J - 18 Months

March 31, 2011

Dear J,

I know I’m a little late with this letter, but things have been crazy lately. Time is moving very quickly, and you’re growing up too fast, that’s for sure. We’re trying to enjoy these days. They really are special right now.

You’re just so much fun. You’re happy most of the time and just love to laugh and play play play. You’ll play with your toys, boxes, pots and pans, the animals, whatever strikes you at the moment.

Everyone talks about how much older you look – like a little man. It’s funny, because that’s exactly what we all call you. But you really do look so much older. You’ve had a full head of hair since you were born and have been getting it cut since you were eight months old. You also have all your teeth except but the last four molars. I really hope your baby teeth situation bodes well for your permanent teeth, since they’re all completely straight. And none of that even covers how unbelievably expressive you are. I also hope that stays; you have no poker face, and this will come in mighty handy in about 12 years.

You also jibber jabber a lot, as your dad calls it. He actually says jibber jabber to you so much that you’re starting to say it, too. There are so many words, and I know I’m forgetting some, but so far there are: brush teeth, NO! (the index finger must be pointed for full effect), kitty, picture, baby, mama, daddy, gigi, papa, nana, cheechu (that’s a truck, strangely), uh-oh, what’s that, ball (comes out “bow”), cheese, and ice.

Speaking of cheechu, you LOVE trucks and buses. Every morning, we lift the blinds in the living room and watch the busses. Mondays and Thursdays are the best, though, because not only do we get three buses, but also garbage AND recycling trucks.

You’ve learned that a doggie says “woo woo” (you aren’t quite there with the f’s yet), and you bark with your whole body. So, of course, we ask you what the doggie says all the time.

You’ve learned to blow kisses, which makes your constant flirting even more irresistible.

We’ve struggled only with getting you to sleep at night. We’ve tried everything: rocking, cry it out, modified cry it out, staying in the room and soothing, going to bed earlier, going to bed later. And until three nights ago, nothing seemed to work consistently. Then, all of a sudden, for some reason, you’ve decided that you are ok if we slowly leave your room after putting you in bed. You pull on one of your many music players attached to the bed. You pull all your blankets into the crib. You throw your sock dog, Soda, onto the rocking chair. You talk to yourself, and generally procrastinate sleeping, for about an hour. But, and this is the best, you don’t scream your lungs out and cough and heave and gag anymore. Needless to say, we are keeping our fingers crossed that these three nights are the new way of things.

We love you and can’t wait to see what cool things you do next, but, please, not too fast. We are enjoying this time so much.

Love,
Mom

The Album Project

You may have seen on facebook that I'm working on digitizing my record collection.  I'll try to track the project here.

Last night was the first effort, and it took a while to finally nail down the right software and process.  With a little help from Dave - just one last setting - I'm there and really ready to go. 

Album 1, recorded March 30, 2011: Greatest Hits - Kenny Rogers
Album 2, recorded March 31, 2011: Thriller - Michael Jackson
Album 3, recorded March 31, 2011: No Jacket Required - Phil Collins

The initial part of this project will be my albums.  This is just a handful of records from the late 70s and early 80s.  The next round will be albums that my mom recently gave me (the largest collection - probably 30 or 40), and then, finally, the rest will be the albums that came in a record cabinet handed down from my Great Aunt Lou.

Why They Fought

hat tip: The Agitator, as usual

Do you ever

use too much shaving cream?  I do.  Every. Single. Time.

Exciting Times Ahead

I haven't posted this anywhere yet, because there are clients on Facebook and LinkedIn who don't know and need to be told personally.  But well, hardly anyone reads my blog, and I'm so excited to tell people that I've figured out what I want to be when I grow up - and I'm going to go be it now. 

I hadn't really thought about posting this here until today, but as I was driving around and running errands this afternoon, I felt a sudden rush.  I've been at my current company more than 10 years now, about eight doing essentially the same job, and I'm ready for something new. So, when the company merged with another one earlier this year, I was not-so-secretly hoping for a severance package.  I didn't get one, and though I was initially disappointed, now I'm even happier.  That may seem strange, but today an incredible feeling of power hit me - power that comes with leaving on your own terms. 

I turned in my notice on Monday, and it wasn't a shock to my boss because this has actually been in the works for several years and I've been up front about my plans (even working part time in both companies for the last year).  I think, though, that there are people who didn't think I'd really take the leap. 

