O Brutha, Where Art Thou?

The black man has turned his back on the blues.

On Tuesday night, Kev and I went to see the great Robert Cray at the Granada. It is always fun to go to see a show at the Granada because it is a cool place and it reminds me of my wedding day. Robert Cray was fantastic, as I expected he would be. Besides Elvis Costello, I think Robert Cray has my favorite singing voice. It is very rich and smooth and a little raspy, a lot like a cello sounds.

Every time Kev and I go to a blues show, we are disappointed by the fact that there are never any black people there. Robert Cray was no exception. I saw only two black people, and it was a pretty packed house. The crowd pretty much consisted of middle aged overweight white people, including the members of the Robert Cray Band. The poly-cotton blend Hawaiian shirt was a big player. I guess I should relish the rare occasion of being among the youngest and skinniest and most fashionable 10-15% of the audience. That doesn't happen very often.

It was a fun night. The weather was actually cool and pleasant. Tomorrow is the first day of September. Aaaaah.

A quick note on the Peanut: Yesterday, she learned to roll from her back onto her stomach. And last night, she slept from 9pm to 7am! It is the first time in almost a year that I slept all night without having to get up to tend to the baby or go to the bathroom. Celebrate good times, come on!

Reasons to be Happy - Tuesday Aug.29

1. Daphne is taking a good nap/ I just finished a nap of my own.
2. Yesterday, there was a big storm.
3. High temps this week only 94 or so.
4. Only 2 more days of August.
5. Tonight we are going out into the world to see the great Robert Cray at the Granada.
6. I think there is Vietnamese food (that I don't have to cook) in my near future.

Words Words Words

The other day, Daphne was wearing her fruit dress, and I told Kev we should make a PPHPHB song about all the different fruits. It was then that Kev announced he doesn't like the word "fruit." Personally, I think "fruit" is a fine word, but I promised him I'd try not to say "fruit" if he would try not to say "dollop." I can't stand the word "dollop." But I really like the words "thwart," "fraught," and "disheveled." Those words probably wouldn't make a very good song, though.

Put Me in the Zoo

Daphne is wondering where all the pink spots came from.

Sometimes I get bored and dress her up even though we have no place to go. This very cute dress is from Julie.

Something New to Do

When you go day after day playing with the same couple of things, it is so great to find something new to do. A bigger Peanut means more variety. She was a little unsure of this jumpy seat at first, but I think she likes it.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

My baby slept all night!

Time Waste

Our city is not exactly in the best shape, and the City Council is sitting around debating whether to make baggy saggy pants illegal. Good grief.

Orange Crush

So Kev bought this "Citrus Splash" toothpaste. I was suspicious, but I tried it anyway, and I have to tell you, it is delightful. It is like brushing your teeth with Orange Julius, and you still get a minty fresh after-taste. Try some!

The Peanut's Big Trick of the Day

Daphne has at last discovered her hands and realized they can hold things.

At the Movies! with the LRHS

So, here I sit, under a cloud of guilt, blogging. Daphne is taking a nap, so shouldn't I be taking a nap too? Or if not, shouldn't I be doing some sort of chore? But, I already took a nap today, and I already did some chores, so now I going to do something fun. Besides, yesterday I received a comlpaint that my blog just isn't what it used to be, what with all the baby pictures, and no talk of birds or troublesome neighbors or other such things. So, here goes:

Last week, I left the house a total of two times.* Once on Monday to go to the grocery store, and once on Friday to go to Target. I am not going to count taking out the trash or getting the mail. August is just not condusive to field trips, especially with an 11 week old baby. We are now on our 34th day at temperatures in the triple digits. (Last night at 10, it was still 96 degrees, and it was 86 at 5 this morning). The air pollution is at level orange. And on top of all that, there has been a recent West Nile virus death in our zip code. So, I can't even take the Peanut out for a walk. Needless to say, I was a little house-crazy. So my parents came to babysit last night, and Kev and I went to the movies, which is a great place to go because it is cold there, and there is popcorn and rootbeer.

If you like good movies and don't mind some pretty bad swear words, I highly recommend Little Miss Sunshine. It is smart and funny and dark and heartwarming all at the same time. Plus it has the great Steve Carrell in it. I give it 4 out of 5 penguins. Maybe even 4 and a half.

Last time I went to a movie was the night before the Peanut was born. I don't remember the name of it. Something about Cuba with Andy Garcia. It wasn't very good, and it was difficult to follow because the main characters were brothers and they looked alike and I couldn't keep up with who was who (who was whom?). Anyway, that didn't matter, because we left in the middle of the movie due to I started going into labor. Kev says it was the speedbumps on Belmont on the way to the theater. I think the Peanut was protesting such a lame movie. Plus, when I was pregnant, I was diabetic, so I couldn't even enjoy popcorn and rootbeer. So I give the Cuba movie half a penguin and my gratitude for helping get things going with the baby.

