Christmas

We didn't have a tree so we strung lights on Satchel's Castle. Satchel loved his gifts! I couldn't get a good shot of Satch opening his gifts because he was at 'em before the sun up.

• Lion
• Personal penguin
• Hog Wild Scooter
• A special chair
  
• Cog Wheels
• Wooden Train
• Wooden bed for his animals
• Plush farm
• Blocks and
  
• More Blocks
  
• Puzzles
• Lots of cool threads
• Stacking rings
• Abacus

Penguin gets ready for bed while Lion takes one more bite of his felted pizza a la pixie!

Happy Holidays!

We are moving to DC tomorrow and will be in computer limbo. See you soon......

And She Is Going To Dance

Dancing for joy!

We are so fortunate. We lived in one of the coolest homes in CNY and helped bring it back to life. We got to know some wonderful people, like the the tribe of women who gave me this card. We found another cool nest that we're diggin' in a new city.

A new chapter begins in just two days....

and I am going to dance.

Ho Ho Ho

otherwise known as the ballad of the celluloid fat man....

The best santa I've ever seen is the one at ABC Home in NYC. I was shopping for xmas gifts one day and there was a santa behind me that I thought was part of the display because he looked so perfect. Then he gave me a little wink and a grin and I suddenly realized he was real. His costume was gorgeous as was his complexion, his long white hair and beard were genuine and he even had sparkly eyes. I suddenly felt like a kid again and the world seemed a bit more magical!

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm going to get Satchel's picture taken with Santa. Satchel is very cautious about strangers and does not like it when they get in his space. I think this is very wise in todays world and I try to honor his wishes. So, not this year, no.

I am always surprised by the number of people who persist in spite of Satchel's very clear message of, "No No". I've had to advocate on his behalf on more than one occasion stating, "Satchel is telling you 'no' because he does not want you to touch him...he doesn't like strangers to get in his space".

I've been struggling with the whole Santa tradition for the last two years. On the one hand it makes the world seem like magic for one day. On the other hand there is plenty of magic in the world that is genuine...like conception and birth...nature. I want to foster a healthy sense of wonder and imagination yet I worry about him feeling betrayed or tricked. As he gets a little older, I do plan to talk about how other countries celebrate...like the gift-giving gnomes of Norway etc.

I clearly remember the day my brother asked my mother about Santa...and I'll never forget how he broke down and cried. It was one of the saddest things to witness.

This article by Jan Hunt really gave me something to think about. 

*Speaking in code here in case little ones are peeping over shoulders:

How do you feel about the tradition?
As a child, were you told by someone or did you figure it out?
How did you feel?
What was your child/s reaction to the realization?

Any suggestions?

*Addendum (2009):  On the other hand, I this beautiful post brought tears to my eyes and I think may hold the key.

Winterlight Castle

Living with a toddler is like living with a caveman. There are a lot of monosyllabic words and grunts mixed with some frustration when you don't quite understand the language. We have our good days when we totally connect and our bad days when we completely frustrate each other. Each day we start anew with the best intentions. ( I ordered this dvd and will let you know how it goes)

Yesterday was a good day. A big box of Christmas gifts arrived from Satchel's Grandma & Grandpa Cox. I quickly put the gifts aside and grabbed a utility knife. Satchel stood at the safety gate watching and whining, not quite sure why his mama was going midieval on the box. Ten minutes later the "Winterlight Castle" emerged.


















Satch was so excited that he flapped his arms like little wings and I thought, "wouldn't it be wonderful if we could float from happiness".


















He immediately figured out how to work the drawbridge.


















He stood at the castle window and I said, "let me see your face", then he tucked his wee hand under his cheek in the sweetest way to show me his face.

















He picked up his new book and read it while sitting on his drawbridge.


















After the excitement settled, I bundled up my boy and took him outside for a winter wagon ride (so that I could get the trash ready for pick up).

Power Pasta

Satchel has entered the picky stage of toddlerhood. He'll eat fruit, cheese and pasta and these for certain, but anything that does not have sauce or cheese on it is now questionable.

I ran out of yogurt for his mac n' cheese so I decided to substitue 1/2 c of silken tofu instead. I blended it smooth in a bowl with the cheese first before adding it to the pasta. Adding tofu rather than milk increases the protein...here's the skinny:

• Organic plain yogurt = 2.18 G protein per 1/2 c serving (but creamier than milk)
  
• Organic whole milk = 3 G protien per 1/2 c serving
• Mori Nu Silken Tofu = 4G protein per 1/2 cup and creamier than yogurt
  

I've been trying to figure out a way to pump up the protein in a typical pasta dish, so last night I tried adding a carton of Mori Nu soft silken tofu to our tomato sauce and blended it smooth. The results were like that of a velvety "pink" sauce. Delicious! It would make a great base for a vegetarian vodka sauce too. It reminded me a little of Raos marinara back in NYC. You can buy their jarred marinara, but it's a pricey...10 bucks for a 24 oz jar! The tofu blends well with strong, thick purees. I've tried it with jarred sauce when I was too tuckered to make fresh and it made the jarred sauce much more palatable. It would not work well with light summer marinara fresca.

