casa de kaloi

“Is there a duck in there?”
“Nope.”
“Is there a dinosaur in there?”
“Nope.”
“Is Mama’s throat in there?”
“Yep.”
“Is there a monster in there?”
“Nope.”
“Do I have a throat?”
“Yes, this is your throat.”
“Am I an ostrich?”

I think the coolest thing about Jasper right now is that I really enjoy being around him. He is a pretty engaging kid, and he loves to ask questions, so we’re able to have actual, real-life conversations. Having convos with your kid is something a lot of parents I know have really looked for, and once you get to that stage it’s kind of hard to realize you’re there. I know in a few more months he’ll be speaking even more fluidly, and then in a year or two it’ll be hard to remember a time when he pronounced some words with a “w” that isn’t there or added an extra l or two, but right now.. it’s just so fun.

JUST THINKING.

I’ve also been thinking about homeschooling lately, and by lately I mean a whole lot. I’m slowly amassing a collection of homeschooling blogs in my Reader, so I can see how different people do different things. I’m encouraged by all of the people who basically take it day by day, and inspired by people who are secularly homeschooling. I think between Sean and I and a small team of super smart people that we’ll inevitably have to discover, we can do it. BUT OF COURSE, since we’re talking about at least another 2 1/2 years… we’ll just see what happens.

SOOO also, I’m obviously back from Seattle. I’ve written about the trip here, and there’s also been plenty of mentions on Offbeat Bride and Offbeat Empire, and our photographer from the event posted a whole ton of photos that have blown my mind. I’ve never been part of a party that was quite like that one, so having it all documented in such a lovely way is triple special. 

So first things first: I’m kind of maybe? changing the name of the Thrifted series to Thrifted Style. While probably 85% of my wardrobe comes from thrift stores, I do every so often score really sweet deals on brand-new items, and I want to share those, too. Case in point: my Bensimon shoes that came in the mail like… an hour ago. I’ve been obsessed with Bensimons since I read about them on A Cup of Jo and have been scheming ways to get my hands on a pair of them. They’re usually $55, which just seemed a little crazy to me (especially since I have no way of knowing if they’ll last a long time or give up after a few measly months like OTHER SHOES) (TOMS). I found a site that had a gray pair for $28, so after quickly looking up my European shoe size (40. That sounds so much bigger than 9.), I snagged them. Now Sean’s obsessed and wants his own, and I secretly really want to get some for Jasper, as well. But $55? For toddler shoes? Shit must be off the hook.

They of course have a million adorable cute colors, but I’m happy with my gray ones. For now.

I also found this short-sleeved denim shirt the other day for approximately $2 at one of my favorite thrifting spots. It’s the kind of shirt I usually wouldn’t look at twice, because it’s just not really my thing…. but Kim and I have been scheming a George Harrison and Bob Dylan-themed photo session for a while now. It occurred to me this morning that I could ALSO wear it tonight, when I watch the first of the two-part George Harrison documentary that’s coming on. PS: I’ve never been so happy that my sister has HBO.

I almost don’t even want to mention what’s on my legs, because I don’t know what to call them. They were sold to me as jeggings, but these things are so loose that they’re basically the JEANS (read: not. jeggings.) that I wear every day. I bought them very hastily on my way to shoot a baby shower one day, because I was having one of Those Days where everything you own sucks and I was miserable about it, and I’ve pretty much regretted the purchase ever since. But you see.. I say that, and I still wear them 3 out of 7 days a week. What. Why.








I can’t at all predict if I’ll blog in the next few days. I expect to be totally mid-breakdown tomorrow (until the GH documentary concludes), and after that is GeekGirlCon. SO UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN… (probably Monday).

Sigh. TEACH ME YOUR WAYS.

Yesterday my niece was christened. This was interesting because my sister isn’t particularly religious, but her boyfriend’s family is Catholic, and she didn’t mind if Lyela was christened (is that correct? Baptised?) into the faith. I think it’s pretty cool. Even though I’m not especially religious myself (although MAN do I have a post brewing about how I’m exploring religion through creating art and I’m SO EXCITED… another day), I really respect traditions and ceremonies, and it was cool to be there for Lyela’s entrance into what may be her faith. I have no idea if she’ll follow it or not, but I think… it was just neat to be there.

