Baby Rides Wild Turkey

See him here

Dental Spa

What a relaxing day I had at the dental spa. I mean really, what mom doesn't look forward to sitting in the dentist's chair for a good 40 minutes, interruption free? Staring at the light of above and being taken care of, oh how relaxing.

Tootsies

Tooting My Own Horn

Check out Christina Mallet Photography's new online digs at The Elite Photographer's Network, aka Photograpik.org

Toot Toot

Photos by Chloe

My niece Chloe is hanging out with us since she's out of school for the holidays.

She's quite the photographer-all photos by her.

Rank

Not the funky kind but the SEO kind.
So Google and Live now hear this, really loudly, www.christinamallet.com

oh and also Christina Mallet

and I can't forget Christina Mallet Photography

The Baby Formerly Known as Zander

is now called Xander--same sound, different spelling. Like Puff Daddy and Prince, he's been reinvented.

Reason: When discussing baby names I wanted to name the boy Alexander and call him Xander. Alex didn't want to Jr. the boy so he wanted Zander.

I won.

Live!

Christina Mallet Photography ! I'm official! Check out my business website and pass it along, please :)

http://christinamallet.com

Frustration & Anger

The woes of rolling over


Fashion victim

Baby Lean

Technicolour

When the Papa remarked on the 'BRIGHTness' our lives have taken on in parenthood, he wasn't joking. Too bad the web's colour space is sRGB--if you could see it in its RGB glory you'd shudder. I could convert it but I'm too lazy and you get the point anyway, right?

Photogs, please excuse the very-hot-on-camera-blast.

Us

No Photo Trend

Noticing a trend in recent blog posts, namely no photos? That's because our keyboard broke in the move--Thank you to our wonderful 'professional' moving/packing people. What does it take to be a professional packer anyway?

What do 10 lb dumbbells, motorcycle tie-downs, a nursing pillow, baby clothes and a lamp have in common? Nothing, other than they were all thrown together in one box.

More photos soon, in addition to my business website which I'm hoping to launch by this weekend.

Soup du jour

Just yesterday, I wondered "What exactly is the difference between baby spit-up and throw-up?" Today I got my answer, while playing air-plane with Zander (picture me laying down with him extended high above).

When a 98.6 degree milk-and-stomach-acid-soup hits you in the face you'll know the difference. When it happens again, no more than 10 minutes later (some of us are a little denser and slow on the uptake than we should be) and you shrug it off and just rub it into your outfit, the one you've worn two days in a row and already has a variety of spit-up incidents on it, you'll know you're deep in the throws (bad play on word) of motherhood.

Undercover Mother

Should you wish to take your baby for a walk in Volunteer Park, go before dusk--I learned the hard way.

See, 'The Park' has always been a 'same-sex-love-and-get-your-high-on'
sort of place, but this is when the sun goes down. Who would have thought that 3:30pm was the official start to happy hour?

I think my disguise as 'mother' kept me from seeing the worst of it. I was likely mistaken for an undercover cop as I strolled past the dozens of idling cars and drivers.

Back Online

After attempting to get 240+ items (including boxes chock full of junk) in the right places and painting the house top to bottom (neither of which is complete), I'm back online and struggling for something to write about. So again, I'm going for a list.

Consistency is key to an infant's sleep routine. Being in 4 different houses (Boston, Hotel in Boston, Temp Housing, our house in Seattle) in 2 weeks time wreaks havoc on little ones.

Unpacking and getting settled when you have a 3 month old to care for is an exercise in patience--boxes sit half-unpacked, everywhere. The anxiety this brings has crossed over into my sleep. The other night I dreamt that I had to catch a flight and wasn't packed and all that was supposed to be packed was buried under piles of junk. I finally got to the airport with things hanging out of my suitcase and looked down to see I was wearing 2 different colored shoes (I actually did this when I was massively pregnant; couldn't see my toes) . Then, while running off to tell the people I was with to hold up while I changed my shoes, all of my stuff is stolen.

I will never ever again gain 50 lbs, whether I'm pregnant or not. Dropping the 15 lbs that have decided to stick around is a real pain in my big butt.

People in Seattle are sooo nice. I've missed the random and senseless smiling of strangers-- strangers that are so nice they'll even let you ride their tricycles. :)

Take this

I'm busy trying to unpack our stuff so photography and blogging are lagging. So here, take this photo from a month ago, in Boston.

Zander Plays Office

Check out the boy, officing, HERE.

Fragments

Halloween Mayhem

We've arrived back home, frazzled but safe and sound. The trip went smoothly except for clearing security at the airport, which Alex describes here.

We bought cars, the first milestone in our return to 'adult' life. I get a new car for the very first time which I'm pretty jazzed about. It's mommish, but my pony has some serious hooves--just try to beat me off the line.

Zander is babbling and this is too cute for words.

He's also been 'subjected' to a new trick, which he seems to really love.

My dear friend Lori, mother to little Claire The Duck and William The Bear (above), gave Zander his first Halloween costume, which was good because Alex and I were to jet lagged and disoriented to get around to it.
.

This Is The Face You Get

This is the face you get from watching strange men pack your things.
This is the face you get from packing all the things needed for 2 cats , 2 adults, and one baby for a week.
This is the face you get after packing it all in the cab that is delivering you to your hotel.
This is the face you get when the cat, on the ride to the hotel, poops in his carrier and the windows don't roll down.



This is the face you get when thinking of the 6 hour flight with two cats, two adults and one baby and all their luggage.



This is the face you get when thinking about moving to Seattle!

