Luke seems to be undergoing a bit of a language explosion. Last week (or the week before) we were reading a book about Jesus with him (yes, we are brainwashing him, and there's nothing you can do about it!) We don't actually read the words in the book because, well, he probably wouldn't really get it, so we mostly just describe what Jesus is doing in each picture. He also has a picture of Jesus in his room, which we would point to when reading the book. We don't do this very often, so imagine our surprise when we try to read it to him one night and he starts pointing to his book and saying "Jesus." It's actually more like "Tchee-sus," but close enough. He also pointed to his picture saying "Jesus" and when we ask him 'where's Jesus' he points to the picture.
Luke has also sort of learned No and Attack. He's been going 'nananananana' whenever he's unhappy, like at diaper changes or when mommy wants snuggle time. But yesterday we asked him if he was all done at breakfast and he said very clearly "No." There was a definite 'oh' sound. Then in the bath that night he learned to say attack. Where he may have heard that word is completely unknown. I mean, daddy never uses the water pitcher to attack Luke with water, counting down from 3 and shouting 'attaaaack!"' Never. Not even once. Definitely not every night. So last night Luke got attacked and said 'at-tak'.
In non-Luke related news, Marinda played at her friends wedding on Monday night and she nailed it! "I don't want to brag," she said. "But I pretty much played it perfectly. There was one moment when I started to cry when I saw Vienna walking down the aisle, but I managed to look away and finish the song." The great thing is that Marinda is normally a very nervous performer, but her weeks of practice and playing for other people paid off big time. Go Marinda!
Amit was away in Denver for a conference this week. It was the American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences (AAS DPS) annual meeting. He presented a poster on "Vertical Sounding in Exoplanet Transmission Spectroscopy." 5 points to anyone who can guess what that's actually about. "The conference went great," Amit said. "I even had two people ask me what I was doing after graduation and express interest in having me as a postdoc. Nothing official of course, but it's nice to have options."
Okay, back to Luke. Luke has taken a great interest in walking up and down stairs like a big boy. He actually does pretty well, but this is of course terrifying for us as he grabs onto a railing and tries to step down 10 feet above the ground.
Marinda and Amit also went on a date last night - but it wasn't just to get fro yo. Nope, Marinda had an activity planned! They both like to write stories, so Marinda brought some paper and pens along and they would write for a min, and then switch and keep writing the other persons story, and then switch again! It was really fun - though we at the Heb can't help but try and analize what these stories say about Amit and Marinda's psyche... Enjoy reading them!
Contributed by Amit
Contributed by Marinda
Story 1
"I would skip that one," the man said to her. "Go for the pumpkin instead."
She turned around to evaluate her would-be older brother, attempting to bond with her again with money. That's how it had always been. He falls off the face of the Earth for a couple of months then would materialize one day to "treat" her.
"Thanks," she said, rolling her eyes a bit. "I think I'll survive a little sherbet though."
"Suit yourself," he said with a big grin. To Gwen it was the biggest, fakest grin she'd ever seen. Except for the million other times she's seen it from Harry.
They walked over to the toppings, Harry going straight for the hot fudge and peanut butter cups. Why did he even pick a flavor if he was just going to drown it in a warmed up grocery story candy?
"You getting anything?" Harry asked when she moved straight to the register.
Gwen felt as cold as the fro yo, but she knew it was her job to be the good little sister. She reluctantly turned back to get a few spoonfuls of vannila, no toppings.
They sat down and Harry started gorging on his fro yo. Not that it mattered. He had gotten the good genes when it came to metabolism, physical appearance and pretty much everything besides not being a jerk.
"You really need to come up to New York sometime," he said. "There's this restaurant you'd love. It serves the best filet minoin."
"I'm a vegetarian," Gwen replied still staring at her melting dessert.
"Since when?!" Harry exclaimed, an exasperated look on his face.
Since you offered to take me out to dinner, Gwen thought, wishing she had the courage to say all the things she wanted to say to him. Instead she settled for, "It must have been sometime since you were last home."
"Oh, okay," Harry said, seemingly unaffected by his oversight. "You should come up anyways. The city is - no joke - amazing."
"Okay," Gwen said sheepishly. She had visited him once in NYC. He worked late all that week and she ended up spending half her time reading in the library.
"So anyone special in your life?" Harry asked in between monster bites of froyo.
"No," Gwen said mater-of-factly. "You?"
"Oh man!" Harry replied. "I could tell you some stories. There was this one chick -"
Gwen tuned out while Harry told her about some model or something. Finally, she just had had enough.
"I don't care," she whispered.
Harry almost seemed to hear, but instead he just bulldozed to what crazy bars he and his buddies have been to.
Gwen's foryo was a liquid mess now, kind of like her relationship with Harry. Once it had some solidarity to it, but now it was just a mess, waiting for Harry to pay with his fancy new salary from his all important job in the city - leaving her with an upset stomach and freezer brain.
