Looking Back

Baby memories...
How is he already a little boy?

This Looks Like a Job for...

Jae, in his ongoing obsession with all things Superman, is now obsessed with our latest Superman DVD...a collection of Superman cartoons from the 1940's. In each of these cartoons, at some point Clark Kent will say "This looks like a job for Superman" and then dart into the nearest phone booth/staff room/shadow of a boulder to change into Superman.

Jae now loves every opportunity he can get to change his clothes. Here's a scene from the other night:

Ryan calls, "Bathtime, Jae!" Jae leaps from the floor, shouting, "This looks like a job for Superman!" He then runs into the downstairs bathroom and closes the door, all the while singing the theme song from the Superman cartoons. Eventually, he emerges, buck naked, to strike his Superman fist-on-hips pose; he takes a moment for his audience and then sticks a fist in the air and "flies" up the stairs to the bathtub. If only there was a Superman cartoon about how cool it was to go poo-poo on the potty...

Heartbreaker

Blond haired, blue eyed, not afraid to cry, always wants to help with the cleaning, likes to cuddle, always ready to say "I love you"...the perfect guy. Well, I am a little biased, I'll admit, but just look at that face...Already, the girls are going crazy for him, with cuddles... ...and kisses... ...and hugs...And he's already turning into a heartbreaker. Here's a little conversation I overheard him having with a 4-year-old girl at church:

Emma: Hi Jae.
Jae: Hi.
Emma: Do you want to give me a kiss?
Jae: No...

And so it starts...He's going to grow up much faster than I want him to. But in the meantime, I'll take all the cuddles and kisses that I can get.

To Always Remember Him

or

Easter Thoughts

I shall know why -- when Time is over --
And I have ceased to wonder why --
Christ will explain each separate anguish
In the fair schoolroom of the sky --

He will tell me what Peter promised --
And I -- for wonder at his woe --
I shall forget the drop of Anguish
That scalds me now -- that scalds me now!
~Emily Dickinson

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind...that his bowels may be filled with mercy...that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people." ~Alma 7:11-12

So that we never have to be alone.

"Be of good cheer, little children; for I am in your midst, and I have not forsaken you." ~Doctrine and Covenants 61:36

That we may always have his spirit to be with us....

Happy, Like, New Year. Totally.

Back from our beautiful hometown in San Diego with a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all! So after the Christmas story has been read and the gifts have been shared, what do we do? Well, our little family tends to go freeze ourselves--usually in the Pacific Ocean. But since it was supposedly snowing just up the hill in the one-stop-sign-having, totally gorgeous country town of Julian, we headed east instead.


Jae had never been in snow before, and it might have been alright, if it hadn't been raining; although I'm thinking the jacket that left his arms sticking out 180 degrees and wearing gloves for the first time in his life didn't add to his sense of enjoyment. Suffice to say, we drove an hour up the hill to slosh in the wet snow for 5 minutes, throw 10 snowballs, and then turn around again. So in Jae's book, I'm thinking snow is currently ranked at: not so much.

The BEACH, on the other hand...I think our whole family is in agreement:If we could somehow get away with living in a hut/tent/sleeping bag/whatever on the beach, we would so be there.

Now, for those of you unfamiliar with San Diego ocean temperatures, it's cold. Here's some perspective: you know that swimming pool in your local gym? I'm guessing it's about 82-84 degrees. Cuz those water aerobics ladies like it that way. It gets any colder, most aren't getting in. Now if you hop in a pool with that initial chill factor that makes you gasp a second, but then you warm up as soon as you start going? That's about 78 degrees. Note the difference here: almost bathwater at 84, gasp to get in at 78. San Diego water temps? Low 60's typically. When we went, it was 56 degrees. Did that stop Jae? NO! He heads in at a run, pulling us along after him and is soaking head to toe within seconds. My feet are actually aching with the cold and he's pulling me in deeper. Can't touch? That doesn't matter to him. Can't swim? Who cares? Seriously, no fear. Well, eventually we all joined in the fun, diving underwater, soaking head to toe. The only people out there without wetsuits. Exhilerating. Freezing. Absolutely crazy. I love it. Me and my beach boys.

Bedtime Blues

I'm the first to admit when it comes to bedtime, we are uncannily lucky. We have the most bizarre child. First night home, he sleeps 5 hours, eats, then sleeps another 3 hours. That's the pattern for 3 weeks. Then he sleeps 8 hours a night. After a few months we're up to 10 or 11 hours.


Now he's 2. Bedtime routine? Read a story, scriptures, sing a song (while rocking in a blanket), say a prayer (I'll tell you about those another time), say "Goodnight Jae. I love you." That's followed by Jae: "Goodnight, Mom. Goodnight, Dad. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you...." (all with different inflections). We leave the room. He stays in bed. He may not SLEEP right at that moment. He may talk and sing to himself for 2 hours. But he'll stay there.

I know. Weird, right?

So imagine my confusion tonight: We ask what song he wants to sing. He says "Jesus!" We sing "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus." But all through the song, he keeps asking, "Jesus? Jesus?" So we sing one he knows the words to: "Jesus Once was a Little Child." We get ready to pray, but he keeps returning to the blanket, crying, and saying "Jesus?" I put him in bed and say goodnight, and he whimpers in a voice to break your heart, "Jesus?" So we sit in the rocking chair and sing "Away in a Manger" after which he happily climbs into bed.


So apparently "Away in a Manger" is the only acceptable song about Jesus.

Can you bullseye a womp rat?

The other day I was in a bookstore and found a toy on a shelf where a mom with 2 girls had just been--I brought it up to her: "Is this your Princess Amidala?"

"Oh yes!....We didn't know her name."

"Well actually, she's dressed as Padme here."

It's at this point that I realize that owning every version of Star Wars ever made (video and dvd, original and remake, separate and box set) and knowing that actually, come to think of it, Amidala is a Queen and a Senator, but not a Princess...is perhaps not as normal as I thought it was.

I never thought of myself as the bi-mon-sci-fi-con type, but when I'm watching Heroes and I notice that Hiro's dad's license plate is the serial number of the original Enterprise (because of course he was Mr. Sulu in the original Star Trek series), I have to begin to wonder...

Of course, I'm married to someone who knows how many TIE fighters chase the Millenium Falcon out of the Death Star and can win Star Wars Trivial Pursuit before I even get a turn...and I think that's awesome!

So, here's to all of you who had Star Wars bedsheets, dressed up for the midnight showing of Episode III, learned to sing Ewok, or tried to use the force to get out of a speeding ticket. Let's all go to Tosche station and pick up some power converters.

Luke: Heather Romano ~~~ Han Solo: Me ~~~ Princess Leia with 5 0'clock shadow: my brother Garney

Click to see my Star Wars Personality!!