Anyway, the church we were at has a statue of Jesus (well, they have several) in the lobby. Jasper was standing in front of it, and we had this exchange:

Jasper: “Who is this?”
Me: “That’s Jesus.”
Jasper: “Oh. What song does he play?”

And then I laughed for about an hour because my child thinks anyone who is important enough to be on the wall is a musician. And… in his household, he’s usually right.

Speaking of musicians and my child, I recently bought Living in the Material World by Olivia Harrison. After spending forever going through every single photo (oh my god), I learned that George Harrison was named after the UKULELE player George Formby. It’s so amazing to me that GH, who my son loves (maybe because I love him but also because he just does), who played the ukulele all the time (like my child does), was named after a ukulele player. Observe:





Ashley and I recently completed what I believe is our busiest weekend this wedding season. I always maintain that it’s awesome to be this busy, because we love our jobs & it’s BUSINESS, but man! Sometimes it takes the wind out of you to have thousands of photos to edit in a week ,before you turn around to have a few more thousand photos to edit. While last weekend was the busiest, we’ll still be pretty busy through the middle of November. There are a few breaks in between — the biggest of which (for me) is NEXT WEEKEND when I go to Seattle (by myself! I’ve never flown by myself but everyone tells me you feel awesome while doing so.. so I’m stoked) and meet the Empire ladies and speak at Geek Girl Con. What the what the what the what.

Dear Jasper,

I realized midway through today that thirty months means you’re officially two and a half, so I can stop telling people you’re almost two and a half and just keep it real and tell them that’s the case.




A lot has happened in the last month (or two) since I’ve written a letter to you. Let’s break it down, and then take it case by case. You started preschool and then stopped it. You and your dad came to a wedding with me for the first time ever, and it totally rocked my world. You also entered into the phase of your life in which you ask questions, all the time, about all kinds of things. You’ve started.. “making up stories” to be nice about it, but what I really mean to say is that every so often you tell me something that is totally not true, and neither your dad or I are sure if you’re doing it on purpose (probably) or not. In between all of these are five hundred other things I want to remember so… let’s dig in!

So, the preschool thing. Your dad and I have been going back and forth about whether or not you should go to preschool for what feels like forever now. We had decided that yes, you should, but maybe not until you were 3 or 3 1/2 when an opportunity at a school we really loved fell into our laps and we took it… even though you weren’t even 2 1/2. We both felt like you weren’t really emotionally ready, but we thought that it might be good to at least SEE how it goes. Well… cut to you dissolving into three hour-long tantrums, a few night terrors, and appearing totally stressed out after two weeks of preschool and we decided to cut our losses and pull you out. It took you two weeks to get back to your sunny, mellow, sweet self, but you did and we’re all the better for it. I’m not sorry that we tried preschool, because you never know until you try, but I am sorry that it may have stressed out you way more than you ever need to be.




In news that is totally way more awesome, you met Curious George AGAIN this month. He came to a breakfast at the kid’s science center here and you thought it was one of the coolest things in the world. I knew about it a few weeks before it actually happened, but didn’t want to tell you in case something came up and it didn’t pan out — so you knew the day of we were going to the science center to eat breakfast, which seemed exciting enough. You saw some George-themed decor when we got there, but we still didn’t say anything lest we find out your favorite monkey friend wasn’t going to make it. We confirmed (and double-confirmed) with the people working before telling you, and the giddiness that ran through your body (you literally shook with excitement) when you spied George and The Man In the Yellow Hat was basically… one of the cooler things I’ve witnessed with you.




Later that day, you and your dad finally (finally!) got to come to a wedding with me. You were invited guests, which made it even more rad, and you both dressed your parts. I was so excited to have you there, but not nearly as excited as you were about going! to! a! wedding! Even though you had no idea what a wedding was, and weren’t exactly sure who you were going to see getting married. I’m pretty sure now if I talk about Mary’s wedding you know exactly what I’m on about, and that weddings are these magical music and love-filled events where everyone’s happy and you get to dance, because you keep asking when you can go again.

