Mo sno

Naughty B busted in the act of dropping a huge snowball on a neighbor girl's head:



The snow bunny:

Sad, scary and infuriating

You should read this.

Look what I found!

A neighbor had it sitting out by the curb for the garbage men. It's not in the best shape -- that magazine holder appears to be a separate piece that someone added on by nailing it with 3" wood nails, but I think a few screws and some wood glue can tidy that up quite easily. Some of the veneer on the top is slightly damaged too, but I think I can make that look nicer, and if I can't, maybe I'll get a piece of glass to put over the top or something. Someone went to all the trouble of stripping it before they put it out by the curb though!

I'm thinking of painting it a bright hot pink/fuschia sort of color (but I'm open to suggestions -- anyone??) and using it for Z's bedside table when she gets out of her crib and into a big-girl bed.

Our taste tends to run to the clean, simple and modern, but I think this will work for two reasons: (1) it's for a little girl's room, and I think little girl rooms can bear a certain amount of frou-frou in them, even in an otherwise modern decor, and (2) I kind of like an eclectic look anyway. I'd rather fill our house up with individual pieces that we love, rather than having a theme, and letting our taste be the thing that ties it all together. Besides, painting it a funky color that you wouldn't expect to see that sort of piece in will give it an edge, I think.

I'll post an "after" picture when it's all done. Don't hold your breath though -- I have quite an array of painting projects tucked away in this house. Probably the worst is painting all the trim on the house so it matches the new gutters (least exciting $1300 we've ever spent), but that's one that might have to wait until spring.

Camera comments

M & I are thinking about buying a Canon Rebel. We have a little point & shoot digital Olympus that we bought right after B was born. It was the best we could buy when we had almost no money. It's ailing these days (thanks to a drop on the hardwood floor), and now that we have ever-so-slightly more than "no" money, we're thinking of shelling out for something nicer. M already has a film Canon, so the lenses we already own would be compatible.

My question is this: Does anyone recommend AGAINST the Canon Rebel? I've heard a ton of raves about it, but never really heard anything negative. Anyone out there have one and hate it?

I can't believe I've managed to get pictures of B two days in a row! These are fresh from the craptacular Olympus, taken just about an hour ago.

Goofy kids

Z will always pose for a picture, but this is the first time in a few weeks I've gotten B to sit still and let me snap a photo. I'll take it, goofy smile and all.

Dodged a bullet

Perhaps you've heard about how babies in China have been getting sick because of melamine in their formula? If not, here's a brief recap: Shortly after the Olympics ended last summer, it came out that several babies had died and thousands were seriously ill because their formula had been tainted by melamine. Melamine is an industrial chemical that, when added to a food, can make its protein content appear to be higher than it really is, thus boosting the value of the product. It happened a year or so ago with pet foods from China too.

Well, evidently this had been going on for quite awhile in China, and was kept out of the media until after the Olympics in order to avoid tarnishing the image China wanted to project to the world while all eyes were watching. It is quite clear that it has been going on since late 2007, and there is evidence that it was happening possibly as far back as 2004. It can cause kidney stones and even kidney failure.

As you can imagine, we were rather concerned, seeing as how we just adopted Z this February. We were not sure which brand of formula her orphanage used, or even if they consistently used a particular brand, and in any case, the list of brands contaminated by melamine seems to be growing rapidly.

I talked to Z's pediatrician about it at her two-year check-up a few weeks ago. Luckily, she happens to be married to the guy who heads up our children's hospital's international adoption clinic, so she was able to get the latest information and suggested course of action. On her advice, we had three tests run on poor miss Z:
1) blood pressure test
2) blood test for kidney function (this was NOT fun for anyone involved, Z especially)
3) urinalysis for signs of kidney stones

We got a call from the pediatrician yesterday -- all three tests came back perfectly normal. Whew.

9 months

Today:

And nine months ago today:

February 17, 2008