These are a few of our favorite things

It's our last week in Beantown so why not end on a postive note? Positives are HERE.

A Special Box of Panties, by Jack Handy

If a certain moving company has been hired to move you cross country and you have a special box of things that you want to keep 'private', such as panties as my friendly move surveyer suggested to me, you can set it aside and not have the moving guys look at it. You just have to say "Hey guys, this is my special box of panties" and they'll leave it be.

A Progression of Happiness

Bye Bye Boston

After two years in Boston we are going home--Alex has decided to depart MIT with a Masters instead of a PhD. Although my dislike of Boston is great, I did my best to remain 'neutral'--we came out here so Alex could do his graduate school thing and leaving on account of my dislike was not something I would entertain.

We're out of here in 2 weeks, which is so soon I can barely get my head around it. But what I have been able to get my head around are the fabulous amenities of modern life I will regain, such as: A doorbell; a water mixer in bathroom sink; lead free bathroom fixtures; lead free plumbing; hot water that isn't 299 degrees hot; outlets in the bathroom; lights that turn on with switches rather than strings hanging from the ceiling in center of the room; windows that close; windows that open; windows that don't come crashing down in the middle of the night; a dishwasher; a garbage disposal; a car.

And then there are the things about life in Boston that I won't miss, such as: Garbage-men who create a huge mess on trash day; people who litter; people who collect bottles the night before trash pickup and cause a huge racket with their shopping carts clanking with bottles; people who leave their dogs' poop on the sidewalk; excessive use of car horns; dirty snow; hot as Hades summers.

What I'll miss: Cannoli from Modern Pastry; the first hour of a snowfall before the heavy machinery comes out to ruin the peace and quiet; the autumn colors; the free stuff people leave on the streets on trash day; our landlord Jose, who's more of a slumlord really but he's a cheerful and funny one at that; my two good photog friends Stefanie and Stephanie.

So away we go.

P.S. To any Boston readers, sorry for hating on your city, it’s not you, it’s me ;)

Stupid is as Stupid Does

A very disheveled me pondering the payback I am receiving from my wee son. Word to the wise: babies, at least mine, hate car seats and therefore road trips are a bad idea.

Alex and I, in our rookie parent naivite, thought it would be a super duper great idea to go leaf peeping with our little man. I'm not sure what was going through our heads--strapping our guy into a car seat for hours was idotic. See, my man has lungs and use them is what he did much of the trip. I spent a good part of the afternoon sitting in the back seat tending to wailing Zander as Alex chauffeured.

This photo was taken on the one occasion we made it out of the car, for a diaper change and feed pit stop, at least it shows the foliage, as do the two shots below which I took from the backseat.

we hateses the car seat

green

orange

Family Photos

My dear friend Stefanie, photographer extraordinare, took this lovely sequence of family photos for us. If you are in the Bay State and looking for some fab portraiture, Stefanie is your woman.

Granny, Poppy and Zander

Opa, Oma and Zander

Opa

3 generations

Four New Photos

Check out the latest to be added to my stock portfolio.

Six Weeks Old

Alex's Parents. June 29, 1973. Asperg, Germany.

German Spring, Restored

Easter, 1976, Southern Germany

Alex's parents brought some photos for me to restore. Alex is 2 in this one.

Tiffany and Kofi

Zander and Kofi

Parenthood Week 5

1. Going to the bathroom, when you want and need to, becomes a luxury when you enter the realm of parenthood
2. Being alone is a luxury
3. Silence is a luxury
4. Never trust the silence, it won't last
5. Pacifiers and milk may become known as "silencers"
6. You will suddenly understand why people go on vacations you once deemed 'boring'
7. Reading. Do I still know how to read?

But, as corney and goopey as it sounds, I wouldn't change a thing cause my small small husband is the sweetest little man I've known, apart from his dad, of course.

First Smiles

Big Small Boy

Zander Meets Oma & Opa

Zander & Poppy

What's in Store

Annemarie, 2005

Finally, Autumn is upon us--Yahoo for cooler temps and warmer colors! This was taken last fall. My dear friend Annemarie is the model. Speaking of Annemarie, she was married this weekend to my dear dear friend Geoffrey. Their wedding was in France (where Geoffrey is from) so given little Zander's age we unfortunately couldn't make it but we won't hold it against him.

Photos for Sale, Choose a Photo, Any Photo

15 new images by yours truly have been added to my stock portfolio. Check 'em out HERE by entering "Mallet" as photographer.

Deferring All Things Blog

Life is exciting, so exciting that I'm going to have to hold off on writing about the details and defer the baby updating task to my better half and his blog, which is complete with new Zander photos and happenings.

Multi-tasking Papa

Zander as Smurf

Zander as Smurf

The Papa Speaks

Alex's notes on week one of Fatherhood are here

*

A List of Motherhood So Far

The whole 'you'll never sleep again' thing isn't as bad as I thought. Who knows how I'll feel about that next week.
I have no idea how single mothers manage raising children solo. Alex is a super dad and I could never do this without him.
Umbilical cord stumps are not for eating. When you get up in the night to eat some walnuts with your baby slung over your shoulder and then return to bed and find what you think is a left-over walnut in his blankey, be sure it's a nut before putting it in your mouth.
I've been reading the same article from the NewYorker for 5 days straight. Each time I get to read it I have to stop on the same column--I give up.
I've started watching the same episode of HBO's "The Wire" 3 times and have not yet actually watched it.
I did knit an entire 3 rows on a baby blanket that will be for Zander's first child at the rate I'm going.

All that said, I don't care because I've got the cutest boy EVA!!!!!!

Zander Sleeps