There goes the neighborhood

When I was in my late twenties, I developed a penchant for Elmo. I hadn't actually spent a lot of time watching Elmo, but there was something very cute about the toddler sized muppet who spoke like a 2 year old.

Olivia's arrival led me to actually WATCH Sesame Street, and I now see the error of my ways. That little red monster is nearly as annoying as Barney. (He actually is MORE annoying than Barney if you account for the annoying factor of the 'Mr. Noodle' sidekick.)

Sesame Street has deteriorated -- and it's Elmo's fault. Elmo's popularity led the Sesame Street producers to dumb down the characters. In the old Sesame Street, characters had adult vocabularies and were presented in adult contexts. The new cast of muppets now act and speak like 4 year olds. A new muppet is introduced at approximately the same rate as Starbucks introduces a new flavored coffee.

Other signs of the Elmofication of Sesame Street -- the Odd Couple schtick between Ernie and Bert has been replaced by claymation fantasy videos, Frog on the street Kermit is nowhere to be seen, and Cookie Monster eats vegetables.

According to the New York Times, the DVD release of Old School Sesame Street actually contains a warning that the material may not be suitable for toddlers.

There goes the neighborhood.

Olivia learns how to bargain

(this is a rerun of a video spencer posted to Facebook.)

So that she can be a good Asian woman, we are teaching Olivia how to bargain from an early age.



(And a side poll, who is appalled that we let her drop the toothbrush on the floor and put it back in her mouth?)

Olivia making the chicken sound

Kids want to be like their parents

It's cute how kids like to do what they see their parents doing. We visited friends this weekend, they are both excellent cooks and always make nice meals and desserts each time we visit. They told us that their daughter loves to play in her play kitchen, it will entertain her for hours to pretend to cook a meal with her small pots and pans. We also have friends who love to go cycling, their kids love to put on their bike helmets and ride their training bikes.

What does it say about us that Olivia's new hobby is, uh, well see for yourself.

Another one of Olivia's new hobbies is to put herself into bed. She climbs onto the couch or our bed, puts her head on a pillow, tucks herself under a blanket then start singing the 'nighty night' lullaby that we often sing to her when we are putting to sleep. This would be great if she was putting herself to bed at 8 pm. Unfortunately, her 'bedtime' routine usually occurs immediately after breakfast.

Some new pics for the Luhs

We took Olivia to the 'Little farm' at Tilden park this weekend. We saw cows, chickens, sheep, and goats (which she was scared of.) As you can see in these pics, Olivia is getting very big.

Olivia continues to enjoy fastening fastex buckles. Hmm, maybe I should have invested in that $25 pillow after all. Well, it's too late now (by the time it arrives, the phase will have passed.)

Olivia also enjoys climbing back into bed after breakfast and tucking herself under the covers.

How do I get this job?

Here's my dream job.

I volunteer to map the South of France. Or anywhere in Italy.

It's that time of year again

The pear tree is exploding with pears, and they are starting to fall off the tree. It's that time of year that I ignore Olivia while I peel, purees, bake, and search for pear recipes online.

Aspirational mom

When I was young and in grad school, I read a lot of outdoor and travel magazines with aspirations of being able to paddle down big rivers or climb mountains. When I was single and working full time, I read a lot of gourmand blogs and lifestyle magazines with aspirations of having a stylish life of eating at cool restaurants and having a well decorated apartment where I threw cool parties. Now that I am am a parent, I find myself reading parenting blogs to kill time. I guess that's all I relate to nowadays. And wow, if I felt deficient that I didn't have time to fly to South America to climb or was always really disorganized when I threw parties, some of these moms really put me to shame. The fact that they can even maintain blogs on top of what they are doing is amazing. There's this blogger, who makes super cute box lunches for her kid. And these bloggers who blog about crafts, activities, and family outings.

It was this blog that planted the seed that I want a crock pot. Will a crock pot be like the electric teakettle that my brother bought us last year, an item that I can't believe I ever lived without? Or will this be like the kayak which I bought, but then only used 2 seasons.

I went through a phase of coveting an immersion blender (one of my friends planted the seed in my head that I could make my own organic baby food, not to mention delicious creamed soups and purees.) And also a sewing machine phase when I thought I could turn my old sweaters into cute felted wool baby dresses (damn you Martha Stewart.) Hopefully this too will pass.

By the way, I still aspire to get on the bay with my kayak. And I still kind of want an immersion blender.

Olivia 7.31