Shokufeh is... home

How do they know?

I just called home to see how Sam and MrMan's day is going. (Sam took time off, since MrMan's daycare is closed today and tomorrow.) Apparently, they're watching Pat and Stanley videos online. MrMan is quite taken with the ones that involve passing gas. I hear him in the background, yelling, "Doozh!*"

Are we hardwired to find bodily functions amusing?

*His pronunciation of gooz, or fart, in Persian

Prayer

O my God! O Thou forgiver of sins, bestower of gifts, dispeller of afflictions!
Verily, I beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world.
O my Lord! Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendors on the loftiest mount.
-`Abdu'l-Baha

Acknowledge it

How will you acknowledge today? Will it be by remembering the almost 2000 people who lost their lives? Will it be by thinking of the tens of thousands who are still struggling to put their lives back together?

By eating Louisiana seafood? Red beans and rice? Jambalaya?
By listening to Louis Armstrong? Branford Marsalis? Harry Connick, Jr?
By reading A Confederacy of Dunces? Interview with the Vampire? Brer Rabbit?
By going Cajun dancing? Twirling to Zydeco? Jamming to a Brass Band?

By buying gas?

However you do it, acknowledge it. Recognize all that New Orleans, and the Gulf Coast region, has offered and struggles to continue to offer. Because we can't do it alone. And worse than the struggling is the feeling that no one cares if we succeed.
To those of you who have acknowledged it, contributed to the rebuilding, kept us in your hearts - thank you.

...twelve toes

If, say, you have a child who is obsessed with rhinoceri,

may I recommend The Rhino Song?

Remembering when things were normal

As I'm sure many do these days, as we approach the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I often marvel at how normal things were just over two years ago. I will always be thankful for our visit here just a few weeks before the storm. When things were just normal. Not the "new normal."
I was six months pregnant, and some friends had a baby shower for us. Inevitably, when I pick up one of the items we received at that shower, I think about the fact that when people gave us these things, they had no idea. They couldn't begin to fathom. None of us could. That life here was about to be turned upside down. That many of our belongings were about to be washed away. Some were to burn down to the ground.
In that perspective, the books and stuffed animals that MrMan enjoys are endowed with a greater significance. Not only were they given with love, they were some of the last things people could afford to give for a while.

A proud moment

Have you been wondering at what age bathroom humor develops? Apparently 21 months. A few nights/very-early-mornings ago, MrMan was having a hard time falling back to sleep. And sharing his hard time with all of us. In his wisdom, Sam distracted him by asking him questions about a very detailed poster we have on our wall. "Where is...? Where is...?" MrMan would point each thing out. At some point, though, the exploration went downhill. Out of the blue, MrMan started pointing to different things on the poster and exclaiming, "Poo poo!" and then cracking up. Don't ask me where he learned it. It's slightly embarassing, a wee bit concerning, but mostly amusing. Who doesn't like a little bathroom humor?

It does take a village

... or at least a household of four adults.
I really don't know how the single parents do it.
This morning, I discovered that MrMan's daycare will be closed for a five (count them, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but don't get me started on his daycare!) day weekend for Labor Day. Having recently started this job, I'm not yet entitled to vacation. It looks like Sam will be able to take those two extra days off.
This afternoon, I got a call saying that MrMan was running a fever. (I guess that tongue issue he was complaining about this morning has become a bigger issue.) My mom usually picks him up, since she's able to get to him an hour before we would. We sorted out that she would pick him up a little earlier than normal, and that would be only a little later than when one of us could get there if we left work right then.
I'm so thankful that MrMan has four adults to regularly administer hugs and kisses and love. But I'm also thankful for the multiple bodies when working out the logistics of raising a wee one.

His newests

MrMan's newest trick?
Whenever he throws or hits (which, luckily, is not as much as it could be, but, unfortunately, more than it should be), he accompanies the action with an "Ouch!"
Nice of him to supply the reaction for us, or his Little People horses.

His newest obsession? (Which is an expansion of a previously mentioned one.)
His newly acquired stuffed rhino, compliments of Emmaleigh. Her mom passed it on to me last week, and they've been pretty inseperable since. MrMan wants to feed him and hold his water cup to his mouth and bring him in the bathtub.... We draw the line there. The rhino came with some red yarn wrapped around his neck. MrMan uses this as a leash and likes to walk the rhino around the house.
Thanks, Emmaleigh!

Are you kidding me?!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore by the egg on our face. But, c'mon, a prominent member of our City Council, too? I swear, they're going to kick us out of the Union: Be gone with you, 49 states are enough!

