She also often calls me The Polar Bear, (I like this a lot) also based on something from tele-entertainment.

Frances has taken to frequently calling me Bob (as in Bob The Builder). Of course it's only funny if you're there to see it, but I get a real chuckle when I'm down in the basement having fun cleaning up cat vomit and hear her running around upstairs asking mom "where's bob?"

More exciting is my wife's latest bronchial infection. The last one lasted four months (of constant wracking coughs). This time she saw the doctor after two weeks! Yay! Maybe the codeine and steroids will work quickly ....

More from the 2-year-old file for you armchair parents, plus, it's got lyrics!

So the girl and I were sitting at the gas station filling up and listening to the song Time To Pretend by MGMT (it goes a little bit like this)

"I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun."


At about this point in the song she says "Hey, this song is about me!"


I don't know where that came from or if she could even hear the lyrics (maybe she just really identified with the beat). I'm telling her she can be a rock star if she wants.

there's no point to this blog any more ...

Patience is a virtue. Since the house was a mess, I really wanted to do some sweeping, and of course F-dog wanted to help. I would sweep up huge piles of cat hair (PS - I know I'm not going to hell when I die, as having three indoor cats for the last 13 years has created my own hell-on-earth) and then F would come along with the dustpan and brush, scattering the pile more widely than when it started.

As with all toddler-included activities, this sweep up took four times as long as it should, but it's wrong to be frustrated, so I just let it roll. And then I changed her diaper three times in one hour. It was a long morning.

Later she was blocked from passing between the couch and coffee table by a large basket, and asked herself "how I will get through this baskety, baskety world?" I let her figure that one out for herself. Hopefully she'll get through the baskety world OK from here on out.

A company filmed a bit of an infomercial at the cafe where my art is hanging, so someday if you see a half-hour GoSmile ad on TV, look closely and you may see my stuff. The wife used her work skills to negotiate a small fee for usage - something I wouldn't have tried, so the show is less in the red than it was a week ago. Of course all that money is already gone, but what are you going to do?

We ended the week with F driving her little car down three steps of our porch and doing a face-plant. Dad feels pretty bad about that.

Another day, another bunch of fun in the morning, sweet smiles and silly behavior. Then again, there are still those feelings that I'm not coming up with enough fun and educational activities, not to mention finding friends. Then, the nap comes and usually ends in between 3:30 and 4:00 PM. It seems too late to do much other than things in the neighborhood (or in the house on cold days like today). That's when good old crippling self doubt comes in. What am I doing? What will I do when it's time to go back to work? Where are those activities to educate the girl?

On the plus side, Frances ate fairly well at dinner, and then when she started begging for cookies without having had her mashed sweet potatoes, we stood firm. She begged, we said first sweet potatoes, then cookie. Usually we'd give in, but not tonight, and there was no big scene! Hooray for being firm.

3/29/2008

Signs that there may be trouble. Tonight, asked mom and daughter if it was OK to play White Zombie on the iPod, Frances said it would be OK. After a minute or two, daughter requested Black Zombie.


Earlier in week, asked daughter what she liked to do on hot days. Daughter replied, 'burning puppies.'

I'm a little worried.

I just wanted to see who had me on RSS : )
But seriously, I was trying to upload this image and got tired of waiting, then I thought it might be neat to post a big zero ...