Reuben's Red Slippers

I found some croc shoes half off and decided I'd get Reuben a pair so he wouldn't destroy his decent shoes at the beach. I thought he'd probably like the shoes better if I involved him in the selection. So I held up a respectably colored dark navy pair and brown green pair and asked Reuben do you want blue or green? He surveyed his choices then looked over my head (figuratively and literally) at the rack and said RED! RED!

I thought about doing a parental over ride but in all fairness I did ask. And I didn't want his first lesson in self determination to be met with a no. But maybe I'm obsessing a little too much on the parenting?

Either way, my child now looks like Ronald McDonald. But a very happy Ronald McDonald. He's walked up to me several times to show off his new apparel. As soon as he gets my attention he points down to his feet and says RED! RED! Red shoooes!

Indulgence: Skyflight Mobiles

I generally try to avoid using the birth of a baby as an excuse to buy a ton of junk. But I have my weak spots. One of my absolute favorite indulgences is mobiles. I love mobiles and so do babies.

We bought a swallow mobile for Reuben and I ended up becoming jealous because he spent so much time smiling and cooing at it instead of me. Unfortunately for the mobile it looked a little too realistic for Battle our cat and he dispatched each paper bird in a night of domestic sabotage. Finding our beloved little swallows knawed to pieces I almost threw him out.

So with the upcoming baby I've been on the look out for a replacement. I just found the most wonderful company Skyflight Mobiles. Their mobiles are big, high contrast and beautiful. The birds, butterflies, fish and other animals each sport the accurate markings of their species. I want to buy them all but I restrained myself and bought the new baby butterflies and Reuben the owls (Okay, honestly I bought both for myself) But I will hang each mobile in the kids' rooms.

Aren't these awesome?? You can see all their mobiles here.

Represent

I'm working on a project for my mom which involves painting about a half dozen super heros on a sheet as a back drop. I've got Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Ironman, and I'm holding a spot for a strong female but I'm having a hard time deciding who should get the place. I guess Cat Woman is the most known but I think she looks too much like Batman. I'm partial to Rogue and Storm of the Xmen but I'm not sure how well they're known. I always thought Wonder Woman was kind of lame and has a stupid costume. I could make it easy on myself and do the Invisible Woman. (That's a joke) A lot of the ladies I mentioned belong to teams so it seems a bit odd to represent them alone. I don't want to do the after thought female counter part to some better known male super hero like Super Girl - yuck. So I'm looking for advice. Who do you think is the best female super hero?

Bubble! Bubble! Ball! Bubble!

Reuben turned 18 months which means he is finally old enough to go into the nursery at church. I have felt apprehensive about what his reaction would be. Reuben doesn't love strangers and can be pretty shy.

In the past few weeks I've dragged him to several play groups to try to give him a taste for playing around a lot of other kids. These efforts have made me be a lot more social than I generally prefer to be. So I guess Reuben and I have done a little bit of growing together.

In the end it seems to have worked out. Aaron dropped Reuben off without a hitch. Reuben didn't even cry. Afterwards when I asked Reuben how church was he responded with "bubble! bubble! ball! bubble!" which is about as glowing a report as you can get from the boy.

More Coverage

Another of my favorite illustrators is Tove Jansson who created the Moomin comics and wrote one of my top five favorite books "The Summer Book." I enjoy her work so much that I've toyed with the idea of naming my daughter Tove. It was a fleeting thought but Aaron detests the name with such vehemence that it's become a really tempting option.

Anyway I was pleased to find that Tove Jansson created both a cover and interior illustrations for the Swedish translation of The Hobbit. You can see the illustrations here.

Speaking of Tolkien, on Saturday I learned that Tolkien got a fair amount of material and inspiration from the Finnish epic saga The Kalevala. Not familiar with it? Turns out there's a multi-hour, made-for-Finnish-tv movie created in the 80s which will catch you up. (This info is also from the Finnish embassy) Unfortunately netflix doesn't have it in stock so I won't be renewing my subscription.

