Bird watching

Last night, Jonah sat down next to Gabriel on the loveseat, with his hands behind his head, just how his Dada was sitting. I pointed this out to Gabriel.

G: Oh, hi, parrot.

J: Hi, parrot.

G: Jonah, are you the parrot?

(slight pause)

J: Squawk!

Back to Alaska

Though I do think that most in the media hate her and accordingly want to tear her down, I'm starting to think along the lines of Kathleen Parker's column in National Review Online (click here) when it comes to Sarah Palin. What a mess.

Baby model

I hope that Jonah doesn't suffer extreme embarrassment in ten years when we trot out this series of pictures, which is sure to become known as "Jonah's first modeling portfolio." (Yes, I was asking him to model this jacket for me, but only to make sure that it fit.) Wouldn't you buy clothes that this baby was selling?


"You know it -- I'm beautiful."

Silly baby!

This kid never listens to his mother.





Which Manny do you find the most silly?

Sand again!

My dear friend Rachel, who is, I think, the only actual, honest-to-goodness friend that I've retained from three years at two different grad schools, is fortunate enough to live a half block from Lake Michigan. We were fortunate enough to be able to go visit her in August. My boys couldn't care less about the water (the lake is cold! and noisy!), but they do love to play in/eat the sand. They also love their Auntie Rachel.

Adios, Michigan

This, my friends, is the last of our pictures of our summer sojourn in Michigan. True, these events all happened two months ago now, but they are current topics of conversation for Jonah, thus, still relevant.

Everyone knows that no trip to Michigan is complete without hours of playing with Pop-Pop's special trucks. The logging truck and dump truck are Jonah's favorites, while he relegates the white "jeep truck" to "if-someone-wants-to-play-with-me-they-get-this-uncool-jeep-truck" status. These trucks are actually antiques, so Gangee and Mama save their sanity by telling Jonah that he can only play with them when Pop-Pop is home; otherwise, we'd be playing with them all the time. Also popular: The giant dump truck and frontloader in the sandbox. Jonah can play for hours in the sandbox: scoop, dump and repeat.

This activity manages to keep both boys entertained; thus, a family favorite.
Chubby buddy!

This trip to a tractor show with Pop-Pop was quite possibly the highlight of Jonah's summer. He still talks about it in a very particular soft, excited voice that he uses to talk about things he loves. In fact, as I type this, Jonah is telling me, "I go to tractor show with Pop-Pop. I have fun with Pop-Pop."

Question: Was Jonah correctly able to identify this tractor as a steam tractor?

Answer: Absolutely yes.
Though you can't tell from the look on his face, here Jonah is enjoying a ride on a wagon, pulled by horses, if I remember correctly. That is, at least, what Jonah tells me. He still talks about this. "I ride wagon! I ride horses on the wagon!"
And, pizza, of course, is always fun. This day just keeps getting better and better. Watching the airplane show. Because of course there will be airplanes at a tractor show!
Sharing a milkshake on the way home. I've heard about this one innumerable times as well.

summer

These are some pictures from our Michigan sojourn, taken at a park near my parents' house. The park is no big deal, but I think that the pictures are cute.


Jonah does not stop. Go! Manny was none too happy at being 'abandoned' in the grass. ("Arms' length" = "abandonment" in his mind.)
He did cheer up on the way home, however, when he could (a) hold something soft and (b) suck on his thumb. The sweet life of a little baby!

SP, part II

I just read this article from the NY Times, which discusses what the Sarah Palin candidacy does to the debate on working mothers. The issue is fascinating. The choices that my husband and I have made in our own lives reflect our general opinion of mothers working outside of the home,* or, more accurately, of parents leaving the primary care-giving to other people. I don't think that mothers who do so are terrible mothers, or don't deserve their children, or anything like that. And I am happy that there is a woman in this race, if only for the sake of there being a woman in the race (hey, at least I can admit it!). I was actually quite disappointed when Hillary Clinton dropped out; on the other hand, if I now vote for a woman, I'm not also condoning abortion. Yet while I'm excited about a woman in the race, I also question the wisdom of this, considering that this woman is in charge of five young lives. And it's no secret that one is now facing a crisis of her own -- teen pregnancy and marriage -- while another has inborn disabilities that require a lot of care. I find it ironic that many social conservatives are so thrilled to have a pro-life woman on their side that they are apparently ignoring the fact that she is a working (outside-the-home) mother, which, I'm sure, is a species that no small number of them decry in most other situations. If she were a Democrat, I think that conservatives would be leaping out of the woodwork saying that she is essentially sacrificing her family on the altar of ambition. But because she's a pro-life Republican, she apparently gets a pass? This seems so hypocritical.

For all I know, Sarah Palin is an amazingly organized, energetic woman who will be able to 'balance' family and the second-highest office in the land. Just because I am always running late, scolding myself for wasting time on unnecessary pursuits and feeling that my house is perpetually a mess doesn't mean that every other woman suffers from the same faults. Our sons' godmother, for example, manages to cook, clean and do any number of other things that come with raising three kids while her husband is in law school full-time AND works full-time. It is truly amazing. And come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that, whatever else she might do, Sarah Palin doesn't do the cooking, the laundry, or the sweeping of the floors. However, regardless of whatever spousal or outside support she might receive, I am at least a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a mother of five young children taking on such a job, just as I am uncomfortable with the apparent about-face that many conservatives are doing regarding the issue of working mothers. The Times article is interesting at least in part because of the variety of opinions expressed by a variety of women, Democrat, Republican and undecided. The effect of Palin's choice on the election, if there is any detectable effect, will be interesting to observe.**

* I should say that I can see myself working outside of the home part-time, if there were a need (we're happy that there is not), or if some amazing, singular opportunity presented itself. I am NOT anti-woman, or anti-mother in the workforce.

** The Sept 5 post from the Ochlophobist is only loosely related to my own above; I just wish that I could be so funny regarding my own abiding political cynicism. Sept 3 is also a hoot, perhaps more so than Sept 5.

Nice day for a wedding

On July 4, my sister married Greg. Did I come back with a camera full of pictures? No, I didn't. The same thing happened to me at my wedding -- I have one rather silly picture of Gabe and I dancing with some of my cousins and THAT'S IT. Sad. The wedding was in Greg's parents' vacation home's backyard, surrounded by trees, and the day was beautiful, as was the wedding. Anyway, here are the pictures we DO have. Congratulations to the happy couple! (Only one of whom is pictured below. Again, very sad.)

My maternal grandmother, Ruth, my mom, Kara and me at the hair & makeup salon. The Moo-ster was really looking cute that day, lounging in the grass.
Here is one of the few pictures of Jonah on his 2nd birthday, though you may recall a certain video in which he was begging for a "big beer." That was on his birthday, too. Our son knows how to ask for a birthday present!
At the reception, Manny practices cup-drinking. The Sanchezes don't do sippy cups! Currently, at age 10.5 months, Manny is almost spill-free. Am I bragging? Sorry. =) Here's our family picture of the day. Please ignore the fact that Jonah looks terrified and Manny looks like he just saw something he didn't want to. They were tired from behaving so well during the ceremony. Two of the four of us looking happy isn't bad.