Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Blogrolling XIV

I hope this doesn't escalate into another East Coast-West Coast war.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Case Closed

Ever since NJ and I opened the Curious Case of the Jimi Hendrix Flying Honeybee Eyeball, I've been careful to wear the offending t-shirt under other clothes so's not to alarm her. If you're too lazy or obstinate to click on that link -- the kid was afraid my t-shirt with this on it:

Yesterday I pulled off a sweater, forgetting that I was wearing the Hendrix eyeball T underneath. But instead of getting frightened, NJ looked at it curiously, with a hint of a grin, and said "What's that?" I explained it, she studied it a few moments longer, then went back to her Play-Do. It appears that, at long last, the house is once again safe for flying eyeballs.

Don't know if this exchange had anything to do with NJ saying later on that she wanted to eat her mommy's eyeballs.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Blogrolling XIII

Q: What's in a name?

A: In this case, just dusting off that hoary old cliche so I can link to this for your reading pleasure.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Blogrolling XII

New year's resolutions are here.

You stay classy, fans of NJ.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Beware The Ghost Of Christmas Just Very Recently Passed

When NJ and The Wife wake up from their respective naps, the Christmas tree will come down and the holidays will officially be over (don't tell my boss, though, because I have tomorrow off). The season didn't flash by quickly for me, as it has the past few years, but I'm always a little surprised when Jan. 1 and 2 roll around and I look back and say "Well, it's over" to myself. We just relegated the dead Christmas tree out to the side of the house, so it's all official and stuff: 2012 has started.

The best part of the h0liday season was NJ's complete and total warming up to my parents -- she got over her well-documented shyness in a big way. I knew things would go well when NJ, unprompted, crawled into my father's lap, spun around, sat down and put her thumb in her mouth. She'd glance over at him occasionally, and they'd smile at each other and she'd return to contently sit and suck her thumb. That set the tone for the week, right through to the morning they left for Houston and we got NJ up at a very early hour to say goodbye. It's been a little tough for her to get to know Grandma and Dad-Dad since they live so far away, but finally the shyness levee broke and the valleys of their hearts were flooded with deadly, raging love and affection.

The Wife and I managed to slip out a couple of nights for dinner, which was nice, too. NJ really raked it in, gift-wise -- a couple of days before Christmas I looked around and realized that yes, she was getting way too much stuff. Again.

The new year kicked off with The Wife laid low with some kind of 24-hour stomach bug and me limited by a sore back, but NJ was a pretty good kid on Jan. 1. She and I played and watched TV (thanks to a concert we saw, she now knows how to say "The Rolling Stones," and she can "whoo-whoo" like a pro during "Sympathy for the Devil") while her mom recovered (she's fine today). The only real glitch for NJ came today, Jan. 2, when her mom broke out the vacuum to clean up after we chucked the tree out of the house. The kid does not care for the noise that comes from the vacuum cleaner. At. All. I was able to successfully distract her with videos of Bert and Ernie on the YouTubes.

So from us to you, whoever the heck you are, Happy New Year!