ummmm, this is awkward...

What's with her face here? She looks like she is about to tell me she loves me like crazy, but she 'aint gonna love me to death.
Latest developments with this child:
She is obsessed with looking at pictures of herself and points to her chest whenever she sees a picture of a baby anywhere in case its her.
She has had several tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Our pediatrician says to just ignore these. He's a controversial French doc who doesn't jive with all parental styles, but he's right up our alley.
The hugs continue, and sweet jesus in heavan was it worth the wait. Several times a day she just drops whatever project she is working on to walk over to me and fall into my arms with her head on my shouler, patting me and sighing. Its. The. Best. It can lift me out of any doldrums, not that there are any, of course.
She loves walking down the street unemcumbered, unhampered, the wind in her hair, the breeze against her cheeks. If I just set her free out the door, she would be at the East River before she looked back.

Baby Jay McCarroll

Doesn't she look FABULOUS!?
She loves to wear hats now, which is a 760 degree turn. Gold berets, turbans, NY Mets caps, rainbow knit rasta caps, the list goes on. She's going to fit in just fine in the family, 'cuz you know we love our Tickle Trunks!*
Hmmm, What else...
She made up her own sign language. She pats her chest and brings you a book, which means "read me a book." I think the patting is derived from me patting my knee and saying "do you want mama to read you a book?" She still doesn't say mama, but is mastering "No, no. no." She says this in a very dramatical 40's movie star way, as if she is watching her DIIIIIAMOND tiara get crushed under a bus. "Noooooo, nooooo, noooo." Something like that
Oh! SHE HUGS. This is the best development, by far. Although they are unpredictable and kind of weak. She will rest her head on my knee and sort of pat it and sigh. Its pretty divine. Or if you beg her she will run into your arms and put her little sausage limbs around your neck. As predicted, water works ensue. Its true what Valentina told me, although I have no way to predict the future-this age, 1 year plus is magic. Bliss, really. Sometimes I just think how much I love being her mother. I love taking her to library story hours and planing our days adventures together. Of course, other times I think, wow. I just want to take a shower without some small woman screaming outside the door like I left her at the orphanage with Mrs. Hannigan.

*Tickle Trunk, noun. A box in one's home filled with various wigs, hats and costumes to be used spontaneously when silly hour approaches.

Just a Quick One

We have both shirked our Soph photo blog duties as of late. So here's a quick snap for family near and far.
She's really turning into a little lady! She basically saunters around the apartment now as if it 'aint no thang.
She points to the window when she hears dogs barking outside and says "A Da." She still says "Oh wow" when something impressive warrents it. Oh! The other day at Grand Street playground she just scooched right up the kiddy slide backwards and pushed herself down, screaming with joy the whole way. Then she hopped off, WALKED to the steps back up the jungle gym to do it all over again. She is brave and silly and ridiculous. **Also, lately she also has been sleeping 8:30 to 8:00am STRAIGHT. Now I jinxed it of course, but I mean, that is the dream. I remember when four hours in a row was a banner day here at the McInneses.

Lovely Day

We went into the city to Thomkins Square Park to hear some bands play. Amy (Lyla's momma) bought these protective headphones for Soph before we went to McCarren Park Pool Party concerts this summer. She had the inside scoop 'cuz Lyla's daddy Syd is a Rock and Roller. I think I forget to send a thank you note I just realized! Belated thanks for such a thoughtful and useful gift guys!
Scrunchers was mad tired here. She still takes two naps a day (she's taking her morning one now, ergo blogging) and this was two hours past. She gets so lazy she flops in my arms. It's kind of worth it to wear her out so I can ALMOST cuddle her. She isn't yet at the stage where she shows us affection really. I once tied a scarf on my head because she would try and rip it off and it felt like a hug as her arms wrapped around my neck. Wow. That sounds really pathetic on my part. Anyhoo, hugs and smooches are on the horizon. I think Gavin is going to combust. Stay tuned...

