Emily Tatum Roth

Time to restart this blog with a bang!

The Pruning

I am back.  I took a short blog holiday; okay, really I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera, so I couldn't download any pics to the computer.  I suppose I could post without pictures, but let's face it:  I'm no Adriana.     *grin*     I can't afford to lose any daily readers; this blog needs pictures!  And some oomph to it, but TypePad doesn't make it easy to download fonts to change the title and header.  It's a work in progress...

Jonah behaved exceptionally well during his haircut with Daniela, my (and now his) German hairdresser.  Here is the play-by-play:

The first pic shows the shag in all its glory.  Okay, maybe it was starting to look a little unkempt...Jonah looked like such a little peanut in that salon chair and loved it when Daniela made it go up and down.  With some help from a box of raisins, he stayed pretty still and even relaxed a bit, as you can see in the fourth picture!

After Jonah's haircut, we headed to the mall for lunch.  He loves the fountains in the mall, and we always stop to make wishes until my coins are gone.  The last picture shows how mesmerized he is by the fountains, and how grown-up he looks sans curls.     *sniff*

 

Yesteryear Wednesday #6 and #7

Yes, I know I am quite behind on my Wednesday posts, but I don't always have time for all this blogety blog blog stuff!

FOUR people close to me are expecting babies this spring.  Two friends just gave birth to twins!  All this has me thinking about Jonah's birth (and having another baby--I know you were thinking that.  I admit it, I am a bit wistful.  Sensitive subject, okay?     *little smile*), so I thought I would post some pictures of his first few days of life.

 

 

First Video Clip--Jonah's Floor Exercise

Here is my first attempt at posting a video clip and editing HTML.  Patience, patience.

Jonah will dance to any beat, anywhere.  A gymnast's floor exercise music is no exception.

I think you have to double click on his image to start the clip; don't forget to raise the volume! 

Incognito

Jonah and I are working on his disguise:

What do you think of The Scoundrel?  Needs some adjustment?  No problem--see pic #2.

Bowing to external pressure, I have him scheduled for a haircut this Friday morning.     *gasp*

I'm taking him to my German hairdresser, so he'll have a chance to show off and count to twenty in German for her.  When he gets to twenty he says "zehn zehn," which translates to "ten ten," instead of "zwanzig" (twenty).  He does this on purpose because he knows it drives me crazy!  I always look at him and say, "Jonah, you know how to say twenty in German."  "ZEHN ZEHN!!!"  Clever little thing, he is.                              

Back to Friday's haircut.  Jonah really has no idea what is going on is happy with his disorderly locks (his hair is post-bath straight in these pictures) and agrees with me that the current shaggy do fits his personality.  He asked me to help him come up with a disguise so that Mommy he can avoid Friday's appointment.

We tried a few different 'staches.  Even Katie the Koala got into it! 

I loved hearing Jonah's peals of laughter as he looked at the digital images we took.  Speaking of which, I am going to try to figure out how to post video clips so readers can hear him and see him in action.  Maybe I'll work on that right now; it's only half past midnight.     *grin*

Yesteryear Wednesday #5

I'm tired and unmotivated.  This is going to be a quick one. 

The date is May 14, 2006; my first Mother's Day.  Jonah T. was posing like a champ:  the over the shoulder, pensive gaze; the classic JTR beam; the future president look; and then he fell forward right as the camera clicked.  Priceless and hilarious.     *smile* 

What A Hamm!

This morning, I decided I was going to post the following pictures of Jonah monkeying around.  Is it just a coincidence that gymnast Paul Hamm, America's reigning Olympic gold medalist, announced today that he is withdrawing from the Olympic team due to injuries?  I think Jonah would make a fine alternate!  Look for yourself:

After reading books, I hoist him into the crib and he exclaims, "TWICKS!!!"  What follows is about five minutes of continuous forward somersaults and, his newest "twick," head stands.  Apparently, I have underestimated what he learns in his twenty minute preschool PE class.  He tells me that "coach" taught him how to do these "twicks."  I am impressed.  I really thought he and the other toddlers just kicked balls around.

Unfortunately, Jonah's crib is taking a harsh beating during Trick Time.  Tonight I cringed as I watched the crib rails buckle with each miscalculated somersault...His Big Boy Bed is due to arrive in a month or so; let's hope the crib holds out that long!

And because I know some readers are thinking this (and I know which ones, too!), yes, that is his newly painted wall that he is putting his feet on.  Yes, Trick Time is not the most appropriate winding down activity.  Yes, I still follow gymnastics and am disappointed that Paul Hamm won't be defending his medal in Beijing.  And no, unfortunately, I don't think Bela Karolyi will emerge from retirement to coach my talented gymnast in the making. 

      

First Brawl

This is what happens when things get ugly in the sandbox:

In the last picture he looks like he is thinking, "But I defended myself, Mommy.  You should see BOTH his eyes!"

DON'T mess with my son on the playground!    

*grin*

What you are looking at is actually what happens to Jonah when he gets a bug bite.  Each bite turns into a large hive (about two inches), and his pediatrician has instructed us to give him Zyrtec and Benadryl around the clock at the first sign of a hive until symptoms subside.  We knew it was only a matter of time before he was bitten on his face.  You can see the actual bite to the right of the swelling, and the swelling extends across the tissue plane under the eye. 

My Little Love(tt)

It's a teaser, I know, but I have not had time to organize my favorites from Jonah's Father's Day photo session.  The shoot was a big success--much, much better than his two-year picture session.  How uncooperative was Jonah back then?  Enough that our print order was zero.  What a difference half a year makes! *grin*

Under considerable duress from Abuelita, Tio Kevin and Rob, I had Jonah's hair trimmed the week before the Father's Day pics.  It is now growing back with its original gusto, thank goodness!  I love his shaggy, bouffant hairdo.  In the morning, when his hair is at its fiercest, he reminds me of Lyle Lovett.  What do you think?

Love Is Not Abuse

I have decided that every Wednesday I am going to post a picture or two from the past.  This picture is one of only a handful of both Jonah and I that I like from his first year of life.  As some of you know, I basically lived in pajamas for the first six months postpartum and shunned the camera.  Thus, while I have hundreds of adorable pictures of Jonah by himself or with others, there aren't many of him and mommy.

In this photo, I am (surprise) wearing pajamas.  The shirt I have on (thanks, David J!) is part of the fundraising efforts of Liz Claiborne's Love Is Not Abuse program, which works to end domestic violence.  It features a heart on the front with the program's message: Love Is Not Abuse.  Jonah loved to reach out and touch the heart every time I wore this shirt, and I was always so taken by his gesture.

I am so glad the moment was captured, despite the pjs...

Fast forward a year, and here we are (NOT in pajamas *grin*) at the beach.  I love this picture.

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." -Lin Yutang