Life with Lotus Maria and Lucian Stone

The Stanton-Pearl clan jaunted down to LA for a few days between Christmas and New Year's. We were hoping to escape some of the bitter cold we had been experiencing and see a few good friends and family.

Lotus was great on the flight. We took the new Virgin America airlines, which is a bit like flying in a night club. She had been talking about the plane ride for a week and found the whole thing pretty exciting.

We arrived in Santa Monica and soon met up with Glen and Andrea who were in town. I was so happy to see them, but a tad disappointed that Logan was spending the night with Andrea's mom. Of course I understand the joy of a night with out your kid, but I was sad not to get to squeeze him.


We had a great couple days with the two of them. Though both Nate and Glen were fighting colds. And it wasn't as warm as I hoped it would be. Lotus kept hanging around the swimming pool, begging to go for a swim. The water in the pool was warm enough, but there was no way I was stripping down to a swim suit to go in with her.

We had a great lunch with Nate's friends Steve and Davi. The next day we had a wonderful day with my cousins, at which Lotus was showered with toys and attention. We all strolled down to the Santa Monica pier and Lotus got to ride a few rides.

On Sunday we went to see an amazing Murakami exhibit at the Geffen MOCA. Lotus loved the big bright paintings and cartoony sculptures. At the exhibit they had an adorable Murakami animation, which Lotus adored, even though it was in Japanese. We then wandered around Little Tokyo. Later in the day we went over to my friend Jaime's and Lotus got to hang with Jaime's dog Jack and the neighbor's cat. Nothing my girl likes more than animals that love her back. Nothing I like more than animals that pay attention to Lotus so I can somewhat relax with a glass of wine and a friend.

Of course our last day in LA the weather was amazing, we had already checked out by the time I made this realization so it was too late to go for a swim, but we enjoyed a lovely New Year's Eve Day in the warm sunshine of Venice and the La Brea Tar Pits.

Happy 2008 everybody!
We got home just in time for Lotus to watch the ball drop in New York. We put Lotus to sleep in her own bed with all her guys (stuffed animals). Nate and I opened a lovely bottle of champagne and then barely stayed awake to usher in the New Year Pacific Time.

Once I decided that Lotus had enough for the time being we headed over to my cousin's house for brunch. Lotus was showered with more love and presents.


Lotus snuggling with Uncle Danny

Lotus with her favorite cousin Kyle. Lotus would have been thrilled to have been left with Kyle for all of Christmas week, but he had to go to France. That doesn't stop Lotus from asking "Kyle back yet?"

Nate had a screening for the film he is working on he same day my finals week started, so for a couple of weeks in December we all lost our minds, had no sleep and no time to even think about the big imposing holiday looming in the future. Thank god we have Jade to help hold down the fort and keep Lotus' life structured. The day I was done with school I wanted to collapse in a heap, but alas as a parent that doesn't get to really happen. Lotus and I did play "napping" and I must confess that I feel asleep for a minute or so. After the nap I had to jump up and into the consumer chaos that is Christmas.

We did manage to squeeze in the annual torture of our child by having her take a photo with Santa. We got to the mall, I had her watch about a dozen kids take their picture. I asked her many times if she wanted to do it. She was very excited and eagerly said yes. When it was her turn we placed her on his lap and she immediately started screaming and took a swing at Santa. It was of course the same Santa from last year, who I swear remembered us. Thus I am also in the holiday photo, looking somewhat crazed.


Christmas morning my dad came over to participate in the present opening event. In all fairness Nate and I lost our minds with presents for Lotus. I actually made her spread it out over several days because it was just too much. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Scraps has finally started to see the light. Nate is gone most of the day, I am not really a cat fan, nor have the time (or in all honesty the inclination) to give Scraps a ton of attention, but Lotus on the other hand desires nothing more than to shower Scraps with hugs, kisses and pets. She really is pretty amazing with animals, and other cats let her carry them around, but Scraps has been pretty bitter and insubordinate since Lotus' arrival. Yet almost two years later he finally starting to come around. He stays in the room when she is around and has even let her hand graze his fur. By the time she's sixteen he might even sit on her lap.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Nate and I both needed a break from our projects and Lotus needed both her parents to be in the same room. We had a great relaxing Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house, where my adorable cousins Kyle and Loren lavished Lotus with attention. I was looking forward to a few leisurely days, so I was positive my husband had lost his mind when he suggested a trek to Union Square the next day, a day the US so lovingly refers to as Black Friday. I had been aghast at the news coverage of people waiting in line all night and then scrambling and tussling with the other crazy folks to get a deal on designer purses or big screen TV. Really the last place any sane person would be is near a shopping area on the biggest shopping day of the year. I knew he had been working hard, but I had no idea he was going to require medical attention.

Nate reassured me he just wanted to see the Christmas windows and decorations and shopping was the last thing on his mind. We trucked down there on MUNI, which Lotus loves, that could have been our whole day and she would have been thrilled. We exited at Union Square and I prepared myself for a throngs of people and a panic attack. But I was pleasantly surprised, the insane shoppers had either gone home or were inside. Very few people were in front of the Christmas windows and Lotus loved the Macy's windows with the animals available for adoption in them. Union Square itself was fairly idle and we found a place by the huge Christmas tree to drink coffee and watch the madness.

