I watch an adorable little boy–I’ll call him Baby W. to protect his sweet identity, even though most of you know him–1-1/2 days each week. It’s a nice arrangement: just enough time to break up our week and give Daphne someone other than me to interact with, but not too much time that I can’t run my errands or clean my house or see friends.
The best part of watching Baby W. is seeing my daughter love on him. When he gets here in the morning she hurries over and rubs his back and kisses his head. Then she follows him around with an empty bottle and shoves it in his mouth, because if the bottle is available then it should be used.
Might I tempt you with a bottle, the contents of which have already been consumed?
Sometimes I find them having these baby conversations without words. This morning she was tilting her head and nodding at him while making sounds that she thinks are actual words but aren’t, and he responded by flapping his arms.
Babies can hurt you with their cuteness.
Gideon was still playing with age-appropriate trains and toddler toys when we took a walk around the neighborhood and he pointed his “boom stick”–a tiny curved tree limb, barely in the shape of a gun–at objects and made the sound of them exploding as his arm jolted upward from the imaginary recoil. I’m still not sure where he got the idea for that. The most violence he’d seen up to that point on TV was when Thomas the Tank Engine ran through the buffers and oil splattered everywhere as his eyes spun in circles from the surprise. Obviously this was well before his love for Spider-Man and Transformers..
Friday afternoon Neighbor Boy called and said he had a surprise for Gideon. We stopped at Neighbor Boy’s grandparents’ house on our walk and Gideon was gifted with a very nice, homemade pretend gun carved from wood, made by Neighbor’s Boy’s grandpa. It even came with a holster. Then Neighbor Boy and Gideon fought off the bad guys in the neighborhood with their matching guns to protect Mia’s heart. Very cute.
Saturday morning Neighbor Boy ran to our house and brought another very nice homemade pretend gun carved from wood, this time for Mia. So Sunday afternoon I asked them to make thank you cards for Neighbor Boy’s Grandpa. They made the sweetest cards, told him he’s “awesome,” with people at the bottom of the page, smiling as they point guns at each other.
I don’t think they understand guns yet.
“She is a great phone talker. She could call me every day. And I would answer.”
-Hubby, after his grandma very sweetly wished me a happy birthday then got off the phone without any small talk.
I’m totally fascinated by the poor souls who currently work at CBS’ Early Show. Emphasis on currently, because today is their last day. I wanted to watch the day after the announcement of their mutual sacking (except for one lucky [?] girl), because what do you say? How do you go on air and smile and act like nothing’s wrong, but you know you’ve been fired and all of your audience knows you’ve been fired, and people who were never your audience (me) know you’ve been fired, but you still have to report on the wars and the Presidential hopefuls and the Kardashians? As Mia would say, “1-2-3 AWKWARD!”
But I forgot. I’m not a big morning TV person to begin with and sleep choked my desire to get up early. I did finally remember to turn it on the day after the Iowa caucuses but it was too uncomfortable to watch for more than five minutes. Most people who get fired don’t have to stay at their job for another few weeks, and they certainly don’t have to wrestle with the panic of finding a new job and bemoaning, “Why me? Why wasn’t I good enough? And GAYLE KING? Are you serious?” while sitting in front of a TV camera. When their potential next employer is watching. Yikes.
Last night I was watching The Mentalist when a CBS ad came on. Construction guys were headed in and out of a building site with the words “Excuse the mess. We’re building a better morning show.” Even if unintentional, the “Excuse the mess” really seemed to reference the morning personalities already in place. And obviously the CBS bosses think they’re a mess because they’re redoing the entire show and not letting them stay on. But wasn’t it a little uncouth to call them a mess? Methinks yes. I mean, they’re already leaving. Give the poor souls some dignity on the way out.
For a while there was a picture floating around Pinterest of a girl with thick gray socks peeking over the top of her brown boots. I wanted to copy so I went to T.J. Maxx and bought a few pairs of thick knee high socks but it has never looked the same; my socks are too thin and don’t bunch enough at the knee. Then over Christmas my sister-in-law Ang asked if any of us sisters-in-law had worn legwarmers with our boots. That’s how to get that cute look. Have any of you tried it? It would be much cheaper than buying lots of thick socks cuz you could wear the same legwarmers day after day. They won’t cling to your sweaty feet (and thereby need washing) like socks. It’d be a nice way to add some trendiness to my closet while trying to not buy new clothes. You can see my ideas here. There might be a Target run in my almost-immediate future.
Also, how do you feel about red lipstick? I really like it but can never find the perfect shade. A few years ago I wore a freebie my mom gave me from Estee Lauder and looking back I think I love it. Last week I bought off Mia with candy to come with me and buy some red lipstick from Wal-Mart. When I got home and put it on Mia said, “No way. Too dark. Like a vampire.” I hope I don’t look like a vampire when I wear it because I want to wear it everyday. It’s the blue-ish red that looks good with my pale skin. I need something to perk up my look because I’m still having a difficult time with my short hair. I think it’s a cute cut, but it’s still not me. Every time I look in the mirror I’m surprised by how short it is. Anyway, look how cute this girl is with her red lipstick.
