Chinese New Year Dragon

Oh man, am I tired.  I think I've hit that working parent wall that renders me unable to read a book, stay up past 8, or manufacture complex thoughts.  I used to think that my parents were just totally boring, but now I know they were simply exhausted.  I don't really have much to blog about, because, honestly, my brain is drained.  I think about science and education during the day (and was able to conjure up the words thermal conductivity today, so yay? (though I think I might have used them wrong, so boo?)), come home to play with the baby and put him to bed and then try to decompress for an hour before going to sleep and starting all over again.  I am thankful for work, because I shudder to think about what my brain-state might be like without it (would I be a vegetable?  Probably a pizza-and-Starbucks vegetable).  Modern life is hard (from my position of relative privilege, I feel compelled to acknowledge).  I'm so happy to have an expansive 10 week break coming up at the end of May (what would I do without a summer off?), but getting there might nearly kill me.  Some things:

1.  I lost my phone (or it was stolen), which is the absolute worst thing ever.  It was interesting though, because of the palpable shift in my emotional state over the course of 3-12 hours.  I went from being tense, angry and stressed for a few hours to just giving in to the idea that it, and all of the data it contained, was gone.  I had to let go of it and become a phone-less person for about 5 days.  By the time my new phone arrived, I didn't even feel like I needed it (back to feeling like it was 1995!).  These electronic devices really are totally unnecessary (but fun and convenient).

2.  Theo had his 1-year check-up/vaccine appointment and he's still big!  75% height, 60% weight and 55% head.  Getting these stats seems kind of crazy.  We really like to quantify baby growth--when does it stop? 5?  10?

3.  I went to the Chinese New Year parade for the first time since about 2005 (I think).  It was really fun.  At one point, while crossing the street and following the parade, we accidentally became a part of it!  We were just walking to Chinatown when we looked around and noticed that there were tons of people behind barricades, while we were in the middle of the road!  I made a gif of the dragon at the end of the parade (the longest dragon in the western hemisphere, we were told).

Shouldn't every family have their own dragon? I feel like this might be an important project in the next few years.  I got to see it up close for tips on construction (nylon and lights on a string)

4.  I'm thinking of becoming an Elk (for the pool and cheap adult beverages).  They have both an indoctrination ceremony and an exalted leader.  I don't think I need to say more.