Satchel's new favorite treat: These organic mini peanut butter sandwich crackers from Late July.

Mama's favoite treat: peanut butter m & m's. Unlike Reese's Pieces, PB m & m's have BOTH peanut butter AND chocolate inside...and they're tiny so you can pop a few in your mouth and let 'em melt. (And the tot will never know that you're eating junk)

This gem arrived today...a holiday gift from Satchel's "spirit brother", Miles Lighthorse. I just love this highly imaginiative story and it's sure to spark some giggles! Thank you, MLC!

"Pete's father starts kneading the dough. Next, some oil is generously applied. (Its really water.) And then some tomatoes. (They're really checkers.) When the dough gets tickled, it laughs like crazy."

Snow Clones

(vintage celluloid Frosties circa 1940's)

I love these kitschy celluloid ornaments. Satch can play with them and we don't have to worry about them breaking.


Satchel helped pack a box of clothes to send to baby, Mila Gutierrez. He loves helping, mostly because he LOVES tape which he uses like stickers, ripping bits off and sticking it to his shirt or shoes.


(The hat is by "John & Wendy". I don't think they exist anymore. I bought it in the East Village NYC in 1995. I used to wear it.)

Meanwhile back in the studio...

a little elf unpacks all the rubber stamps....

Kisses

Satchel has been missing his dada very much. He's used to going to work with him three days a week. Robert started his new job in DC three weeks ago (coming back on weekends) while Satch and I remained here until the sale of the house.


Today Satchel crumbled when Dada had to leave. The kisses continued from the window. I choked back tears myself. Thank goodness this is the last week we will be apart. It's been hard on all of us.

Support

Jan Hunt, author of the beautiful book, "The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart" posted a comment about the Crouse Hospital Anti-Cosleeping form here on Mother Rising. I'm pleased to welcome her presense on this blog and am grateful for her support.

If you haven't read her book, please do...and it's the perfect baby shower gift. It's a small, yet powerful book and I believe it has the power to change the world.

Her motto, "Change the world - nurture a child"!

Me Gusta!

Yet another gift from the Gutierrez family arrived for Satchel yesterday.

Satchel says, "Me gusta!"

It was a wood puzzle made by Melissa & Doug. Melissa & Doug is a wonderful company that makes wood toys for children, the kind of toys you save and pass on to the grandkids. The puzzle is that of wild animals and it makes the sound of the animal when the appropriate piece is put back in place. Satch got really upset because the zebra sounds more like a dog than a horse. (I honestly have no idea what a zebra sounds like so I'm not sure who is correct, Satchel or M&D) Every time we put the zebra in place and he heard the noise he would shake his head and say "No". (He says no like it's a question) Eventually he kept the piece at his side and I asked Satch several times if he wanted to put the zebra back, but he kept saying "No". Finallly I asked, "Do you want me to turn the sound off?" and he shook his head so I took out the batteries and he was quite happy.

Bisy Backson

Exhausted from a day full of "expotitions"!

Mama was tuckered too and missed the Geminid shower.

Oodles Of Doodles

Yesterday Satchel received this groovy Travel Magna Doodle and some wonderful books from the Gutierrez family. (Satchel says, "Muchas Gracias!") I must have read The Carrot Seed at least 5 times...he kept signing "more". I love it too. It has a great message: Don't let the doubts of others stop you from following your dream.

When I asked Satch about this illustration, he pointed and replied, "Laaaaaaaaa Na". (Long neck) He is obsessed with giraffes and calls them "long necks".




Satch found an advert for a Lincoln Navigator in the box. It was shaped like the front grill with text on one side and a photo of the front grill on the other. He held to his ear and pretended it was a phone.






Later, we had to take a stroll to have some documents notarized and Satch wanted to bring the Magna Doodle with him. I clipped it to the pram with THIS...








and I put a mitten on his free hand.

Watching him doodle reminded me of when I was a very little girl. My dad (a Disney fan) taught me how to draw Donald Duck, Mickey and a few other assorted toons. I had a tiny spiral memo pad where I wrote down words that I liked and where I practiced drawing. I once sat in the playground of River Elementary School at recess making little drawings and giving them to the other kids. I can still remember my magenta No. 2 pencil and the voices asking me to draw this or that.

