Making all the night wakings worthwhile...

[rivka]

From the title, you thought this would be a sappy post about Alex hugging me and calling me Mommy, right?

Nope.

The reward for making it through nearly a full year of parenthood is this:



Man, it's a good thing that we're doing her birthday presents tomorrow, because how could I wait an extra two days to play with this?

See those buttons by the handles? When you push them, voices and sound effects right out of a 50's sci-fi movie inform you that you are cleared for landing or welcome you to Jupiter or warn you about astroids. Or you can push the ignition button, and hear "3-2-1 blastoff!" accompanied by sounds, vibration, and a lit-up afterburner.



I am trying to remind myself that this is a toy Alex will have to grow into, and that she might not be too crazy about it tomorrow. That's okay. Michael and I are crazy about it already.

We also got her a shapes puzzle and a four-book set by Sandra Boynton. (shandralyn, please tell Sam that the set includes Alex's first copy of But Not The Hippopotamus.) Of the things that we're giving her, I think she'll like the puzzle best right now and the Radio Flyer Retro Rocket best longterm. (I just like to say "Radio Flyer Retro Rocket." Radio Flyer Retro Rocket!)



Sadly, the pictures we took of me standing next to my citation abstract at my San Francisco conference were some of the least flattering pictures of me ever. But here's what the abstract itself looked like on display. I kept the blue ribbon.



Last, but not least, I give you shark fin and jellyfish sushi:



When we were in San Francisco we went to Isobune, which apparently was the first sushi restaurant in the United States to have the sushi travel around the bar on little boats. You grab whatever looks good. I grabbed this because it just looked so outrageous, and because I wanted to try something I (a) had never had before, and (b) was unlikely to find in Maryland. The absolute deliciousness was an added bonus.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Has it been a year already? Holy cow!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

That's how I feel, too! But she'll be one on Tuesday.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

That's right, I tried to get you to hold out for my birthday, and you refused. ;)

[melebeth]

DUDE!!!! I knew that when you had kids that you got the good books, but toys too???? UNFAIR!!!!! Must procreate now!!!


(and I love the Pandas)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Don't you think a good, good dog like yours deserves a Retro Rocket?

[melebeth]

She does! She really does!!! There's only one problem...

I think she's too wide to fit in

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

arrrrgh!

must get off my butt and send alex the present i bought for her in russia. in august.

also, i don't eat shark fin. sharks and i have a deal. i don't eat them, they don't eat me. *nods*

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

So you've got a big shark problem in Minnesota, eh? Those lake sharks, they can be right dangerous, mm-hmmm. Chomp a fella right up if they were to take a mind to.

:)

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

sharks are not only dangerous but also well travelled.

*nods firmly*

[treadpath.livejournal.com]

OMG. That rocket is the coolest thing ever! Lucky Alex!!! :)

We love But Not the Hippopotamus also. Hee! And also Moo, Baa, La La La!. Sandra Boynton is a delightfully silly person. :)

Have you read He Came with the Couch? It's not a Boynton, but it's one of my new favorites. It makes me snarf through my nose.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Our household contains several young adults and parents thereof who can (and do!) recite The Going-To-Bed Book. That's the Boynton one about animals going to bed on a boat. "And when the moon is on the rise, the animals all exercise."

[rivka.livejournal.com]

That one's in the boxed set too - previously we'd gotten it from the library.

I mentioned "But Not The Hippopotamus" to shandralyn because I read that book to her daughter approximately sixteen million times when she was a baby. She'd carry it from one housemate to the next. Her first two-word phrase, as I recall, was "read it!"

[(Anonymous)]

Hee! That's the only line in the book that frustrates me! I come from a family of insomniacs and exercise is about the worst thing we could do before bed. If we want to sleep, that is. So I skip that page a little. At 10 months, the kid hasn't noticed the change in the rhyme scheme yet. :)

I love the rest though! Especially the "rocks and rocks and rocks to sleep" I love Boynton's furtive little bubble eyed critters!

[treadpath.livejournal.com]

Argh. Sorry--the anonymous comment was me.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Love that rocket ship.

[selki.livejournal.com]

Radio Flyer Retro Rocket! Radio Flyer Retro Rocket! Radio Flyer Retro Rocket!