I gave a couple months notice, will take a week of vacation, and then as of May 16th, I'll be working full time to become a financial planner - queue simultaneous excitement and terror.

Here we go ...

1001 Rules

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son before.  He just posted another great one: "If you choose not to own a TV, keep it to yourself".

American Spirit

I can't remember exactly where I found Slacktivist.  It was either BoingBoing or Instapundit.  He's good, and I particularly like this post about how corporations have removed incentives to be more productive, but for some reason we keep doing it.  He asks a good question: How long can that last?

2011 in Entertainment and Travel

This year, I'd like to see more live shows, but last year I did manage to read a lot more than I had in some time.  That makes me very happy, and since I got a Nook for my birthday, I think I'll be reading even more this year. 

Movies
The Bridges of Madison County
Avatar
Noel
Zombieland
The Great Escape
High Society
Best in Show
Ocean's 13
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Sherlock Holmes (2010)
Couples Retreat
Babylon AD
Iron Man 2
Love the Beast
Crazy Heart
Away We Go
This Is It
The A-Team
Toy Story
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lighting Thief
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Two Escobars
Day Breakers
Barton Fink
Hope Springs
Clash of the Titans (2010)
Gran Torino
Kick Ass
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
The Rookie
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Diggers
Spirited Away
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inkheart
A Single Man
Inception
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Robin Hood (2010)
Rachel Getting Married
How Do You Know

Live Shows/Events
Craig Ferguson - Cobb Energy Center
Minnesota State Fair
A Prairie Home Companion - Grand Stand, Minnesota State Fair - St. Paul, MN

Travel
Magee, MS
Charleston, SC
Hilton Head, SC
Minneapolis and Whitefish Lake, MN
Boston, MA
Charleston, SC

Books
Odd Thomas, Dean Koontz
Forever Odd, Dean Koontz
Brother Odd, Dean Koontz
Odd Hours, Dean Koontz
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien
One Day, David Nicholls
The Passage, Justin Cronin
The Princess Bride, William Goldman

Merry Christmas

2010 had it's rough spots -- I miss you every day, Grandaddy -- but overall it has been a wonderful year, and 2011 is looking to even better. 

Enjoy your family, your friends and all the blessings in your life.  Carry these good things with you every day, keep your chin up, and keep moving forward.  See you in the new year.

Women and their bags ...

I have recently switched to a massive purse.  I have always been more of the "small purse" girl.  Carrying huge bags only invite you to stash more stuff in them and then they weigh 10 pounds.  The thing is, though, I am absolutely over carrying a diaper bag and a purse.  Well, that's a lie, actually.  During the week, I would carry a purse because the diaper bag was unnecessary.  On weekends, I would then move appropriate items from my purse to the diaper bag.  This is weekly event is what I got tired of. 

So, I got a giant purse.  Now I can just throw in some wipes, diapers, snacks and I'm ready to go out with the little man (and yes, it already weighs about eight pounds - whatever).

This recent change made this brilliant observation by the always great James Lileks even funnier ...

The need for a backpack is ancient and engrained, and it’s taking me a long time to shake it. In college my backpack would contain everything I needed if I was stuck in a small room for two days – books, magazines, newspapers, a journal, a People’s Pen, refills, matches, emergency quarters should there be pinball. Last year when I was getting up early and heading off to be Ted Baxter in the video department, I stocked my bag with every possible thing I might need, from a small tripod to extra memory cards, peanuts, moist towelettes, hand sanitizer, and so on. Never used any of it. But I was a shivering hermit in a loincloth compared to what my wife schleps around. It’s one of the things that mystified men: the quantity of things women carry. I goggle sometimes at the quantity of items in my wife’s bag, and then I stand abashed when I realize the bag is merely a conveyance for the purse, which itself contains the clutch. It would be like me taping my iPhone to my laptop, taping the laptop to the Mac Pro, putting the Pro on a wheeled cart and dragging it along wherever I went.  

Happy Picture of the Day

Depressing News of the Day

Just in case you are under the impression that we live in a free country, I present this story. If this were happening in any other country, it would be evidence of oppressive policies and a sham of a court system.

Full story here.

Good-bye, Old Friend

I wonder if my Walkman is still sitting in some ratty old box in the corner of our storage room. That would be the one an acquaintance borrowed freshman year in college and then brought back slightly broken, but still functional. I was using it until I got my first MP3 player about eight years ago. Honestly, I had no idea that Sony was still making these, but knowing they officially have stopped makes me a little sad today.