This is a Joey

Sometimes we call Soph a JOEY when she wears a baseball cap. This is a Mets cap I bought for her friend Feyd's 1st B-day.
A few of her pals are turning the big Oh-1 this year, so her calendar has been very packed. Typical New Yorker. That was one of my pet peeves when I was "in the mix." especially working in PR. When you would see people out at "events" and ask how they were it was eye-roll, whine; "I've been soooo busy." over and over. I mean, its true I'm sure, but stop saying it like you have been curing hemmoroids. You've been going to parties for free booze and shopping every weekend!
I digress....here is Soph in all her JOEY glory. She also had a b-day, recently and if I was a decent god-fearing blogger I would have a lovely entry concerning that, but I am terrible and haven't been feeling an attack of the sillies in a few weeks, and thats really when I do my best blogging. So this one's for you, Kyle in Korea. Hey-Is it true that mourners there wear white and not black? How weird!

And we're back people!

Yeah, daily my buns.

Check out Scrunch In Utero. Kind of creepy. This is advanced 3D technology that my "bare-bones" hospital Beth Israel wouldn't provide so I went uptown and paid for this out of my own pocket. Insurance gave me two ultrasounds only. One at the beginning to make sure I was pg and stuff, and one to check sex and anomolies and the like. By the 7th month I was desperate to check on her again, 'cuz you can't really even believe what's going on with your body and that the huge bump under your ribs is really a human being and not just major PMS bloat. Plus I was secretly paranoid about all sorts of stuff. Even after serious health concerns I was afraid she would be all Brenda Walsh lopsided (mean!) The technician right away makes you feel great, saying "Oh my gosh, she is GORGEOUS! Look at the those bee-stung lips! Look at her delicate fingers!" Yes, there are five on each, I counted quickly. SHWEW CUBED.
ps. I need to figure out how to fix this time stamp, I promise you I am not up at 4:40 am to post on the DM.

Babymoon

Not when a baby exposes its rear to you. But that would be super cute. A babymoon is a vacation you take with your sig. other before the rugrat arrives. One last "hurrah" just the two of you. We rented a cabin WAYYY up north in Canada. The town was called Haliburton, a beautiful sort of ritzy lake resort area. Lots of stars go there to canoodle without the 'razi up their grillpieces. Gav and I wanted to canoodle in canadia too, and this was our adorable house. I was also an adorable house so I sort of blobbed along with activities like visiting the wolf reserve and canooing.



Gav always makes jokes about women eating "butter-tarts." Sort of like our version of a housewife sitting on her butt watching soaps and eating bon-bons. I always thought he just made it up, but low and behold, its an actual Canadian treat! That the "Butter-tart cafe" is located directly below (and even shares a sign) with grossly named women's weight-watcher gym "Curves" is hilarskies to the max.



These were all taken EXACTLY a year ago today. Before a certain friend arrived and made everything that came before seem like a hazy dream. I had no idea what we were in store for. Silly, naive little me...

Deliriously Jazzed

This photo I took of myself 1 minute after I found out I was pg with munchito crunchito. Can you see it in the sparkle in my eye? I was at my dining room table on 9th street on my computer (probably googling myself) and I stood up to go pee and instantly felt woozy and dizzy and had to sit down again. I have a strong constitution so fainting spells never happen to me, although I like to think that I'm the sort of wounded, delicate type that they do afflict. I just knew something was going on immediately. I ran down to the pharmacy on Ave. A, the whole time thinking OMG, OMG, I think I'm pregnant. Sort of giggly and elated with butterflies in my stomach. Sure enough, I got a + on the stick and I teared up, right there on the terlit thinking that my dreams were coming true. I was going to have a daughter ( I knew it was a girl) named boo-boo kitty that I could go shopping with! Finally. I remember thinking, "now my real life begins." I waited to tell hubs until he got home and then we kept mum for months. That was hard and kind of lonely. I felt sick a lot and didn't socialize as I normally do. I started watching the Sopranos from the beginning on DVD and became so involved with them that I dreamed about Carmela and would walk down the street thinking about how Adriana could get out of that outrageous FBI predicament. I craved French Toast constantly and slept 'til I could sleep no more. Gav didn't really want me to work too hard so I could just concentrate on growing a scrunch. Um, OK! What a guy.

