updates, list style

lu giving up daytime booby, hard week.. he needs extra snuggles and pacifier time. took his first solo step without falling over.. can now bend over and pick stuff up from the floor and stand back up without falling. crawling like a maniac. oh! all the dirty knees !!

i got a sore back from always carrying a big baby & always on my left hip, i feel crooked, but getting better.

ph continuing job search, and celebrating his first birthday as a papa this thursday,

i'm calling around to make our easter vacation arrangements with tricia and kilian in santorini, just scored a good room, good price, amazing view of the caldeira... now looking for ferries and rental cars.

getting ready to go to vienna this friday until next thursday, borrowed my friends; stroller cuz is fits on plane.

went to a small dinner party saturday nite - great evening, home by 9:30, small wine & olive oil buzz walking home.

watching "lost" this week on dvds.

bravo! clap clap clap

lu's growing up too fast.. i cant believe its happening right before my very eyes.. just a few short months ago, he was a helpless little baby - and now he's really a little boy! i can see already that the next two months are gonna just fly by.. especially with alot of visitors coming now through april, and us taking a trip to vienna soon.

why, pray tell, am i just noticing this now? lucas started crawling a few days ago, and now goes where he pleases. seeing his little bitty butt wiggling across the floor drives me crazy with cuteness and i wish he'd do it all the time, but he only crawls the shortest distance possible so he can get back to his cruising, this boy wants to be upright. he now experiments with standing up for as long as he can now too... he can go about 20-30 seconds if he has a good stance. and he started feeding himself with a spoon and drinking from a sippy cup alone.. of course he's been finger-feeding for a while now..

wait ! home viewers... that's not all! he also started clapping his hands and saying "bravo".. it sounds more like "baBA-bo!"

dr, bunsen honeydew, at your service

You Are Dr. Bunsen Honeydew

You take the title "mad scientist" to the extreme -with very scary things coming out of your lab. And you've invented some pretty cool things, from a banana sharpener to a robot politician. But while you're busy turning gold into cottage cheese, you need to watch out for poor little Beaker! "Oh, that's very naughty, Beaker! Now you eat these paper clips this minute."

The Muppet Personality Test

jasper, and the 'pot de gros mots'

when i was a girl we had a huge mexican pottery piggy bank named jasper. he was gorgeous - about 10 inches tall, very round, painted white with raised colorful curly cues, tender black eyes, an arched handle on top of his back and a nice wide slot for money... but if you wanted to get any out, you had to turn him upside down and jiggle a butter knife around in the slot. jasper lived in the half-bath in the hallway off the living room, and was our cuss jar. anyone who said a curse word in our house would hear a taunting "oooh!!! NICkel!!!" meaning you owed jasper 5 cents for being a potty mouth.

my dad apparently didnt realize the importance of jasper, and one afternoon said - "man, this pig is heavy! i wonder how much money is in there?" so went to the garage with jasper in his right hand and a baseball bat in his left took a huge swing and bashed open our beloved jasper. claire was in the garage already, doing whatever, and i was coming into the garage via the hallway. i got there just in time to see my little fat friend get pulverized, and me and my sister screamed, cried and fussed at our dad for being so brash. he was genuinely sorry, but we could never replace the pig. i cannot remember how much money was in there, but it was alot.. one of my mom's boyfriends put a $20 bill in there once so he could cuss whenever he wanted.

now that i am an adult, and have to start watching my cussin' for the kid .. we are starting a "pot de gros mots" (pronounced ~po duh grow mows~... it rhymes, see) .. so far it's a mayonnaise jar with a marker and masking tape label, but i have dreams that one day i'll find a truly one-of-a-kind piggy bank that can be our family friend. it already has about a dollar-fiddy in it!

finally some friends

weve been here for more than a year and a half now.. weve met a few folks here and there.. three english teachers, one couple of church-goers, a couple of cafe owners, several coworkers of ph, a student, a graphic designer, and since 5 months, some mommies.. i like several of these mamas, but a small few are starting to separate from the crowd. first, and the reason i'm posting this at all, is carole and her daughter lily (who is 15 months, and is lucas' older woman who has recently started trying to smooch him, (or rather,, SNOG him -thats british for kissing, since carole is from london, i'm learning some great new vocab))

this past monday was "kathari deftera" called 'clean monday', which is the first day of greek lent (40 days of fish, pickles, and halva.. thanks gerry for this tidbit!) so carole and giorgos & lily all came over for an afternoon coffee, after they were finished with the family stuffs, but before "crazy aunty ketty" visit. (crazy auntie ketty seems to think that lily is a boy and so keeps indirectly giving lucas new clothes.. hehe)

we had a great time hanging out.,. right interesting folk.. we juggled and drank coffee, and played with the kids, we even played a game of "indoor basketball" - i love that game.. it takes forever to get to know someone, and 5 months isnt long, but judging good vibes, and common interests and so called "values" goes a long way toward that end. this monday was really just so nice hanging out with people we think are cool.

secondly is amy, shes great - she's an antique furniture refinisher, dumpster diver, and home maker-decorater.. a real mensch.

okay i'll quit gushing. for now.