Little Monkey and Friends

This weekend involved lots of celebrating for us, with many of our favorite people. There were sleep-overs to be had, meals to be eaten (or not), presents to open, and parties to attend. But first, we had to decide what to wear.



Not content with the usual Santa hat, the Monkey decided to take it up a notch. In anticipation of the holiday weekend, he dons his mini sombrero and does his best rendition of a Mexican Hat Dance. The right hat makes all the difference, ya know.


Not to be outdone, Grace showed us how to properly model a batting helmet. The astute observer will note that her cuddley, the pink monkey on the left, coordinates perfectly with her pajamas, while her Mets hat picks up the pale blue fuzziness of the background Big Bear. Way to find the perfect background Grace!



No holiday weekend is complete without food. Many of my posts have been wasted on the topic of Monkey's food issues. Interestingly enough, this child has no trouble when it comes to chocolate. In particular, uttering the phrase "chocolate cake" is a sure guarantee of seeing him come barrelling into the kitchen to investigate. I'm currently in the process of using the methods recommended by Ellyn Satter, to confront Monkey's meal nonsense head on. I love how this woman is able to generate a career from this stuff. To summarize, her philosophy can be condensed as follows:

"If he doesn't like it, tough luck. He'll eat when he's hungry".

Look out Monkey, there's a new sheriff in town. More on this to follow.



We were also lucky enough to be invited to D&M's annual Christmas Eve dinner. Miss Mina dressed for the occasion. She did have matching red shoes, but she kicked those off with every ounce of strength in her body. Repeatedly. Eventually, I just gave up. This appears to be a re-occuring theme in my saga of parenthood.



Monkey poses by their stunning Christmas tree, dressed in toddler Calvin Klein. Chocolate brown and baby blue argyle sweater, dark blue khakis, shaggy hair, and lots of attitude.



Oh..and more chocolate was consumed. This produced the burst of energy that we attempted to capture here.



While Monkey danced the night away, Charlotte climbed into my lap for a good old reading session. Miss Mina looks on. Or she could be giving me the finger, I can't tell.



But all good parties must come to an end. Dressed in her pajamas, Miss Mina departs. Monkey Sr., carries the Binky for safe keeping.

Miss Mina sampled her first taste of solid food this week. Judging from the reaction, I am hoping that she will not share her brother's pickiness. She LOVED herself some rice cereal, and opened her mouth up like a baby bird wanting some more. Bring on the sweet potatoes!

Please, please, please God...let this child not be a picky eater. I know, I was a picky eater. I KNOW that. My mother never fails to mention it to me whenever I complain about J. Somewhere, up there, the karmic wheels of justice are turning, and recasting me in the role my own poor mother was forced to endure for years. I KNOW I rejected most of the food she spent hours slaving away to make. I KNOW all I ate was bread and mashed potatoes. But dang...at least I ate those TWO things. All the monkey eats is air.



MUST...FEED...THE....CHEEKS!



You don't want your dinner? More for me! Bwahhh ha! Ha!
Oh..and nice hat.

Take a look at this picture. Tell me what's wrong here. And I mean apart from the extremely goofy look on my child's face. And I also don't mean that his shirt is hanging out and his diaper is showing. That, I am used to.

What else is wrong?

It's the hair. The monkey's hair is out of control. It is thick and long and shaggy and poking his eyes out. This picture is from our recent trek to visit mall santa. There, the wise men in marketing decided we would be more likely to stick out the long lines if there were diversions set up for the kiddies. So, they created an indoor snow station, where lovely bits of fake snow drifted from the heavens and accumulated in piles for the tots to play with while they waited in line.



The monkey really loved this.



I mean, he really loved this. He created a game on the spot which involved scooping up handfuls of this stuff, and tossing it atop his own head. Great fun.

Except, that this stuff was sticky. And it refused to be brushed off. It's been over a week, he's had multiple baths, daily brush outs and comb-throughs, and I am still seeing this stuff. Why? Because his hair is out of control.

