Girly Girl

In honor of the first sandals of the season--and my favorite holiday--I painted my toenails today. Claire seemed really interested in the process (Isaac too, actually). I thought, 1) I wonder if I could paint toes that tiny? and 2) I wonder if she would hold still? Yes, and yes! Claire was tickled pink to have her tootsies done up, and we have our first mother-daughter matchy-matchy kitsch going on :)

Spring brings out the neighbors, and it's amazing how much will change over the winter. I have 3 neighbors who are either extremely pregnant or have a newborn...none of which I knew were expecting before we all went into confinement. Crazy! But talking with the neighbors lately has reminded me afresh the cultural differences between us. Since December I've been fighting my way back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, and my neighbors notice such things with very different responses. My Korean neighbors are, if anything, more obsessed than Americans about weight. So when my Korean neighbor sees me back to "normal", she exclaims, "You lost your weight!!" and is very excited. On the other hand, my Indian neighbor came out this evening and frowned at me, "Why you get teen?" I struggled to explain (she has a very limited English vocabulary) that I am not thin, I was just bigger before because of baby weight. She wasn't thrilled, but seemed to accept the explanation. It's like having an Italian grandma in the neighborhood.

Happy Easter, everyone!