The Chimp Is Becoming a Human

...And just like that, like millions before her, and millions more to come (how can it still seem so miraculous?), the chimp is becoming a human.

It walks. Yes, it walks. It's been taking tentative steps for weeks now, but in the last week, it has gone from walking for shits and giggles, to walking with a purpose, a vengeance. It scrunches it's shoulders and lifts it's legs high at the knees, and holds it's arms at right angles for balance, like it's signaling a right turn on a tiny, invisible bicycle. It has been working hard to achieve this milestone, and it feels very proud of itself. It walks around the house smiling and panting "ha, ha, ha." I did it!

Also, it talks. It's words are chimp-like in their simplicity, but still ring clear as a bell. "Nuh" for nurse. "N-n-n-n-n-" means NO, and is accompanied by vehement head shaking to drive the point home. "Dah" for down. "AAAaaa-wa" is water (agua). "Nah" is snack. "Muh" is more. "Dada" is Mike, and everything else it wants or recognizes (blankie, baby, Hazel, Zoe). Sometimes the humans cannot respond to and/or acknowledge what the little chimp is saying right away, and if we're not quick enough, it screams at us. At top-notch volume. For a long time. The chimp sees the small human in our house doing that a lot, so I guess it thinks that's how we humans do. At least it doesn't throw it's own poop at us. Yet.

The chimp's evolution really picked up speed right around the time a new baby was born to our good friends. It seemed to instinctively know that it wasn't the smallest one in the tribe any longer, so it really kicked the development up a notch. And just in time for it's first birthday, too. Wow.

Bye bye, little chimp.

Hello, big girl.

Shoulda Gone With Clementine....

Celebrity Baby Blog is reporting that yet another celeb has up and named their new baby Violet. Another Violet for our Violet to contend with! Psssh!

I explicitly asked Jen Garner not to name her daughter Violet in the weeks leading up to her birth, but did she listen? No. Dave Grohl, however, being a cool guy and not one to hound the press, flew under the radar, and left me with no time to appeal to his sense of fairness with a thoughtfully worded blog post. Can't these celebs come up with anything on their own? Jeez. Perhaps I should hunker down and get my Celbrity Baby Name blog ready for public viewing sooner, rather than later, huh? Somebody needs to keep these celebs in the know.

On a related note, also in the news today is the recent birth of Brooke Shields' new baby girl, Grier, another name we considered for Violet. And of course, dominating the news (and by "news" I mean celebrity web logs) is The Silent Alien Freak Birth of poor little baby Suri, who, despite her surprisingly cute name, will suffer the fate that only a baby born to Tom Cruise and poor, brainwashed Katie Holmes, could even imagine. Poor thing never had a chance, did she? But at least she's got an original name!

Spring: sprung? (Dare I even think it?)

This weekend was almost too good to be true: It was sunny! It was warm! It only rained once!

We were out making the most of the gorgeous weather with bubbles, bike rides and sidewalk chalk. Friends came over for a game night Saturday, complete with take-out thai food and vodka tonics. Sunday we went bowling and watched The Sopranos.

And right now, both girls are napping peacefully, the house is relatively clean, we met with a really cool young woman who agreed to be our babysitter, and I have an entire afternoon to lay on the couch and read my excellent book.

It's amazing what a little sunshine can do for the spirit, isn't it?

Thoreau at Three: Hazel's First Novel

(Written and illustrated by Hazel on Friday, March 31, 2006)


"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl called Cinda-willa. She had two ugly sisters who made her do all the work. One day, Cinda-willa goed to the gwocery store with her mama, and they got cookies and coconut bubble beer. Then they came home and put all their food away and they said 'Let's watch Angelina Ballerina' and they did! And they lived happily ever after. The End! Now let's put a sticker on it."