Today, I had enough and bundled him off to the barber shop. That's right - the manly, man's choice of hair cutting establishments. No more cutesy - tootsy overpriced kiddie hair salons for my little monkey. We went to the real thing, the town barber. He even had one of those striped barber shop poles that spin around outside. That's what caught my eye in the first place, since we pass the store twice a week en route to gym class. And the monkey loves that barber pole. Loves watching the colors twirl around, loves announcing that this is the cut-cut place.

And he was great while we waited there, inhaling second hand cigar smoke and watching other men get their hair cut-cut and buzz-buzzed. He was a real champ, smiling at the other customers. He even looked straight at one of them and announced, "Hi, Buddy." (Sorry, Brandon, it appears you are not the only Buddy out there.) I had such high hopes.

I hoped to avoid a repeat of the last four times I have taken him to the hair salon, where I have been regaled with the high pitched screams of a monkey being tortured. How was I torturing him? I had the audacity to sit him in a specially-designed race car chair, in front of a video of Baby cartoons, with a balloon in one hand and promises of lollipops to come. And all he had to do was sit there while the nice lady cut his hair. He never bought it. Not once. Each and every time I took him, it was a friggin disaster, and I swore, that this time would be the last.

But, as usual, I reached a point where I couldn't take it anymore. So, there I was, at the town barber, praying that this time would be different.

And he was doing so good in the waiting area.

But then it was his turn to sit in the big-boy chair. The man's chair. What happened? Oh, just guess.

Monkey: "No. No. No! Bye, Bye! Bye, Bye, cut cut! " (he waves his hands bye-bye for emphasis."

Barber: Umm..hey there, little guy...you ready for a big boy hair cut?

Monkey: All done. ALLLLLL....DOOOOONNNNEE.

Me: Can I sit on the chair with him and hold him down, while you give him a quick cut?

Barber: No, I'm sorry ma'am. Can't handle the liability issues. If he lunges while you're holding him, he might get hurt. If he won't sit still on the chair, I can't give him a cut."

Me: Come on monkey, it'll be over quick. Just like the big boys. Buzz, buzz. What do you think?

Needless to say, we walked out of there with monkey's hair intact and my ego bruised from yet another battle lost with my toddler.

And lest you think my troubles will be over soon...here's what I have to look forward to:



Miss Mina, bed head queen

It's Monday, and back to the grind Everyone decided to sleep late this morning, which was unusual. By late, I mean that Little monkey did not begin his morning singing until 6:45 a.m. And Miss Mina slept through until 4:00 a.m. After a snack, she went back to sleep until 8:00. Quite unusual, but it was a welcome relief. I almost felt refreshed this morning. I felt a lot more refreshed after my coffee though. Some things never change.


Highlights of the weekend?

- Old Monkey's Saturday Night Pasta. Yay!

- Finding a winter coat I love at Century 21. Yay! Hearing the sales check out person say she planned to buy the same one for herself ... ummm.. not so yay.

- Finally getting another set of pillows for the bed. This means I can prop myself up comfortably to read for my mandatory "five minutes before I go to bed." This is a rule I made for myself back when I was in law school. Day after day of scholastic drudgery left me so burnt out at the end of the night, I never had the energy to read for pleasure. This seriously depressed me, since I love to read. So, I took the advice of a wiser soul, and set aside a minimum of five minutes every night, before I went to sleep, and read something - anything -the more mindless, the better, as long as it was for my enjoyment and not a law book. The habit has stuck.


- Fixing the shower water hose. Hurray, home ownership! Old Monkey is becoming a better handy-man with every passing weekend. Good thing I have a long list of projects to keep him occupied.

- Putting the tree up. Yay! Spending the next day and a half saying, "No Touch," to Little monkey ... not so yay.

- Getting a confirmation email from Shutterfly that our holiday cards will be in this week ... Yay! Writing down a list of recipients and then realizing I am about 30 cards short .... not so yay.



