I’ve decided to add Rogaine to my Christmas wish list.

As most of you know, I’ve got some serious hair. Thick and unruly, it’s been a constant battle my whole life to keep it under control. When I was pregnant with the little McNugget, my hair got even thicker. When putting it up in a ponytail, I was hard pressed to get the rubber band around my mane twice. After Leina was born, my mom warned me that I’d start to lose my hair but I didn’t believe her.

I should have.

A few weeks ago, it began. At first, it was just a strand or two. Then, a few more. Recently, I’ve been pulling out handfuls. I’m not kidding. Handfulls. Everywhere I go I leave a trail of hair behind me. This morning, I was able to twist the rubber band four times around my ponytail. By my calculation, I’ve lost half of my hair so far and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of slowing down.

I’ve decided I have one of two options. Either start collecting my fallen strands to make a wig to cover my soon to be bald head or start buying Costco size Rogaine.

So Santa, I’ve been a good girl. What are the odds you can give me some new hair this Christmas?

I’ve never been a morning person but Leina is changing my mind. Lately, my favorite hours of the day have been from 7 to 9am. You see, that’s when Leina shines.

After a long night’s rest, Leina awakes on fire. She giggles and coos, kicks and laughs. She’s bright eyed and ready to explore anything her chubby little hands can find. For those two beautiful hours, my daughter and I play. She loves to lie on her back and memorize my face while her little hand pats my cheek. Or she’ll get the baby heebeejeebees and kick her legs, flail her legs and squak at the top of her lungs at nothing at all. This morning, as I lay on my back next to her while she cooed up at the ceiling fan, I realized how much I love the mornings. It suddenly hit me that this – this moment next to my daughter – was pure joy. Like sunlight through green leaves or the smell of baking bread, her little voice so happy and sweet just lit my heart.

So I rolled over and smushed her while slobbering her soft cheeks with messy mommy kisses.

Hey, I couldn’t help it, ok?

The nice thing about setting up the new site is that I now have access to change everything!

So here they are, Leina and her cousin Sammy. Sammy seems to be enjoying hanging out with his cousin but Leina seems a bit, well, concerned.

“Um, mom? I’m getting a little squished here. Can you tell Sammy I need a little room please?”

How cute are these kids?!?!

The trip to San Diego was wild.

Traffic was a bear and reminded me why I left here in the first place. Leina did great in her car seat for the first two and a half hours but after that, she’d had enough and wanted O-U-T. She let her desire known in a nice loud cry while we sat in bumper to bumper traffic. Amazingly enough, once we got to Dan & Suzy and she was released from her carseat confinement, she was perfectly happy. Overwhelmed, but happy.

Suzy’s house was abuzz with activity. Sammy nursing, little Daniel running around playing, Dan following behind, and my parents unpacking. Leina spent that first evening sitting in my lap, wide eyed, and gazing around. You could tell she was pretty startled by her new surroundings. In Portland, a crazy day is when the chases the cat under the table. Leina had no idea this much activity was even possible. When she started to get cranky, we packed her up and headed over to Grandma Wall’s house where Leina and I would be staying for the weekend. Poor girl, she had just absorbed Suzy’s house and then wham-o, she was somewhere new. I must say (with no little amount of pride) that she took it like a pro. So long as she could see me, she was fine. She went right to sleep in her playpen and slept like a champ. I suppose all the excitement helped of course.

The next morning, after her first nap, we loaded her up and headed back to Dan & Suzy and this is where the fun began. There were babies everywhere! Suzy has a three bedroom house and at one point, there was a kid sleeping in each room. My poor dad kept opening doors only to find the room occupied by a passed out baby. He finally gave up and went to hang out in the kitchen where he knew he’d be safe.

Daniel was only mildly interested in Leina. He showed her a few toys but lets face it, at this point Leina is a bit of a blob. Her only real tricks are smiling and drooling which aren’t too exciting to a two year old. Sammy was also unfazed by the arrival of his cousin. But then, Sammy had even less tricks up his three week old sleeve than Leina. It was Uncle Dan and Auntie Suzy who had the best time with the baby girl. They admired her chunk-a-chunk-a thighs, ooohed over her ability to put things in her mouth and delighted in making her smile. By now, Leina was pretty well adjusted to the chaos and I found she liked to just lie on her back in the middle of the room and watch everything. So she kicked and cooed on her back while we all walked over and around her.

And then something amazing happened. Granny Walls was playing with Leina on the sofa and suddenly, Leina laughed! We all ran over and sure enough, she did it again. Five times in a row she let out a real laugh! Granny Walls had no idea what she was doing that was so funny but Leina loved it. Of course, once I broke out the video camera to document the laugh, she stopped. I haven’t been able to provoke another giggle fest but I’m on a mission. Suzy was right when she said once they laugh, you don’t want them to ever stop.

The best part of the visit was when we got Sammy and Leina together on the mat side by side on their backs. Leina is flailing away with her arms and bashing Sammy in the face. Everytime an arm hit him, Sammy begans to try and suck it. They had us in stitches. We even dressed them up in Chrirstmas outfits and sat them side by side for pictures. Well, “sat” isn’t exactly the best description. Leina was propped up and (you guessed it) flailing her arms while little Sam sort of slumped on top of her. I can’t describe it but I did get a picture which I will post as soon as Kevin uploads it for me.

Oh yes, and Kevin? How is he taking our absence? Well, when I finally reached him, I found out he had just finished a pizza and was heading out to catch a movie with Kat & Josh so he couldn’t talk for long. He did confess that he’s letting Artie sleep on my spot on the bed so at least he has someone to snuggle with.

I’m so glad I decided to take a trip down here with Leina. To see Sammy and hang with my family is simply marvelous. Of couse, all this wonderful sunshine is pretty nice too!

Yes, we made it safe and sound. Our departure was doubtful though. Believe it or not but after we boarded the plane in Portland, it began to snow! Big, fluffy flakes that were actually sticking. Now, in some parts of the country this would have been no big deal but little ‘ol Portland only gets one or two snow days a year. Of course, it would occur when Leina and I are sitting in an airplane waiting to take off. Luckily, they managed to de-ice us and we lifted off only 30 minutes late.

And my sweet baby girl? She slept the whole time. I didn’t realize it but our seat was located right over the wing so the loud rumbling of the airplane motor plus the jostling of turbulence put her out like a light. She was a great little traveller.

We left snowy Portland and arrived in the land of sun. It was around 80 degrees when we pulled in with sunshine and blue skies. I decided to take Leina outside this morning to let her enjoy the flowers and sun. As we sat on the front patio, this guy walked up to our house. He was handing out fliers advertising house painting.

As he approached, he asked me, “do you work here?”

Confused, I answered, “no, my parents live here.”

“Oh, well, here you go.” He said and handed me a flier.

As he walked away, I realized I must have looked like a nanny or maid as I sat on the porch with my blue eyed, golden brown hair daughter. I sure didn’t look like her mom. I’m surprised he didn’t ask me if I spoke english. I had forgotten that here in LA people often assume I’m Mexican due to my dark hair and eyes

Do I work here. Please!