You don't have to be Walt Disney to sit down and draw make believe worlds for your kids. Just pick up a couple of Ed Emberley books...like THIS one.

Both you AND you child can whip out swell doodles in about 20 seconds. It's a great esteem builder! My husband can't draw so I handed him the book and said, "Here, draw this giraffe for Satchel". Then he sat down and drew the most adorable and imaginative (red with black spots) giraffe in less than a minute. He was thrilled and said, "Now THIS makes sense".

Emberley breaks things down into a handful of simple shapes...then he shows you how to put them back together to make anything in the world. OK, the perspective for his buildings are incorrect (i.e. you shouldn't be able to see both the front and side of a building unless you are at an angle), but who cares. It's perfect for rainy days. Check it out for yourself...you WON'T be disappointed!

Wonderful Worlds

A satchel-snooze,
a bite of celebratory cheese cake,
and this article about Walt Disney in The New Yorker.
These names gave me such a giggle, I plan to save them and perhaps one day Satch and I can name some toy animals after them. Though I think I would really like to have a dog named Friz or Dr. Seuss-Worthy Gus Van Schmus.
(I just adore this photo of Walt.)

Dash Away All

On Comet,
on Cupid,
on Bambi,
on Blitzen.....

(celluloid reindeer circa 1940's)



"Just one more week of this craziness", he said softly as he held us in his arms, "and then we'll all be together".

A Mama Break

The "Crazy Crayon Shoppe" is officially on holiday.





Bundles are being shipped tomorrow to cousins Giovanni and Hanna...and to tribal brother Miles Lighthorse.



Bracelet orders are filled and mama is taking a much needed break before the big move.


(still working on the books, Jules...)

Getting Festive

"as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending" - ee cummings

Something about the falling snow, and the news that the current residents of our post mod home will not be out in time for us to move before Christmas, made me want to decorate. We will celebrate the holiday at Fuller House (opening gifts Saturday so Satch can play before the packers arrive tuesday) and we'll bring on the new year in Hickory Cluster. (Our house is contract with a second buyer in the wings)

We're not quite sure how we want to celebrate Christmas since neither of us are religious nor commercially motivated, yet we want it to be a special and meaningful holiday for our son. A lot of people go overboard with this holiday. Just take a walk around your hood and look at all the displays and it can be hard to discern what it's all about. To quote Soule Papa, "The piece that really get's the boys fired up and me too, I must admit, is a spinning, merry-go-round (really, it spins!) that has a rather eclectic group on board including Santa, Grover of Sesame Street fame, Gumby and of course, Jesus. We've dubbed it the "Jesus-Go-Round". I love it! It's hilarious to explain this type of diversity to the kids. And, kind of represent consumerism at it's ugliest. But you can only rail against the man for so long. This time of year, I let it slide, and dig the mad groove of the Jesus-Go-Round".

This reminded me of a nativity scene I remember back in NYC...someone replaced all the characters with media icons and replaced the baby Jesus with ET. I laughed 'til I cried.

With all this in mind, in between signing papers, getting estimates, planning a move, naps and nums...we cranked the holiday music and while Satch played at my feet I decorated. We decided not to get a tree because it would be tortuous to Satch not to be able to play with the lights and ornaments. Perhaps next year...a small live tree which we can then plant back into the earth. We have a gorgeous set of glass snowflake ornaments from Robert's parents that we look forward to hanging as well as some glass icicles that I bought years ago.

I hung glass gum drop garland across the mantle.












I placed delicate vintage ornaments on our old iron wire tree.


















I removed the tissue paper cherry blossoms (that I made last spring)
from the vase of branches and hung snowflakes.


















A few drops of balsam fir oil in the aromatherapy diffuser...now all I need are some reindeer and the fat man....

Two Worthy Causes

A package arrived from my friend Cooper of Hint Mint.


Seems I have the honor of carrying the official Hint Mint tin for AIDS awareness. The concept is: I make a 5 dollar donation to Youth AIDS, then I pass the tin on to someone who I think will do the same and so on. You can help too!

The tin has been handed over to Darsie Tolosky.

Below is another cause close to my heart and should be to all of you mamas as well. I don't know about you, but I want a better future for my child. According to the film, "there is overwhelming evidence if the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced". Please pledge to see this film. Better yet, buy the film...EVEN BETTER BUY IT USED (recycle, re-use: unless it's a gift, I buy all my cds, dvds and books used). Below is a small list of things you can do to help. Click on image to enlarge.