Perspective Check

I was having a bad time getting The Boy to sleep. He was not co-operating at all, and Pete was at rehearsal. It was all up to me.

I brought him out into the living room, telling him that I did not know what to do for him, while he sat and cried.

We sat down on the couch, and he nursed. I watched "Darwin's Darkest Hour" on PBS.

Just in time to see the death of his young daughter and the death of his little baby.

There's nothing wrong in this house.
We're fine.
And The Boy is asleep.
For now.

(Almost)Famous (Green) Raincoat

The boys, this morning. It's been raining for days, which is good.

Now, I am off to pick up babywhumpus for his one-year follow up with Children's Hospital, Minneapolis. I get to see the new building and everything. Then, his first (seasonal) flu shot. Hopefully.

Tuesdays have been busy lately.

Put Me in the Zoo

When Finn was still in the hospital, I started buying books. We already have many, many books from my childhood, but I wanted to get some board books that he could start chewing on as soon as he came home from the hospital. I reproduced a couple of my favorite titles: "Put Me in the Zoo" and "Ten Apples up on Top."


Imagine my dismay when I found that these were expurgated versions, made simple for early readers.

Pardon me, but wasn't that the point of the original books?

I really noticed it in "Ten Apples," where the deletions make the narrative spotty and confusing, leaving the reader to wonder "Where the hell did they get roller skates?" but that's another review.


"Put Me in the Zoo," in its original form, is a multi-layered tale full of whimsy and magic. The expurgated version bills itself as a book about colors, but the original tale is about so much more. It's about matching your skills to your career; it's about understanding your ability and identity and figuring out how you can best contribute to society; it's about overcoming personal criticism to find that which makes your soul complete. It's about a talking dog-cat who can put his spots onto other animate and inanimate objects.

The expurgated version does not have the same confusing narrative lapses as "Ten Apples (abridged)," but the story loses its full vigor and depth with the cuts.

Finn loves it. It's his favorite book right now, the one he brings to us with his questioning "Ah? Ah?" We have to read it over and over, sometimes going back to the beginning when we are in the middle of the story.

Luckily, in the abridged version, this does not really hurt us.

Baby Bump

No, really.

Finn had his first really good bonk today, leaving him with a developing third eye. I am totally going to tell everyone he got into a bar fight so that all the other babies won't mess with him. We put some ice on it while he was nursing, and administered some Tylenol in case he gets a hangover, but he recovered very quickly, as he usually does when he gets hurt.

Once I was assured that he was not bleeding into his brain or going cross-eyed, he was free to play about the house, which he did. He is now having his morning nap, with daddywhumpus.

I am killing yellowjackets, which are making a last-ditch mass exodus into the house through the basement in response to the colder temperatures outside. It's an insect graveyard in here, with little yellow and black corpses laying about everywhere you look, some still twitching feebly. I don't feel very bad about it, as I have been stung twice; once when I stepped on one, and once when a little bastard flew up my pajama leg. That was a good one.

It's autumn, and... crap... there's another one...

Little Cheesecake fer ya

I think that Pete may be a bit jealous of all the pantless freedom that babies enjoy.

It's not that there's nothing going on...

Having a baby changes your life.

And in other news of the obvious: the earth is round, gravity works, evolution is happening right now.

Pete and I were sitting on the couch watching "America's National Parks," and Finn was asleep in his crib, in his room, and I thought "We are never alone." Sitting on the couch, watching educational and interesting television was much different two years ago. It was just Pete and I. Now, no matter where the boy is, it's never just me; it's never just Pete and I. The boy is always with us.

Finn had his one-year follow-up eye examination on Tuesday, so I plucked him out of day care and whisked him out to a medical care complex in an inner-ring suburb. Premature babies are at risk for eye troubles, though Finn has always checked out completely normal. He did well on his little tests, though he mostly just wanted to grab the things being held up, not just look at them, which is, I am certain, quite common.

Then, they dilated him

I had no idea that this appointment was going to involve dilation. He had his drops, and we returned to the waiting room. Thing is, Finn was already done with waiting, and as I thought this would be a rather quick trip, I had no toys, diapers, or water with me for the boy's amusement and care. Motherhood: fail.

We talked a bit to another mom, there with her four-and-a-half year old daughter, and I got my perspective check for the day. The little girl has brain cancer. BRAIN CANCER.

Things in our life are absolutely rosy. Peachy-keen, in fact. No problems.

Tylenol Recall

Just thought you should know that the makers of Tylenol have recalled products from 2008 that you have most likely already used.