los muertos, los muertos!

RRRRIIINNG, RRRIIIINNNG!

hello?

wasssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh



puh.

oh, hi beebs.

ssssssssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppp

puh.

beatrix, can we talk? i think you've been watching too much television. from five years ago. and beer commercials, no less.

i think you have a problem. bebe marie, look at daddy when he's talking to you.

i know that in the beginning you watched some baseball, and mommy had House on during your naps on the bouncy ball...

i love doctor house! he's so smart and unconventional!

you're not going to make me stop watching halfway through the season, are you?

what you have just seen has been a dramatization. bebe didn't actually say any of that stuff. she said totally different stuff, but i couldn't remember what it was because i drink too much. just kidding, that was me over-dramatizing my consumption of alcohol. anyway, our daughter has definitely taken a liking to the idiot box, and we (i really mean me, because i'm the one most guilty of it) are thinking a little less exposure will do her wonders. everybody that met bebe early on marveled at how alert she was for a newborn. a little too alert, in fact. so alert that if the tv is on and we're standing around the corner, she cranes her little neck to find it. cute and distressing, everything i ever wanted in a child.

we swore early on in our pregnancy that the television would not be a babysitter, no matter how harried our life became. it was the one unwavering stance we took. and i can proudly say that we've stuck to that, and plan to continue sticking. what we have failed at is the recreational watching that we as parents do, when bebe is around to appreciate it. and it's not like the tv is always on in our house. we have it for movies (which we can't watch together right now), and for the red sox and celtics, and, uhm... the playstation. which she's also seen a little of. but just the violent stuff. not sure where i was going with this, but i'm feeling a little uncomfortable (could this be guilt i feel? is this what guilt feels like? weird...) so let's just drop it and

well, we had halloween on friday. bebe is a little small for halloween this year, so her involvement was minimal. saturday was a utility day: mommy got her hair cut, and daddy went to the museum for a couple of hours. just some little things to recharge the inner batteries. other than that, saturday was mellow.

sunday was the mexican day of the dead, or dia de los muertos. tradition holds that on this day the spirits of those who have passed can return to walk the earth. on this day your departed loved ones are closer to you than on any other day- they are able to hear your prayers or messages and may visit places that were dear to them while alive. food is placed on graves to be eaten by the spirits as they journey between the worlds and while not physically consumed, the food is said to become tasteless once the spirits have eaten.

forest hills cemetery is just down the street and every year they have a number of cool festivals that we plan to go to and bail on at the last minute. well, not this time! this time we were going to go to their dia de los muertos festival/ceremony. ha!

a little holiday spirit from our neighbors

bebe is so excited.

a few neighborhood pumpkins

on our way, with our sugar skull babyhawk. perfect for the occasion.

that orange hat is not cute. not one bit.

the sun was setting as we walked the short way to the cemetery.

and by the time we got there, it had dipped below the hills.

next year we'll bring some offerings to place in the fire.

it was much darker than this, but thanks to the magic of digital, it looks as though the sun is still up...

at one point in the ceremony, some of the smaller kids ran out from the circle, only to return moments later, dressed as spirits. they acted out the ways spirits might behave once they've come back.

they wore scary masks, and funny masks, and they danced around, bumping into each other and stopping to rest at various points. they were like clowns. dead clowns. clowns of the dead. whatever.

many of them danced or walked hunched over, holding their backs as if old and tired. the spirits miss the ones they've left behind, but the land of the living is no place for them. when they come back they're reminded of the aches and pains having a corporeal body represents. they like to visit, but eventually want only to return to the comforts of the spirit world.

this guy had to stop and rest every chance he got. he fell over at one point and needed to be helped up by some other spirits.

bebe watched for a little while, but eventually grew bored and fell asleep. she's pretty fresh out of the spirit world so this wasn't that interesting to her.

as we walked back home, lanterns lit the path...

beatrix got to use her new snuggle suit. she was warm and cozy the entire time.

she liked it so much, she wanted to keep it on. actually, mommy and daddy haven't turned the heat on yet. that's probably why she wanted to keep it on.

hey bebe!

yeah, daddy?

did you check your clothes for ticks or dead spirits? you never know what you'll pick up in the woods...

did you say

ticks?!?

maybe you should get me outta' this thing.



beebs is discovering it's a fine line between jedi:

and jawa:

the best part of the night was unzipping the snuggly and letting her wiggle around inside it.