(partial) Gratitude List

Our Thanksgiving vacation spanned five days this year. The celebration seemed to highlight themes of friends, family, food, and freetime--all things at the top of my gratitude list.

Among many things, I am grateful for:

our little family
those who have taught me (by word and example)
music (and listening ears)
extended family
Parry's baking skills
food
good eaters (Ramona's first Thanksgiving meal was sweet potatoes)
(she loves her spoons now)
Grandpa Parry

smiles
Teresa
naptime
walktime

long-time friends (we saw some familiar faces at a wedding reception in Decatur)
occasional pranks (Ramona dumped a glass of water on Scott)
Grandma Carol
pack 'n plays (even when Ramona refuses to sleep in them and tries to escape)
walktime
naptimefood

(and the hands that prepare it)pretty colors
ojiichan and obaachan
It seemed appropriate to end the festivities by sending a thank-you note (albeit belated) for a baby gift from Japan.
Ramona even signed it herself.

Growing Up

Forest still wants to be an electrical engineer when he grows up. So far, he is on track for reaching this goal. After working several years as a professional student, he completed his prelim presentation for a panel of professors on Tuesday. His graduation is set for May 2010, assuming all goes well, and the job hunt has already begun.

I still want to be an orchestra teacher when I grow up. While Forest was presenting on Tuesday afternoon, I was traveling between a couple of elementary schools, subbing for a local strings teacher. Although I don't do this very often, I enjoy dusting off my group-music-instructor-hat when occasion permits. But the mommy-hat is always there--that is the one that never really gets put away. Sometimes I dream about the possibility of starting a career at age 40. Perhaps I should start saying: "I want to be an orchestra teacher when my baby grows up." Maybe then it will be easier to wear both hats at the same time.

Ramona, what do you want to be when you grow up? You just want to be a crawling baby right now, don't you? Keep up the good work--you'll move forward eventually. Until then, we are happy to watch you scoot backwards, spin in circles, and do your baby push ups.

Let All the Babes in Every Corner Sing

Picture a lady dressed all in black, practically tripping on her skirt, carrying a red cello case on her back and pushing a bundled baby in a stroller up the sidewalk towards a recital hall.

Now picture a pre-concert rehearsal for two choirs. One choir is on the stage, surrounding a grand piano in a semicircle and warming up their voices. A stroller sits behind this choir in the corner of the stage, as the baby inside quietly leans forward and looks up at the high ceiling and sparkling lights. The other choir is seated below, listening and awaiting their turn. The choir on stage runs through their last piece and eventually reaches the penultimate phrase, pausing for a moment of silence and musical suspense before the final phrase is sung. The hall is suddenly filled with the sound of a high-pitched infant squeal, and everyone turns toward the stroller with peals of laughter as one soprano covers her face in embarrassment.

That soprano was me, last night, before this concert:
And the baby was, of course, Ramona.

This is my third semester singing with a choir called The Heritage Singers, led by Danny McDavitt, a composer and DMA candidate for choral conducting. Last night we combined with his other choir--The University Chorus--for a joint concert at the familiar Smith Recital Hall.

This is Ramona's first semester with the choir, and although she attended numerous rehearsals and even sung an impressive solo at the final warm-up, she did not actually participate in this performance. Forest came and sat with her in the lobby during the concert while she took a nap in her stroller.

The cello was only necessary for about 5 minutes of the entire program, but I was happy to be able to play it on that stage again. Singing felt good, too. Congratulations to Danny for a successful concert, and much thanks to Forest and Ramona for their support of my musical adventures.

so much for spoons

Today I was about ready to give up feeding Ramona solid foods and wait a few weeks before trying again. Lately my offers of vegetable purees and rice cereal have been met with looks of disgust, gagging, and general crankiness. When she had a complete meltdown over her green beans today, I promptly pulled her out of her high chair and wondered if she would continue to refuse anything other than milk for the rest of her life.

Once she had quieted down, I began chewing on my usual post-lunch apple when I got the idea of dabbing some baby food on an apple core and offering it to Ramona that way. She has been known for her attempts to steal (and suck on) my apple cores in the past, so it seemed worth a try.

When she saw the glob of green beans on top of that apple core, she regarded it in a completely new light. Her eyes lit up and she reached out to grab the offering and boldly licked off the green goo until it was gone. I dabbed on some more, and she did the same.

So much for the cute little baby spoons I got for her. This child seems to prefer her meals served on a chewed-up piece of refuse.

First Halloween

The many Halloween costumes of Ramona:

Black cat (thank you Carol)
Jack-o-lantern (thank you Amber)
Illini cheerleader (thank you Rosanne)
I never thought we would manage a family costume theme, but here we are: Forest as an Illini fan, me as a basketball hoop, and of course Ramona as our spirited cheerleader.

I-L-L! I-N-I!

SWOOSH

Happy Halloween!

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