What a face!

The love of my life.

Zoo

I had to go on a mission with a friend to get these special cupcakes from a bakery in Lincoln Park. She came to visit from Virgina over the weekend and her husband made her promise to get him a cupcake that they only make called "The Ron Bennington, I have my own cupcake"-cupcake. Yes, that's the complete name and it's made of chocolate cake, peanut-butter-butterscotch filling, chocolate ganache, and crushed butterscotch topping. It was freakin' fantastic. He's some radio jockey or something and so before her flight we had to go to Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park is a trendy, yuppie part of town which I never go to cuz I hate trendy, Yuppies and there's no parking. NONE! But since we were on a mission and had to go there, we decided to go to the zoo that is also in Lincoln Park, aptly called The Lincoln Park Zoo.

I'm not a zoo person. Not because I don't love animals but because I do. I don't like seeing animals in captivity and it breaks my heart to see them in cages and/or captivity in general. There was a monkey, holding her baby and just sleeping and being a mom, I know I wouldn't want to be bothered while holding my new baby to sleep. But I must say, at the barn, I fell hard in love with these new piglets that were born just 3 weeks ago. If you know me, you know how much I love pigs. All kinds and as animals, not meat. I haven't had pork in over 18 years. Nor beef for that matter.



Someday I'm going to live on a farm and take in unwanted, injured pigs and let them live a easy happy life on my farm.

Well, I was surprised to see that Eleanor really didn't care much about the animals. She was more busy picking up dirt and walking around. She calls all animals "Mah" which stands for Madison, our fearless guard dog. yeah right, she wouldn't attack a rabbit if it bit her on the nose. Here she is pretending to not have anything in her mouth so I don't take it away from her. By the way, she's a Pit bull/rottweiler mix, two of the most vicious dogs out there, NOT! It's all on the way you raise them.


So back to the zoo, Elle did enjoy these bronze monkeys. She hung out there the most and kissed them and hugged them before going for the dirt. But at least she spent some time hanging out with them before playing with dirt.



I'm not sure if I'll go back. It's just more depressing to me than anything. Watching people tap on the glass to get the animals attention. Watching the animals try to hide in a corner so they aren't bothered. I know or hope that some of them were rescued and they've only lived in captivity and can't live in the wild again but it's still sad for me. But when Elle is old enough to know better and wants to go to the zoo, I will most definitely oblige. It just won't be too often. (But I might have to go back soon to go see my little piglets).

Good times

I came to Chicago in 1983. I was 7 years old. We didn't know a single word of english so asking for a drink in the airplane was out of the question. So we sat through the 13 hour flight, thirsty. My first day of school was horrible. I had a bunch of white people running after me during recess. How was I supposed to know that the teacher had asked them to watch after me or befriend me? All I knew was that they were out to get me.

It's been a long time since moving to Chicago. I feel like the years are flying by with last year flying by at rapid speed. Before Elle came into my life, I still felt like a kid. I don't dress up, I don't wear makeup, I don't even brush my hair. But I just joined facebook and reconnected with my friends from high school and seeing how much they have grown up makes me feel even more grown up. I mean, it's been 14 years since I graduated HS. I felt like I was the only one with a job, family, and responsibilities but seeing all my old friends with children brings it all into focus for me. I am a grown up. I am older now than my mom was when she came to America.
I just hope that I accomplish a lot more before it's too late. Time goes by too fast and I plan on enjoying every second from here on out.

Perfect Sunday

Today was simple. We had a great breakfast, Elle got to spend some time at the beach and on the bicycle. We all got naps and we all got to rest, what more can you ask for.

Trike

"Daddy, get off my bike!"


"Hee Hee, I got it!"


"Oh Look, a Plane."


"Ok, time for my first trick."


"Look ma, I dont need no stinkin pedals."


"Oh NO! Not again"


"Get off!"


"Hey you, You better ride fast!"


"I'm coming to get you!"