Speaking of asking, let’s talk about this. Everyone tells you when you have a kid that at some point he or she is going to ask you questions. Ask and ask and ask, all the time. Some of my favorite questions of yours have been:

“Am I here?”
“Why is the sky blue?”
“Does the wind have a mouth?”
“Why do people throw trash on the Earth?”
“What is that sound?” (and then when we ask you what you think it is, you always respond with something)




One of the cooler things is that you really asked why the sky is blue. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the stereotypical “your kid will ask you this” kind of things, and you totally pulled it out after reading a book with your dad. I never expected to be googling so much at this point in your life (because I really wasn’t sure why the sky is blue at first, but now I know all about it. Light scattering. Intense.), but I’m glad that we both are. I’m so happy that you’re so curious about the world, and into learning every single day.




Right now your favorite library books to read are Good Night, Baby Bear and Jazz Baby. Jazz Baby has been a favorite for months, ever since the first time we brought it home. Good Night, Baby Bear is one of those very perfect Frank Asch books that the three of us can never get enough of. You’ve started calling yourself Baby Bear and calling me Mama Bear, and when it’s time for your nap or for bedtime you say we need to get into our cozy, warm cave to sleep. You don’t really like to be rocked anymore — we usually read books with you in the rocking chair, and then tuck you into bed while you drift off. Sometimes you like us to lay with you and sometimes you don’t — all of this is a huge departure from how you used to go to sleep up until a month or so ago, so I’ve got to point it out. It’s cool, but a little surprising how quickly you went from rocking for thirty minutes to not rocking at all.

You also really love to play a game with your dad we call the milk carton thief. It basically consists of your dad putting an empty milk carton on the table or counter and then very loudly commenting that he hopes no milk carton thieves take it away. Of course, this is your cue to giggle madly and take the carton off the table and then run around the room with while your dad chases you. It’s a pretty great game, and also a pretty easy one, and something that’s fun (to us) to see.

We having an awesome, fantastic time with you, Monkey Man. I’m so happy to know you.

Love,
Mama

My bike has had a flat tire for something like three months. This has been ok because it’s also pretty consistently been over 96 degrees every single day for around three months, so I wasn’t exactly hopping around begging to ride my bike. The weather has recently taken a turn for the MUCH more delightful, and so I started longingly staring at my bicycle on the porch and/or asking Sean to get a tire for it so Jasper and I didn’t miss the beautiful autumn weather that’s perfect for bicycling around.

LO AND BEHOLD, the bike is now fixed. Sean (and Jasper, I guess?) switched it all out this morning, and all day long Jasper and I talked about riding bikes. We were running errands this morning, and then I spent 45 minutes trying to get him to nap (why does he randomly skip naps now? This causes slight waves of panic to run through my body) before giving up. Then he colored and played while I worked (we’re trying out “quiet time” if I really need to work and he’s refusing to nap — so far, so good). We ate dinner, and then finally, FINALLY, it was bicycle riding time.





Except.. it was raining. So I looked at my child, he who adores the rain, and asked if he wanted to ride in the rain.

He responded, of course, with a very emphatic ”YES.” He is also half his father, and Sean loves do just about anything in the rain. I can’t even tell you how many times it’s been raining outside and Sean’s like “Let’s go hike! Let’s go ride bikes! Let’s go walk around and sing songs and hold hands!”

I’m not talking sprinkles, but I’m also not talking thunderstorms — just regular ole rain. We’ve ridden in it before, but I always like to check with Puna because you never really know how a 2 1/2 year old is going to respond to most things at any given time, even if it’s something they’ve loved 85 times before.

So off we went, hoodies on and shoes laced up, riding in the rain. Jasper was thrilled with life, and since the rain wasn’t too bad I don’t THINK I got any “Lady, you’re crazy, your child is going to be sick” looks. We rode around for a solid forty minutes, and I’d periodically check in to make sure Jasper was ok. At one point, we had this exchange:

Me: “Jasper, are you ok?”
Jasper: “Yes!”
Me: “Are you cold?”
Jasper: “No! I am hanging out with the rain.”

And so he was. Just chillin, you know, with his friend. The rain. Somebody scoop up this kiddo and put him in a puddle, because that’s where he’d be happiest.

Speaking of puddles, kind of, we recently introduced Jasper to bubble bath. Since then he’s stayed in the bath tub until the water is cold every night, surrounded by bubbles. I’m pretty sure he’s developing a fairly expensive habit.