Judge Away

One of my favorite illustrators is Sam Weber who happens to be married to another favorite illustrator Jillian Tamaki. The other day I saw that Sam Weber was recently commissioned to make a new cover for Ender's Game. Isn't this a perfect Ender?

You can read more about the project here.

The Country Where I Want to Be

Isn't this a great mural? Drawn in graphite on this scale. I wish they sold prints, life size prints. Where can you find such a wonder? The Finish Embassy of course. ( I hope I look like her when I get old. Isn't that a great face?)

On Saturday we decided to visit the EU Embassies for their open houses. First stop - at my insistence, after a long march up Massachusetts Ave., was the Finish Embassy. It was a great time. I have to marvel at how the Finns can choose an official uniform of neon green stripe t-shirts and retain a calm dignified professional manner. How do they do that??

They also had the coolest table cloth I've ever seen. I love this pattern.

We snacked on some delicious pancakes, breads, cheeses, pastries, lignon berry jam and other goodies. Reuben really got into the plucky folk singer who was also wearing the team color of neon green.

The building which sets records for being one of the greenest in DC is absolutely gorgeous. The back wall is all glass. There's a small walkway that hangs above a gorge above Rock Creek Park.

Reuben tested out the glass by throwing his whole body against it a few times to make sure it would hold. The kid has a lot of faith in modern architecture.

It was a great visit. It took a lot of self control but I managed to not sing The Finland song the whole time I was visiting and for my efforts I got a reusable grocery bag that says Finland! (I don't think they would have given me one if I had slipped up) I'd love to go back so I'm trying to think of what great act I would need to perform to get invited to a Finish party at their embassy. Any ideas?

We left Finland and visited

Belgium - they handed out delicious waffles and some crazy lace making demonstrations

Czech Republic - Rocking Medieval band

Hungary- Lots of nice dogs. They had packs of friendly Viszlas, Kuvaszes, and Pulis out front along with lots of folk dancing, sausages and goulash inside

and Great Britain - marvelously efficient (Thank you for the bathrooms!!) beautiful gardens WWII re-enactors, cover band

That's Churchill with a machine gun if you can't tell.

We would have liked to visit more of the embassies but the lines were too long to get in before closing time. But that's okay, we'll be back next year.

Magical Experience

Reuben tried Lucky Charms for the first time this morning. About two bites in, he did what every self respecting kid does, set his spoon down and began intently picking the marshmallows out from the whole grain cereal. I consoled myself with the thought that although his breakfast may have been nutritionally bankrupt it was great for developing small motor skills.

Brazilian Staycation

Even though we are incapable of all looking at the camera at the same time, Robby Reuben and I had a great time together this weekend. While I wish I was writing this post from Brazil this picture is from the front of a delicious Brazilian bakery/grocery in Wheaton Maryland. Their cheese buns are amazing!

On Saturday we went into DC and enjoyed "Passport DC 2010" when Embassies from around the world open their doors to the public. Robby marched us all they way up Mass. Ave in the heat to enjoy the Brazilian embassy. It has a beautiful building which was created by the same architect who designed the National Gallery of Art's West Building.

On the way back down Mass Ave. we stopped in at the Muslim Women Center's Mosque. It was an interesting experience to cover my head with a scarf as was required but the beautiful interior was inspiring. We also enjoyed the music from the Colombian embassy and the sights from outside Indonesia Japan Korea and Australian Embassies but the lines were too long to get in before closing time - sad day.

vs

Next week the EU embassies have their open houses. I'm really hoping to go back though I'm a little conflicted because Montgomery County is having a sheep and wool festival on the same day. But the French embassy promised to have actors impersonating some of their most famous historical figures like Napoleon and Lafayette and invite the public to come chat with them. And Germany is having soccer games for kids while Sweden is promising displays on Green technology. I love DC. It's nice to have options. Which would you choose, sheep festival or European Embassies?

Here's a DC bus with an ad Robby and I enjoyed.