I wouldn't necessarily characterize myself as being cute, but now I'm wondering if this is one of the reasons I'm always mistaken as being younger: large head, high forehead, small nose and mouth, a stubby neck, and short arms and legs with small hands and feet. For more commentary on how and why humans perceive cuteness — including some really interesting historical factoids — check out Why Babies and Other Things Are Cute, Explained at the Stuff You Should Know Blog....
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A couple of weeks ago, I saw the following comic strip in a Buzzfeed article titled "21 Comics That Capture the Frustrations of Depression": (source) There were many comics on that list to which I could relate all too well, but this one particularly hit me hard. And before I knew it, tears were flowing down my cheeks. Look, I've been down this road before. Lord knows I've devoted a crapload of kilobytes on my computer's hard drive, as well as valuable internet space, writing about my struggles with depression. I was even afraid to write about it here — on my own freakin' personal blog — in fear that someone will invariably react with an "AGAIN? I thought we've been through this...
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Exactly 3 years ago today (on September 30, 2010 at 9:25pm ET), our Claire Emmanuelle entered the world. Face scrunched and red, fists tightly clenched, and already lifting her head just a few minutes after birth, I knew right then and there that she would be a special one. Now, at 3(!) years old, Claire is a bright, silly, and sassy little lady. She is so smart and so talented and so funny. (And I'm not just saying these things because she's my daughter!) She reminds me of myself in so many ways — and many people tell me that she looks exactly like I did at her age — but she is a better version of me. She is loving and affectionate. She is...
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Today marks the end of Claire’s first full week of preschool. (Last week was a 3-day school week.) While she didn’t cry the first day, she shed some tears every morning after that…until yesterday, that is. She had a perfectly pleasant, tear-free day yesterday and J texted me to let me know that she didn’t cry this morning at drop-off either.
She is sooo excited to ride the “school bus” (it’s a regular city bus but she calls it her school bus) every morning with her baba, and he tells me that she sings “The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round” whilst riding the bus. She’s learned a new song (“Mr. Sun”) and her English has already improved tremendously in this short time. For example, I was amazed when she said to me, “Mom, come up here! Let’s go down the slide together!”
In celebration of this small milestone, I wanted to share with you a series of illustrations by Parisian designer Andry “Shango” Rajoelina that depicts superheroes and their families on their way to school. The first part of his series, “Justice Families,” debuted back in May and part two, “Marvel Families,” debuted last month.
Aquaman:
I really, really liked our speech pathologist. She was gentle yet firm. She was kind and patient. And most importantly (at least to me), she understood that all kids are different, and that they learn in different ways and at different rates. Unlike the ladies who did our evaluations, our speech pathologist (let's call her D) did not rush through our session. She emphasized the fact that she wants to take not only Aerin's delays, but her personality, family members, and living situation into consideration when working with her. She told me that my input is very important to her, and I loved how she employed different activities to see which Aerin liked best, and to which she seemed most responsive. D...
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