Happy Thanksgiving Tyme

I failed to post yesterday, it is true. I'm at my parents' house and all the computers are in rooms with people staying in them, and Scott has a fairly serious eBay problem that requires near-constant usage of his laptop. He has relinquished it to me for the moment, but only after much nagging. Luckily I'm good at nagging.

BTW, for future reference: if you ever want to drive to NJ from Brooklyn on the day before Thanksgiving, noon is a very good time to leave. We had absolutely no traffic, which never happens, even on a normal day. Baby Nate slept the whole time and Lula (and I) sang along with a child-friendly iPod playlist and chatted about stuff. Though whenever I tried to talk myself, Lula would complain that she couldn't hear the music. Because I am VERY BORING.

Favorite Lula songs:
Spanish Flea (Herb Alpert)
Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight (Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group)
Yellow Brick Road (Elton John)
Three is a Magic Number (from Schoolhouse Rock)
Do De Rubber Duck (Ernie/Sesame Street)
Puff the Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul & Mary)

Last night's dinner (T-Giving Eve) was a crowded affair. My aunt, her boyfriend, and my cousins were here: two boys, one a young teenager (with OMG a shadowy pubescent mustache and cracking-squeaky voice!) and one a "tween." Tallulah made it her mission to amuse them and make them play with her. She ended up completely monopolizing her end of the table, cracking up the kids with her food-mashing, giggly joke-telling antics. For example, announcing, "I call this Ow! Hitting myself in the head!" as she hits herself in the head and laughs. Or, dropping a piece of food into her water cup ON PURPOSE! Hilarious. Meanwhile Nate, the poor neglected second child, sat quietly in his high chair, accepting whatever food was offered to him. I do expect he'll get his share of attention once he can, like, talk and stuff.

It is beautiful here today. The weather is warm (thanks, fluorocarbons!) and the leaves are in their last days of peak color. We took a walk down a tree-lined lane with yellow leaves falling all around. I gathered leaves with Lula for a Thanksgiving centerpiece while Nate napped, strapped to his Dad's back. Later we watched deer eat the leaves off some thin bushes a few feet from the house. They saw us, looked cool and bored, kept eating. They are cocky, tough New Jersey deer.