How can I embarrass my children? Oh let me count the ways.

This week, the monkeys were lucky enough to be invited to their first ever holiday office party. Dressed in their finest, they headed into Manhattan to celebrate the season. Miss Mina opted for a traditional Yuletide plaid frock, trimmed with black velvet and matching bow on a headband. Though you can't see them in this picture, she also is sporting some festive red party shoes and black micro-fiber baby hosiery.

I opted for whatever had the least amount of baby puke on it. But I did manage to add earrings. Voila, festive!



First stop -Monkey Sr.'s office. Here, the little man got to see what his father does all day.



That's right! Play with post-it notes and doodle with pink highlighter on legal pads. What fun!

While the Little monkey continued to tabulate his billable hours, Miss Mina mingled with the other guests.



Here she is with Chad, smiling pretty.



And here she is with Kristen, striking a more subdued model pose.

While his sister worked the crowd, Little monkey spent his time interacting with other species. On his travels through the corridors, he encountered a Mickey...



And an Elmo...



He paused long enough for a quick bite to eat. You know it's time to call it a night when the popcorn runs out.



It was a great party - fun people, plenty of things to keep the tots amused, loads of sugar, costume characters, balloons, and even parting gifts for the little people. We look forward to Monkey Sr. remaining gainfully employed so as to celebrate again next year.

The holiday cards have been arriving this week. This is both a good and bad thing. It's refreshing to know we actually have a few friends out there we haven't completely alienated. It's good people are wishing us a happy holiday and wonderful new year. I also like seeing pics of the little people in the family getting older and bigger. The bad news is that as the days before Christmas start to dwindle, I am forced to evaluate my own card stock. This is not as easy as it may seem. Once upon a time, all I had to do was pick up a multi-holiday pack at Costco. There's always a card in that box to suit any religious or secular denomination. Happy Christmanukkadawaleid anyone?

Now that the house is bursting with monkeys, the card sending thing takes on a different tenor. Last year was easy. Monkey #1 was still young enough to be manipulated into posing for the camera without a fuss. I can still recall the chilly winter day I bundled him up in winter wear, carried him out to the backyard, and sat him down to experiment with different poses, all designed to maximize the natural light.

Those days are long gone. Apparently, Monkey #1 has taken a page from the handbook of the 80' supermodels and will refuse to get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day. But at least he's not throwing his cell phone at his assistants ... yet. Although he's still cute, his toddler-diva theatrics have made picture taking more difficult than normal. I can't get him to cooperate with the photo sessions anymore. Miss Mina is great, she's easy. Just prop her up somewhere, take the binkie out of her mouth, and she's good to go.

I don't know whether it's a jealousy thing, or what, but getting the monkey to sit still and pose next to his sister has become a Herculean endeavor. The results I've gotten all week have been abysmal. Monkey Sr.'s response to all of this has been, "Just Photo-shop the two of them together." So ... here, my friends, is his creation. It's Alive! Alive!!



Happy Holidays, ya'll!

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

Just a quick update on the monkeys -

Mina is now weighing in at a hefty 14 pounds, 4 ounces - a gain of two pounds from last month. She's rolling over, reaching out and grabbing things, drooling out of control, discovering the joys of sucking on her thumb, as well as blowing spit bubbles, burping loudly, and making "m" and "b" sounds. With all these new skills, she will be well prepared for a future in the legal profession; and we have high hopes for her.

Little monkey #1 has recovered completely from the stomach bug that made his travels upstate so much fun. He has also sampled his first "pizza bagel-muffin" ( a house specialty), explored the wonders of the American Museum of Natural History, discovered a passion for Christmas Lights and the moon, successfully navigated multiple attempts on the potty (woo-hoo!!), and fallen head over heels for that Latin diva known as Dora a/k/a "The Explorer." He's now comfortably spending lots of quality time on the potty, with a book in one hand, and Mr. Moo in the other. Reading time is such a precious commodity. We're quite proud of his multi-tasking ability.