Sorry, Robyn!

I'm not sure why, but Robyn's blog was not updating on my list. So every time I checked my blog, I'd think, "That Robyn sure is not keeping up on her blog." So today when it finally updated there was quite a bit to read...and she had tagged me twice. So, here you go.

Five things about Nathan that you don't know:

1. He is awake in his crib even though there is 45 minutes left of naptime.
2. He's started giving "kisses" lately. Sometimes when he sees me, he'll get really excited, open his mouth, and breathe loudly. Then when I pick him up he'll grab around my neck, usually getting two fistfuls of hair (or just a handful of skin). Then he'll bite my jaw. How sweet. Good thing he doesn't have teeth yet.
   
3. He doesn't like green beans. So far, all other foods have been delicious. But green beans are not delicious.
4. When you put him in his crib, he has to have his binky. Then you have to give him an afghan to snuggle against his face. He'll turn onto his side, arch his neck back, and go to sleep. It doesn't look comfortable.
5. He is kind of a showoff baby. Last night he was super ornery. But, when we had to go to a song practice at a neighbor's house, he was sooo good. Did not make a peep. Everyone in our ward thinks he is a superhero, and his superhero power is to be the best-behaved baby in the WORLD. They don't believe us that he really is a normal baby. But I guess that's a pretty good problem to have.

We tag...Super D (who has a superhero baby name. He must have some superhero baby powers, right?)

And here's the Three Things tag.

3 Joys

1. family
2. my testimony
3. being able to be a stay-at-home mom
   

3 Fears

1. spiders
2. taking Nathan on a long plane ride
3. the phone. It's not that I don't like talking to people, I just don't like to call them. So don't be offended if I never call you.
   

3 Current Obsessions/Collections

1. Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount Jr.
   
2. poking people on Facebook
3. hearing about good deals from my sister and sister-in-law. They're so nice to pass the word along (see here).
   

3 Surprising Facts

1. I've never been to a game at Yankee Stadium, but I did get to use the bathroom there once.
2. I once considered being a nurse. For about five seconds.
3. Nathan is up (early) from his nap and is trying to type.
   

From a couple of hoo-hoos

Excerpt from Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount, Jr.

"Back in the early eighties I was to make a speech in some out-of-the-way place in Pennsylvania. A driver picked me up and the Pittsburgh airport. He was an affable sort, but he kept saying things that seemed oddly off, somehow. We were going to pass by Gettysburg, he said. That didn't seem right, especially when he said, 'That was where they spent the winter, you know, without any shoes. Feet wrapped in rags, if they even had that. And we think we have it hard.'

"Oh, I thought, he means Valley Forge.

"I asked him about a sign in front of a private home we passed: BARB'S BIG PIES!

"'Oh yeah,' he said. 'That lady bakes famous lemon pies. They're real big. Like a chef's hat. The meringue part alone is this thick!'

"He held his fingers about an inch apart, which didn't seem particularly thick for meringue, especially on a pie comparable to a toque.

"Then he started talking about his wife. 'I made her a Valentine for her birthday. Out of Styrofoam and copper wire? The heart went right through the middle of the arrow.'

"Well, you could, after all, look at the depiction of a pierced heart that way, but I was still trying to sort out what seemed askew about the image--in fact, I was beginning to wonder about being way out in the middle of nowhere with this man when he said, 'She's smart, you know. We grew up together. I wasn't good in school, at all. She was. Oh yeah. She was a hoo-h0o.'

"'I'm sorry?' I said.

"'A hoo-hoo. You know. Hoo-hoos Among American High School Students.'

We got where we were supposed to. He was good at what he did. But I hadn't realized that anybody's dyslexia extended as far as pie.

But back in the day when New York cabdrivers were much more likely to chat nonstop in English with their passengers than in some exotic native tongue over their ear-clip phones, I did have a cabbie who, after nearly running over an elderly lady, said in a reassuring tone, 'Nah, you don't wanna hit a pedestrian. 'Cause you have to fill out a form. And if you don't dot all your t's and cross your i's...'"

...You get utter hilariousness. Who says a book needs a plot to be entertaining? Good old Roy loves language just as much as I do. He may just become one of my new favorite authors. Along with the author of Ella Minnow Pea, of course.

Hoo-hoo. It kills me every time. My poor husband thought I was nuts because I was cracking up as I was typing this for you all. He's used to it, though. I keep interrupting him to tell him the etymology of a particular word, like grisly (comes from the same root as the words Christ and cream, of all things). He just says "wow" and then is free to continue his pursuits until I interrupt him again. He's pretty nice about it.

It's not what you think.

We have paid our heating bill.


But isn't it nice to know, if the situation were to arise, that your son is outfitted for an Arctic expedition?


What happens when mom leaves for the afternoon?


Food everywhere! To be fair, Nathan was going through the stage where food came out of his mouth just as fast as it went in. He's a much cleaner eater now. So his face, clothes, even his hair, were caked. Dad cleaned him up pretty good, but...when I came home I found food in his eyelashes.

On another note, I just wanted to share with you all what our relief society lesson was about yesterday. This life is hard. Hard with about seven capital H's. The world is a scary place, and it's not getting any easier. But our teacher testified pretty powerfully that Heavenly Father knows each of us, knows what we face every day, and blesses us with the capacity to handle it all. And he'll send the people and the circumstances that will help us out. I know we all hear this a lot, but it never gets old. The world is a pretty scary place most days, and it's nice to know we live the way we do for a reason. And that we never have to do it alone.

Master of Disguise

Yep, that's him.
Mild-mannered baby by day, international master of disguise by night.


Dragon/Dinosaur


Ballot-wielding adult


Baby with teeth

We had a good time with Halloween this year. We celebrated by walking to the library and voting. We figured we'd save a lot of time and hassle by voting early. Too bad about a bijillion other people also decided to save time and hassle. The line snaked through the stacks, with bored waiters snagging books as they spotted an interesting one. Luckily I had a couple books on hold so that I didn't have to search for something to read. I perpetually have books on hold at the library; it's kind of getting out of control. I hear about a book I'd like to read, and request it. Then all the books I've requested become available at the same time, and it's a mad rush to get them all read in time. It's not an option to just return a book unread.

Anyway, back to voting. We voted. We are responsible citizens. And I am so excited for this election season to be over. The end.