Dinosaur Sweatshirt continued...

Sadly, this awesome sweatshirt is lost forever.  I accept that now. However...

After whining about how sad I was that I had lost Zuul's sweatshirt and how badly I had wanted her to wear them to her grandparent's house in Maine, Jai finally just looked at me and said, "why don't you just go buy another one."  I was shocked!  I wasn't supposed to buy the first one, but he is great husband and he wants me to be happy. 

So, after a six target circuit (yes, I live within 20 minutes of six separate targets), I found it!!  It is a nine month size but that is okay, because she is a huge baby is can wear a 9 month sweatshirt okay at four months and it comes with a onesie and pants so it seemed silly to have 2 onesies and pants in the same size. 

It is currently spinning around the washer getting ready for camping.  Yes, you read right.  Jai and I are taking our 4 month old baby girl camping in October.  Not only is it October, but for those of you not in the Memphis area, it is raining and it dropped 30 degrees from yesterday.  But yet we solider on. 

So, there won't be any new blog posts this weekend, but expect to hear all about it when we get back.

Ode to the One Day Old Sweatshirt Drop While We Were Walking

The Sweatshirt

I splurged on an outfit at target a few days ago.  Zuul has way too many clothes already but I just fell in love. 

The little onesie says "I love to Roar" which was prefect because Zuul has taking up roaring and growling all the time.

 I mean, how could I not buy it.  It had green dinosaur spikes on the hood and a cool green dinosaur on it.  I know, it makes her look like a boy, but at least she is a cool looking boy.

 So, I put Zuul in her awesome outfit and took her out on a walk the day after I bought it.  We had to run to Walgreen's to pick up some medicine.  It got pretty warm outside so I took off the sweatshirt.

But, being vain about how cool the sweatshirt was, instead of putting it away in her diaper bag, I put it by her feet in her stroller, so that people could still bask in its awesomeness.  After I got my medicine we continued our walk all the way around our big block.

Later that night, when Jai got home, we got ready to run out to the store and, of course, I wanted to show of the awesome sweatshirt again.  I looked high, I looked low, but the sweatshirt was no where to be found.  We drove around the block, we stopped at the Walgreen's.  My superhero husband walked around the block, in the dark, with a flashlight to try and find it.  Alas, the sweatshirt was gone.  I can only imagine that some other kids mom found the sweatshirt and realized its total awesomeness and took it home for her kid.  I am super sad because she was supposed to wear it to visit her grandparents in Maine.

Jai also refused to allow me to post this sign around the neighborhood:

Please, share this photo on facebook and help bring the sweatshirt home. 

My Daughter Zuul is a Pretty Little Boy, Part Deux

Okay. So like I said.  I don't mind if people can't tell Zuul is a girl when I take her out dressed like a little boy.  I mean, how is anyone really supposed to know this beautiful little baby is a girl?

 BUT, come on.  I actually went out of my way to take her out in something girly today.

This is a purple onesie and purple heart leggings.  I know the bib has blue on it, but it's blue flowers.  Anyways, we stopped at a gas station, a FedEx center and Jai's work and at all three places I was told was a handsome little boy I had!  I mean, come on people.  I am trying here, you have to give something back!

I will make an exception for the person at Jai's work because she was Chinese and the Chinese language does not have words for "he" and "she" so often time they have trouble picking the right pronoun even when referring to grown adults, so that is totally understandable, but what what the excuse for the lady at the FedEx??

I refuse to glue a stupid bow to the top of my daughters head just so that people will know she is a girl, but it is really awkward all the time.  

God bless the brave, strong people who simply ask, "is it a little boy or a little girl?"  And although it is a terrible double standard, let's be clear, it is not uncommon for a child dressed in boy clothes to be a little boy or a little girl, but when you see that kid in the pink dress or the heart legwarmers, she is going to be a girl.  I have yet to see a parent dress there infant boy in a pink dress. 

Zuul vs. Pumpkin

So, it is that time of year again when Americans put pumpkin in everything (I have in on good authority from a Brit that this is an overboard American custom), and of course, rip the guts out of a pumpkin or two to decorate our porches and yards. 

in 2010, we continued the Pumpkin Carving Party tradition passed on to use by a good friend of ours when we lived in East Lansing.  Being new at my law school and wanting to make a good impression, I went WAY overboard.  Two years later we still have full bottles of liqueur.  People had fun though, so success. 

In 2011 I was officially 2 months pregnant with Zuul, and we had not told a anyone.  I was also very sick, so no only did we not have a party that year, we did not even carve pumpkins which is sad for me because Halloween is my favorite holiday.

So this year we decided to keep it small.  Being unemployed and having a baby we are pretty poor so I couldn't really throw some huge shindig again.  So we kept Zuul's first Pumpkin Carving Party low key.  But, before we could carve a pumpkin, we had to go get one and take all the obligatory first pumpkin pictures.

Look what I found in the pumpkin patch!!

Zuul is clearly done with our shenanigans.

Zuul can't really sit up yet so she is falling over in this picture

So, pumpkins picked out we had a few close friends over to eat pumpkin chili, pumpkin chip cookies and pumpkin beer. 

Since Jai wouldn't let Zuul use a knife yet, somehow I was the one who had to gut and carve two pumpkins, but I made Zuul help with the guts a little.

Jai showed off his parenting skills for all our friends.  Zuul didn't mind.

So, after hours of carving: the fruits of our labors:

Me, Zuul and Jai's pumpkins

Pumpkins lined up for official judging.