Ha ha - things don't really change

First of all, I LOVE Pandora Radio. This fun little diddy came up on one of my stations today - Guv'ment by Roger Miller.

Favorite verse:
Well you soul selling no-good
Son-of-a-shoe-fittin' firestarters
I ought to tear your no good
Perambulatory bone frame
And nail it to your government walls
All of you, you bastards

Fantastic and good to know that it's an American human tradition to hate our government.

Here's a version of John Goodman singing in Big River. Who knew?



Of course, the character singing the song isn't exactly a shining star.

Huck returns home in the darkness to find his Pap, a violent drunk, waiting for him, who drags him off to his cabin in the woods. In his drunkenness, Pap swings from tomfoolery to extreme violence as he rails against a government that would take his son (and his son's money) away from him ("Guv'ment"). Pap attempts to kill Huck, hallucinating that he is the Angel of Death, but passes out in an inebriated mess.

Hmmm, I guess we can't have it all.

J One Year

September 27, 2010

Dear J,

Well, here we are. It’s been a year. It seems that each month the list of new things you’re doing only gets longer – and cooler. I have to admit, though, that after this one, the letters may drop to every few months or so. We’ll see.

So let’s get to the fun new things you’re doing lately. Last thing first …
The day before your first birthday, you took three steps on your own. It’s not pretty, but you’re officially walking. You’re up to four or five steps at a time, and I imagine that in about two weeks we’ll be chasing you around the house.

You’re also talking. OK, that may be overstating it a bit. You love to say, whisper, yell “Yeah!” though. It’s how I found you and Dad in the store a couple of weeks ago. I just wandered around until I heard “yeah … yeah … yeah” from a couple aisles over. You also say “Hey” and “Dad.” And Gigi swears you said “dog” the other day. Oh, and you’re trying your hardest to say “picture”. You point at pictures and say “pish”. It’s adorable. You may also be saying “mom”, but I could just be hearing things.

Your Gigi taught you to smack your lips when you want something to drink. And say “ahhh” after you have a sip. We only reinforce this particular behavior because it’s seriously cute.

When Millie gets all excited and starts running circles around you and the coffee table, you crack up laughing and throw your arms up over your head. Tug of war with Millie is also a favorite game, but we have to help out with that a bit.

All four bicuspids are coming in and you’re surprisingly OK with this. Yes, if you’re keeping count, those are teeth 9-12.

You love to throw things and laugh, even though they go about six inches – a mile to you. More fun than throwing, though, is dropping toys over the balcony or down the stairs. Pulling the vent cover out of the floor and trying to put things down the vents has, on several occasions, kept you occupied for no less than 20 minutes.

I run the risk of going on too long if I don’t wrap it up, but suffice it to say we are completely in love, can’t believe it’s already been a year, and can’t wait for everything that’s yet to come.

Love,
Mom

More libertarian every day

I've become disillusioned with the Olympics' everybody's equal kumbaya all is peaceful and beautiful amateur thing in the last 10-15 years, but didn't really think of it in the terms of NCAA sports. This piece from Skip Oliva about privatizing college sports and the history of "amateur" athletics is eye-opening and somehow not surprising.

Amateurism itself is a class-based concept. In Walter Camp's day, an amateur was merely a generalist who didn't specialize in a particular sport or hobby. This excluded members of the "working classes," because their specialty in physical labor gave them an unfair advantage over gentlemen of the privileged classes (like Camp). The idea of paying amateur athletes was unnecessary, as their social position made it unnecessary.

By the early 20th century, academics transformed amateurism into a moral code consistent with collectivist principles. Howard Savage, a Carnegie Foundation official in the 1930s, said "professionalism in school and college athletics … is a most serious evil," and that amateurism represented "the moral struggle between force and the uses to which, with the sanction of our civilization, it may be used and should be put." In other words, athletes were barbarians who had to be tamed by the "civilizing" presence of academics. Savage noted that while it was acceptable for students in artistic fields to profit from their work – because they offered "tests of even temper and self-control" – it was never acceptable for athletes to profit from their efforts...

Of course, there is nothing wrong with the universities profiting from the athletes.

It's worth reading the whole thing.

hat tip: http://williamlanderson.blogspot.com

New Trick

Anytime I think about posting a status on Facebook, I'll just come here instead because I can add more context to it - and frankly, I don't think I really want to share most of my thoughts with all my FB "friends".

