Nick Postagulous
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Yes, Virginia, There Really is a William Shatner
I probably won't update over the Christmas weekend. Or if I do it'll just be gloating about all the music I'll be importing from Russia via AllofMP3, which I signed up to last night.
Tomorrow afternoon, we'll go to my parent's house and socialize. They have a Vesper Service, which is odd as they are baptists and that's a Catholutheran thing, I think. And Vesperness starts at 5:00, so we'll be out of there by 4:30 or so.
We head back over there Saturday morning. I figure we'll be there around 8:30 or so, as my sister is supposed to show up at nine. That'll mean she had to leave her house at 4:30. Yuck. We'll head out around 11, and see if we can preserve Nina's schedule a little with her nap which usually starts at 11.
That evening, which I hope means starting at four, we'll go to Alison's mom's house and Tom et al will come over. Nina has been wanting to go to sleep earlier, but I'm sure since Brad, her favorite cousin, will be there, she'll have no trouble staying awake.
Oh, and I know there isn't really a William Shatner. We just pretend for the kid's sake.
Communication Breakdown
Yesterday afternoon, after I picked up Nina, was lots of fun. We watched some of a Play with Me Sesame and then played on the stairs. We played on the stairs for about 40 or so minutes. She really likes playing on the stairs, but, since it is tiring for us big people, we generally try not to do that so much. However, I have recently taken the initial steps in turning into a fatato pancake, so anything resembling exercise is a good thing. Especially when it's just sitting on stairs.
Nina didn't fuss, meaning saying "uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh", at all when it was just me and her. However, when Alison got home, Nina started being a regular pain.
She wanted in the cubbord. And she wanted picked up. We did both. Once the cubbord was open, she wanted to smell the spices. Sure, that's fun for a few minutes. But she was grunting displeasure that I wasn't able to instantaneously switch from cardamom to Jamacian Jerk seasoning to apple pie spice. So, forget it. There is less fussing involved in just not catering to her.
With hindsight, the puzzle peices fall into place easily. When we played on the stairs, she kept lying down. Her formula is stored in the cubbord and when we first opened it, she didn't point right away to the spices, but realized they were there and got sidetracked. It was only when Nina, after taking 3 oz of Ensure Plus, lay a blanked on the floor in front of the couch and lie down on it that Alison figured it out.
Nina wanted a bottle and to go to bed. At five. So, Alison put her to bed while I ran a frozen turkey over to Alison's mom's house. Nina did wake up within 30 minutes though. And even though she'd drank 7 oz at three, and then 3 oz at five, she then drank another seven ounces at 6:30. Hungry kiddy. However, since we played the entire time, we didn't eat apples or any of the stuff we normally do.
Backward Charity Giving
I had wanted to load up a lot of Nina's old toys and give them to charity before December started. I didn't get around to it. However, knowing Nina's relatives, and us for that matter, she's going to be swimming in new toys before the end of the week. It'll be then when we start ditching old stuff she's not interested in. So, I guess the needy kids will get some toys the week after Christmas.
Pagan Stuff
I heard that there was some school in New Jersey or somewhere that wouldn't allow a Christmas tree in their lobby. Now, really, I'm neither here nor there on wasting education funds on decorations, but the school administration said they couldn't have it because it was a christian thing. Uh, no. The tree is part of the good ol' pagan solstice stuff. You know, yule log and revelling, and gorging yourself. It was those rascally catholics who decided that the birth of the Christ was going to be placed there, to hijack the revelling holiday (which in our culture just moved back a week to the new year).
(Yeah, like, don't they watch the History Channel Christmas specials?)
I mean, besides calculation off the time that John the Baptist's dad served in the temple, etc etc, do you really think that the Roman govt was stupid enough to hold a census requiring attendance during the middle of the rainy season?
And the tree thing isn't a new thing either:
Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (KJV).
See, that's why I have a nine foot prelit artificial tree. Heck, I'd like to have one of those tacky white frosted ones, with fiber optic, and with a robotic Predator angel with motion sensing lazer pointer.