I keep wanting to talk about Stuff That’s Happening, but what it all comes down to is that right now we’re having awesome times together as a family. In between all of our busy-ness (Sean’s school and work, my work, Jasper’s ballet and lack of school), we’re spending a lot of family time together… which has been so incredibly nice. Nice, nice, nice. Nice to sit together at the table and drink coffee while Jasper regales us with the latest happenings inside his mind. Nice to go see Lion King together in 3D. Nice to smile at each other and know that it’s a real smile, a shared smile, a mutual happiness. NICE.

Here’s some visual niceness that might strike your fancy. I swear, I might turn this into a photo blog (with Dear Jasper letters to accompany on the 27th).. because it seems like that’s what’s happening anyway:






I took what is maybe my favorite photo of Jasper and Sean, of all time:

Much to his extreme delight, I taught Jasper how to use the remote on my camera:

And Jasper invented a new “game” of sorts:


That last one is a great example of Jasper’s new favorite game, something like “Mama/Dada/whoever is around: PUSH ME!” because for some reason the idea of pushing himself with his feet Fred Flintstone-style seems to escape him.
Probably because we let it.

I love everything about all of this:


































We’re taking it day by day, folks. Good days so far, good days on the horizon. I’m happy that autumn is approaching; autumn is the season we began in, and it’s always our strongest. I’m not sure how many other people feel ups and downs in their relationship when seasons change, but autumn is a fantastic time for Sean and I. It’s a wonderful time for us to sketch out goals, make plans, contemplate, and love one another in new and old ways.

It’s good.

PS: Can someone tell me WHAT ON EARTH “elephant ears” are? Because I know those people weren’t really eating the ears of elephants in broad daylight. That shit’s probably illegal.

It’s really not as dramatic as that might sound.

The other night I had a hankering for biscuits (I used the word “hankering” here 100% for the benefit of my fellow Offbeat Empirettes, because they seem to quite AMUSED by my SOUTHERN-NESS). I asked Jasper if he wanted biscuits and he said no, but I was all, “CHILD OF MINE! We! Are! Eating! Biscuits!” So at the same time as I’m making this very important decision, I’m on the phone with Kim discussing this very adorable Norwegian band that we’re infatuated with (more on them in a sec) and a song that is oh-so-good (there will be a video embedded, trust me). I’m also wearing socks, because holy moly in all heaven it was below 70 degrees and perfect outside. Our flour is stored up high, way above the stove in a cabinet that is much higher than my head. So, to properly set the scene: I have socks on my feet, I’m climbing onto the stove/counter, I’m talking about music, I’m on the phone. This is a Bad Thing Waiting To Happen.

In a particularly exclamatory moment (I think), I all of the sudden slipped off the counter and went crashing to the floor which seemed to be far, far below. I let out a string of expletives that Jasper merrily repeated as I landed very harshly on my right arm, mostly on my elbow. It hurt immediately, but I wasn’t sure if it was Really Bad until around 10 minutes later when all of the sudden my arm was numb and I was quite certain that meant it was Very Bad Indeed. I got off the phone with Kim and tried to call Sean six or seventeen hundred times in a row to no avail (he was in math class about to take a test), so then I scrambled. I tried calling Kim back, but thanks to the dude who spilled beer on her cell phone I’m not sure the phone call showed up. So I called Stephen, who madly biked home to watch Jasper, and Ashley, who came to pick me up and drive me to the ER.

I’ll go ahead and interject: I’m not stranger to pain. I fall down or break things (usually both simultaneously) all the time. I’m not the best person when it comes to dealing with pain, but I’m not NOT used to it. I didn’t want to overreact, but I also didn’t want to risk messing up my arm or my arm being broken and me not realizing, because hey: IT’S MY ARM. And as you know, I’m both a photographer and a blogger, and I do lots of stuff with my arm, particularly my right arm, and it would be seriously NOT COOL if something bad happened to it. So. TO THE ER WE JOURNEYED!

