TIPS (Thoughtful Interjections, Postulations, Syllogisms)

Parenting TIP: Let's all just try to make different mistakes than our parents made and not feel guilty about them.

Cloth Diapering TIP: Barf bags, you guys. They are the perfect individual-size wet bag. I can't wait to fly back to Korea, so I can collect four more.

These are the things I have learned during my stint as an American-style parent. It's been surprisingly different from parenting in Korea, but maybe it's just different from city parenting. I feel like there's so much less hands-on time with the babe and not just because other people are holding him, but, like, all the car seat, high chair, walker/saucer toys time. And he's such a different kid already, sturdier and more independent. It cheers and aches at the same time. But every day I am just so impressed that God makes these sweetest little things and glad he calls them ours.

Happy Birthday to My Mom

Photo spoiler alert from Dan's computer for my mom because I love her, and she misses this lil babe.

North by Southwest

If there is an equivalent opposite to United, it is Southwest. On United, no acknowledgement is made of the humanness of the passengers. Machine men file in, get serviced (or don't!), and then disembark. Meanwhile, Southwest flight staff actually attends to human needs. Things like hunger and thirst and social interaction. There were snacks, and they were free! There is enough leg room to sit with your legs all attached and whatnot. There is enough arm room to nurse your offspring (obscene as it is). They didn't roll food carts, so my baby, with his head aisle-side, didn't get busted or told to move. Twice I turned to Dan mid-flight to say, "They're so nice!" And they really were. They didn't fawn over our son, but they seemed to accept that the human race hinges upon such as he. And they even announced a birthday, so that we could rejoice in each other's rejoicing.

I really appreciate the attention paid to somewhat auxiliary details, like the in-flight magazine. Maybe I'm the only person who reads those things anymore, but Southwest's Spirit is exceedingly readable. I took my free copy with me because an article made me want to go to Colorado, and I wanted to remember why. There was also mention made of their fleet commitment to the Boeing 737, which means that you always know what to expect when you fly, and, further, that they care about that. I hope their assimilation of AirTran means that we'll be able to fly with them more often because I am an Oreo-eating, Canon-toting, archives-reading brand loyalist.

Haha. Now I'm done saying things about airplanes. Two posts without the baby! It's because my computer has a Korean cord and we have no adapter, so it's dead. But we have tractor pictures and park pictures and grandparents pictures, and they all make my heart so glad. Maybe one day Dan will buy me an adapter or maybe one day we will be back in Korea, and I will post the pictures on either of those days.