I get so angry with these turdnecks running and representing our city.

More

daughter, sister, wife, mother
I am all of these things
daughter, sister, wife, mother
But I am so much more
daughter, sister, wife, mother
Not that these things aren't important to me
daughter, sister, wife, mother
Some of the greatest titles a woman can carry
daughter, sister, wife, mother
They are roles
daughter, sister, wife, mother
Ones that I've always wanted to play
daughter, sister, wife, mother
Now that I do
daughter, sister, wife, mother
I see that are a part of me
daughter, sister, wife, mother
Not who I am

Everyone clap now

One of the (many) things about MrMan that charms me is his clapping for himself, after a job well done. Such as

... joining us in ducking our heads in the water, while in our neighbor's pool on Sunday. He didn't really get to choose as to whether his head was one of the wet ones, but he handled it well, several times in a row. (We were there for a granddaughter's birthday, and it was fun. Complete with an inflatable fifteen-foot water slide.)

... enduring two shots at the doctor's office yesterday. I recently realized he was overdue for a couple of vaccines. It was worth the wait, because he was such a big boy about it. He totally dug the stickers she gave him and was very cooperative with the physician. When the nurse gave him the shots, he crinkled up his face and said, "Ouch. Knee." (He applies that word to anywhere on the leg.) But he didn't cry and was totally over it once the bandaids were on.

... urinating in the toilet this morning. My visions of a potty-trained boy have not yet been realized. Not long after a wrote this entry, I realized the big glitch: he likes to defecate alone, but doesn't like to sit on the potty (or on his special toilet seat), nor in the bathroom, alone. Until he becomes more comfortable with someone being in the room with him while he defecates, or with sitting alone on the toilet, I will be changing diapers. And that's okay. But, this morning, after breakfast, his diaper was still dry from the night. So I asked him if he wanted to sit on the toilet. He sat for a minute, then wanted off. I carried him back to the changing table. He wanted back on the toilet, and this time he promptly urinated.

I think this congratulatory clapping is a good habit. Maybe it means he won't need everyone else to clap him through life.

Getting off the roller coaster

After going back and forth on our decision for the past four days, every twenty minutes, we finally decided for real. Not to buy the house. On Sunday, we called the seller and the agent and said we'd decided against the purchase. But I guess we hadn't really committed to that decision, since we spent much of yesterday and today trying to figure out whether to make it more final by calling the contractor and the mortgage company. We really flip-flopped, and today really surprised each other, at different times, with our so-called-final decisions: "Really, you think we should buy it?!"..."Wait, I expected you to say you wanted to buy it!" But, really, finally, we decided we're not ready for home ownership, and all that comes with it, right now. We contacted the contractor and the mortgage agent to let them know. And made an appointment with the real estate agent to sign the cancellation and give back the keys. We're both a little sad. (Especially after we went to a Night Out Against Crime block party for the neighborhood, I was sad not to be buying a house in Broadmoor.) But who knows what the future will hold? For now, I'm feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest.

To buy or not to buy

I've never bought a house before, but I imagine that doing so requires a certain leap of faith. Faith in expectations - that the house will be what you think it to be, that your income will continue as is or greater, that nothing catastrophic will come between you and those payments every month, that your neighborhood will continue to be a place that you want to live.... Basically, that life will be as good as, or better than, it has been. And that buying the house will contribute to that goodness. I think even for people with lots more money than me, home buying requires a bit of that faith.

In New Orleans these days, faith is required for everything. The housing market is no exception. Will the neighbors come back? Will this be a viable neighborhood? Will the contractor not rip me off? Will my insurance premiums remain affordable? (Ha!) Will my property tax stay in the realm of reality? Will we, as a city, get our act together? Will the city exist twenty years from now?

This idea of leaping is scary, especially for us cautious sorts. I believe in this city. But I temper that belief with knowledge that not everyone shares this belief, and that we can't do it alone. And these days, the news is filled with stories of people who took that leap of faith and bought a house. And instead of that leap taking them into a cozy home to come to every night, it eventually slammed them face-first into the pavement. I blame the concept of the American Dream. I blame the mortgage companies who tell people they can afford a house beyond their means. I blame the people themselves who didn't look closely enough at their finances. I don't want to blame myself.

But I still haven't figured out where that leap might take me.

Trying to find home insurance in New Orleans

Hi, I'm in the process of trying to buy a house and need to get a quote for homeowner's insurance.
What state?
Louisiana.
What city?
New Orleans.
I'm sorry, we're not writing policies in that area.

