CSI: Sesame Street

Remember when kids dreamed of one day being an astronaut or a teacher? I, myself, dreamed of one day being a cartoonist, thinking that I could draw and color all day, and Mickey Mouse would be my boss. Does it get any better?

Kids nowadays are growing up so much faster than yesteryear, and I'm not just talking about physically -- hormones in chicken can only account for so much. No siree, kids today are doing everything a little bit faster than we did back in the day. Sushi at the ripe age of 3, for example. . . or playing forensic scientist.

Here's an image taken today of two such budding CSI stars. Yes, they're making chalk outlines on the concrete. That's Sophia there being outlined by her best friend, Lida, and down below is Sophia getting a turn.

In all honesty, practicing the chalky outlines of body parts seems to have helped Lida put real stick figures to paper so I thought, "Why not?" we've got some time to kill (bad pun) and some chalk to burn.

So, if you find yourself in The Mission and want to check out our sidewalk artwork, come on by. I call it "Midget Ninja Massacre." Viewings are today until it wears off or it rains, whichever comes first. I'm thinking you have until January 2010.

Sophia's in Pre-School!

Sophia is rapidly approaching three years old and with that comes the ol' passage to pre-school. I thought that because she'd been going to a cooperative day-care twice a week -- which meant that I worked there for half a day each week -- the transition would be virtually pain-free.

Not so.

The first day of school was wonderful. Papa and I both took her to see her off on this auspicious day.

Sophia walked in to find a play produce stand complete with cash register, plastic fruit and milk containers. She went straight to the cash register where she quickly learned how to open it up and grab the cash.

While she was at work with the produce stand, Sebastian and I got the 10 minute tour showing us where her belongings go (i.e., the cubby for her changes of clothing for each day in case of accidents as they don't allow diapers even during naps), the outdoor area, the play room, and the bathroom complete with a very low to the ground toilet and matching sink.

We turned to Sophia as we neared the door, and Sophia could barely pull herself away from the free money to say good-bye (while I, on the other hand, cried in the car.)

When I picked her up from school, the first thing she said was "I made money!" Ah, Papa's girl!

The next day was fine again, and I marveled at her independence though perhaps in the back of my mind a little sad that she was able to grow up so easily, with barely a glance good-bye.

The third day though, things began to break down. Sophia didn't want to get out of bed (she is quite the night owl), didn't want to get dressed, and complained that she didn't want to go back to the "new school." After pulling out my hair to get her dressed, fed, and on the bicycle to get there on time (they close and lock the doors promptly at 9am -- if you don't make it, you're out for the day), she cried loudly and gripped my legs as I tried to exit. It took two teachers to hold her while I made my escape.

This same procedure has repeated every day since until (FINALLY!) today when she gave me a kiss good-bye, said she loved me, pointed out to Teacher Jenny that I would, in fact, be back for her after her nap, and reminded me that she fully expected a treat of chocolate milk when it was all over. (Hallelujah!)

Hopefully our transition is over.

Mexican Summer

Hello Dear Family/Familie,

Here's the start of Miss Sophia's blog. I've been meaning to do it for a while and Sebastian just wrote me a suggestion to get on it, so here we are!

Sophia and I just got back from our most recent fabulous trip -- this time to Puerto Aventuras, between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum on the Caribbean Sea on the east coast of Mexico. You can see it south of Cancun on the upper right.

Unfortunately, Sebastian had to stay home work. :-( Someone's gotta make the money, I guess. Don't feel too sorry for him, folks -- he took time-out to go surfing along Big Sur and the Central Coast.

Sophia's godfather, Jerome and I joined a group of my friends, former co-workers from a public relations firm, for the trip. There were 10 of us total. This counts little Giovanni who's 4 months younger than Sophia, who made the perfect playmate.

We all stayed in a huge gorgeous house, complete with a cook (Sylvia - below), housekeeper, and gardener. Sophia couldn't get enough of the pool/beach and Jerome "Ro-Ro," whom she adores.

Besides 3 full meals (and I mean FULL! I came home 5 pounds heavier), it had a pool and a private beach. Sophia and Giovanni just basically spent their entire vacations hopping from pool to beach with little inflatable "water wings" on their arms at all times. The ocean was a protected area with rocks keeping out the waves and it was very shallow -- no more than 3' deep -- for at least 300 feet.

Sophia kept saying that she spotted whales and sharks but seriously, nothing bigger than Sebastian was getting in there. All I spotted were tiny little fish and small hermit crabs.

That's all I have for now. I'll be posting more photos and sending out an announcement on that.

Stay tuned for more soon!

xoxo