Amanda's School Photo 2010

In her 2008 and 2009 school photos, Amanda had this way of looking at the photographer with a combination of bemusement and mild condescension. It is a look she inherited from her father, who has perfected it.

Here, Amanda gives the look to the photographer trying to snap her photo for her very first school photo, in 2008.




In her 2009 photo, the look is is refined.




This year, however, Amanda chose to flash her beautiful, winning smile. While I am thrilled that she gave us such a perfect school photo for 2010, I am a little sad she has abandoned the scowl. It is yet another example of how fast she is growing up.

More New Tricks

For the past few weeks, Amanda has spent entire afternoons at the park asking me to hold her legs while she swings her arms over and over and over again from bar to bar to bar. She would protest every time we visited a park that did not have any monkey bars. It was fun to watch her so determined to accomplish something new, but I have to admit the spotting was getting tiresome -- especially at playgroup, where it was really getting in the way of me gabbing with the other moms, which, let's be honest, is the real purpose of playgroup. Last week, she finally did it without a spot, and today I was able to capture her on video. Sorry for the terrible quality. I shot it with my ancient cell phone. Maybe Santa Claus will bring me an iPhone.

When Lawyers Become Parents

I'm in Elizabeth's room chatting with Brian while changing her diaper.

Brian: You forgot to close the lid to the baby wipes again.

Me: Mhmm.

Brian: You know, when we don't close the lid, that next wipe in the container gets all dried out and we can't use it.

Me: You may have mentioned that a few hundred times since Amanda was born.

Brian: I mean, we may as well just throw out half the wipes in the package right when we open it.

Me: No, it isn't like throwing out half the wipes in the package.

Brian: Yes, it is exactly like that. If every time we use the wipes, we waste one, we are wasting half the wipes in the package. It would be more efficient if we just threw out half of them right when you open it.

Me: No, it isn't at all like that. Implied in your argument are some wipe assumptions that aren't correct.

Brian: Really. What are my "implied wipe assumptions"?

Me: First, you assume that the entire wipe is ruined by being left out in the open air. However, usually only the top half of the wipe that is sticking out is dried out. The bottom half is usually just fine. Second, your argument assumes that we only use one wipe per diaper change. One wipe hardly ever gets the job done. Usually it takes at least three. Therefore, it is actually more like a 3:1 ratio of used wipes to wasted wipes, not 1:1, assuming, incorrectly, that the wipe sticking out is completely unusable. When you take into account that the bottom half is usually fine, it's more like a 6:1 ratio of used to wasted wipes.

Brian: Interesting. Let me revise: You may as well throw out one sixth of the wipes in the package right when you open it.

Me: Maybe you have a point.

Amanda's New Room

A few months back, Amanda started complaining that her toddler bed was too small. She took to quoting One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. "This is no good; this is not right; my feet stick out of bed all night!" We took the hint and moved the full-sized guest bed into her room and said goodbye to the toddler bed.

It was time to re-decorate, so I called the best decorator I know -- Amanda's grandma. She transformed Amanda's room into a cozy oasis fit for a big girl. Amanda loves it, and so does the rest of the family. We spend lots of time in Amanda's room now, reading books, snuggling, and occasionally jumping on the bed.

Thank you Joan, for giving Amanda and the rest of us this wonderful gift.