Our Pretty Princess and Her Puffs

So, as you might know Anna was born big but seems to have just stayed the same. She decided to take a slide to the bottom of the growth charts at six months and stay there. She did give us a bit of a scare but, we soon found out that she was just hungry. Now, she is slowly climbing back up to where she belongs. I still get comments from complete strangers on how delicate she is. Whether it is because of her extremely narrow feet or the way she flutters her little fingers, I don't know. She's just Anna to me and I welcome the little fat rolls that are forming on her thighs. Isn't that what all girls want? Anyway, with all this fuss over her gaining weight, we learned that she adores Gerber puffs. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, little Cheerio-type cereals made from fruit and vegetables. I didn't have much of a knowledge of these things until a couple of months ago. When Harris was little they weren't to be found. Now, I am an expert on all the different varieties (sweet potato, corn, blueberry, apple cinnamon, and the ever exotic peach-mango), the generic brands, and the nutrient value. Anna loves them! She sits in her exer-saucer, for those with children born before 1995: a walker that doesn't move, and asks by hitting the little snack tray that is provided. She has good pinching skills and can quickly fill her little mouth with them. She can quickly go through a mountain of them then pants for more. Today, I put her down with some and you would think I was feeding her a hot fudge sundae other than almost tasteless morsels. I am astounded as me petite girl devours these treats. You wold think she would be gaining weight..lots of weight. yet, as I discovered, ninety puffs have only 25 calories. So, Anna eat a way. You have found the snack of the gods.

Our Little Card Shark

So, we have a problem or at least an issue. Our son has become, yes, a card shark. At all hours of the day he is shuffling through his deck trying to find what card is most valuable and what sneaky trades he can make. Yes, we are not the only ones with a problem, Harris has one too. When Harris was a toddler and we lived in University Village, I had a specific goal not to let my darling boy be a trader. Yes, a Pokemon trader. I would hope that this fad would wash by the wayside like Barney and Teletubbies. But, to my disdain it has appeared in my boy's life and has been reinforced by his own father. Aaron brought home a gallon Ziploc bag full of cards, after all our attempts to persuade Harris they were a waste of money to buy. To his credit, they were given to him by a medical assistant who was, at 18, now, too old for them. That should give you some inclination on the longevity of this trend. So I guess it was little relief to us that we might get spared a few weeks of Harris asking for more cards. To which we always reply, "They're a waste of money." Six bucks for a pack that contains 10 cards...and they don't come with gum. So, we were drivng home from school and Harris is telling me he has come to terms with not buying any new card packs. I was relieved. That is, until he explained that Sean down the street is unwise in trading and he could get his good cards with out hardly trying. You see, Harris is very astute to what a Pokemon is worth...he is studying right now as he watches Pokemon All-Stars, a ten disk set of shows covering the most important Pokemon and how they came to be. So, he has a plan and is making more as I type. Not only do I have no idea which Pokemon is of greatest value, shouldI be excited that he traded a Bathazar for a Scrmigeon; but, he is now ready to climb to the top of the Pokemon trader ladder and let no one knock him down. He has tactics. He has cards. So, as a warning, lock up your Pokemon, here comes Harris.

Our 24 addiction

O.k. mid-June we canceled our cable much to Aaron and Harris' sorrow. So it really has been great Harris can't watch too much Anime and I don't spend hours researching the recipes on the Food Network. I can't believe how many books I have read in the past two months. Yet, wondering through the local Blockbuster we picked up Music and Lyrics, which was finally at the store after a month of waiting (Is it that good?). Yet, for some reason on our way to the register we meandered through the TV section. Television at the movie store, that in itself is a blog entry...more on that later. So we see the rows of 24. Aaron says, maybe we should see what all the hype is about. HE goes on to explain that even my parents watch it. So I must have been in an extra good mood and threw all caution to the wind and we rented season 1 disc 1 and that was the end as we know it. I don't want to admit how many we watched the first night but we were hooked. Now we are dreading that we only have five episodes of the fifth season and no new releases or new season in near-sight. So this might not be as bad as it might look. Trust me it is bad. When you are trying to get out of the house without your infant daughter seeing you and exploding into tears and you ask your husband "am I clear?" as if your daughter's tantrum could destroy all hopes of finding the terrorists who are planning a nuclear attack on L.A., you are in trouble. Or when you are talking to you mom-in-law about your dad-in-law's suprise birthday party and you keep on thinkng , "this is a covert operation. Yes, they watch it too. Anyway, hopefully going cold turkey won't throw us into convulsions or other things.