Say, that IS fun.

Yay blue ribbon and fun sushi!

[ewein2412]

holy heck, I have priced those things.

I am jealous. My kids are too big for them now.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

You could buy yourself one and claim it was for your future grandchildren. ;-)

[ewein2412]

This is the one I want.

[ailbhe]

It is a truly excellent Radio Flyer Retro Rocket! Does it have volume control or an off switch?

May this April and May be far easier for everyone than last. Happy birthday, Alex and parents :)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It has volume control AND an off switch!

There was a particularly annoying feature in which, every time the front axle turned all the way around, it pushed a button that made one of the sound effects go off. But we fixed it with a coin and a piece of duct tape. Now it only makes sounds if you purposefully push a sound effect button.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Sarah's first walker had a whole panel of noise-making gizmo switches, which were still possible to play with apart from the sounds. We never put batteries into it, and she never suspected a thing. You might not have occasion to be glad if you leave the batteries our, but you could regret it if you don't. Just a thought.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Alex has a shape sorter that she doesn't know is supposed to make noise. I want to avoid having ten million battery-powered toys, all of which make ugly unmusical music. But I think that the Retro Rocket's sounds are pretty cool.

In general, though, I don't mind noise from toys as much as some other people I know do. On my "possible birthday presents" list was a tambourine and a xylophone, for example, although I didn't wind up finding any that I thought were appropriate for this age.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

I want to avoid having ten million battery-powered toys, all of which make ugly unmusical music.

Just this afternoon, E was given a musical ball thingy as a late birthday present, and my SIL said
"I hope this doesn't become one of those toys you hate because of the noise." Hey, it's cool - it has an OFF BUTTON. That's all I need. :)

[ailbhe]

Duct tape: the only piece of baby equipment more essential than a wet wipe.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday to Alex! We're having Catie's party in 3 hours (meep!) because otherwise we'd have to have it over Passover and I've waited 30+ years for the Princess cake my mom would never let me have and so for this girl, I'm not waiting a year more. Heh. Photos later from Alex's?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Her party's not until next Saturday - we're just doing presents today because her actual birthday is a work day. But yes, I'm sure there will be pictures. And I want to see Catie's princess cake!

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

Radio Flyer Retro Rocket! That's the coolest thing ever.

We've got the Radio Flyer tricycle, which is a lovely thing, but it's not a rocket.

They grow so fast, these babies.

[eeyorerin]

What an awesome toy! I hope she loves it as much as you do.

Wow, it seems like just yesterday that you were going to be pregnant forever, and now she's walking and trying to unlock doors and turning a year old! How did that happen?

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Reason # 79,879,924 to have children.

TOYS.

That is so cool!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It was only $40 at Target, in case you know a deserving little boy whose birthday is coming up soon. ;-)

[minnaleigh.livejournal.com]

Wow that Radio Flyer Retro Rocket looks cool! I wanna play too!

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

What a lucky, lucky little girl! :-)

-J

Isobune

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

That's a good place.

B

Re: Isobune

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I had been under the impression that real foodies were supposed to sneer at sushi boat/train restaurants, because the chef ought to be lovingly shaping your individual order just for you. But I was very impressed at the quality, variety, and appearance of the sushi.

Of course, we arrived just as it opened, so everything was immensely fresh. I don't know how they keep track of when they should take uneaten sushi off the boats.

Re: Isobune

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Real foodies like good food. Faux foodies are more likely to focus on the non-food trappings.

Some of the best sushi I've ever had in Tokyo was at a conveyor-belt restaurant.

And if you want something special at one of those restaurants, just ask one of the chefs. He'll generally be more than happy to make it for you, and put it on the right denomination plate.

B

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I want to go back in time and be your daughter. (-:

[rivka.livejournal.com]

If you come to visit, I'm sure Alex will let you play with the Retro Rocket. :-)

[telerib.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God.

That is just distilled AWESOME! Lucky girl! Happy Birthday, Alex!

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Wow! I love the rocket! I wonder if the cats would like it.

Congrats on the blue ribbon!

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

We have that puzzle! Mr.X's grandmother gave it to him. And the Boynton, of course. But oh! the Radio Flyer!!!! OOOOOOO!!!!!