Shutterbug Mama

...some of you may remember last year's birthday fiasco for cadence to which the whole world was invited and 60 people actually showed up. we learned our lesson and decided that we will not throw any more bruhahas for our little progeny until she's old enough to clean it up herself afterwards.

...so this year, we didn't do anything spectacular. we invited only our immediate families for cake and candy and that's it. we also asked at least the siblings to please not bring any presents. i knew that gifts from the grandparents and great-grandmas would be inevitable, but i just didn't want people to feel like they had to get something for the kid every single birthday, and i also didn't want cadence to think birthdays are just about getting stuff.

we had a really nice time, definitely much more subdued than last year. cadence had a ball chasing her ay-pa (grandpa) around the condo and being doted on by every one else. and although we were tired after everyone left, it wasn't the type of party that will take days to recover from, like last year's was.

...as for our gifts to cadence, we got her her very own backpack embroidered with her name. i also filled it with some books and a stuffed elephant and a sigg water bottle, which she loves drinking from now. ted likes the backpack cuz he can put diapers and her snacks in it so cadence can carry her own stuff now.

we also got a very special gift from auntie lauren in sweden. she started a personalized alphabet scrapbook for cadence. using a 3-ring photo binder, she put in pages for the letters A, B, C and D with elaborately deocrated pages of items beginning with those letters, as well as photos of people in cadence's life, like Auntie Ali for the letter A, Auntie Becki for the letter B, Uncle Charles for the letter C and Uncle Dave for the letter D. i'll have to post some photos of the pages soon. lauren is so creative and artistic! it was such an unexpected surprise. she plans on adding more letters in the future, and i can't wait to see what she comes up with!

...yes, our little cadence is growing up so fast now! just in the past week, she's learned to climb on and off the bed like a pro (even i have a hard time getting in and out of our bed, which is pretty high off the floor), she had her first drink of cow's milk without complaining, and she put herself to sleep for a nap while i was busy tidying around the condo (she NEVER goes to sleep on her own when her mama's around!).

...she's also had some totally gnarly meltdowns, but i'm trying to accentuate the positives, and i refuse to think of these days as the 'terrible twos'...there's no reason why we won't get the 'terrific twos' instead. sometimes the temper tantrums are so downright frightening that it can be easy to forget that most of the time, she's totally delightful. i have to keep reminding myself that.

here's our little cadence practicing her drumming skills. i'd say we named her quite appropriately.

...it's official. cadence turned two today. happy birthday to our adorable little Boo!

my dearest cadence,

in a couple of days, you will be turning TWO YEARS OLD. it just blows my mind how quickly 730 days can fly by.

...i still remember the moment i heard you crying for the very first time when you were born. you had such strong lungs, even though you were 3 weeks early! even now, i have to say that you are very good at projecting your voice, which bodes well for a future as a rock star, live theatre actor, politician or traveling tent revival preacher. i know that some grown-ups upon whom you inflict your vocal propelling skills may not yet see that potential, but you pay them no mind.

at this time, i will not recap your entire past two year history, as this blog has done nothing BUT that since your arrival on this planet, but i did want to commemorate your special day by emphatically exclaiming for all the world wide web to hear/read/whatever-you-call-it that “I LOVE MY CADENCE! I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER!!!” just think of that justifiably-much-loathed diamond commercial where the dude shouts out his love for his blushing wife to all the pigeons and passers-by in venice's st. mark's square, before he presents her with a huge-ass diamond anniversary ring that supposedly erases all the embarrassment he’s caused her up to that moment in time. that’s what i’m doing here. i hope it will erase all the embarrassment i may have caused you as i faithfully recounted for the whole world wide web these past TWO YEARS about your

love,
your mama

september seems to be a big month for birthdays. all them christmas babies, right? uncle dave's birthday was saturday, and ted's mom hosted a get-together at their place. it was just us, dave and his fiance becki, becki's parents, grandma sophie, and mom and dad. it was our first time meeting becki's parents, who were totally nice.

...cadence loves going to grandma/grandpa's house, especially if uncle dave is going to be there. she pretty much monopolized his attention from the moment we drove up to the house.

...she did take a few moments to try out cousin mackenzie's old tricycle, which we will be keeping at grandma/grandpa's since we can let her ride it there without fear of cars running her over.

...for most of the evening, though, she was pretty much glued to uncle dave's side. it's so cute watching her lead him around by his finger. she started doing this with grandpa too, and by the end of the evening she would yell out 'ay-pa, where are you? ay-pa?!' it's nice to see her getting attached to her grandpa. i know some of my favorite childhood memories are of my grandpa.

...needless to say, ted's mom who is the hostess with the mostest made a mouthwateringly delicious dinner. she made this cold cucumber soup that i absolutely must get the recipe for. even cadence finished her bowl of pasta and peas w/ marinara. and that cheesecake was totally yummy. i'm gonna gain a few pounds just thinking about it...i think everybody had a good time. becki's parents were charming and got along just great with everyone. i can see why becki is so sweet and well-adjusted. dave is lucky to have her, and so are we!

some other september birthdays i know of are my friends connie (12th), caleb (15th), my cousin's boyfriend eric (19th), ted's brother charles (20th) and of course, our little cadence (24th). so happy birthday to all you september babies!

finally! a pair of jeans that fit cadence's skinny waist and tiny butt AND are still long enough for her height! i wish i'd known about adjustable waist jeans earlier. some stores like baby gap, old navy and gymboree incorporate an adjustable waist (as opposed to just an elastic waist) in their pants from sized 2T and up. and as you can see from these photos,

...and HELLO, FALL! woohoo! it's mid-september, and you know what that means. it's gonna be hoodie-wearing, hot tea-drinking weather soon, and i can't wait! it's actually been rainy lately, but i know that we can soon look forward to cool, crisp sunny autumn days.

