Artist at Work

Isn't that just the finest Nemo/clownfish painting you've ever seen? This is Sabrina's first attempt at reproducing the lead character from Finding Nemo, and I think it's absolutely amazing. We've saved all of her painting, and they're all so good I'm going to take pictures of them and post them here. You'll be blown away, I guarontee . . .

Christmas Baby

We were able to make Christmas happen for our little girl despite moving to our new house less than a week before, and I can't tell you how relieved we are to have pulled it all off. It definitely helps that she's still not entirely sure what Christmas is and when it's supposed to take place, but still, we're awesome.

I may be the last person to realize this, but the season really is all about kids. I've always loved Christmas, my favorite time of year and all that, but this one blows all of the previous ones away. There's just nothing like seeing your child light up with happiness for a whole day. Sabrina has never really done this before (last year doesn't count, from my point of view), but she has it all figured out. No hurry, worry or anything that detracts from the Christmas spirit, just presents, food, playing and baby happiness. We can't wait for next Christmas!

Like Figgy Pudding, Some Things Are Just Good for You

Like this gem at Gerard's place, or this one at Sippican Cottage. Merry Christmas and love to all, and don't forget the way you feel right now until this time next year.

Nurturing Sabrina

You may have noticed that in this picture Sabrina is nursing the Cookie Monster. We were talking about boobs (I wasn't wearing a shirt and she pointed to my chest, and the next thing you know we're talking about boobs) and I told her mine didn't work very well and that she couldn't nurse from them, whereupon she informed me that she could nurse herself, thank you very much. A moment later she admitted she was just kidding, but that she could nurse someone else. Cookie Monster was just the closest one. The picture was her idea.

Later that same day (this all takes place while Mommy is out shopping at Target), Sabrina pioneered the practice of eating grapes with her toes. She prefers it if someone else loads them, but in a pinch she can do it all herself. She's very proud of this new skill, and I can't wait for Mommy to see it.

Funny Guy

I've never heard of Daniel Tosh before now, but he's funny as hell, dude man.

The Winner, and Still Champion, of All Blog Posts EVAH!

Korla Pundit doesn't blog much, but when he does it can be pure genius. My permanent pick for best blog post ever is this 2004 masterpiece, and now he's followed it up with something equally magical. You go, Korla. All hail the king!

My Birthday is Coming Up, After All

If there's something cooler than this, I'd like to know what it is.

Well That Was Interesting

Mommy and Sabrina, having spent some of the day with a former neighbor and her daughter, picked me up at work so I could take them home and go back to the office. When we pulled into the driveway, I wondered aloud whose Dodge Durango was parked out front, and just then the person in the Durango's passenger seat honked its horn, and from the back of the house emerged a young hispanic fellow with shaved head, a bunch of tattoos and a small pair of scissors. I asked him "Can I help you?" to which he responded that he was looking for a friend. I asked "Did you find him behind my house?" and he said no, opening his hands to show me either a) that he had nothing of mine, or b) that he had a pair of scissors he was going to stab me with if I didn't let him pass. As I was unarmed and my wife and daughter were in the car, I let him go and got his license number, which I gave to the police when I called 911.

Every once in a while I miss being single. This is one of those times. I hate the fact that my family is exposed to this kind of thing, and as much as I appreciate how dumb it would have been to confront the guy or get physical with him, I really wanted to. I still do, I'd love to find him and sjambok him on the face, but that's not the kind of thing you can do when you have a family to think about. Which is a good thing, but I still sometimes miss being stupid and thoughtless, and doing the first dumb thing that occurs to me.

Birthday Baby

Sweet Sabrina turned two last Sunday, and on Saturday we had a birthday party for her at Kiddie Acres, which has been in Austin for 30 years or so and resembles nothing so much as a Scooby Doo set. Maybe the wintery nature of the trees gave more of an abandoned-airground feel than actually exists there, but I swear I heard the owner use the phrase "meddling kids" at least once.

Sabrina, and all of the kids there, absolutely loved it. There were real ponies, a little train that ran around the outside of the place, and a bunch of old carnival rides, like this merry-go-round (Sabrina's favorite) and a mini ferris wheel that looked slightly rickety but was a crowd favorite. Sabrina was hard to pry off the horsey you see here, and probably would have stayed there all day if we hadn't kept bothering her with cake and presents. Great fun all around.