… you finally take a nap, and you dream about napping.
How very meta of me.
Archive for January 2008 – Page 2
I don’t have enough of a well-formed idea for a full post today, so I thought I’d go all random on ya.
- Thank you for all the love yesterday! 20 comments! Nice! Oh, and Carrie gets a prize for being no. 10 (because she asked so nicely). So, everyone go and visit her blog and tell her how adorable her boys are. Because they are beyond cute.
- To the first-time commenters – welcome! It’s nice to “meet” you. A bonus from those comments is that I got to add a few new blogs to my list. Yes, I read them all. And you wonder why one of my resolutions is to spend more time with my kids instead of just writing about them.
- We had a playgroup this morning with some of the moms and babies from my new mom group. How crazy that they’re all almost six months old now! Back in September we were all so new and they were all so tiny… no longer. It was very fun to see them all, and to have an outing on this rainy, chilly day.
- Daniel sat unassisted today! At said playgroup, I was supporting him as he sat in front of me. Took my hands away, and he stayed there for a good 15 seconds! Not bad! Then he kind of tipped and folded in half, but he’ll get the hang of it in no time. Rebecca doesn’t have much interest in such things.
- I had a rather hilarious audience as I ate my lunch today. We had just gotten home, and the kiddos were happy enough in their carseats as long as I was chatting with them, so I sat and ate some lunch while they were contentedly confined. They both just stared at me, mouths agape. I think maybe they’re ready to think about solids? Oh, and the dog sat and stared, too, hoping I’d drop something. Not this time… Long story short: I think it’s time to get ready for new adventures in food.
- If Rebecca could have a single nap longer than 45 minutes soon, I’d really appreciate it. I mean, she’s obscenely cute and full of smiles when she wakes up, but somehow that breaks down around 5pm. And that’s not cool.
Back later with something real to say, I promise.
Comments (1)
Stolen from Sarah & the Goon Squad, though it’s other places too, it’s DE-LURKING DAY!
My sitemeter says this little blog gets visited 70+ times per day. Surely, I can manage more than 10 comments. So, there’s your challenge, dear readers. All of you very nice people who drop by, but never say anything, speak up! Please say hi in the comments today. Don’t be shy! I promise, you don’t have to say anything particularly witty or original. Just string together a couple of words and make me feel loved. 
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Categories : Blogging, Your turn!
Tags : delurker day
OK, so I’m not thrilled with the outcome of yesterday’s New Hampshire primary. Alas. Onward to South Carolina, Nevada, and Super(-duper?) Tuesday.
What I did find amusing was watching the news coverage of it all. Especially the early stuff. Wolf Blitzer, just pulling shit out of his ass for hours on end. The big 10-second countdown until the NH polls closed (I pictured the entire state suddenly going dark). I love how they keep displaying their pie charts and talking about who’s ahead, even though there’s only like 2% of precincts reporting. Woohoo.
One of my favorite parts of the evening came early, however. Less than an hour after the polls closed, with something like 17% reporting, CNN carefully analyzed their data and made the daring call: John Edwards would finish third. Wow. That’s some groundbreaking journalism right there, people. Do you pay your statisticians extra for that? I mean, it’s not Anderson Cooper’s magic pie chart (can you say, “just because we can?“), but it’s some high-quality reporting.
My other favorite campaign reporting, in recent days, was a graphic they showed on my local news channel. Noted celebrity candidate endorsements. On the democratic side, you had Barbra Streisand for Hillary Clinton, Oprah for Obama, and Susan Sarandon for John Edwards. Sean Penn, apparently, is backing Dennis Kucinich. Poor Dennis.
But it got weirder on the Republican side. I can’t remember them all, but this site tells me that Rudy Giuliani has Ben Stein, Mitt Romney has Ann Coulter (as though I need another reason not to vote for him), and my two favorites: Pat Sajak favors Fred Thompson, and Chuck Norris has been seen on the trail for Mike Huckabee. Chuck Norris? Well, shit, we might as well all pack up and go home, because Chuck Norris is clearly going to roundhouse kick Mike Huckabee straight into the White House.
