This is one of my favorite recent pics of Coraline. She was a happy camper once I managed to untangle that little Slinky. (Photo taken 10/14/14)
Category Archives: coraline
Photoblogging: Profile
I took this photo right after we washed Coraline’s hair. It helps give you an idea of how long her hair is before it re-curls as it dries, even though it had already started curling again by the time I snapped this. (5/11/14)
Filed under coraline, photoblogging, photography
Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza
Song Lyric of the Day:
Hold me closer tiny dancer / Count the headlights on the highway / Lay me down in sheets of linen / You had a busy day today
A couple of months ago Rich and I enrolled Coraline in her first ballet class. Technically, it’s a jazz/ballet/creative movement/gymnastics class, but we call it ballet for simplicity’s sake. Coraline loves it, and so do we. It’s been so much fun watching her make new friends and to learn how to do first position, second position, and plie, among other ballet moves. She’s also learned the ball-shuffle-change move in tap, heel-toe moves, toe taps, and so on. She then goes insane — as does her whole class — when it’s time to switch to gymnastics for the last half of class. With a bit of encouragement, she now loves braving new things like the parallel bars, the balance beam, and the uneven bars — all with the instructor’s assistance, of course. Coraline is also now an ace tumbler after a less-than-spectacular start.
Coraline’s class’ recital is this weekend, the stuff of my mother’s dreams. See, once upon a time, young Pattie was enrolled in ballet class. And little Pattie whined after every class about how tired she was. Which always got the same response from her mother: “But you’ll be such a pretty ballerina!” It’s basically become family lore that I failed as a ballerina. Me, the klutz who broke my toe walking out of a room, remember? I can admit that I have hardly any grace, and I’ve made my peace with that. But my mom — oh, boy. She might literally have bells on this weekend, she’s so excited for Coraline’s recital. At least Coraline truly enjoys her class. No whining about being tired afterward from her! In fact, she’s excited about starting the next level of class, because she’s my girl and she’s awesome. Sure, she has maybe an ounce more grace than I do, but she pours her heart into learning her steps.
I’ll be wearing my own set of bells for her recital this weekend.
First day of class (3/26/14)
Tiny ballerina feet
Preparing to twirl
Practicing some of that creative movement
If there’s one thing Coraline is aces at, it’s the bows. The child is all about the bows.
Coraline is always more than happy to pose for a photo when she’s in her ballet outfit.
Twirling
Look at that bow — she has more grace than me after all!
My beautiful ballerina
*This post’s title is taken from one of my favorite jokes on Friends, courtesy of Phoebe.
Filed under coraline, personal, photography
Photoblogging: Mother’s Day 2014
Yesterday I enjoyed a low-key Mother’s Day, my fourth as Coraline’s lucky mom. We started the day with brunch — Coraline’s favorite meal — at The Egg & I, our first visit and one of the few places with a less than two-hour wait. Then we came home, where Rich and Coraline presented me with cards and presents. Coraline’s card made me cry (Rich chose well), while Rich’s was sweet and heartfelt. They gifted me with Lily Allen‘s new album, Sheezus, which I really like; a gift certificate to my favorite Italian restaurant, Altruda’s; and the Evil Dead Blu-Ray, which is a huge deal. It’s a huge deal because while I LOVE horror movies, Rich does not. At all. So he really took one for the team, because now that I own it, he knows there’s a chance he might have to watch it with me. That’s a good man right there. As far as Coraline is concerned, it’s a “people” (read: adult) movie that she can’t watch for a very long time.
Rich then offered to watch Coraline so I could enjoy a solo trip to Barnes & Noble without my tiny bookworm in tow — so luxurious. After the bookstore I went to my parents’ house to give Mom her card and presents. Coraline will be personally presenting her abuela with her Mother’s Day card today; we knew she’d want to do that herself. I got home, hung out a bit more, then when Coraline went down for her nap, I passed out on the couch with my cats. Then it was time for dinner, which we picked up from a nearby restaurant, and more family time. All in all, it was another great Mother’s Day. I’m really fortunate to be mom to such a fabulous kid, which I would never be without an equally fabulous husband.
Speaking of, said husband indulged me and took some pics of me with our curly-topped cutie to commemorate the day.
Coraline insists she be called Darth Vader when wielding this little inflatable light saber.
A kiss from Mommy
Smiles
A kiss from Coraline
A BIG kiss from Coraline
She’s very into making silly faces for photos these days.
Me and my little girl
Filed under being a mom, coraline, personal, photoblogging, photography
From the Heart
Coraline made this for me at day care. She told the teachers what she wanted to tell me, and they wrote it on this little butterfly made from tracing her hands. It’s the most perfect Mother’s Day present I could have hoped for. Artwork like this makes day care worth every cent.
