'transitive verb'

lakewood, CO. day #6 of my spring break and i am already lamenting that it will not last longer. i am firmly ensconced in suburbia and babyville with my sister and niece. i don't mind suburbia as i once did. growing up in a 15-minute radius of 8 shopping malls (galleria-type things, not including strip malls) makes you a little jaded about living amongst home depot and girl scout cookies and SUVs (back in the day, station wagons). but living in new york has made me appreciate silly little things like actual supermarkets, not having to pay for parking when visiting target, and trader joe's lines of three people or less. maybe one day i will actually learn to appreciate what i have and stop always comparing. maybe.

i'm giddy in niece-ness; alison is cuter than ever and such a sweet little thing. she's a little shy and i was so sad when i scared her at first yesterday. tanja says she's super stranger-sensitive and it makes my heart ache a little to be a stranger to someone i have so much love for. but we already have our own little joke; somehow yesterday i stumbled onto the fact that allie gets ridiculously tickled when i say "hoy!" in a strange, gutteral kind of overdubbed ancient chinese kung fu master voice and it is now our favorite thing together.

tanja, to her great credit, seems to have made impressive strides in her ability to baby-share and i have been allowed to feed allie, push her stroller, and maybe just maybe will actually be allowed to babysit my dear girl when tanja and jon go out for her birthday / their anniversary tomorrow night. though she was quick to amend this to state that she would only feel okay with that if allie was already in bed for the night. todd said he figured with allie at 15 months she would be at the "take her - please!" stage but nothing could be further from the truth. but i won't complain because things are a lot better than before, i am being allowed much more hands-on stuff than before, and i appreciate the change. hurrah for (ha!) baby steps.