Alright, enough of this nonsense. I’ve made my campaign donations and signed up to volunteer (yay virtual phone bank). Back to the important stuff: boring people I don’t know with stories and pictures of my children!
I’m not that creative a person. People think I am, because I play a musical instrument and do crafty things like knit and quilt (well, I used to, anyways). But my relative abilities in those areas stem mostly from the fact that I’m very good at following direction. Creativity requires some originality, and that’s not my strong suit. My strength is carefully following instructions. But anyways, self-deprecation is not what this is about.
This is about the new lens I got for my camera.
Two of the other twin parent blogs that I read, Blogtime in Twin Town and Laura’s Mommy Journal, feature some really nice photos of their kids. Both have also recently extolled the virtues of a fixed lens instead of the zoom that so often comes with the camera. While I find my Nikon D50 was miles ahead of my old point and shoot, I have been particularly frustrated shooting indoors. The aperture on my zoom lens just didn’t open wide enough, and I was forced to choose between the crappy light of a flash (boo) and using a too-slow shutter speed on my wriggling infants (and still have to Photoshop the crap out of the resulting under-lit shots).
And so, with blogger recommendations to back up my hunch that I needed a new lens, I found the inexpensive Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens. I’m in love. Two days, and I’ve already taken the best photos yet of my kids.
It’s very true that the tools themselves don’t matter nearly so much as the person using them. Getting this lens has not made me a better photographer, but is allowing me to do what I knew I needed to do: get more light while indoors! I can’t wait to play with it some more, as well as take a photography class and get more suggestions for taking better pictures. But in the meantime, I’ll follow tried and true advice that both of the aforementioned bloggers noted. It might not be new, but it’s no less true: take lots and lots of shots, get close, leave the flash off, and don’t try too hard for the “perfect” shot. Just like everything else in life, it’ll happen when you stop working so hard for it. I’m not a particularly original or creative photographer. But if you follow those instructions (and have the benefit of the cutest subjects, ever), you’re likely to get some better-than-average results.
And thank god for digital photography. Man, this would be expensive if I was going through so much film! Take my little photo shoot from the other day. I easily took 70 shots to end up with maybe five decent ones. If I had to do that on a 32-exposure roll of film… No thanks!
So, without further ado, the first shots with my fancy-schmancy new camera lens. Just imagine what I’ll be able to do when I actually learn how to use it!
[Oh, and a big shout-out to Cheryl for making the super cute hats! Thank you, Cheryl!]
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Categories : Photos
Tags : fixed lens, Nikon
Resolutions are so cliche, I know, but I think I should write them down in the hopes of holding myself accountable. They’re more “goals” than resolutions. But I think it’s a good exercise, anyways, to think about the ways in which you’d like to improve yourself or your life. So, here’s my list.
- Lose weight. Yes, the ultimate New Year’s cliche. But I’m still holding on to way too much baby weight, and it’s just not acceptable. Most likely I’ll go back on Weight Watchers. I’ve done it before, and it works for me every time. It’s just that I lose steam… Ah well. Gotta keep trying. But this resolution has several sub-goals, which are more specific markers to reach for:
- Wear wedding rings. I haven’t worn my wedding and engagement rings since I was about 12 weeks pregnant. I really miss them, but I want to try and avoid having them re-sized.
- Stop wearing maternity clothes. My dirty little secret is now out. I still sometimes wear maternity clothes outside of the house. Stacey and Clinton just felt a small part of them die inside. Well, it ends with the new year. No more maternity clothes (except as pajamas, because they sure are comfy).
- Shop at Ann Taylor Loft again. Must fit fat ass into real pants. Must get out of plus sizes. Lane Bryant is a good option, and all, but I know I can be in the regular sizes again.
- Exercise. Related to, but separate from the weight loss. I need it to clear my head, I need it to be in better shape for my kids. I need to be stronger, so I can keep up with my babies-who-will-soon-be-mobile. And I need to not throw my back out. That’s not cool.
