The cow says...

In case it's not already obvious, I spend a lot of time around kids and kids' stuff these days. I don't post much about it because I know how old it can get to hear someone go on and on about every little darling thing their baby genius does when you don't have kids yourself. But every so often, I come across something that is worth mentioning.

Today, I had to take E to the doctor (for what turned out to be just a cold - but that's a whole other story), and while we were waiting in the exam room, we dug through the small bin of crappy toys that they keep around. Normally, I wouldn't really let her play with stuff that's probably got some latent plague germs festering on it, but she was pretty unhappy about being there and honestly, I'm just not that much of a germophobe to where I was willing to put my foot down.

The toy that E seemed to focus on was some kind of old See n' Say. For those of you who aren't around kids much, yes, they still make See n' Says, although they are a little bit different from the ones we had as kids (I had the alphabet one above when I was little). Most of the newfangled ones have a lever to pull now, instead of a string. And they are also a lot smaller. No, really, they are. It doesn't just seem that way because we're bigger. Some of them have a little flap that flips back and forth to change things up, but they are otherwise pretty much the same. The one pictured at right is what we currently have, purchased for a whopping $1 from another mom.

This particular toy that E found today was totally different though from your standard See n' Say. It was shaped like a house and had a series of wide buttons in a circle which I think are supposed to light up when you push them. I have to assume here because there were no batteries in it. So anyways, the odd thing about this toy was what was on the buttons. Some of them were pretty standard: kitten, dog, bird. But then there were four with pictures of kids on them. One was of a little boy in a suit and glasses talking on a cellphone. Heh? Then there was a picture of a little girl, also in some sort of suit, carrying a boombox. What? I'm dying to know what they "say" when you push the button. The other kids were in more "kid-like" clothes and doing things like, licking a lollipop.

I figure that toy's probably been kicking around the doctor's office for years, so I'm sure they don't make it anymore. Still, I did a Google search, hoping to find a picture of it somewhere, but no such luck. I did however find this interesting little article on How See n' Says Work, just in case any of you are curious.

Sad day

I've been on Netflix since 2001 and always loved it and, never even considered switching to Blockbuster. But recently, I've had to face the sad truth that since we had the baby, we really haven't been watching our Netflix in any kind of timely manner. In fact, I think from the beginning of March up to July, we watched all of one movie, and even since then, we've only made it through maybe a half dozen or so. In fact, T's been after me for a while now about cancelling it outright and I kept refusing, but this week, I finally owned up to the fact that we're not exactly getting our money's worth.

Netflix did get a last minute reprieve though when Mee suggested something I hadn't even thought of: downgrading. Duh. I don't know why that didn't even occur to me. So I downgraded our Netflix account to just 1-at-a-time today. I'm still really kind of bummed out about it.

Anyways, just for giggles, I thought I'd list the movies we've had in the last 8 months:

Hot Fuzz - returned 10/30/07
Watched this just the other night. I thought it was really funny. Love Simon Pegg.
Knocked Up - returned 10/22/07
Saw this in the theater, but wanted to see it again
300 -returned 10/10/07
Also saw this in the theater (our first outing after E was born)
Stranger than Fiction - returned 09/20/07
Never made it through this one. T kept falling asleep and I couldn't stay interested so I sent it back half-watched.
Casino Royale - returned 09/20/07
Decent, but not spectacular. In fact, kind of disappointing after all the hype about being the 'best Bond yet.'
Smokin' Aces - returned 07/26/07
Meh. T was initially really excited for this one. We thought it would be a kind of fun, cheesy action flick, a la Crank. There was a lot of build-up, but it never quite paid off.
Babel - returned 07/19/07
Never watched it. It sat in our house for probably close to 6 months and we were just never in the mood to watch something so serious.
Battlestar Galactica: Season 1: Disc 3 (5-Disc Series) - returned 07/19/07
Another one that I had in the house for at least 6 months. I was really into the first two discs, and watched the first episode on this disc. But then I got busy and by the time I got back to it, I couldn't really remember what was going on. I may try again at a later date since I'm kind of a sci-fi nerd.
Children of Men - returned 07/19/07
Troy watched this back in March or April, but I only got through the first half hour before baby duties called and I never made it back. Then it sat around for a few months before I finally gave up. I've only heard good things though, so I'll probably rent it again down the road.
Accepted - returned 04/04/07
Very silly, but it was the perfect thing for us to watch when we were too exhausted to focus on anything else. I kind of have an odd affinity for Justin Long.

it's been forever

It's been a long time since I last posted, at least on this blog. I know, what's the point of a blog if you're only going to post like, once a month? I have to rely on my fail-safe excuse (baby), but this time it's for real. E spent the better part of September refusing to go to bed at night. At first we chalked it up to disruption from all the travel. But as the weeks passed, things got worse and worse. Finally, I had to do the unthinkable. I can't even believe that I'm telling people this, but I let her cry it out. In my own defense, we really did try a number of other options, before resigning ourselves to CIO, and the method that we ended up using (Sleepeasy Solution) was supposed to be more "gentle" than the Ferber and Weissbluth varieties. Still, I think I probably cried just as much as E did, especially the first night. But I have to admit that for the most part, it worked. I'm still not entirely sold on it since I still feel like it's mean, but I guess results don't lie. After implementing this new system for almost two weeks now (which also includes a more scheduled day and regular naps), I can really see a difference. E is definitely more well-rested and is starting to move forward developmentally too -- crawling!

OK, I'm digressing into baby fever. Long story short, baby is sleeping more, parents are sleeping more, it's a good thing. And if you've been keeping up at all with my other blog, then you'll realize just how well-rested I've been.

i'm tired

I realized today that despite all attempts to pretend that I am Superwoman, I am not. I don't usually like to complain about motherhood or the baby, but today I am so worn down. I spent about half of our vacation last week sick with a terrible head cold, which is still lingering and refusing to completely go away. I haven't been sleeping well lately either, and this is compounded by the fact that E is no longer sleeping through the night. I'm not sure if it's a growth spurt or teething or just adjusting to being back home after so much travelling, but it's starting to take its toll on me. It's days like these that make me wish I was all gestapo about having her on a schedule. Time to revisit the baby books, I think.