy turned to Kate and said, "I really like you, Katie." Awww. Kate and Lucy with a lot less hair, at 13 months. Lucy and Kate pretending to sleep on the kitchen floor. Just before going to bed, Kate, Mom, and Dad watched the fireworks from our balcony. It was Kate's first time seeing fireworks, and she clapped and screamed, "BRAVOOO!!" at every other one. After putting Kate down (which was to be one of many times that night...) Chris took another Advil and crashed.

Happy Anniversary

Six years ago today, Chris made me an honest woman at the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brentwood, and we celebrated with our family and friends at a wonderful party at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. It's hard to believe we've been together for a total of thirteen years, and that we still like each other's company. To keep things interesting, our babysitter's car broke down at the last minute. Rather than cancel, Chris went to pick her up. We rarely go out as it is, and there was no way we weren't celebrating tonight, even if it meant taking Kate to the Indian restaurant and movie with us. Kate would've loved the restaurant, but probably not "The Visitor," though Chris and I enjoyed it very much. The above is a shot of Chris being mortified by me taking a photo at the restaurant.

Dancing to the '80's

For the past couple of months, Kate's favorite CD has been the one that Dr. Lisa made for me, Andrea, and Ilene a few years ago -- a compilation of '80's songs from our high school days. Kate has three favorite songs that she listens to at least ten times a day: "We Got the Beat" by the Go-Go's, "Mickey" by Toni Basil, and "If You Leave" by OMD (which she says is "very sad"). (Related side note: Toni Basil used to live around the corner from us in LA. We once saw her standing outside in her slippers having an argument with some dude). This is a video of Kate dancing to "Mickey" and trying to copy Toni Basil's cheerleading moves from the music video. Dad makes a cameo...

End of First Week of Swim Classes

Kate finished her first session of swim classes today and received a Certificate and a piece of sour-apple licorice from the instructors. She was equally thrilled about the Certificate as she was about the candy ("Is that for me??").

She was so excited that she sang VERY LOUDLY (a Korean song, the "Green Sea") all the way to the car, while pretending to read the Certificate.

Since Kate learned about Safety today, she and Dad practiced calling 9-1-1 in an emergency. Kate pretended to call the "Police Officer," telling him to

"come right away" because "my Dad ate too much soap and feels sick!"

After dinner we went to the Farmer's Market where Kate rode a pony and got to do her favorite thing in the world -- JUMP. She had a rip roarin' good time until the teenage kid barked, "TIME'S UP!" and freaked her out.

Chris in Oprah

Chris' friend, Liz, called to tell him she saw his cartoon in Oprah Magazine. So if you're waiting in line at the supermarket, check out Page 91 . If it's a really long line, you may want to learn "Why Men Do Stupid Things," which is on Page 171.

Swim Lessons, Part Three

Today was even better than yesterday. The kids had to jump off the side of the pool, and Kate literally jumped right in. The next couple of times, she forgot to jump and just fell in, scraping her shins on the way down, but it didn't seem to faze her. Chris took her by himself today, which makes me think that Kate likes having Dad with her in the pool. That's okay, because Kate and I celebrated by taking a bath when she got home.

Swim Lessons, Part Two

Today was much better. Maybe because Dad was there taking a million pictures, or because the pool was heated, or because we swung in the park first, but Kate had a great time in the pool.

The class practiced blowing bubbles, "scooping ice cream," kicking and floating. Kate even went completely under water -- twice! Of course, both times were accidental and I nearly had a heart attack, but Kate emerged from the water just fine. A little confused, but cool as a cucumber. Hopefully, tomorrow will be just as fun.