More on Jack

More on Jack:
* Standing unassisted
* Climbing up stairs
* Constantly teething
* Learning to ride his little vehicle

From Zucchini

Moron Mommy:

* Pauses camera before catching baby

From Zucchini

Meltdowns, Financial and Otherwise

As I mentioned yesterday, Jack recently started throwing tantrums (but only when he doesn't get what he wants). There was some screaming, arching of the back, legs kicking and what-have-you. Luke was never one for a rolling around on the floor kicking and screaming type tantrum so I was sort of interested to see one unfold. And by interested, I mean I planned to put Jack down, walk away, and appear to be ignore him. That backfired, of course, because as soon as I put him down, he took off and tried to get right back to what he was doing in the first place. (Banging on the keyboard and randomly blaring songs on itunes. First the Beatles, and then Liz Phair.)

All this is to say, I am now a veteran of all sorts of meltdowns. I am now acquainted with a Jack-style meltdown, I have dealt with Luke's special brand, of course my own personal meltdowns, and Dave's occasional loss of composure.

But the real problem for me, for the past several days is the complete economic meltdown. I've taken it quite personally. Flat on my back, wondering if it's time to wean so I can get me some of those sweet, sweet muscle relaxers. ("Try four.") Yes, ye old back pain has returned and I am blaming it on the Dow's worst drop in it's 112 years.

Short story long, when I moved to Boulder I started to buy into the idea that the Western medical "take some antibiotics" method isn't always the answer . So I started seeing a doctor that was known to be very into alternative medicine, and when I went there for back pain she asked me if I had money problems. "Well, my husband is in grad school, and I am the breadwinner and my company is going through layoffs. so I am a little worried, why do you ask?" According to her, back pain is linked to worries about money. Hmm, OK, great. She had some interesting ideas, but I stopped seeing her when I realized, sometimes you just have to have antibiotics. But fortunately for me, she recommended a good chiropractor first.

Just the other day I ran across my back pillow (from the lumbar yard) and I was thinking it had been so long since I had even a twinge of back pain. And merely days later as the economy was falling to ruins and 401k statements were arriving in the mailbox, I could suddenly not stand up straight. The pain, my God the pain! Damn you greedy-wall-street-fat-cats with your risky investment-causing-econonmy-collapsing-anniversary-ruining-back-pain!

So let's just all hope that the 900 point gain today is a sign of good things to come and that as the Dow climbs, the pain lessons. Or at least that I can stop worrying about it.

Sunday Miscellaneous

* Jack has been flirting with a full on wave goodbye for a while now, but Saturday night he waved goodbye over and over to that cute baby in the mirror. And it almost sounded like he said good-bye too
* Luke loves school. Loves it. His big complaint now is that his days go by to quickly. He and I danced at the Fall Festival and it was really fun.
* Luke - smiled without an upper lip in his school picture and also still does not like swimming lessons
* Jack- likes to hide behind the curtains until I say, "Where's my baby?!" And then he crawls out laughing
* Luke - doing well with our new manners game
* Jack - now throwing minor tantrums (only when he doesn't get what he wants)

11, Exactly. It's One Louder

These go to eleven.

From misc

But Soft!

What light through yonder window breaks?

From misc

Well, he looks a little more Shakespearean without beans on his face. But this is a new pose that he does quite frequently and on demand. I just have to start quoting The Bard.

Where in the World is Baby Jack?

In the instrument box?

From Zucchini

Ransacking the bathroom?

From Zucchini

In the instrument box?

From Zucchini

Taking a nap in the trailer?

From Zucchini

Herding the dog?

From Zucchini

Second Last Person on Earth Joins Facebook

MetaMegan joined Facebook this week, making her the second last person on Earth to join, her friends and family said Sunday. "I just wanted to see what it was, but I can't really figure it out" she was heard to say, stating one of the three excuses people over 30 mention when explaining why they have joined a social networking site developed for college students. Other excuses include, "I wanted to look up old boyfriends" and "my 2o year reunion was coming up and everyone was getting in touch via facebook."

Mentioning that you do not really understand how Facebook works is another common Facebook related utterance according to Dr. Magoo, Sociology Professor at Ohio University. "People like to say they don't really understand facebook for several reasons. In the over 30 crowd, there is a reticence towards seeming overly enthusiastic about something that may in fact be too 'young' for them to fully enjoy. A pretend ignorance can also be a defense mechanism used to explain a low volume of friends. People of this generation grew up programming their parents VCRs, but there is also always a possibilty that they may, in fact, not really understand how Facebook works." The professor continued, "The case of MetaMegan, a technologist, who installs, documents, uses, and trains people in different software systems on a daily basis, is probably a case of the first situation, also known as Too Cool for School Syndrome."

"Ooh look, I am up to 23 friends!" Metamegan was heard to say late Sunday night, but she rarely has been known to post a status because she "doesn't really get what she is supposed to say."

Question and Answer

Question: What happens if you miss a few pieces when you put the bottles together?

Answer: Your baby spills so much milk on himself that he runs out of spare clothes and comes home from daycare in a purple ruffled shirt.

From Blog pix

Mamas for Obama

Better pictures and video from our adventure yesterday can be seen here.

Where is MetaMegan?

I have spent the past week working on an essay for a memory book about a good friend who died last year. I have mostly been laughing and smiling about the many funny memories, but there have been some tears too. And I had been procrastinating writing the essay for more than a month, so I couldn't be blogging about how annoying it is that "insert trivial annoying detail here" when I should be writing down memories of my friend for her children to read. But the essay is almost finished, so you can expect that I will be back to my regularly scheduled programming very soon!

One piece of info to make you jealous! Guess where Jack and I were today?


And by today, I mean yesterday, since I just noticed it is after midnight.