The random thoughts & events in the life of an animal-loving, peace-loving vegetarian.
I can't promise to write regularly. And I can't promise that it will be interesting when I do.
"Let me clarify: I am not a vegan because I “love animals”. Rather, veganism is about justice. It is not a “lifestyle choice”. It is not a “personal preference”. Veganism is not about you or me at all. It is about the fundamental right of nonhumans not to be used, owned, labeled, branded, enslaved, exploited and generally commodified to serve our interests and convenience."
In times past when Cyrus would stay with us he primarily stayed with me. Saeed was usually in the middle of a semester and/or in the midst of writing patient reports. This visit has turned out to be very different. Cyrus and his Baba have spent a lot of time together. Not only is that easier on me (I get breaks and fix food without simultaneously playing cars) but it's been great for them to do guy things together.
Cyrus dons his new Diego sunglasses to go to Cherry Park.
Uh-oh, Cyrus? Are you falling asleep? "No."
Cyrus, do you want us to wake you up when we get to the park? "Yes"
I suggested that maybe he'd wake up when he heard all the kids playing.
No amount of prodding would wake him up.
Saeed was in heaven. After 30 hopeless minutes we decided to just go home. Sorry bubsy.
Saeed thought he was going to read his mortgage paper.
How can you resist a face like this?
Buddies.
Every visit has a favorite book that we are asked to read multiple times. The previous two or three visits the book of choice was Room on a Broom but The Runaway Pancake has moved to the top.
This book is very old; it used to be mine when I was a child.
It's probably not very PC. The fat cook and the old lady couldn't catch the pancake because they were too fat/old. I guess it's still OK to say a hen can't run very fast.
This ending only led to one possible ending: the pig eating that pancake and...
... Cyrus' Nama fixing him pancakes for breakfast this morning.
Yum! Don't worry mom, he also had blueberries, eggs, and soy sausage.
What good is a wall if you can't drive your car through it?
Baba and Cyrus played hide and go seek.
Cyrus is a big teaser and funny guy. Many times this weekend we noticed that he much preferred doing the 'wrong' thing in order to get a laugh. Three-year-olds are so silly!
Well, his parents should be here any minute, so let me go down and get our Memorial Day dinner ready. I'll be so sad to see them go.
Naked, staggering, cooing, soccer player (love that extended right arm!)
Walking like Godzilla is exhausting.
Never knew Godzilla had such long dark eyelashes.
For dinner Cyrus ate a tofurky sandwich on Ezekial bread, mangoes, cottage cheese, and dates with walnuts hidden inside.
Reminds me of reading to the girls. Cyrus said, "Let's snuggle" and "You stay there and wait patiently while I get another book."
This morning Cyrus ate oatmeal with blueberries and while I went upstairs to get the laundry baskets he recruited his Baba for more book time. I'm so happy he likes books. (Tippy does too.)
After an intense game of deck basketball and deck kickball Cyrus worked on his bubble-making technique.
How cool is that. (Love those cute little dirty hoofies.)
Time for a mid-morning muffin break. After two he asked for a third; sorry buddy!
The morning after the birthday party Cyrus and I were up earlier than everyone else and decided to give these games a try. Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Hi Ho Cherry-O are games that I remember liking from my childhood.
Cyrus quickly grasped the instructions to Pin the Tail and soon found it funnier to get it in the wrong place. How did I know he'd do that?!
He promised to try to get it on the rump this time...
... but didn't... on purpose. Imp.
Hi Ho Cherry-O has come a long way since I was little. All my cherries were red cherries. In the modern version you have a choice of a cherry tree, a green apple tree, and orange tree, and a blueberry bush. I was again impressed by how quickly Cyrus could spin the arrow, count the number of oranges he was allowed to move, and then pick them out of the tree and put them in the bucket. After playing two games it degenerated into "let's see how many fruits we can put in the wrong tree!" It was a lot of fun.
We then went on to the memory game. We did a simpler version than the actual instructions but he'll grow into this one very quickly.
Enough with the structured games. Three-year-olds need to get physical.
Yes I see you!
Finally everyone else woke up and came downstairs. Kai was happy to see Cyrus and in the process of giving him a big hug tipped him over. Kai's no feather!
This may look unfair, but Kai is a very quick crawler.
Still, somehow Cyrus got away. Where'd he go?
I guess Baba couldn't see the vegetables well enough so Cyrus shined some light on the subject.
Meanwhile Kai took a dip in the cat fountain.
Busted!
The pictures on the deck are a bit dark because we were in the shade and it was so sunny outside. Click on the next two so you see how Kai is lusting after those subs his parents are eating.
Gabriel has him in a Persian lock.
Hmmmm... new taste... sub sandwich... I think I like it.
This is actually Cyrus' cup but he patiently waits for Kai to share.
But when patience doesn't work you have to just...
