Walden Cake Walk

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Vacaville & Performance

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Henry 3rd Birthday

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Dad & Liv, Picante snuggle

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Olivia's Birthday Mix 2009

For the third year running, we've kept track of songs Liv has liked and put them on a CD as a mix. Then we make copies and hand them out at her birthday in "goody bags." I hope that we can look back fondly on the music that has interested our NOW SIX YEAR OLD GIRL (wow!). For the record, the songs of 2009 were: Carmen Suite: Habanera - Bizet Carmencita - Devendra Banhard Comic Strip - Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot Do The Del Viking - Patrice Holloway Escribeme Pronto - Mexican Institute of Sound Give Me A Kiss - Van Morrison Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey Good To Sea - Pinback Harmony - Sly and the Family Stone Heat Wave - Martha and the Vandellas Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain and Tenille Pairon Main Bandan Hai - from the film Meer Saara Photosynthesis - The Hot Toddies Red Sun - Anoushka Shankar Search and Destroy - Peaches Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She and Him Yes We Can Can - Pointer Sisters (*) You Are the Blood - Sufjan Stevens (*) Liv told me today that the Pointer Sisters song is a mistake, she didn't ask for it. And I remembered that she spent a few weeks asking for "Rock the Casbah." So mistakes were made! (btw, I've created a new category, "Birthdays," for this and other b-day related posts.)

19 month checkup

Weight: 25 lbs 10 oz Height: 34.5 inches (I think this is off by at least one inch - he's outgrown a lot of pants in the last few months) H.C.: 50cm

Election Day Thoughts From Liv

The other day Olivia saw a woman on the corner, in the rain, holding up a "No on 8" sign. "What do those letters say, mom?" she asked. I braced myself. Olivia has been "bored" by the election lately. "Yeah, yeah, Obama. And the other guy is McCain. It's not very interesting to me." We try to explain why it's interesting to us. Someday, T. Jay told her, you will read about, and study this election. "It's boring for kids," she responds. So I explained that the election wasn't just about deciding who would become president. I told her that some people wanted to make a law about who could get married. That this law would make it so that a man could only marry a woman, a woman could only marry a man. And that the woman on the corner was holding up a sign to say she didn't want to make that law. Without missing a beat Olivia asked, "You mean they tell you who to marry? You don't get to choose the person for yourself?" There's some wisdom there, methinks.

Henry: 16 month Doctor's Visit

Weight: 24 lbs 10 oz (lost a few ounces) - 50th percentile Height: 34 inches - 95th percentile HC: 49 cm - 95th percentile

Olivia's Birthday Mix 2008

The favorite songs of year 5: Mansard Roof - Vampire Weekend Fight Test - Flaming Lips 15-Step - Radiohead A-Punk - Vampire Weekend She Don't Use Jelly - Flaming Lips Ants in My Pants - James Brown I Wanna Be Like You - Los Lobos - from "Stay Awake" album of Disney covers They All Ask'd For You - The Meters Magic Penny - Malvina Reynolds Good Morning - Kelly, O'Connor & Reynolds/Singin' in the Rain Little April Shower - Natalie Merchant & Michael Stipe - from "Stay Awake" album of Disney covers Turn Around - Nancy Griffith Think About Your Troubles - Harry Nilsson (from the awesome movie "The Point") Nasty Dan - Johnny Cash Henry My Boy - Woody Guthrie Singin' in the Rain - Gene Kelly Make 'Em Laugh - Donald O'Connor/Singin' in the Rain Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland/Wizard of Oz Over the Hiccups - Negativland

Beasties and Cupcakes (explicit lyrics)