Big Kids

I'm just going to say it: My kids are getting bigger. Appreciably so. Bella put on 4 lbs in the past 2 weeks... and is looking a touch chunky. She's eating like a maniac - fish sticks, chicken nuggets, pad thai, burritos, spaghetti, egg rolls you name it. She's trying new food - she's up to over 20 new things tried in the past 4 weeks. Isaac is putting away the bottles like nobody's business. They're both revving up for growth spurts, I can just TELL.

Last night was a pleasure: We went to see the Blind Boys of Alabama at the new Guthrie, and thoroughly enjoyed the old gospel sound. They were just a riot to watch - they kept standing up and wandering around, being all blind and whatnot. After one song that was perhaps a LITTLE flat, the leader paused and said "well, that one is basically still in rehearsal. But we hope you liked it anyway". The end was a good 20 minute gospel stomp with the leader wandering up and down the aisles while his sighted "minder" kept losing track of him and making exasperated gestures - great comedy.

Warming up for them was my old buddy and bandmate Mike Mattison, and his duo Scrapomatic. They did old mississippi blues and other soul/blues sort of stuff. Mike is graced with an AMAZING set of pipes that just keep sounding better every year - he has developed a gruff rumble that is somewhere between Tom Waits and someone human... but he can also clear it up and sing just like he did back in the 80's with our fabulous INXS-style band. He was funny and the audience loved them.

Most bizzarely, they would occasionally break into little "Yah-dee-dah-dee-dah" lines that sounded like 1930s black and white cartoons - it was a bit jarring, but very amusing. We tried to see him after the show, but it seems he escaped with some old cohorts... the same ones he tended to escape with back when WE were in bands together. They are not good influences, these cohorts. I did scan the papers and he didn't get into any trouble I could see, or at least he was able to hush it up.

A funny thing - when I saw his mom, I could not bring myself to use her first name: I introduced her to my wife as "Mrs Mattison". That's the sort of thing we did as kids - parents did not have first names. I'm still not sure mine do, other than as part of email/mail addresses. It just doesn't seem right.

Tonight was all about the work: We got a LOT of cards done over coffee, and most readers of this will probably be GETTING the results of our labor shortly. I was reflecting on the seinfeld where George's fiancee Susan expired from licking toxic envelopes. That was me. I am expiring.

Finally, Bella's just killing us with this new "blase" act: She has a great time doing something, and then after the fact she'll state "that was BORING". "I wish I was playing with JENNY or something". It's all we can do to keep from giggling at our little world weary creature... so we tease her, as any loving parent would do.