Vacuuming = Visitors

I'm often amazed at how Elena's three-year-old mind works. This morning, as Yvette was getting ready to go to work, she paused to use the dustbuster for a minute in the kitchen. Elena, hearing the sound of a vacuum, immediately asked me, "Who's coming over?" Not "Why is Mommy vacuuming?," but "Who's coming over?" Granted, we do vacuum when we aren't expecting people, but Elena knows that we always vacuum before guests arrive. Maybe she'll be a detective.

Sailing the Seas of Pee

Note: Those offended by extensive references to urine may want to skip this posting.

Our household is currently awash in pee. First, I jinxed myself by mentioning to Yvette how nice it was that Carina hadn’t been peeing on us when we hold her or sit with her. This was something that Elena did constantly when she was a baby—I often ran full laundry loads that consisted entirely of things that she had peed in the span of a few days. Sure enough, Carina has been letting the urine fly recently. In thinking about it, though, it was easy to figure out why—whereas Carina didn’t move much up until recently, she’s now moving around actively, turning onto her side and almost flipping over, hence the leakage. Adding to the mess is Elena, who is in the big-girl-underwear phase of potty training, but she often forgets she’s not wearing a diaper. This results in many a puddle around the house, so far (thankfully) not on any rugs. Well, at least we have a nice Energy Star washer and dryer to handle the inevitable heaps of laundry.

Here’s a photo of the offending pee-ers.

Night Nannies?

Okay, now this is ridiculous--night nannies? If these couples are both working full-time, and they don't even have time to soothe or feed their kids at night, when do they see them? For two seconds in the morning and then only on the weekends?

As a father of two, I know that getting up in the middle of the night can be tough, but it's a basic part of parenting. If you're wealthy and have triplets, I could see maybe getting some help at the earliest newborn stage, but otherwise this just strikes me as a service purchased by people who view parenting as a hobby that they choose to pick up on occasion.

Parenting/Working/Parenting/Working

Well, juggling being a stay-at-home dad with freelance work has definitely gotten trickier now that I'm here with Carina every weekday--and Elena is with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That said (written), I don't have much to add right now, because I'm too busy doing work while Carina's napping. Here's a recent photo taken the day of Elena's third birthday party.

Red As Strawberries In Summertime

I've had the self-titled debut by Fleet Foxes on regular rotation lately. I'm not easily impressed by new bands, and, at first, I pegged the Seattle group as a pale folky shadow of My Morning Jacket, but the record really stands on its own as a thing of ornate, pastoral beauty. Besides, MMJ appears to have gone off the deep end in a bad way with its latest outing, so that makes Fleet Foxes seem even better. Here's a pleasant video for "White Winter Hymnal," one of the best songs on the Fleet Foxes album. I'm a sucker for claymation, and, like me, Elena is into the vocal harmonies.

Literature's First Beloved Potter

Way before fictional Harry, there was real-life Beatrix. When my parents read me her beautifully illustrated stories as a child, I loved her sophisticated talking animals and their very human-like predicaments. (Yes, I was, and still am, kind of a wuss.) When I spotted the BBC's animated adaptations of her stories at the ever-excellent Saratoga library, I was skeptical that they'd be up to par with the originals. Happily, as I watched the DVDs with Elena, I discovered that the short films are very faithful, and they even manage to catch that air of menace often present in the seemingly idyllic tales. Check out this classic Peter Rabbit clip:

Freedom of Corporate Choice

So in one of the more amusing news bits that I’ve read recently, Devo is suing McDonald’s over an American Idol tie-in toy called New Wave Nigel. Of course, what really strengthens the band’s case is a secret button on the figurine that plays “Jocko Homo” when pressed. (Only kidding.)

I like the quote in the Pitchfork article from bassist Gerald Casale, “We don't like McDonald's, and we don't like 'American Idol', so we're doubly offended." Devo aren’t exactly anti-corporate activists, however. They did partner with a little mom-and-pop outfit called Walt Disney Records for the horribly ill-conceived cash-in Devo 2.0, which presents kid-friendly versions of Devo tunes by some Mickey Mouse Club rejects. Witness the ridiculousness:



On one hand, it’s kind of cool that today’s unsuspecting youth get a little dose of Devolution, no matter how diluted. But, on the other hand, it’s just bad. What’s next - Lil’ Talking Heads?