California Baby

Was reading to Bean this morning, and it struck me yet again what a California baby she really is. Which is highly amusing, considering that neither my husband nor I are "real" Californians (at least not according to my best friend, who is a transplanted LA girl). Then again, Bean is the one native Californian in our little family, so I suppose she has a legitimate claim.

Certainly we used soy formula for supplements and cereal...but I nursed her for basically a year, which I would venture to guess is not all that common in many parts of North America. We bought (well, okay I bought) organic baby food because I felt guilt-ridden about not having the time to make my own. However, the biggest indicator of Bean's California Girl status is one of her favorite books (which, needless to say, is one of Mommy's favorite books),
My First Book of Sushi, by Amy Wilson Sanger. The best line in the entire book is "Miso in my sippy cup/Tofu in my bowl".

I don't want to intimate that families in other parts of the country don't know about sushi, or wouldn't find this book charming, but it just kind of makes me laugh that it's on our bookshelf. It also reminds me of a great story from some friends of ours with a three-year-old. They were out east visiting family, and were trying to get the then 18-month-old to eat some potato...and did so by telling him it was tofu. You can imagine the pause in dinner conversation.

We can't wait until Bean is old enough to join us in our sushi feedbag sessions at our local trough.

Indeed, Bean is a true California girl ... which in most regards is a good thing. But, I realized yesterday as we were experiencing a thunder storm that she will not know real thunder storms. Perhaps that is a good thing as I recall fearing them as a child. But, I also recall missing them while living out in California. There's nothing like a thunder-filled downpour while sitting with your granny on her front porch in the middle of a hot and sticky southern day ...