Butterfly Hands
I hope all my fellow moms — to both little humans and fur kids — have a wonderful Mother’s Day this weekend. I know I’m looking forward to spending it with my favorite curly-haired munchkin.
The Numbers on the Scale
Song Lyric of the Day:
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful? / Would you let me see beneath your perfect?
Labrinth featuring Emeli Sande / “Beneath Your Beautiful“
For the past few weeks I’ve gotten back into something of a fitness routine. I’m now on three weeks of only taking the stairs at work (my cube is on the third floor), I walk the track at work when I can despite the ridiculous heat these days, I’m wearing my pedometer again to track how many steps I take each day, and I’ve started using our home gym again. I’ve even worked up to running part of the time I’m on the treadmill, which I usually have set on 3.9MPH, a speed at which I can easily maintain my natural native New Yorker walking rate. We’ll see how I do when I increase the speed soon.
Coraline is curious about what constitutes exercise. She loves pointing out that those runners we passed, the soccer players we saw, the kids shooting hoops were all exercising. Rich and I have explained to her that exercise is a way to stay healthy: It gets your heart pumping harder, which is very important since our hearts need to be healthy to keep everything else working well. She has no concept of exercise as a means to weight loss, which is perfectly fine by me. The longer she only sees it as a means to being healthy, not skinny*, the happier I’ll be. I worry about her future body image, when other kids might pick on her for being what they perceive — what society dictates — to be overweight or even if she’s underweight, which I was growing up and into my young adulthood. Being asked by perfect strangers almost everywhere I went if I had an eating disorder (what I had was ridiculous metabolism) took its toll on my self-esteem and confidence. That I know from.
So it’s because of all the baggage that’s attached to exercise and eating healthy that I never let her see me weigh myself. Yes, I started working out again because I’d like to look and feel better. I want to shore up the wobbly bits. I want to increase my endurance, which the stairs and cardio are definitely helping with. I’m trying to make smarter choices about what I eat because without that, exercise alone won’t get me very far. Admittedly, that’s a struggle for me, but I’ve definitely been doing a lot better of late. And, most importantly, I want to be as proactive as I can regarding my health so I can see my daughter grow up.
I do attach some importance to the numbers I see on our scale. I am happy when I see that number inching down bit by bit, pound by pound. I don’t want to lose that much weight — between 5 and 7 lbs. — but I do want to lose it. When I weigh myself, it’s when I’m all by myself and Coraline isn’t there to see. Not because I’m ashamed or anything, but because I don’t want her to start attaching importance to the numbers she sees, certainly not at the tender age of 3 1/2. She just thinks the scale is this neat little thing to stand on in the hall bathroom. She has no idea what the numbers on it mean, even though I do.
Coraline healthy and confident in her own skin.
*Rich and I never use the words “skinny” or “fat” to describe people. I’m pretty sure she still doesn’t know exactly what those words mean.
Filed under being a mom, coraline, parenting, personal
Photoblogging: In the Shadows
Coraline tries hiding under the library table in my office (4/1/14). As much as I photograph her, she still likes to make me work for my shots.
Filed under coraline, photoblogging, photography
The Little Social Butterfly
Song Lyric of the Day:
(When it gets loud, I turn it up) / Shake it like a bad girl up in Harlem / (When it’s too hot, I light it up) / Ooh, light it up, yeah, smoke em if you got ’em
New Politics / “Harlem“
The other day Coraline got an invitation to a friend’s birthday party, this one for a zoo extravaganza. That’s when it hit me: My 3 1/2-year-old has a more active social calendar than I do. Sure, Rich and I went to our friends’ baby shower this past weekend, which was a blast and where we made some good new friends. But that was one of our few and far between social engagements these days. Coraline, on the other hand, has been to a couple of birthday parties recently, then has two upcoming parties on consecutive weekends followed by her first ballet recital the following weekend. As for my and Rich’s social calendars, uh, well, we’ll be accompanying Coraline to two upcoming birthday parties on consecutive weekends followed by her first ballet recital the following weekend.
I do have to say, I’m proud that Coraline is nice, and well-behaved and well-liked enough to be invited to her daycare classmates’ parties, among other events. She’s also social to a fault. Just last night, Rich had to remind her that while it’s OK to say hi to and smile at people we pass or have brief encounters with, we don’t necessarily need to tell them our life stories. Let’s just say that Coraline is very well known by certain cashiers at Target, Barberito’s, and Trader Joe’s. She’s particularly fond of yelling, “I’ll see you tomorrow!” as we head out the door. After telling them what we’ve bought, where we’re going, who we’re going to see, and so forth.