Right after Halloween we took a weekend trip to Monterey. Nate and I made a pact not to try and force Lotus to nap. This always seems to be the crux of weekend away breakdowns. We spend several hours in a hotel room trying to get Lotus to nap and we all get annoyed. We decided to just go for it all day long, if she passes out so be it, but otherwise we would just press on.

We arrived late on Friday night and got up early and headed out the the aquarium. It was a great day. Lotus loved the fish and the whole place. It got pretty crowded so we decided to take a break for a bit and go for a walk. We were blessed with amazing weather and walked this beautiful path all the way to Pacific Grove. And Lotus didn't nap. We returned to the aquarium for otter feeding time, which I was way more into than she was. We got another hour in before we had seen all we could see.




The minute we got her in the car Lotus collapsed. Since our options were sitting in the parking lot of the Embassy Suites or going for a drive we chose drive. We took a lovely drive through Carmel and 17 mile drive. It felt very grown up.








The next day we drove to Santa Cruz and had breakfast with our friends Amy, Erik, Suzi and Sydney. Lotus loves them (as do we) and it was a great way to break up the drive before we headed home.

The end result was our most successful weekend away. Fun had by all!

The past few months Lotus Maria's personality has really blossomed. She is talking a ton and cracks me up on a daily basis. She also has learned how to push buttons and is quite an expert. One of her favorite activities is to look right at me, grab something she knows she is not supposed to have and laugh hysterically as she runs away. She then retreats to behind her rocking chair where it is almost impossible to reach her or dislodge whatever dangerous object she has in her clutches.

The fall was difficult on Lotus, my school was very time consuming and Nate's work was as well. Lotus was a trooper, even though she was being shuffled between us and Jade. She also is testing boundries and has made defiance an art form. She has learned that making mommy and daddy laugh is a sure fire way to end a timeout. It's hard to stay mad at her when she's so darn cute.

Here are a few shots of our little ham.

The day after Halloween Pixar has an annual kiddie parade. This was an event I loved when I worked there and couldn't wait to bring my own child to parade around the building in her adorable Halloween digs. But after the Marina parade fiasco I wasn't looking forward to pinning my child down and forcing her to wear her costume again. Really, isn't that some form of abuse? But telling her she got to see Daddy, she seemed to be less annoyed with the whole thing. She struggled, but didn't scream, so that was progress.

Lotus always has a blast at Pixar. Really the nicest people in the world work at Pixar and Lotus loves seeing all her Pixar friends and their kids. So even though we had to hide more candy from her, which is sort of like stealing from my child and doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, it was a great time.

As I mentioned last year for 3 months a year our local empty lot becomes a Halloween and Christmas wonderland. Lotus and I love visiting the pumpkin patch. This year she found out they had Hay Rides and she was in heaven. Seriously, it's just a tractor driving around the lot with sporadically placed stuffed animals, but city kids think it's the funniest thing EVER.


After visiting almost every day for a few weeks we picked out a pumpkin and Lotus helped carve it.



She had a blast and was thrilled with the final product.

Lotus is not a costume lover. Her friend Courtney gave her an adorable ladybug costume for her birthday, so we had about 6 weeks to try and change her opinion about dressing up. I would take her to the local pumpkin patch and point out kids in costumes. "Look how cute he is" I'd say "It's a giraffe, horse, whatever...". I swear she would roll her eyes and shoot the cute costumed child a scornful glance. I have no idea how she got so cynical.

Needless to say on Halloween day I struggled her into her ladybug hoodie, painted her face and put her hair in little antennae all while she was screaming her head off. We headed over to her friend Ria's house to participate in the Marina Halloween parade.

It didn't take long for Simran (Ria's mom) and I to decide that Halloween is the worst idea in the world. Here's how it went, we forced our daughters into costumes they didn't want to be in. We asked them to walk down the street and be polite to strangers. They said please, thank you and happy Halloween. They were pretty great kids. Then strangers gave them candy and we wrestled it out of there hands and they screamed. Doesn't that sound like fun. And I know most of you are thinking "it's one day, just give her the candy." A) You clearly haven't seen my kid on sugar, B) I did let her have one piece, but there was no way she was going to get a bag full, and C) A good portion on the candy that was handed out was hard candy, thus a chocking hazard and I haven't had to use the skills I learned in my baby CPR class to work yet and I don't want to any time soon.

And if that wasn't enough we are trolling down this packed street with a ton of other parents all walking the same way, holding on to your kids hand and pushing your stroller. There is always some parent trying to spawn the opposite way the majority are going, which just causes stroller chaos. So there is a tangle of children and strollers and exasperation. But the time we made it up the street I was done and cranky.


By the evening I was somewhat recovered and Nate and I took Lotus trick or treating in the neighborhood. We were going to go to the "cool Halloween neighborhood" where everyone goes to trick or treat, but I rethought that idea after our morning. We had a great time in our 'hood. Mostly Lotus thought she was visiting all her favorite neighbors and got to pet all the doggies on our block. She didn't even know to ask for candy and we were able to give the signal not to offer.
We survived another Halloween and we only had one more costumed event to go.