Jana and Zuuls pumpkins

 And the winner was Michelle with her princess Jasmine pumpkin which was awesome.  I took Zuul's pumpkin out of the running because we all agreed it was no contest.  She would have won.  I mean, Pac man is pretty complex for a 4 month old.

I really wanted to strip Zuul and put her in the giant bucket of pumpkin guts for an awesome photo but Jai vetoed me because he is no fun.  All and all I would say it was a success.  I can't wait for Halloween so we can take Zuul trick or treating.

See Geeks Run

Okay, well...more like walk slowly.  Let's be perfectly honest, years of playing video games and watching Scifi on TV doesn't really prepare use to run anywhere.  But we did walk.  We are excellent walkers.

This weekend Jai, Zuul and I attended the Out of Darkness walk to support the prevention of suicide.

Jai registering for the walk

Zuul wearing her walk shirt

All and all it was a nice walk.  We got to walk around the Memphis Botanical Gardens for free which was cool.  They also released doves that they  had dyed colors which I thought was cruel but they assured us that the dye did not hurt the doves, so whatever.

I guess this isn't a really exciting blog entry.  Maybe it is because I am so tired because baby Zuul keeps waking up at 6.30 am.    But at least there are pictures.  Everyone loves pictures. 

How to Raise a Geek

How to Raise a Geek in Eight Simple Steps

Step 1: you need an awesomely geeky moniker.  We went with Zuul.

Let's be honest, there isn't much hope for Zuul to escape geekdom.  After all, her name comes from a pop culture Ghostbusters reference.  One day, while laying on the couch thinking pregnancy was the worst idea I ever had, I told Jai that his crap lousy baby was making me sick (we have seen Blades of Glory too many times and now use crap lousy way too much) and he said "There is no baby...only Zuul."  Since we didn't know if the baby was a girl or a boy, and because we had to call it something, Zuul stuck. 

Step 2: Books, lots and lots of books

There are a ton of really great kids books out there to help you introduce your child to geek culture. 

First, to teach them all about SciFi:



Jai makes sure to explain to her what was happening in each episode pictured



Then, because every good geek has to know their tech: 



Goodnight Ipad, goodnight doom.  Goodnight bird launching over the moon.

This one is great for introducing them to topic in science, math, and myth:

C is for Caffeine and R is for Robot

 And, because it's never too soon to start SAT prep:

But where, you ask, is Star Wars ABC? 

Well, to be perfectly honest, I was super geeked when I saw that on the shelf, C3PO and R2D2, what would be better right?  But my glee quickly faded as I saw that A was for Anakin, and I'm sorry, but as far as Zuul will ever know, there were only 3 Star Wars movies, and Anakin wasn't in any of them.   And, well, if that had been the only issue, I might have still gone with it, but there was just too much episodes I-III for me to allow my child to read it.

Step 3:  Dragons, lots of Dragons

Zuul's room, which is really just a pack and play in the corner of our room, is filled with pictures of dragons and unicorns and castles.  When she has a room of her own (when finally find a job and we buy a house which could mean she will be in our room until she's 13), it will be decorated in dragons.



The pictures currently in Zuul's "room"



Part of the reason we decided to have a baby when we did (I was 9 months preggo when I graduated law school and studied for and took and passed the TN bar with a newborn at home) was that we wanted to make sure she was born in the year of the dragon.  Yes, we are so geeky that having our babies Chinese zodiac be a dragon was pivotal to our child having decision. 







 

Zuul and Scorch

Step 4: Encourage Geek Appropriate Careers

So far we have helped Zuul narrow it down between Rocket Scientist and Super Hero.  It's never too soon to decided a career path.  College admissions can to competitive, so best to start preparing now.



Step 5: Teach Them Space is Awesome



Make sure you give them lots and lots of time in space.  Zuul spends time sleeping in space, playing in space and generally fighting off alien invasions.  She loves to watch the planets go by and attack the rocket ships.  When she is older we will continue to teach her to love space through shows like Star Trek, Farscape and Firefly, because space cowboys are the greatest.

Step 6:  Surround them with geeky toys

Okay, so Jai bought these Dr. Who actions figures for himself on a trip to New York City.  But I am sure when Zuul is old enough he will be happy to pull them down off the shelf and play with them with her.  What is cuter than a two year old running around with a Dalek yelling, "Exterminate, Exterminate?"  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  

The ugly doll is another must.  They are soft and cute, but just a little weird.  What better way to teach your little one that different and weird can be cool.  I saw a baby hugging one of these years ago and I know my baby had to have one (or three).  

And, in case you feel we have been neglecting the super hero/comic book aspects of raising a geek, Zuul has cat woman and batman barbie dolls waiting for her when she is ready for that little girl doll stage of life.  (That is of course assuming Daddy lets her take them out of the box).

Step 7:  Make Sure They Have Lots of Time to Think Deep Thoughts

Zuul likes to spend a few hours contemplating really deep thoughts every day.  You know, really absorb that calculus we've been reviewing, or figuring out how to accomplish faster than light speed space travel.  Making sure you give your little one lots of time to solve the problems of the universe is important.

Step Eight: Model Geek Behavior In Your Home

Studies show time and time again that children learn best by parents modeling appropriate behavior.  Your baby looks up to you, so make sure to be as big of a geek as you can at all time.

We always make sure to be as geeky as possible at every opportunity.  So, just follow these easy steps and you too can raise and awesomely geeky kid.  Don't worry, one day they will thank you.