thus ends paternity leave

in which we share our feelings about Philip going back to work

Kind of hard to believe that 4 weeks has passed. In some ways it felt like a lifetime and in other ways it felt like it went by in the time it takes to blink. We had a great time, Yuki and I. We watched a lot of good/bad movies, took in many baseball games on the teevee, enjoyed dramatic readings of everything from Curious George to '80s vintage issues of Batman and the Outsiders, and sang many an epic song ("Chubby Happy" and "Turkey Leg" remain two of the better ditties we did concoct). Yuki put on a few pounds to become, as one book put it, "quite plump." We now sometimes call her "QP". She loves to stand (assisted), she can hold her giant head up on her delicate little neck all by herself, she is beginning to grab and hold on to things, and we swear she has made the beginnings of an actual laugh. I am going to desperately miss hanging out with her all day, every day. Sigh. Oh, I should probably mention that, because Mimi is made of awesome, I went 4 weeks at home but never missed a "new comic book day." We always managed to work it out so I could take an hour to scoot (literally) down to Zanadu Comics every Wednesday and get my stack of funny books. Yuki and I have also been enjoying Countdown from DC Comics, but we might be the only ones.

But I digress.

GRANDMAPALOOZA continues unabated. My folks trundled back down to Santa Maria, CA on Saturday after a week full of fudge, salt-water taffy, potato chips, and instant coffee. It was really great to see them with the kid. They were so great to her and with her (not that I expected anything different). Yuki took to them very strongly and was a little out of sorts on Saturday afternoon without them around (at least that's what I'm telling myself and it's my blog so work with me, won't you?).

Mimi's parents are now staying with us and it's also great. Kiddo is all smiles with them and they are smiley right back. It's also a wonderful opportunity for a little Japanese language immersion (for both Yuki and me). We are determined to raise a bilingual kid, even if after 11 years with Mimi I speak Japanese like an addled 3-year-old.

But I digress again.

Whether reading the paper,

cogitating,


recharging batteries,


or ... um ... being yourself ... or something ... I guess ... (Ma? What is that?)


it's been a real treat having the grandfolk in the house.

Oh, and Trixie got a treat because life has been really chaotic lately and she just rolls with it.