So ...

I got an awesome new toy for my birthday - a Nook - but I haven't started using it yet. That's because I started the Lord of the Rings trilogy earlier this summer in real book form, and I have this weird need to complete that before starting anything else. (I can't read five books at once like Dave does.)

You see, I started LoTR once before in college, and couldn't get through it - holy crap with all the WALKING! So, I think I'm afraid that if I start something else, I'll get out of the mode and won't go back. I have no idea why I feel the need to read it, especially considering I find it good not great, but I do. Especially now that I've finally started the last book.

(That post as an FB status would have been, "... can't wait to start using the Nook, but must finish LoTR first." I'm sure this post was so much more interesting.)

Time and Timing

Coming up on J's first birthday, this post shows up in my feed from James Lileks' Bleat. His daughter is 10, I think.

It didn’t occur to me until a few minutes ago that the top of the dresser was where her changing area had been, where she’d laid on her back laughing as an infant while I did what you had to do, made the requisite faces of funny horror – stinky! – then stuffed the offal down the diaper genie, and picked her up and gone on with our day. She’ll be a senior in high school sitting at a desk in that spot and I’ll still remember that like it was yesterday. Time is linear, but so is a piece of string – take two points far apart, put your fingertips together. It was yesterday. Makes you envy dogs, sometimes; everything is now and next. There is no then.

gasp ... another post

It is my goal to post more on this site than just letters to J. So, in an effort to achieve that, I'm posting a second time in as many days.

I'd like to get the insight of all five of my readers on a question I've had for ages now.

Why are we more willing to accept a singer who decides to act than an actor who decides to sing? See: Will Smith, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Hudson vs. pretty much any actor that ever tried his or her hand at music. Maybe there is an exception for actors who began on or went to broadway, but I still can't think of one that could be considered a mainstream musical success.

11 Months

August 24, 2010

Dear J,

Well, you’re already 11 months old. “Already” seems to be the theme here.

I’ve got to get a little more creative with these, instead of just a list of everything you’ve done. Unfortunately, today isn’t that day. I can’t believe all you’ve done in just the three weeks since I last wrote.

Your favorite thing now is to look at pictures – on the wall, on the fridge, wherever – it’s a good thing we have tons of them, I guess. And you’ll plan monkey getting into the arms of whoever is closest to said pictures. Then you point at them while we tell you who it is (and then you try to eat the magnets off the fridge). Speaking of pointing, you point at everything. And you wave, too. In the last week or so, you even started waving in context of saying hello or good-bye, instead of randomly at the dinner table.

We think you’ve decided that you don’t like baby food anymore. After about four bites, you simply spit it out. Thank goodness you do not do this violently; you simply close your lips and then push the food out with your tongue – so you’re like a giant toothpaste tube of green beans. It’s at least a little less messy that way. Oh, and then you smile. Unless you’ve already eaten a lot you don’t, however, do this with finger foods or more textured, grow-up foods. We were not ready for this, and now we have to do a lot more planning when it comes to your meals. You are clearly worth it, but I must apologize in advance if you get sweet potato bites for eight meals in a row (one sweet potato makes a LOT).

And now to the big developments – no, you’re not walking yet, but …
You stand on your own for more than 10 seconds at a time (editor’s note – no, I have not missed the fact that I am indeed one of those parents insanely proud of what, one year ago, would have seemed entirely silly), and you love love love to push your activity table – and shopping cart thingy, and diaper box, and laundry basket – around the house. I don’t know when you’ll crave true independence, but it can’t be long now (another 18 years, at least?).

Forget the sippy cup, though. We never found one that worked really well for you, so we’ve moved onto straws. It’s still mostly bottles (the only way you’ll drink the fill six or eight ounces), but you have totally figured out the straw. When it’s not so important that you get more milk than anything else, the bottles will be gone. Woohoo.

And finally, after a few months, you have learned “gentle”. Thank goodness. For a while there, you couldn’t be out with the rest of the kids at daycare because you just wanted to pull their hair. It was all with love, but that doesn’t change the fact that it hurts. Just ask Mommy, Gigi, Millie, Cecil or Orange. But now, you don’t pull, you go right up to the little girls in class and pet ever so sweetly. The animals haven’t come back around, though, so they can’t appreciate this new development yet. As daddy says, “you’re such a dude.”

Love,
Mom