"Look buddy, I might be small, but I can knock you off this thing in no time!"


"Ok, I warned you!"


"Got it!!!! HA!"


"You. little.....!"


"I'm coming to get you!"


"Psst, Dude, you're not worth it, I'm going inside!"

Phew

The craft fair is over!! Like most of the country, it rained like crazy over the weekend so it wrecked the outdoor fair attendance. I wrote and bitched about it but I deleted it because I really have nothing to complain about when there is so much devastation and loss all over the country due to Ike. Even my neighborhood was evacuated near the river which is less than a mile away and the main road closed until this afternoon.

God bless those that are without a home, power, or dealing with damage from the flood to your homes or business.

Considering how much it rained, there were still lots of people out at the fair and at my store on Saturday. My tent however ripped overnight from the water that collected on top so we came on Sunday morning to a minor little flood on our tent and all over our tables. Fortunately, I made enough sales to cover my booth fee but I have a ton of inventory now and I'll have to post it up on etsy soon.

I went out today to the aquarium for the first time in about 20 years and of course baby had a great time. I took the bus and train downtown and it took over an hour so I'm a bit exhausted from carrying her for that long but I'm glad I got to go. We met up with 3 other babies and mommies from our bradley class and had a little picnic before we went in. It was a beautiful day outside today!

Elle grabbed and hugged/tackled a random baby girl and knocked her on the grass. It was sweet and cute but that baby was terrified and Elle kept wanting to do it again. Thank goodness that mom understood and enjoyed it too. What can I say, she's a lover.
Elle spent more time going after people than checking out the fish but she's more into things that she can touch and feel than through glass. Maybe I should take her to the zoo, if I only didn't hate the zoo so much. But I will soon for her sake.

Just checking in

The craft fair that i'm doing is next weekend! One Week from today! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! I am beside myself with excitement and worry. I have a ton of shit to finish before then and all I keep doing is think of new things to make. What the hell is wrong with me?

So I just wanted to say howdy and I hope to finish everything with a day or two to spare to collect my sanity so I'm not a sleep deprived, blabbering idiot during the fair. But knowing me, I'll probably be stitching up to the very last minute. How can you blame me, I only have the nights to work when Elle goes to sleep and that's not that many hours left in a week.

I'm really hoping I'll have everything complete, take pictures of it all and have a preview online before the fair. Let's hope Elle has a good week with long stretches of naps:).

Happy 14 Months!

Here are some pictures from this week. She is 14 months old today and is a ball of energy and personality. She's beginning to understand things and communicate more and more each day.

So far, she can say with certainty.
Umma= Mom
Mam-ma=food
Ah-Dah=Daddy
Mah!= Madison (our dog) which she usually says very loud because we're always yelling for Madison to stop or something and yelling at her when we do. Plus she says Mah for pretty much all animals, even our cats.
geet=jhut (breast for nursing)
and her favorite word of all time, "Hi!!" Hi, Hi, Hi. All the time, to everyone and anyone.
She also started to say 'Neh for No! Which I'm not too fond of but I do say it to her all the time because she's such a monkey and climbs everything, the gates, the dog crate, chairs, everything!!

Does your baby climb the baby gates? What do you use if your baby climbs up, all the way up, the baby gates??

I've been potty training her since she was 4month old which only means that I've introduced her to the potty seat whenever I could and now when she's about to poo, I say, lets go to the bathroom, and she leads the way. She hasn't had a poo diaper with me in months! Her daddy isn't as good at realizing that she's about to go poo as I am.

she's changed so much and is so active, she hates being carried and always wants to walk everywhere. and if there are other kids around, all she wants to do is play with them! Where did she learn to be so social? Not from us!

Anyways, my baby is no longer a baby, she's a full grown toddler and it's fun and wonderful but too fast and mostly very exhausting. But I wouldn't want it any other way.

Happy 14 months, Minsun-ah!!