After the movie last night, we went to dinner at a mediocre Mediterranean place that just opened nearby. Even though the food was just OK, it was nice not to have to cook, and it was fun being out with Kev, talking about stuff besides spit-up and poop. Speaking of poop, I will blog a birthday/book review blog soon. I can't promise there won't be more baby pictures in between, though.

*I am proud to say that even though I am home all the time sitting around in my house pants, I have not watched one single minute of Oprah or Dr. Phil.

Big Day for Little Peanut

Today the Peanut is 11 weeks old, and she decided to celebrate by rolling herself over. You can see her thinking about it in the first picture. Then, in the second picture, she makes the move. Check out that look of sheer determination. It took her a while, but she made it. Then I tried to get her to do it again, but she couldn't and she got really mad. She also purposefully reached for a toy today. So, happy 11 week birthday Daphne Claire. I think you've earned some second-hand ice cream today!

Coming soon: LRHS movie review!

Fruit Baby

Saturday Fun Links

Here is some fun for you on Saturday:

1. The other day, we received a catalog in the mail, addressed to Kev, from this place:

http://sergeantswestern.com/

What the heck? Does Kev have a secret life he needs to tell me about?

2. My Aunt Kathy sent me this link below. These guys are genius, watch for fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fokgo%2Enet%2Fnews%2Easpx

Then stay there and watch their "A Million Ways" video too.

It just occurred to me that most people in the world probably already know about and have seen these videos, as Kev and I are pretty much shut-ins and don't know much about what goes on in the world of cool videos and such. But if you haven't seen them, please enjoy.

Captive Audience

Part of the job as the parent of an infant is being as entertaining as possible. The reason you have to do this, besides stimulating the baby, is to pass the time between feedings and naps without experiencing a meltdown. The other night, we put the Peanut in her new Big Girl Chair, which she is still a little too little for, and gave her a rare Palo Pinto House Pants House Band show. When I say she was a captive audience, I mean that in the sense that she couldn't have escaped if she wanted to. You can see from her expression and the drool on her shirt how interested she was in our band. Actually, I think she sort of enjoyed it for a while. She was treated to the unlikely combo of baritone uke, kazoo, and vibra-slap, doing a housepants version of Clementine. I bet that has never been done before. I hope we haven't killed any chance of her wanting to join the band. We are counting on her to be the cellist.

Update

So we made it through the shots. Actually, they weren't so bad. The nurse was great and did them really fast. The bad news is that Daphne had to get a PKU again, which if you don't know is when they stick babies in the heel and draw a bunch of blood for testing. She's already had it done twice, but they had to do it again because the sample got messed up somehow last time. Anyway, it was awful. There is no worse feeling than having your little baby screaming in pain and looking at you wondering how you could let this happen. I cried and cried. I am so glad it's over now. Daphne has since forgiven me, and she played a while and is now taking a nap. And I think the people at the doctor's office felt pretty bad about messing up the last PKU, because they gave me four free cans of Good Start. I just had the ice cream I promised the Peanut, and am feeling slightly better.

On a happier note, Kev and I get to go out Saturday night to dinner and maybe even a movie. What should we see? I don't even know what's playing.

Hello to Brad's friend Fooie. I'm glad you like the pictures. I am also glad that Brad has friends.

Mama Trauma

Tomorrow morning I have to take the Peanut to the doctor's office to get shots. I think she has to get four. Two in each leg. This is most upsetting. We've already had a long talk about how it is going to hurt, but she has to be brave because it's good for her and all that. But I am the one who needs to be brave. I'd rather go to the dentist or give birth again or even fly on an airplane than to have to watch my poor little Peanut get poked. She makes tears when she cries now, so that will make it much worse. Maybe since her legs are so fat, it won't hurt so much. I told her I would eat some ice cream when we get home so that she can get some ice cream second-hand.

The Super Skunk Incident

When Kev was a little kid, he had a skunk toy named Super Skunk as a constant companion. One day, his family went out to dinner at Bonanza, or Ponderosa, or someplace like that, and Super Skunk was left behind and lost forever. This was a great tragedy, and it apparently scarred Kevin dramatically, because it always gets brought up whenever we visit Kev's parents. ("Remember that time I left Super Skunk at the Bonanza(?) and you wouldn't take me back to get him..."). I suppose they finally grew tired of the guilt trip, because on Saturday, Super Skunk II arrived on our doorstep. He is a puppet. Daphne loves him. But I think she's gonna have to fight her daddy for Super Skunk time.

Hey, are there still Bonanzas and Ponderosas?

Countdown

Only 27 days until September, and only 57 days until October. August is the worst month of the year. I hope it goes by as fast as June and July did. October is the best month of the year. Summer is a drag. I am ready to get out my sweaters. I'd even give up berries if it would stop being 101 every stinking day.

Fun Good Happy Baby

She is already starting to look like a big kid.

Silly Monkey

Roly Poly with Orange Mohawk

Daphne Claire weighs over 11 pounds now. Hair is still unruly and orange. I love it!