- Get a babysitter. Necessary for accomplishing goal #2, but also necessary for my sanity. I love my kids more than anything, but I need a break sometimes. And there’s literally no way I’ll ever get to the gym without a sitter to watch the kids. This one is in progress, just waiting for the potential sitter to return from winter break.
- Be more baby-centered when the twins are awake. I feel as though I too frequently finish feeding the babies, then “put” them somewhere while I do something. Laundry, washing bottles, eating breakfast, whatever. And while that’s sometimes both necessary and good, as independent play is an important skill, I really think some of those tasks could wait (aside from breakfast) and I could just sit and interact with them more.
- Read to them. A more specific counterpart to goal #4. M and I both love to read, and were real bookworms as kids, and I hope to pass that love of books to our children. And, thanks to wonderful friends and family, we have an enormous library of children’s books from which to choose. Time to put them to good use. First step: at least two books per day.
- Be more productive when the twins are asleep. Sometimes getting them to sleep is so exhausting that I just want to veg out while they nap. And sometimes that’s just peachy. But if I’m going to be more centered on them when they’re awake, then I need to make better use of my time when they’re asleep.
- Finish their quilts. Seriously. It’s been way too long.
- Decorate their nursery. I have nursery envy from the one my dad set up, and I realized that their rooms here are a little minimalist for my taste. We’ve got picture frames and photos to put in them coming out the wazoo. Time to unleash my inner decorator.
- Take a photography class. I love taking pictures, of the babies in particular. And I just got a fancy new lens for my camera. But I know I’m not taking full advantage of my tools, so I’d like to learn how.
- Get back in touch with M. Last, but should not be least. It’s so easy, as all new moms know, to neglect your relationship with your husband when babies arrive. I’ve been trying not to, but I could do better.
Comments (4)
I’m a left-leaning girl, if you haven’t already guessed that about me. I grew up in a very politically active household, and spent my time stuffing envelopes at campaign headquarters when I was about 10 years old. I was so disappointed that I turned 18 in an election year… one week after election day. While no one who actually shares all of my views would ever really win a national election, I still enjoy politics and look forward to taking my kids with me to the polling place whenever I can.
I get this all from my dad. He worked on a lot of campaigns before I was born and when I was young, though it stopped being his official livelihood. Voting was important, whether for president or school board. I loved going with him to punch the right holes next to the candidates (aww yeah, chads…). We always had signs in our windows and on our lawns.
Three years ago, when Barack Obama was elected to the Senate, my dad started talking about how he should run for president. My dad knew a lot of people in the Illinois state legislature and knew about Obama from his days there. He held a fundraiser for him when he ran for the Senate, and was a total supporter. So for a good two years, my dad would tell anyone who’d listen, his detailed rationale as to why Barack should run in 2008.
He was so vindicated when word came that it would happen. He called me the Obama Mama, because when I called to tell him I was pregnant with twins, he was in Springfield for the “official” announcement of the Obama presidential campaign. Having worked in Illinois politics for a long time, he naturally knew a lot of people connected with the campaign. They brought my dad to the offices, as he was known as a darn good political organizer. One look around, he told me, and he knew he was out of his league. It was a whole new era of organization, and he was an old relic of the pre-internet days.
But that was fine by him. He was beyond impressed, and still wanted to help in any way he could. So, on New Year’s Day, he was on a plane to Des Moines. On the 2nd, he was going door-to-door, precinct-by-precinct, talking to people. Extolling the virtues of Barack Obama to those who were undecided, helping people figure out how to get to their caucus locations. Last night, he was driving around in his rental car, picking people up and dropping them off so they could be counted. I talked to him shortly before his “route” began. You could hear the excitement and anticipation in his voice, like a teenage runner waiting for his event at the track meet. He couldn’t wait to get going.
