Eat Your Heart Out Beyonce!

Cher, you've been replaced.  My iPod now sports songs by the Laurie Berkner Band.

We are big fans of Laurie Berkner.  Her music is kind of acoustic/hippie/folksy, the kind of stuff I remember from growing up on Long Island in the 70's.  It's very catchy, and Sabrina loves it too.  You may have seen some of her videos on Nick Jr.  I like that she showcases real families in her videos, and you can sometimes spot the occasional two mom or two dad parents.

More than anything else, Sabrina loves dancing to Laurie Berkner.  She reminds me of my pre-parent self, except she's dancing in her pajamas in her bedroom, not with her shirt off at 2 AM on top of a speaker to acid house remixes.  Maybe that was a little TMI...

Anyway, Sabrina's rockin' version of "Family".  Enjoy!

Winter Gala 2011

Well I guess it is true--blogs don't write themselves...

Today was the much anticipated Winter Gala at daycare, with performances by the Ones, Twos, Threes, Fours, and Fives.  Sabrina made her theatrical debut as a member of the Ones with a resounding rendition of "If You're Happy and You Know It".  Now admittedly the production was less Andrew Lloyd Webber and more Toddlers on the Loose, but daycare's theatre budget is probably a little below Broadway standards.  But those little kids put their hearts into it, when they were paying attention.  They really made me believe they were happy, and they knew it.  And since clapping hands is a skill Sabrina mastered over a year ago, it's a role she was born to play.  I have to say, I was hoping for something a little more along the lines of the "When you're a Jet" dance scene from West Side Story or at least a snippet of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, but maybe that was a little above the level of the other children.  But hey, even Beyonce had to be a toddler once right?

Sabrina in full costume

Home Again

It's been a little time between entries I know, blame it on travel and jet lag.  We went to Long Island, NY for a wedding and a baptism all in one weekend.  I grew up there and have a large family there, so we had plenty to keep us busy.  But our biggest fear, airplane shenanigans, never materialized.  That and the fact that the baby had a blast from the time we left to go to the airport at 5 AM Thursday morning until we got back to Arizona late Monday night made it a great trip all around.  I have a lot on my mind to blog about, some trip related and some not, but right now I'll leave you with a few random pictures and a recap of the plane ride.

I got lots of comments on my last entry about being nervous about flying with an 18 month old.  It turns out with Sabrina, airplane travel equals sleep.  Our trip was a four hour flight from Phoenix to Baltimore, then an hour from there to Long Island, and the same on the return.  She was asleep before we took off and stayed there for the first three hours of the trip.  An Elmo video and snacks took care of hour four.  She got the crazies out in a quiet part of the Baltimore airport and was back to sleep as we taxied to the runway, not waking until we landed.  She repeated this when we went back to Baltimore on Monday.  For all our worry about popping ears during takeoff, she slept through the first three of them.

Flying from Baltimore to Phoenix, she was up for three hours.  (Eh, you can't win 'em all!)  She slept through the fourth hour, deplaning, baggage claim, the bus ride to the car, and didn't wake up until getting strapped in the car seat.  It works out to sleeping for just over 60% of the time.  Not too shabby!

Here are some pictures from the wedding and baptism we went to, as well as the big reveal of the top secret dress.  Enjoy!

My new dress...

During the Kid's Balloon Dance

Smiling with Dada

Raise the Roof!

Partying in the Yard

Having fun with Papa