Sun-Dappled Fuzz-Head

(photo by Annabel Mehran)

A/K/A

Boo-Boo Kitty
Boobs Kid
Boobs
Scrunch
Munch
Crunch
Scrunchita Alonzo
Froggy
BLT
Dung-Beetle
The Creature
The Creatch
Little One

There's more that I can't recall right now. It feels weird to call her by her real name that's fer shur. My mother warned us about calling her by her nickname for too long. She has a 65 year old cousin who still goes by Pickles. As in, "Hey, is Cheryl there? It's Pickles." Or when her husband is mad at her he yells, "G-Dammit Pickles, I told you to pull the car into the driveway!" How can you be mad at an old lady named Pickles? C'mon, I dare ya!

I want this band to play at her first B-Day!

And have Willy Wonka himself serving ice cream and miniature pony rides and pink elephants and lemonade and candy kisses on a sunny day. OH! and have that cute black kid from Me You and Everyone You Know making boloney samiches for all the little boys and girls. sigh....

Three Peas

More snaps from the picnic. Miss L is Soph's bestest friend, but both are new to socializing with your peers. This results in the odd hair-pull or eyelid yank. Benji, the delicious slab of a boy in the middle gets to court two of NYC's most sought after "IT" babies. Jay McInerney has a 2000 word article coming out on them in the next New Yorker.

In the second one Lyla looks a little disturbed by Soph's gluttony. As you can see, her thighs are not for want of more sustanance. They are basically two extra pairs of buttocks tacked on to her legs.

New Years Eve 2007

She is 3 1/2 months old here. Months earlier I bought this black velvet Sonia Rykiel por bebe jumper on Ebay for my unborn baby girl to wear at x-mas. It says "I am a present" in french on the front. I could not wait to celebrate our first holiday season together, and it was indeed a joy. Who knew a small bald women who craps her pants could be so much fun.

The Daily Munch Scoops the Competition

Letter from the Editor:
Greetings, Dear Readers. I realize some of you might go to another rival blog to get your latest Munch and Scrunch related news, but those days are coming to a close. While "some other blogs" purport to be the one and only and most comprehensive source for scrunch updates, only ONE blog can proudly say that it is a DAILY. (Unless of course yours truly eats a handful of lazy beans or is out thrift shopping.)
Witness, the only Scrunch blog on the ENTIRE East Coast to run this scoop:

YOUR CHARIOT AWAITS
Author: Mom
The new thing Gav likes to do with Soph is plop her in this shopping cart and zoom her around the block. She loves to stand up and greet her neighbors from this position, and the reaction on people's faces is priceless. Even the most hung-over, jaded, art-school drop-out melts into sheer jell-o. One thing too is that is tuckers out her lil' legs so by the 10 minute mark she's doing a sort of gangster lean. Its very important to find activities to wear out these squirts, lest you have an energetic baby that refuses to go to sleep. I heard having a swimming pool is ideal. They are so ready to conk out by the end of the day you have to make sure they make it to the bed. Sounds good to me! As any parent can attest, its important to have your own "down-time" at the end of the day to relax and just watch some "Intervention" with your spouse and a glass of vino. Break out the sweatpants already!

Baby Cheesecake

We had the first of several Sunday Afternoon Picnics in McCarren Park three Sundays ago.
They coincide with the free "Pool Parties." This one was when Band of Horses played. All the babies got nudical on
the blankets and ate peaches. 2 cute 2 B 4gotten!
I sent this photo of Tim Les Savvy Fav holding Munch to Maria and she thought it was Gav. I told her not only is he not that hairy (yet)
but I'm not sure he could pull off tie-dye.
This pose is quite easy to rig up with your offspring, and as you can see it always delivers the goods.