Pbase and Bellsouth
Right now, Pbase, my image hosting service, is all wonky. Not only that, but Bellsouth, my DSL, is all crappity too. I'm actually wondering if I have a virus at home, as I've scanned for spyware and there wasn't any, but several of the programs I use warn me of their security holes when I start them (Firefox and Winamp 2.81).

So, there are no images of the weekend uploaded, which is a real shame, as we went on the mountain and took a lot of nice pics of the Neenster.

Going Through A Phase
Nina is going through a phase right now where she's super happy and nice. It's really great having her bubbling around the house constantly. That is, until she's hungry. She and I share the hungry = surly gene. Well, I say that, but for dinner last night I only had a glass of milk and I'm fine.

One thing that I don't tend to overemphisize is that Nina doesn't have any of the sleep hangups that everyone warned me about. Around 6:30, once Nina is borderline flopping about, and occasionally lying down on the ground, you can feed her a bottle, read Goodnight Moon to her (if she doesn't dive toward the crib first), and put her down and she'll go to sleep.

And if she doesn't go to sleep, she'll just babble a little bit, and then fall asleep. The only time we have trouble putting her down is if she's having too much fun. And really, that's the only reason she ever gets all worked up, if she stops having fun, or something hints that fun will stop. Or, yeah, "Gimme that [knife/bottle of Tylenol/saw]. No. Cry." That happens too.

What Nina Loves
TV and brushing teeth would have to top that list. Sure, she loves all the people who are part of her life. Heck, she even blows kisses at the cashiers at Target. But as far as activities, TV tops the list. Brushing Teeth is almost a tie for TV. Possibly more popular really, as you can get her to stop watching TV so she'll brush her teeth, but I'm not sure if you could abrupt the sequence of teethness to go watch TV.

Teeth Brushing Protocol
Pick up child and put her feet into Alison's sink so she's sitting on the countertop. Take kiddie toothbrush and put 3 atoms of toothpaste on it. Wet toothbrush in my sink and then brush Nina's teeth. After about 15 seconds of brushing, let her brush. It's then that I brush my teeth, because, hey, why not. After I spit my toothpaste into my sink, Nina will make hissing noises since she doesn't know how to spit. Plus, if she did, she'd be spitting on her own feet. I rinse my brush, tap it on the side of the sink to shake the water out some, and put it in the toothbrush cup. Then, I help Nina do the same with hers, but it's such a reach since she's sitting on the edge of the other sink. Then I pick her up and she wipes her mouth on a bath towel. Yeah, not the best thing, but it's a pattern that I have that I've passed on to her.

TV Watching Content
Nina doesn't just watch any old TV show. We have our replay TV get certain shows for her.

There are always two Booh-Bah episodes around. Whatever the last one that came on was, and a preserved episodes, Beards.

There are also two Play with Me Sesame, which is like a 30 minute version of Sesame Street. But unlike Sesame Street, it doesn't totally suck. In the new century, no one watches Sesame Street, and this has resulted in a loss of quality, mostly in lame pacing and the need for a distinct story line. There is no fun in the modern incarnation of the Sesame Street we loved as kids. But Play with Me Sesame is pretty cool.

There are always three episodes of Blue's Clues. But unlike Booh-Bah and Play with Me Sesame, we don't actually have the replay looking for episodes of it. We have the replay recording any show with has Steve Burns in it. So far, he's only on Blue's Clues, which is fine, but I look forward to the day that he shows up on some other show. He's in a band now. I still need to go see what his music sounds like. The Flaming Lips helped him out alot on his album. And the reason we don't just record Blue's Clues is that the new guy is plastic and wooden and lame. Patoo, I spit on his non-striped shirt.

And the entire world wouldn't be complete without The Wiggles. While I originally though they would be the bane of all existence, they are remarkable benign, and have catchy songs too. And, I must admit, in the Network Wiggles years (before Disney bought them) there are several recurring show segments that I like. Where's Jeff for example, where one of the Wiggles (or Captain Feathersword) asks questions to the host (another Wiggle) to determine where Jeff has fallen asleep (like in a rowboat, at the train station, library, etc.) And theme music for the segments are bordering on classic minimalist humor. Examples:

Music with Murray Theme
Myu-myu-music with Murray, Yes, Everyone!

Anthony's Workshop Theme
Anthony's Workshop, It's a Workshop with Anthony!

Although, really, it's not a workshop. It's an artist studio. The kids make clone crafts while Anthony looks and comments on. Though he does wear a tool belt.

Best.Wiggles.Evar = Rolling Down The Sand Hills. It's drek, but very well done drek.
- posted by Nick Postagulous @ 8:52 AM