Story 2
They never had gummi worms when Sally really needed them. They always had gummi bears, gummi frogs and even gummi peaches, but never the one things she really wanted. Normally she would just sigh and move on with her life, but today she was feeling brave.
"Excuse me," she said to the young man behind the circular counter.
"What can I do for you ma'am?" he asked with a big smile. Sally forgot about the gummi worms.
His eyes were the darkest green she had ever seen, like the way back of a forest where there weren't any trails. His teeth were straight and looked as if they had always been that way. Her own braces felt like lead in her about as his smile seemed to float in the air, beckoning her to the highest high she had ever known.
"Ma'am?" he asked/ Sally realized she had been staring at him, jaw dropped just enough to be noticable.
"Oh, sorry," she said clumsily. "I just wanted - I was wondering - what I mean to say is..." she was struggling to put together even one sentence. Eventually she settled on pointing and saying "gummi worms?"
"Oh I'm sorry ma'am, but we're out. The gummi frogs are pretty good though." He moved out around the counter and showed her where they were, indicating that he probably thought she was just a bit slow.
"Thank you," Sally managed to say, heaping more gummi frogs than she really wanted. She'd toss them later, but at the moment she could only concentrate on getting out of there.
She pulled out her wallet to pay, desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the man. As he took the card he glanced at her wallet, his eyes getting big.
"Wait a minute, you're - " he stopped for a second. "You're Sally Fletcher, aren't you? That press card - you're the journalist, right?"
Sally was flabbergasted. She managed to mutter a soft "yes", not really knowing what was going on. She was a reporter, a pretty decent one, but she wasn't famous. She had a blog that got maybe a few hundred hits a day, at best.
"No way! I follow your blog and facebook page! I think you do a great job tackling some real serious issues."
A follower? Really? And he thought conspiracy in park funding of garbage can liners was a serious issue?
"Uh, thank you." She turned quickly and left the store, knowing fully well how stupid she probably looked.
As soon as she was around the corner she wiped out her smart phone. Facebook - her page - followers. There were 426 of them. For the first time in, well, ever, she felt good, even if she didn't have gummi worms.
"Wait!" She heard the man shout at her. "You forgot your card!"
"Thanks," she said. She turned to start walking away when she called after her again.
"Hey!" he said, walking briskly after her. "This may sound crazy, and I'm sure you get this a lot, but..." he paused, now just as uneasy as she had been.
"Do you want to, I don't know, get dinner or something sometime?" he asked.
"Sure," she responded with a big smile. "Just make sure you have gummi worms next time."
Luke has also sort of learned No and Attack. He's been going 'nananananana' whenever he's unhappy, like at diaper changes or when mommy wants snuggle time. But yesterday we asked him if he was all done at breakfast and he said very clearly "No." There was a definite 'oh' sound. Then in the bath that night he learned to say attack. Where he may have heard that word is completely unknown. I mean, daddy never uses the water pitcher to attack Luke with water, counting down from 3 and shouting 'attaaaack!"' Never. Not even once. Definitely not every night. So last night Luke got attacked and said 'at-tak'.
In non-Luke related news, Marinda played at her friends wedding on Monday night and she nailed it! "I don't want to brag," she said. "But I pretty much played it perfectly. There was one moment when I started to cry when I saw Vienna walking down the aisle, but I managed to look away and finish the song." The great thing is that Marinda is normally a very nervous performer, but her weeks of practice and playing for other people paid off big time. Go Marinda!
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| Marinda looking exceptionally beautiful at the harp (this isn't vain, the caption was written by Amit) |
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| Luke and his older cousins at the park! Luke's so funny, this was the first sand playground he has been to, so he kept laying down on his belly and moving his arms like he was swimming! Super cute! |
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| Luke is working on his balancing act. |
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| Luke eating (gasp!) ice cream! But it's ok, it's Marianne's Ice Cream! |
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| Amit in front of his poster. Steven's comment: "I hope he wins the science fair." |
Okay, back to Luke. Luke has taken a great interest in walking up and down stairs like a big boy. He actually does pretty well, but this is of course terrifying for us as he grabs onto a railing and tries to step down 10 feet above the ground.
 |
| Marinda's cool decoration in our window. |
Marinda and Amit also went on a date last night - but it wasn't just to get fro yo. Nope, Marinda had an activity planned! They both like to write stories, so Marinda brought some paper and pens along and they would write for a min, and then switch and keep writing the other persons story, and then switch again! It was really fun - though we at the Heb can't help but try and analize what these stories say about Amit and Marinda's psyche... Enjoy reading them!
Contributed by Amit
Contributed by Marinda
Story 1
"I would skip that one," the man said to her. "Go for the pumpkin instead."