...not much going on around here. cadence has been singing a lot lately. her favorites are twinkle, twinkle, if you're happy and you know it, and row row row your boat. she can actually sing most of the correct lyrics and a semblance of the melody. i think i need to find her a music class so she can sing and dance to her heart's content.

speaking of music, ted and tim and the gang are playing tonight at schubas. they are opening up for the emo boys from wheaton, sleeping at last. we're meeting up w/ ted's parents and local siblings and their significant others for dinner before the show tonight. it's an all ages show so i'm taking cadence (any my baby hawk, of course).

...now that i got my rant out of my system, let me catch up on the past week's events.

...my various out-of-town family members on my dad's side descended upon chicago over the weekend for a big reunion. my cousin jeannie and her boyfriend erik stayed with us. on thursday, we went to millenium park with our cousins casey and his brother ike (from austin,TX) for a special chic-a-go-go taping at the pritzker pavillion. thax douglas, chicago's rock 'n' roll poet laureate, read a poem as part of one of his last readings in chicago before he moves to new york city.

...saturday night was the big party at my eldest uncle jae's (all 3 of my dad's brothers in chicago are uncle jaes). jeannie's younger sister jessica, also from santa barbara, and my cousin inho, who's going to grad school in arcata,CA were also there. the only cousin missing was yonju's brother seunggi who happened to be in LA for the weekend. it's been 20 years since we were all in the same house, and as you can imagine, things were pretty loud with all the catching up going on.

...it was great spending time with my cousin jeannie and her boyfriend eric. cadence had fun playing with them, and i have to admit it was nice having two other people around to read to her and play catch with her and shower her with attention. eric will be going to school at the school of the art institute in january, so i hope to see lots more of them soon.

...all in all it was a long, tiring weekend, but we had lots of fun. we are still recovering from the lack of sleep, and i am already looking forward to this weekend so i can get some more relaxing in.

...i have to say, cadence really loves being with the big extended family. for some reason, when she's at a large family function, she just wanders around playing happily by herself, especially if whoever's house we're at has stairs. if she needs a little attention, she just grabs the nearest adult, and there is never a shortage of grownups delighted to pick her up or give her some fruit to graze on.

...now we're back to the reality of our little family...it's not as loud (except when cadence is screaming) and there's not as much drinking going on (although there is plenty, with ted's beers and all)...i just hope our next get-together happens before another 20 years have elapsed...

…no, cadence will not be raised with a christian heritage. and i know that will worry some of you, but i am so fed up with some people who call themselves christians right now that i would be ashamed for her to be raised with such a detestable legacy. you see, it was the behavior of these such “christians” that caused my teddy to declare yesterday, ‘that is why i am NOT a christian.’ thanks, guys. thanks a lot. all that i’ve done trying to show my husband that not ALL christians are legalistic bigoted narrowminded homophobic greedy environment-trashing sexist rude pricks has been for naught.

i really feel sorry for these elitist holier-than-thou fuckers who are so busy excluding from their association those whom they deem unworthy. what are they going to do when they find themselves in heaven and discover that God is so much more inclusive than they are? will heaven become hell for them? and i just don’t find it very convincing when you say that you don’t have a problem with someone’s lifestyle and then you say that you don’t approve of any of their decisions these past couple years. like why the fuck does a grown woman need YOUR approval? that's like mandy moore hitting jena malone over the head with a bible and screaming, "i am FILLED with christ's love!" in the movie saved!

i am pissed off right now, in case you haven’t noticed. this is one of my biggest pet peeves—people calling themselves christians who show no evidence except for the fact that they go to church and do quiet times and pray before their meals but who don’t hesitate to make other people (who don't also do all these things) feel like shit. come to think of it, i think that’s the exact definition of a pharisee, those people jesus called a brood of vipers and sons of the devil.

don’t get me wrong. i fully intend on sharing with cadence who god is to me. her life will not be entirely devoid of faith or church or even the bible. but i won’t hide from her all the imperfections either, and i will hope that she learns to think for herself and choose her own path in the journey of faith without having one shoved down her throat. and if there’s one thing i will teach her early on about following christ, it will be that there is never, ever any excuse for exhibiting spiritual arrogance by belittling someone else.

...well, it's been nutso around here. guests galore. there is no way i will be able to post anything that makes sense, so here's a photo of cadence and her new friend mia, my friend sang hui's daughter.

...and here, finally, is our new baby hawk mei tai! i absolutely love it! it is SOOOOO comfortable...this is of course my foofy side.

...and this is ted's side. my mom would freak out if she saw this. she'd think it were an invitation for evil spirits to torment our little cadence.