Don’t know what it is… May 23, 2009

Really, we don’t know what it is… Granted, we haven’t had any deep discussions about this or talked to other parents about what drives it (though some of my friends with children have independently said it). But, what’s with little kids and the Beach Boys?

Emma’s absolute favorite song is Barbara Ann. Hands down, no questions asked. When she sees a boom box on the ground, she points to it and says, “Baba Baba Baba!”

When an iPod fleetingly appears from my messenger bag and then disappears again, Emma instantly starts digging to find the device that will soon satisfy that Barbara Ann craving.

Or she’ll walk into the bedroom and stand before the dresser, atop of which sits an iPod dock, and nearly jump up and down as if her kinetic energy itself will bring on the tunes.

But what is it about the Beach Boys and kids? Don’t get me wrong, I love the Beach Boys — and I did as a kid. I’ll never forget it. The first concert I truly remember going to was the Beach Boys. The show was during the day at the Harry and Joe Freeman Coliseum — outside on the parking lot. On the parking lot, really??? Yes. They’d covered the lot several inches deep in sand, and swimsuit-clad concert goers watched the show from the beach towels.

When the ‘Boys played Be True To Your School, the Alamo Heights cheerleading squad came out and performed.

The Beach Boys albums were also the soundtracks of my childhood summers. We’d all pile into the family minivan and fly down the highway for a week in paradise — South Padre Island.

I guess it was actually also the soundtrack for our winter trips to SPI. I remember “twist” contests at the beach with the Specias — led by my dad. The kid who could twist the longest would get $1. SCORE!

I haven’t talked specifically about this with my dad, but I believe he was a big Beach Boys fan when he was a kid, too — they formed in 1961, when my dad was 10. That means Brian Wilson, his brothers, their cousin, Mike Love, and the rest have helped put a groove into three generations of Baughs.

So, I’ll leave you with this: A ba ba ba, Barbara Ann/ Ba Ba Ba, Ba Barbara Ann/ Barbara Ann, take my hand, Barbara Ann/ You’ve got me rockin’ and a’rollin’/ Rockin’ and a’reelin’ Barbara Ann!

Fiesta’s Pooch Parade May 16, 2009

Every year, there’s a HUGE event in San Antonio called Fiesta. It’s a week of parties, parades and general celebration. It’s citywide and schools and businesses close down on the Friday of Battle of Flowers. I guess some people would say it’s San Antonio’s version of Mardi Gras or Carnival.

This year, we didn’t do much at all because we were in the midst of moving into our house and doing projects on it. But we did slip away for a morning to go see the Pooch Parade with Honey and Papaw. Here are some photos shot by Papaw, a.k.a Mark Bice.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles… bubbles in the air!!! May 16, 2009

As promised, here’s a link to a new set of photos. Emma absolutely loves bubbles. Honey and Papaw got her a bubble machine. She pushes the button, which activates the blower, and hundreds of bubbles fly out as she exclaims “BUUUUUBBBBBLLLLLLEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!”

It’s awesome.

More to come, we promise, plus an update on what’s been going on… May 11, 2009

It seems like it’s been just about forever since we last updated this blog. We’ve gotten so busy living life that we haven’t had time to document it. I’ve snapped a few pictures, which I’ll try to post this week. And I believe we’ve got some excellent video that needs to be edited and uploaded, and I’ll try to get to that, too. Some of you might be wondering why we’ve dropped the ball so badly here at TheLifeOfEmma.com.

We’ve undertaken two major projects that have been consuming all of our free time lately. First, we recently bought our first house. It’s a beautiful ranch-style home down the street and around the corner from my parents’ house. It’s in Harmony Hills, a venerable neighborhood on the North Side of San Antonio, near the airport. It was a wonderful house when we bought it, but we’ve been spending our free time making it into our home. We’ve painted most of the interior, though we still have part of the living room, the hallway and the dining room left. With tremendous help from Ashley’s parents, we’ve installed crown molding, ceiling fans, a garbage disposal, and shelves in the garage (and that’s an incomplete list!). We’ve begun some minor landscaping with larger projects to come. We’ve still got bookshelves to assemble, an entire exterior to paint and some deteriorated wood to replace.

Oh, and the garage is still filled with boxes that need to be unpacked. Before we bought the house, we were deep into putting together a very special trip to San Francisco that we’ll be taking this summer. Plans were well under way but put on the back burner as we honed in on our home purchase. But after long, tiring days of working on the house, we’d get into bed, pull out our laptops and we’ve pretty much finished planning our trip to California. There’s still a few things to do — including finding rings.

In case you didn’t know, we’re tying the knot in Napa Valley on July 14. We got engaged last October and after some fretting over wedding plans, Ashley and I decided to “elope” instead. I put it in quotes because traditional elopements involve the bride and groom sneaking off and wedding unbeknownst to anyone. That’s not the case with us. Our families are fully informed and Ashley’s parents are thrilled because they get to keep Emma for an entire week while we’re traveling!

Our plans include a four nights in San Francisco, a couple in Napa Valley and one in the Redwoods in Northern Cali. We’re going to be taking a hot-air balloon ride, sailing the bay and checking out some of the largest trees in the world. That said, if you have any “can’t miss” outings or things to see in San Francisco, e-mail me at “joshbaugh at gmail dot com” and let me know.

Now that we’ve got all of our stuff out of the way, here’s a little bit on what’s going on with Emma: The girl has gotten her legs… She’s walking everywhere, and when she’s on carpet she really moves! She’s got several teeth now and a voracious appetite, though it’s slimmed a bit of late. She feeds herself (sometimes with spoons, but mostly with her hands), and says several words. She likes birds (including chasing them around Pam’s Kitchen, a little neighborhood restaurant with a nice patio), and she loves to swing. She can’t get enough organic Cheerios or animal crackers and she’s quite the dancer. If you ask her to “shake it,” she breaks out in a number of different moves — depending on the music.

 Her favorite song — by far — is Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys, but she’s also a fan of Neil Young, the Talking Heads, Bell X1 and the Airborne Toxic Event. She also digs the Drive-by Truckers. She’s also got her own CD that Auntie Amanda gave her. Really, her favorite songs are on this album. Check it out HERE. As soon as one song ends and before the next begins, Emma energetically exclaims: “More! More! More!” The songs talk about clapping hands, stomping feet, etc. And she does the movements along with the songs. We can’t get over how beautiful, cute, adorable and funny our Little One is. She is absolutely amazing!