She turned around to evaluate her would-be older brother, attempting to bond with her again with money. That's how it had always been. He falls off the face of the Earth for a couple of months then would materialize one day to "treat" her.
"Thanks," she said, rolling her eyes a bit. "I think I'll survive a little sherbet though."
"Suit yourself," he said with a big grin. To Gwen it was the biggest, fakest grin she'd ever seen. Except for the million other times she's seen it from Harry.
They walked over to the toppings, Harry going straight for the hot fudge and peanut butter cups. Why did he even pick a flavor if he was just going to drown it in a warmed up grocery story candy?
"You getting anything?" Harry asked when she moved straight to the register.
Gwen felt as cold as the fro yo, but she knew it was her job to be the good little sister. She reluctantly turned back to get a few spoonfuls of vannila, no toppings.
They sat down and Harry started gorging on his fro yo. Not that it mattered. He had gotten the good genes when it came to metabolism, physical appearance and pretty much everything besides not being a jerk.
"You really need to come up to New York sometime," he said. "There's this restaurant you'd love. It serves the best filet minoin."
"I'm a vegetarian," Gwen replied still staring at her melting dessert.
"Since when?!" Harry exclaimed, an exasperated look on his face.
Since you offered to take me out to dinner, Gwen thought, wishing she had the courage to say all the things she wanted to say to him. Instead she settled for, "It must have been sometime since you were last home."
"Oh, okay," Harry said, seemingly unaffected by his oversight. "You should come up anyways. The city is - no joke - amazing."
"Okay," Gwen said sheepishly. She had visited him once in NYC. He worked late all that week and she ended up spending half her time reading in the library.
"So anyone special in your life?" Harry asked in between monster bites of froyo.
"No," Gwen said mater-of-factly. "You?"
"Oh man!" Harry replied. "I could tell you some stories. There was this one chick -"
Gwen tuned out while Harry told her about some model or something. Finally, she just had had enough.
"I don't care," she whispered.
Harry almost seemed to hear, but instead he just bulldozed to what crazy bars he and his buddies have been to.
Gwen's foryo was a liquid mess now, kind of like her relationship with Harry. Once it had some solidarity to it, but now it was just a mess, waiting for Harry to pay with his fancy new salary from his all important job in the city - leaving her with an upset stomach and freezer brain.
Story 2
They never had gummi worms when Sally really needed them. They always had gummi bears, gummi frogs and even gummi peaches, but never the one things she really wanted. Normally she would just sigh and move on with her life, but today she was feeling brave.
"Excuse me," she said to the young man behind the circular counter.
"What can I do for you ma'am?" he asked with a big smile. Sally forgot about the gummi worms.
His eyes were the darkest green she had ever seen, like the way back of a forest where there weren't any trails. His teeth were straight and looked as if they had always been that way. Her own braces felt like lead in her about as his smile seemed to float in the air, beckoning her to the highest high she had ever known.
"Ma'am?" he asked/ Sally realized she had been staring at him, jaw dropped just enough to be noticable.
"Oh, sorry," she said clumsily. "I just wanted - I was wondering - what I mean to say is..." she was struggling to put together even one sentence. Eventually she settled on pointing and saying "gummi worms?"
"Oh I'm sorry ma'am, but we're out. The gummi frogs are pretty good though." He moved out around the counter and showed her where they were, indicating that he probably thought she was just a bit slow.
"Thank you," Sally managed to say, heaping more gummi frogs than she really wanted. She'd toss them later, but at the moment she could only concentrate on getting out of there.
She pulled out her wallet to pay, desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the man. As he took the card he glanced at her wallet, his eyes getting big.
"Wait a minute, you're - " he stopped for a second. "You're Sally Fletcher, aren't you? That press card - you're the journalist, right?"
Sally was flabbergasted. She managed to mutter a soft "yes", not really knowing what was going on. She was a reporter, a pretty decent one, but she wasn't famous. She had a blog that got maybe a few hundred hits a day, at best.
"No way! I follow your blog and facebook page! I think you do a great job tackling some real serious issues."
A follower? Really? And he thought conspiracy in park funding of garbage can liners was a serious issue?
"Uh, thank you." She turned quickly and left the store, knowing fully well how stupid she probably looked.
As soon as she was around the corner she wiped out her smart phone. Facebook - her page - followers. There were 426 of them. For the first time in, well, ever, she felt good, even if she didn't have gummi worms.
"Wait!" She heard the man shout at her. "You forgot your card!"
"Thanks," she said. She turned to start walking away when she called after her again.
"Hey!" he said, walking briskly after her. "This may sound crazy, and I'm sure you get this a lot, but..." he paused, now just as uneasy as she had been.
"Do you want to, I don't know, get dinner or something sometime?" he asked.
"Sure," she responded with a big smile. "Just make sure you have gummi worms next time."
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