October 31, 2007

“Pumpkinhead” & A Trip to the Zoo

It’s Halloween tonight and Elena celebrated not with a costume -- she is still too young for that -- but with some pumpkin-colored food that Naomi prepared and delivered with a smile. As you can see, Lady E. seems to enjoying it.
She also had her first real haircut this week, and now boasts a Joan of Arc coiffure. Ooh la la. Lately, we have taken to calling her Pumpkinhead as a nickname for one reason or another.

Last week we took Elena on her first trip to the zoo with some friends. Blue skies, a crisp wind that complemented the bright sunshine just so—perfect conditions for the inaugural visit, featuring the kids’ petting zoo. Naomi seemed to enjoy it more than Lady E. (see photo), who occasionally burst into adorable tears at the sight of new animals. Then she slept for the latter half of the day. The adults had plenty of fun, too.

That’s all for now. I am trying to figure out how to embed some video into the blogsite. If I succeed, I will post some live action video for Lady E.’s legion of fans. Stay tuned.

October 13, 2007

Double Vision?

Chip off the old block
Spitting image
Takes after (her mom/dad)
Choose whichever idiom you like: the proof is in the pudding. That is to say, Elena seems to look like me more than ever. A few years ago, I showed my wife a bunch of old childhood photos my mom had mailed to us. I took another peek at them recently and, yes, the father-daughter resemblance is pretty close. No surprise there, but Naomi sometimes jokes that Elena is proof that she has been a loyal wife. Looking at the photos, well, it is beyond dispute.
Note that Lady E. has a far cooler K.D. Lang hair thing going on in her photo which adds to her baby funkitude. In contrast, my haircut seems vaguely Creedence Clearwater Revival-esque.To my chagrin, my hairstyle hasn't changed since 1970, either. (I am jealous that Elena has that great George Clinton-approved summer dress in the photo on the right.)


One major physical difference between us that I noted when changing diapers is Elena’s err…posterior area. She has a Mongolian blue spot on her cute little bum which is definitely one of her mother’s genetic gifts. Mongolian blue spots are birthmarks that look like bruises and are very common among East Asians and aboriginal peoples in North America, but named after Mongolians. They are harmless and usually disappear by age three to five. Here’s an example below (for the record, this is not Lady E.’s bum. The photo is borrowed from another website).

The point of this: while Elena may look like me, there is still a lot of Naomi mixed into her DNA bouillabaisse. She also has her Mom’s beautiful Asian eyes and general temperament (heh heh).