(Your Caption Here)

In the spirit of my other favorite magazine, The New Yorker, I'd like to propose a contest - please submit, as a comment on this entry or in an email to me or Lorraine, your caption to the following picture:



We will select and acknowledge the winning caption (with runner-ups) in a couple of days and insert it into the title of this entry. The winner will receive an all-paid, all-inclusive, trip for two to Hawaii to include a guest appearance on the TV show, Lost. Just kidding, but wouldn't that be a cool prize?!

I hope you have fun with this challenge. FYI - this is also my light-hearted attempt at quickly getting a new entry on the blog. Apparently, my last posting was "too dark" - as was pointed out by M-O-M-M-Y (the true identity of M-O-M-M-Y has been hidden for her protection).

Here's an example to get you all started: "Oh when, oh when, will I be able to go out and get a job to help supplement my father's wages?".

Current Ruminations

Lauren will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. She's smiling often and is even starting to laugh more frequently. My favorite daily moment is when she smiles at me when she first sees me - sometimes it's as late as at the end of the work day when I come home. When I see that first smile, a new interfusion of emotions surge - full of accomplishment, hope, inspiration, and responsibility. Having said that, I contemplate Lauren's future with both delight and apprehension.

Sparkles of an Exuberant Mind - 3 Comedies That Make Us Chuckle

1. MARATHON MOVIE - When she's awake, it takes us 4 hours to watch a 2 hour movie. We watched Babel last night on DVD and with having to feed her, pay attention to her, and change her diapers, we often have to pause and/or rewind. Four hours later, we had almost forgotten who was even in the movie. We now watch DVDs with the English captions on - it helps us retain what's transpiring, even when it says, "(Man coughs)".

2. BLOW OUTS - Lauren's bowel movements have taken on a new importance. About one of every ten poops has her blowing out the side or back of her diaper. We use and will continue to stand by our brand of choice, Pampers Swaddlers 1, but given the blast patterns of some of her recent bombs, we may need a more secure device. We can't have her blowing out on any more people (upcoming blog entry from Lorraine). Remember the Gap Band's "You Dropped the Bomb on Me"?

3. OUR LI'L SAUSAGE - We're hoping that Lauren continues to exemplify the "plump and stretch" dynamic of rapidly growing infants - fatten up and then slim down as you "go long". As you probably have noticed in her recent pictures, she's become quite the butterball. She's always been "long" so her outfits fit her head to toe in length but left a lot of room across the width. Well, she's been filling out her width and many of her recently cute outfits now look like sausage casings on her. I'm mean, like spandex. When you can tell whether she has an "in-ie" or an "out-ie" bellybutton, it may be time to move up to the next size.

Confessions of a Worried Mind - 3 Distresses I Hope Will Improve for Lauren

1. THE STATE OF AMERICAN POLITICS AND POLICY - Today, we ordinary citizens sit on the sidelines of American politics and watch the unfolding tragedy of an imploding presidency. The majority of the world despises many of America's core values and doesn't appreciate the hubris in acting unilaterally and subjectively. May Lauren never have to live in anything like the past six years again, ever.

2. GLOBAL WARMING - Watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth was a huge wake up call. In what state are we prepared to hand over the world that our children will inherit? I say that Al lets Hillary and Barack continue to beat each other up and sneak in at the end of the Democratic race with his new cool hipness. Gore in '08, yo.

3. QUALITY OF INTELLIGENT WORLD NEWS - Over the past couple of weeks, I noticed that "Britney gone wild" and "Anna Nicole body court battle" led the news broadcasts and splashed on front pages. Even my beloved The Economist featured Ms Smith's obituary (I've convinced myself it's The Economist proving they have a sense of humor). *Sigh*

Desite all of our fears, one look and smile from our little bean makes the world good again...

I Want Candy

Happy Presidents Day, everyone -
We really haven't been able to post any good material lately but trust me, there's a bank of good stuff of new hilarious events from which we'll be able to choose (when we have a bit more time). In the meantime, here are a new (music) video and a couple of recent pictures...

Our li'l girl likes this Bow Wow Wow classic from the 80s (a tad lengthy but worth it - so give it some time to upload)...



BATH TIME



AFTER THE BATH

Hello from Lorraine ... finally!

Hope this finds everyone having a great start to the new year and that your holidays were enjoyable. As Henry said (many postings ago), our Christmas gift came early last year and what an amazing blessing she is. Our daughter has been loved from the very beginning but nothing could prepare us for the overwhelming adoration we’d have for her once she decided to join the family. Lauren is a wonderful addition to our lives. I occasionally step back and am bewildered at how something so small delivers so much.

Lauren will be nine weeks old tomorrow and I just can’t believe it --- time flies when you’re having fun. Henry and I have been busy getting to know Lauren and cherishing every moment with her. Henry is a devoted and attentive father and I get teary-eyed just watching them together as it fills me with such joy. He truly embraces being a father and it is plain to see that she is daddy’s little girl.

Lauren has been busy doing the usual --- eating, sleeping, pooping, and peeing most of her life BUT recently she's been making all kinds of noises and is smiling a lot. She loves lying on the changing pad and in her boppy and HATES tummy time. She enjoys yanking on Mommy's hair and falling asleep on her tummy on Daddy's chest.

Now, on with the pictures. We recently had an impromptu photo shoot with Lauren. Costume design brought to you by Grandma Goias (little pink outfit) and Aunt Christine (cute bear bib that she fell asleep in).