Raising a confident child has definitely been at the top of my list as far as qualities I want to instill in Coraline, and so far, she’s got confidence to spare. It manifests itself in a love of performing (look for a Coraline-directed all-toddler version of Frozen coming to a playground near you in fall 2014), her imaginative play, her eagerness to make new friends everywhere she goes, even her at times let’s say unique fashion sense. So far, so good on the confidence front.
Now if I can just figure out how to help her retain her self-confidence as she grows older.
Who’s a social butterfly? Why, little ole me!
Filed under being a mom, coraline, parenting, personal
Photoblogging: My New Favorite Portrait
Last Thursday when we picked up Coraline from daycare, she came running at me with this paper in her hand. “This is YOU, Mommy!” she exclaimed. This is the first time she’s ever drawn a real person, and I’m flattered she drew me and in my favorite color, no less. Out of all her amazing artwork, this is now my new favorite. It’s also one of the best portraits of me I’ve ever seen.
Filed under coraline, photoblogging, photography
Toddler Tunes
Song Lyric of the Day:
But I still stay cause you’re the only thing I know / So won’t you take, oh, won’t you take me home / Take me home, home, home
Cash Cash featuring Bebe Rexha / “Take Me Home“
A few weeks ago I made a huge mistake: I put the Tangled and Frozen soundtracks on my iPod, which lives in my car. To say Coraline was thrilled to be able to sing along with her favorite songs as we drove to school, to her abuela’s house, or during errands is an understatement. It is not an understatement, however, to say that after the 1,000th time I was ordered to sing the Mother Gothel or Hans or Flynn or Elsa parts, I was going insane. I laid down the law that we had to alternate between listening to her music and listening to Mommy and Daddy’s music. Since she got to hear her music some of the time, she was pretty happy. And so was I, particularly when she started to sing along with songs I liked.
Soon enough she started requesting certain songs, which is when I introduced her to the concept of a playlist. She loved the idea of saving all her favorite of Mommy and Daddy’s songs to her very own special playlist. I told her that whenever she heard a song she liked, to let me know, and I’d add it to her playlist. I also told her how we can add as many songs as she wants, so it can keep growing.
Here’s the playlist Coraline built for herself. With my help. And my iTunes account.
“Take Me Home” by Cash Cash featuring Bebe Rexha
Coraline knows it as: “Take Me Hooooooooooooome”
Fun fact: She refuses to let me sing along with this, even if she’s “too tired to sing,” insisting that it’s her song.
“Cups” by Anna Kendrick
Coraline knows it as: “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone”
Fun fact: When I showed her this scene from Pitch Perfect the other day, she asked for a cup and I recorded her singing along and trying to mimic how the cup is used to make music.
“Breathing Underwater” by Metric
Coraline knows it as: the correct title
Fun fact: This was the first song of my music she ever sang along to, parroting me from the backseat on the way to her cousin’s birthday party last year, April 6, 2013. She calls it “our song.”
“I Will Wait” by Mumford & Sons
Coraline knows it as: the correct title
Fun fact: She serenades me with this while waiting at the bathroom door for me to help her go potty.
“Pompeii” by Bastille
Coraline knows it as: “If You Close Your Eyes”
Fun fact: She actually does close her eyes during that line in the song.
“Right Round” by the Treblemakers
Coraline knows it as: “Hey, I know this song! Can you put it on my playlist?”
Fun fact: I thank God she can’t yet understand the meaning of some of the lyrics. Thankfully, they’re not ones she sings along to. Look for this song to “disappear” from her playlist in a few months.
“Bright Lights Bigger City/Magic” by the Treblemakers
Coraline knows it as: “Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut”
Fun fact: Clearly me listening to the Pitch Perfect soundtrack over and over made an impression on her.
“Counting Stars” by One Republic
Coraline knows it as: the correct title
Fun fact: This is probably Coraline’s most requested song, and one I bought per her request. (Luckily, I’m a One Republic fan.)
“Titanium” by David Guetta featuring Sia
Coraline knows it as: “That song about being strong”
Fun fact: She can’t quite pronounce “titanium,” but lord, does she try.
“Beam Me Up” by Cazzette
Coraline knows it as: “Hey, I like this song! Can you put it on my playlist?”
Fun fact: I love that she likes this song enough to have asked to add it to her playlist. Also, I find her singing along with the “beam me up up up up up” part really amusing.
“Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra
Coraline knows it as: “That song where the guy sings and then the girl sings”
Fun fact: This is another one of “her” songs, with which I am not allowed to sing. Even though she barely knows the words yet.
“99 Red Balloons” by Nena
Coraline knows it as: “The Balloon Song”
Fun fact: It blows her mind that her mommy knows this song from when she was young. It’s old! And so is Mommy!
(Update: I now have the German version, “99 Luftballoons,” embedded because the English version disappeared from YouTube.)