Hi, I'm in the process of trying to buy a house and need to get a quote for homeowner's insurance.
...Louisiana.
...New Orleans.
...Yes, the house flooded.
I'm sorry, we can't write a policy if the house flooded.

Hi, I'm in the process of trying to buy a house and need to get a quote for homeowner's insurance.
...Louisiana.
...New Orleans.
...Yes, the house flooded.
...No, the house next door is not currently occupied.
I'm sorry, we can't write a policy if the house next door is vacant.

Hi, I'm in the process of trying to buy a house and need to get a quote for homeowner's insurance.
...Louisiana.
...New Orleans.
...Yes, the house flooded.
...No, the house next door is not currently occupied.
That will be one third the cost of your principle and interest, please.

Forgettions

Shouldn't that be a word? Forgettions. The things you've forgotten.

I don't want this to become a forgettion:
Two days ago, MrMan said his own name for the first time. He usually refers to himself as Neenee ("baby" in Persian). But the other night, he was claiming that our bed, as well as his, belonged to [MrMan]. Since then, he's used his name a few more times. His version of his name sounds kind of like Kai, but with hints of extra syllables thrown in, for lack of a better description.

Mystical wary toyland

When it comes to toys for MrMan, I'm sometimes a bit leery of things with paint. It's not neccessarily that I'm fearful that they've been dipped in lead paint, which my child will then ingest, and turn into a cretin. I just wonder if maybe the paint will flake or scrape off. And, to me, ingestion of paint, regardless of its content, is not a good thing. (Though there are definitely some paints that are worse to eat than others.) And a toy with a crappy-looking paint job is ugly ;)

Every once in a while, though, I buy him a toy that's painted. It's hard not to do, if you want to buy your child any toys. With Mattel's recent recall, I scrolled through the numerous items, looking for something familiar. I found two. So, now I have a dilemma. We have a Sesame Street Shape Sorter and an Elmo Collectible. (There is something so very ironic about the fact that these toys market a show with a reputation for teaching, but that the toys themselves are delivering a substance that interferes with the learning process.) However, both were bought before May 1, 2007. But I wonder, what system-wide event happened on May 1, that can make them (and me) certain that our toys are free of lead paint? On the other hand, if I'm willing to throw out these two toys - two toys that he doesn't even play with that much - without any evidence that they have lead paint, should I also throw out his press 'n' go one-of-Thomas'-friends train? It wasn't part of the Thomas recall, but.... Where does one stop, if you're choosing to start? Maybe what I should start is stopping the purchase of any painted toys. Then I don't have to scurry to any websites when there's talk of lead paint. And by virtue of the fact that I'm severely limiting what we can buy, there will, eventually, be fewer toys to trip over.

Current obsessions

MrMan's current obsessions:

1) His new green toothbrush with a train on it. Nothing special, but he's glommed onto it - he's fallen asleep clutching it most nights since we bought it a couple of weeks ago. Today he took it to school. I've decided not to freak out about its sanitation. I should be happy he's taken a modicum of interest in his oral health. He does not have such a fascination with his older toothbrush, also green, but with a picture of Sam I am on it. He has recently recognized that it's a picture of Sam, but that doesn't make him carry the toothbrush around, despite the fact that he's obsessed with...

2) Green Eggs and Ham. "Egg!" is something we hear a lot of these days. Not to be confused with the food item, which he usually refers to by its Persian name (or a semblance of it - "Mormor"). First thing in the morning - "Egg!" Last thing at night - "Egg!" It doesn't matter how many times he's been read the book that day, or how many times he's watched the video of it on YouTube. "Egg!" We'll supply a line, he'll supply the last word of the next. Last night, as he was falling asleep, he was recounting the story on his own: "Box. Fox. Mouse. Car. Tree. Train. Goat. Boat." I feel like in no time, he'll be "reading" the whole book to us.

3) Counting. I guess it's not surprising, considering how much Sam and I count things, but MrMan is finally moving past his favorite number two. Often in the car, I'll hear him in the back seat, mumbling numbers. Yesterday, he seemed to be counting oak trees. He'll usually do a few in a row. Then jump to a different part of the sequence. "2, 3, 4...9, 10..." This week, he's pretty much mastered counting to five, in English and in Persian. Part of his and my mom's afternoon bonding sessions. Having her off for the summer has really helped in my return to work - she'll often keep him company while he eats breakfast, and Sam and I get ready, and she picks him up from daycare most afternoons. Then they do things like run errands (more fun with MamanJan), explore pond life, or count handfans.