or in this case – context is everything.

These are the headings of an article I am currently reading on the Internet:

Set aside some naked time

Celebrate triumphs

If at first she doesn’t succeed, try, try again

Increase the fun factor

Move into night mode

I don’t think it is necessary that you know what the article is about. It’s better this way. Trust me.

or – Why I’m demanding a DNA test.

Ah yes, I was going to tell you my theory on why I believe Erin was switched with another baby at the hospital. But the proof is in the pudding and a picture is worth a thousand words. Behold:

She did NOT get that from me! She was all “I cooking” for hours Christmas morning with the sound of those “dancing shoes” clicking on the tiles. I swear I broke out in a rash just watching her!

But maybe these things skip a generation. Because later Christmas evening there was this:

Oh yeah, that’s my girl.

I’m thinking of changing my name from elfini to LAUNDRini!

That is all.

Oh, I should probably mention that Kyle is now officially taller than me.  And last night, he ate from the moment he got home from practice until he went to bed. And so it begins…

Now that the site I’ve been working on night and day is for the most part finished, I actually have some time to catch up on my photo editing. I’ve barely made a dent into the pictures I took over the summer, so I’m now working backwards. Yes, it does feel wrong. I starting going through the shots taken on our last visit to Santa Cruz over Labor Day weekend and found some photos of Erin that had me shaking my head.

My dad has said on more than one occasion that I was spoiled rotten. That might have been true when I was little, but I’m pretty sure that tap was shut off when I hit double digits. And I am always quick to point out that you can’t spoil yourself and he needs to turn that finger around and point it at the spoiler not the spoiled. Anyways, it seems it is time for the next generation to take the lead. Erin is my in-law’s (the ubers) only grandchild. And Chris certainly made them wait for her. So as you can image, they like her, a lot, and have years of pent-up grandparent spoiling to work through. (And please note that they are also great to Kyle, but he was 7 when Chris and I got together. They still manage to spoil him too, but a baby – that’s the stuff grandparents live for.)

When Kyle started school in August, Erin became obsessed with having a backpack like her big brother. Kyle gave her his old backpack, but it was way too big on her and made her look like a turtle. We mentioned that we needed to get Erin a toddler-sized backpack to grandma and off to Toys’R'Us we went. Erin not only got a backpack – she got TWO! Matching Barbie backpacks to make it even more wonderful.

Yeah, that baby knows how to work it.

And this is how she left Santa Cruz. Lions and tigers and tiaras oh my…

Last Monday I hit the ‘anger phase’ regarding my forthcoming job loss. And I’ve got to tell ya, I enjoy a low-grade petulance far more than being depressed!

Nevertheless, all the ups and downs of the last two weeks are making me seasick

But here is the really strange thing that I have been reluctant to talk about. As soon as I found out I was losing my job, things I have been dreaming about doing have just started falling into place!

/insert all the sappy “one door closing…” “let go of what you cling to…” crap here/

I’m going to be part of a group show at Vox Sacramento in September. My photographs hanging in a gallery – hot damn and finally! Show opens for Second Saturday and will run for the month. And then in October, Vox Sac is having a children’s exhibit and Kyle will get to be a part of that and show his photos. Maybe now he’ll stop complaining about me always dragging him around town with me. Especially if I continue to find good slices of pizza.

I’ve got something else in the works that has me pretty excited, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet. And I certainly don’t feel like talking about the Parent/Toddler swim classes that start next month. I will tell you that Erin found the Disney Princess bathing suit Grandma bought her and it was all I could do to keep that girl in her clothes! Suddenly our world has become all about those damn princesses. Gah.

In not-so-pink Erin news, she’s gone polysyllabic on us, shooting Chris the doe-eyes and dropping a painstaking “bi-cy-cle” on him. Of course she got to go for a bike ride after that! She’s also started saying “hold-ee” when she wants to be picked up. And when she follows that with snuggling into your neck while wrapping her long limbs around you, it’s kinda hard to resist. Good thing I have a heart of stone. Chris is doomed.

Now Kyle, on the other hand, stinks. Literally. 12 has brought a stench with it that is hard to describe. Chris says it is because of the hormones kickin’ in. I don’t know anything about that, but apparently that’s what happens – boy stink. Kyle had his friend Noah over to skate the other day, and when they both came in the house all sweaty, well, it was enough to make your eyes water and the paint peel off the walls! Damn.

This blog post is all over the place. How fitting. Happy Father’s Day.