turning up the heat

Whereas the first time around I felt the need to prove that a baby would not hamper our ability to go out to dinner every night, with the recent arrival of our second child I have an equal but opposite impulse to affirm that we are capable of feeding ourselves and our children in the excellent manner to which we have become accustomed, and doing it every single day from our very own kitchen. That recipe folder that has been fattening over the last few years, full of potential meals that remained untested, is finally getting its day. It turns out we can make Mexican food that we crave, like these Smoky Chicken Corn Cakes from Real Simple (we used blue cornmeal and cherry tomatoes to make them prettier), served with a side of Meg's crockpot black beans. Mmmmm. Dare I say, we are giving Mesa Coyoacan, our favorite Mexican fusion in Brooklyn, a run for their money.

notable quotes 4.0

Violet is eating her birthday lollipop.
Steve: Violet, are you in Heaven?
Violet: You mean, am I dead?


"In three months, I am going to get a poodle. No, eight poodles. Big, strong ones. They are going to be girls, and I am going to put bows in their hair. You can help me!"


"When I grow up I am going to be a writer. And a teacher. And a ballet teacher." Not that she couldn't be an astronaut or a fireman...


Violet: Mom, did you ever want a pet?  You know, a real one?
Me: Well, once a long time ago I told Daddy that maybe we should get a puppy, but he thought we should have a little girl instead.
Violet: Because you knew that she would sometimes act like a puppy?


"What do they mean he died and was buried? Oh, I know! When he died, all his children and brothers and sisters got together and fed him berries. That made him feel better!"


Violet: Can Davis and I do more flips?
Kai: Well, maybe one more...
Violet: One more each. No, two more each.
Kai: Two more each would be four.  That's kind of...
Violet: Okay, four more each.
Kai: No, that's eight. That's too many.
Violet: Okay, two more each. Let's go.

"Can you get my line on?"  (get me online)
"But is it rock n' roll?"
"That is not fancy!" (always said with emphatically folded arms and a frown)


Steve: You can't eat that in here. It will make a mess.
Violet: No. It's just cheese. It doesn't mess around.


Describing a Looney Tunes episode in a way that may forever curtail her dvd viewing priveleges:
"There was this Eskimo girl, and Bugs was in love with her because she had lots of makeup on and she walked like this." She swivels her hips. "And then Bugs put on lipstick." Laughs hysterically.


"When I grow up I am going to marry Townsey.  Or Grandpa."


"I think you should wear the sparkly purple one. You will look certainly cute...You look fab-ee-lous!"


"Know how the brakes on my scooter work? There's a little person inside the brake, and when I push down it crushes his head and he yells, 'Stop!!!'"

love scenes

(not pictured:  Our romantic dinner at Ici in Brooklyn, a double date with Sara & Willis...and my breastfeeding baby hidden under a long pashmina scarf)

life with sister

a son

We must have been deeply immersed in the self-delusion of impending parenthood to think that eleven days after a scheduled induction--which would actually be a very messy c-section, followed by five days of hospitalization that were almost worse than the c-section--I would be standing in a beautiful old church in the West Village for three hours with my husband and two small children, singing along with George Frideric Handel's Messiah. 

Yes, it was a ridiculous plan. But it did mean that for the past two months the strains of that marvelous work have been filling our home, sometimes the bass part, sometimes the alto, most often the entire chorale, bringing Christmas spirit and something to focus on aside from our own impatience. And it did not take long for us to feel that it had been written just for us at this particular moment of our lives. Even little Violet would warble with delight,

For unto us a child is born, 

Unto us a son is given...

Is there any better gift than a new baby?  Meet Thomas Townsend.