We arrived to a full house around 6:30 and prepared ourselves for a very long stay. There were some interesting (and by interesting I mean scary) people there, particularly one guy who kept staring at us very, very intensely, but luckily I was called in quite quickly. I’m not sure if it’s my winning personality (let’s say that) or the fact that Ashley wrote “broken elbow?” on the “what’s wrong with you” part of the info slip, but whatever it was: it got things moving. We were shuttled from place to place, triage, x-ray, waiting room, official hospital room, and it all went rather quickly. The verdict is/was that my elbow was not broken (yay!) but that it was internally bruised, and I’m supposed to have it in a sling… right now. But I’ll say that it’s not hurting nearly as much as it was, and I’m very thankful that we didn’t have a wedding this weekend, because I’m sure I’d be whistling a different tune. We did have two sessions, but they don’t seem to have damaged me beyond repair.

So… the moral of the story: don’t climb on counters. Don’t climb on them anytime, but especially when you’re wearing socks and talking about music and distracted.

Oh, and here’s that Norwegian song I was talking about:



Kings of Convenience - Boat Behind from wzzk on Vimeo.

The song is awesome and the band is Kings of Convenience and they are the cutest things in the world. They’re also really good. LISTEN AND LOVE.

I have so many things to say lately I’m not even sure where to start. They range from the crazy/borderline unbelievable (like, you know, someone sending an ex-boyfriend, one who hasn’t spoken to her in years because she’s kind of crazy and who he broke up with over half a decade ago, a friend request on Facebook the week she found out he and his wife are having marital problems (from, you know, his wife’s blog or some kind of shady/delusional mutual “friend”). So quirky and CLASSY! (I may discuss this soon, but I kind of feel good just typing that) to the brilliant and also almost unbelievable (I saw Chris Robinson with Kim on the first and it was INCREDIBLE), so I’m going to focus on the good for now, because I’ve been playing with my child all morning and I’m in a pretty good mood. AND MAN, look at those run-on sentences!

SO CHRIS ROBINSON.

My relationship with Chris Robinson doesn’t go as far back as some, but I discovered him (via his marriage to Kate Hudson, no shame. You can imagine my sheer glee when they had their son on my birthday a few years later.) in high school. I saw Almost Famous, found out she was married to Chris, and bought Lions. The rest is psychedelic love history — I fell hard for The Black Crowes, even harder for New Earth Mud, and now hardest for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. I spent one summer following The Black Crowes around Alabama and subsequently saw them three or four very happy times. They opened with “Soul Singing” in Montgomery that year, and it made what is generally a dreary city (in my experience) into a beautiful supernova wonderland for the absolutely magical seven or eight minutes they jammed. Kim and I saw them the summer or two after, in Birmingham, and it was quite seriously one of the saddest performance I’ve ever seen. They closed with a particularly wrenching cover of “Yer Blues” and as we exited with scores of fans muttering about “how shitty that was,” I was all “Man, something’s up with their marriage.”

Lo and behold, Kate and Chris announced their separation like a week later. Sean and I saw the Crowes again a year or so after that (I forget the timeline), and they were all in better spirits and being absolutely delightful.

In between Crowes sightings, Chris released two solo albums under New Earth Mud (self-titled New Earth Mud and This Magnificent Distance). These albums define very core pieces of my soul, and as such are insanely important to me. I have listened to these songs during every single major and minor event in my life since they came out. There are some people associated with certain songs that I can’t shake; others have seasons. In fact, I usually listen to This Magnificent Distance in the fall and winter, and New Earth Mud in the spring and summer. Sometimes they flip, sometimes they criss-cross and intersect, because it’s all fluid and delicious.

Some time ago, the Black Crowes briefly reunited, released Before The Frost…Until The Freeze which I couldn’t love more. Then they broke up (again), and Chris started up the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, which is what he was performing under when we saw him a few days ago in Birmingham. I had no idea what to expect, barely knew any of the CRB songs (the album’s not out yet, I’m not a fan of bootlegged YouTube videos unless I already know the songs), but I knew I’d love it.

In fact, I loved it more than I could imagine — even with the dude standing next to me who happened to pour beer down my right side and who then tried to apologize? I think? By wrapping his arm around my waist. That was the low, maybe, except Kim also had beer spilled on her and received a dirty look from the girlfriend of the offending beer spiller (which still makes no sense). DESPITE THOSE MOMENTS, the concert was brilliant. I was so happy just to… be in the same room with this man. He’s a poet. He’s the best thing that’s happening right now in my particular brand of music and life, and I just love him.