Go

She spoke so suddenly, as if this was the day she had always planned to speak, but forgot to inform us about it. I have told her since early on that she was to warn us about these momentous first days - first smile, giggle, crawl, step, word - so that we could both be present and cheer her on. I told her to signal us in whatever way she could muster, maybe a slight wink that says, "hey parents, I have something planned for tomorrow morning that is going to be special."

I think she would live outside if she could. I'm not sure if this is because her first year was spent confined to a 640 square foot loft, high above the surface of the streets, or because I have continuously whispered hypnotically into her ear, "you love the outdoors. you love the outdoors. you love the outdoors." Either way, she seems to enjoy the earth as much as she can at one year of age. She plays in the dirt like it's her job - throwing it around in fits of blissful rage, eating small amounts when we're not looking and always seems to be in a race to get as dirty as possible. She crawls through the grass like a snake and has become close with several pine cones that dot our yard. The only time she has ever fallen asleep on me other than a few times in the first month was on her first hike while strapped to my back. I'd like to think she enjoyed the peace and serenity and views so much that she decided it was a good place to take a nap.

In the morning, just after finishing her bottle of whole milk, she immediately points to the door of her bedroom, signaling her readiness to face the light of the living room. At this point, she used to be satisfied just sitting on the couch with me, cuddling while we watched a few minutes of Sesame Street. But lately, after pointing to the door and walking into the living room, she points to the entrance door. While pointing, she makes a concentrated sound, like "huh," her noise sounding like a question.

And then one recent morning, she came out with her first real, that-was-definitely-a-word word. We both happened to be present, even though there was no wink or other gesture given to us. Her first word came as no surprise. She confidently pointed at the front door, and her in usual way of making each noise sound like a question, she said, "go?"

Eaton Canyon Falls

We took a little family trip to Eaton Canyon today, just 3.6 miles from our residence in North Pasadena. The 1.4 mile hike meanders its way up through Eaton Canyon and passes over seven stream crossings until you reach the falls. Stella seemed to love every minute of it, with her shrieks and pointing and laughing. I've dreamed of this day for a long time...hiking with my kid, spending time together in the woods. I can't wait for PCT hikes with her, camping on the beach, roughing it on the road...

These pictures scream TODDLER.

Best Films of 2009

While we didn't get to see ALL the Oscar nominated films for 2009, we still managed to see most of them thanks to babysitters and piratebay. Overall, it seems 2009 was more on par with 2007, with one great picture and lots of good ones. Even still, I loved going to the movies this year. I love previewing the movies before they come out, reading the reviews...the popcorn and soda, the crowds, and the conversations with Kari on the walk home.

My favorite film this year was Inglourious Basterds and it will certainly go down as one of the best made films I've ever seen. The first twenty minutes of that film simply took my breath away and the performances of Melanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz were some of the best of the year.

And what can be said of Avatar...oh Mr. Cameron, you can certainly make a damn fun movie to watch. The sci-fi picture may just be the only movie I've ever wanted to see twice in the same day. I elbowed Kari and friends at least every few minutes - I just couldn't believe the spectacle before my eyes. Beautiful.

My favorites of the year, even if some of them weren't nominated:

**I didn't see The Messenger, which I have a sneaking suspicion might have cracked into a category or two.**

     Best Picture:

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
District 9
Avatar
Zombieland
The Road
Fantastic Mr Fox

     Best Actor (lead/support):

Sharlto Copley, District 9
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Tobey Maguire, Brothers
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Viggo Mortensen, The Road
Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant
Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

     Best Actress (lead/support):

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Mo'Nique, Precious
Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air
Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Diane Krueger, Inglourious Basterds
Zoe Saldana, Avatar

     Best Director:

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Neil Blomkamp, District 9

     Best Writing (original/adapted):

Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
David Benioff, Brothers
Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK?? :)

Nonrequired Reading: 013: Generation A

Serge gave me the let's-play-ball stare. "Look, Julien, you're twenty-two and your frontal lobe is incomplete. And part of having a frontal lobe still in development is the sense that you have right to scorn everything around you, but all you really are is a biological cliche. Your brain has a few more years to go, so for the time being, you're this judgement robot and everything you think and feel is the product of incomplete cortical hookups and hormone-driven whims. So don't try to pull any sort of superiority trip on me, because at the moment, what you consider to be your personality is, to me, an unwanted and boring obstacle in the way of finding out what we need to know."

-- Douglas Coupland, Generation A, 45

A Hole In the Playground