I talked to him again, as CNN and MSNBC suddenly projected Obama as the winner. He was already in the hall, waiting for the rally to get going. All along, he said he should run. All along, he said he needed to win Iowa, and that he could and would because he had such a great organization. What can I say, when you’re right, you’re right. My kids wore their Tiny Democrat shirts yesterday, only because the Obama onesies were sold out and the ones they did get are toddler-sized.
Following is last night’s victory speech. The race is a long way from over, but it’s a great start. Obama’s got the votes in my household on Super Tuesday, that’s for sure.
Oh, and it helps to be the “relic” amidst all the young people. See that white-haired guy on the right side of the screen behind Obama? Hi, Dad!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZaq-YKCnE&rel=1]
I was going to write this joyful post about how various sleep crutches were falling by the wayside. Our trip seems to have jump-started it. Daniel was napping in the crib instead of the swing. Both kids were sleeping flat on their backs instead of propped in the Boppy. They were going down for both naps and nighttime easily, even looking like they were going to drop an overnight feeding.
Well, apparently all of that forward progress was just too much to handle, because we seem to be heading into a hideous regression. Daniel, in particular. I think that Rebecca, who has always been the easier sleeper, had more subtle gains. So her steps back are equally minor. Annoying, perhaps, but minor.
Daniel, on the other hand, I’m trying not to kill. I think the mere suggestion that I was going to try to stop swaddling was enough to send him into a tailspin. Suddenly we’re back in the swing, refusing the pacifier, and screaming bloody murder. My usual tricks to get him to sleep, like rocking in the chair, now only make him scream louder. Rebecca, on the other hand, simply wakes up from all naps after precisely 45 minutes and flat-out refuses to go back to sleep. Charming.
Where did my two-hour naps go??? I know it’s not uncommon to have regressions in sleep patterns, but it’s just so cruel. You give me a taste of something so delightful, and then you snatch it away! Back to the part where I thought I’d lose my mind. Why, why, why?? So not cool!
As I write, Daniel has been fussing/crying in the swing for about 30 minutes. He’s fried, I’m fried. There was a dark moment this afternoon when all three of us were crying hysterically. It wasn’t pretty. Even the poor dog was cowering in the corner.
Looks like an early bedtime, I guess. Of course, early bedtime means solo bedtime, as M is apparently incapable of coming home from work before 7pm, no matter how many times I try to explain how shitty a solo bedtime is. Awesome.
Anyways, I’ll get them to bed tonight (hopefully), get a shower, and hopefully get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, and I’ll just have to hope it’s better than today. And hope this regression is short-lived and that I’ll soon be writing about what awesome sleepers my kids are. Bleh.
A very happy new year to all of those out in blog-land. We’re having people over for dinner shortly, so not much of a post at the moment. But soon I’ll be back in all of my bloggy goodness.
In the meantime, more indoor fun with babies, matching outfits, and cameras. I bet they can’t wait for it to be nice out again so I stop doing this.
Winnie stands guard over her babies. She keeps bringing Daniel her toy, and is clearly waiting for him to start playing with her. They’re going to be best buddies any day now.
I think it’s safe to say that Daniel loves his new exersaucer. Thanks to a fellow MOT who brought it over and sold it to me cheap!
Rebecca on her tummy. Gotta catch it quick, though, as she’s pretty frequently rolling onto her back now. Looks sort of accidental when she does it, but at least she isn’t whacking her head as much now.
Well, that went poorly. Our attempt at cold-turkey ditching the swaddle was quite unsuccessful. They are now back in their swaddles, and hopefully we haven’t messed up the entire night.
Anyone out there have suggestions for something other than cold-turkey on the swaddle? The rest of the bedtime routine was exactly the same. Rebecca went to sleep easily, but didn’t stay that way. Daniel took a long time to go to sleep at all, and only stayed asleep for 5-30 minutes at a stretch. But they’re getting big, strong, and clever, and I frequently find them completely out of the uber-swaddle at about 4am (wide awake). So I think the end of swaddling is nigh, since DCFS frowns upon the use of duct tape. Those of you who’ve done this, how did you do it?
Got to pay the bills!
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Copyright 2006-2011 All Rights Reserved