Here Be Dragons–In Which I Pass the Torch

Dear Lily June,

I was nominated by her royal highness, Princess Kick-Ass, for The Dragon’s Loyalty Award. If you don’t check out her blog, you’re missing her share of royal wisdom on the following dignified topics: why farts are romantic;  what she loves you with all of (hint: it’s not her heart); and where to find more Picard memes than you can shake a stick at. If that isn’t enticing, I don’t know what is.

This isn’t the Princess. It’s an someone whose ass the Princess has probably kicked.

So, I’m supposed to share seven different facts about myself. (Full rules found at the end of the post.) But I figure that since this blog’s theme is about things I want to share with you, Lily, I should probably make the 7 facts about our family instead! (We’re that obnoxious family: the one that tries to out-cute the internet!)

1. At two and a half months old, you’ve met another milestone. You’ve learned to lie. You’ve been watching your parents closely, Lily, and you’ve learned that at bedtime, we don’t force you to take more ounces if you’ve fallen asleep. So you’ve started faking falling asleep. How do we know you’re faking? Because after you close your eyes “too exhausted” to drink any more baba, you then pop one eye open just to make sure we’re falling for it. I guess we should be upset that you’re a mini-manipulator, but when your dad and I discussed it, we were both weirdly proud of you for figuring it out. In fact, we both had the exact same reaction (without, you know, the gun or the dinosaur):

2. We named our car after a stage in the pregnancy. When I was seven weeks along, you were supposed to be the size of a blueberry. Your dad and I took to calling you “Bloobs.” Now, that’s what we call our blue Honda CRV.

3. Your dad loves the movie Ghostbusters, so much so that he never misses a opportunity in life to quote from it. I never miss a gift opportunity related to it. We own keychains engraved that say “KeyMaster” and “GateKeeper.” I baked your dad a Ghostbusters cake for his birthday and bought him Ghostbusters cufflinks for our wedding. And you got into it, too, when, as I was pregnant with you, I would hold up his musical Stay-Puft Marshmallow man to my belly that sings, “I ain’t afraid of no ghost,” and you would kick in tune.

I ain’t afraid of no calories.

Nothing says fashionable groom like a pair of these bad boys attached to a full tuxedo.

4. I started writing letters to you when the doctors said you might not make it. Across the course of the pregnancy, I wrote 250 pages or 109,805 words. You better memorize them, Lily. There will be a test on all this later. (It’s called life.)

5. Your favorite food in the womb was spaghetti and meatballs. I have never craved a food so hardcore in my life. I would have ground a cow alive and grown the wheat myself for the noodles just to eat more of it.

6. Your favorite place in the world is on the changing table. The second we whip your diaper off, you burst out into the biggest smiles you’ve ever grinned. You practically scream-smile like a jack-o-lantern. I told my co-worker this, and she said that you probably just like airing your junk out (?!)

You at two months, me at two years. The goofy grin lives on.

7. The only song you seem calmed by is The Head and the Heart’s “Rivers and Roads.” And so your father and I have sung it to you roughly four hundred billion times:

Now, I’m supposed to nominate up to 15 people. Since I’m still fairly new to this blogging thing, I’ll just offer up 10:

1. originaltitle – The way she writes about life and art turns the first into the second.
2. charlieeasterfield – *She’s* an activist, a blogger, and one hell of a worldling (a word which I get too few excuses to use).
3. undoneyoga – Her bravery in the face of so much personal pain will move you deeply, as it has me.
4. Ellie P. – This woman knows enough about life and grammar to make me truly envious.
5. musingsbym – Spoiler: She describes spring as the time when “one can stop looking like a polar bear’s first cousin.”
6. Jordan – She’s my anxiety twin. And yet, she seems to handle hers with such grace, she inspires me.
7. sandraadp – Her descriptive imagery and thoughtful questioning are sure to tickle your brain.
8. where we are – She’s the kind of powerful feminist that makes me less afraid for my daughter’s future.
9. rachelgriffin22 – Her blog could make the world a more compassionate place for those with mental illness.
10. psv411 – She could make me laugh while talking about floss picks. ‘Nuff said.

Now here are the rules for the award!

The Dragon’s Loyalty Award is meant to acknowledge those who regularly read and comment on your blog. The rules for it are pretty simple:

• Show off your achievement by displaying the award.
• Link back to the person who bestowed this award upon you.
• Nominate up to 15 of your regular readers (less than 15 is just fine, though).
• Let them know they’ve been nominated.
• Share 7 interesting facts about yourself.

Thanks again, Princess Kick-Ass!

Picture Credits:

• “VarnaDragons” by Grantscharoff – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VarnaDragons.jpg#/media/File:VarnaDragons.jpg
• “DaisyMarioParty8” by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DaisyMarioParty8.png#/media/File:DaisyMarioParty8.png