Via The Daily What.
P.S. — Blogging continues to be light as I’m still feeling pretty crappy these days. I’ve been to the doc earlier this week and while the meds he’s given me seems to be helping a bit, I have yet to feel myself. I will write more about my physical condition in a later post, but for now all I can ask is that you keep me and my family in your prayers. Thanks. 🙂
Teething update: last week I felt a tiny tooth poking out…but the next the day it was gone! What the?!? As usual, I turned to the interwebs to make sure I wasn’t going loco and it turns out that it’s perfectly normal for a tooth to reverse itself. Great.
The good news is that Claire no longer seems to be in pain from teething. So yay for that!
I occasionally wonder if I’ll ever look back to the first few months of Claire’s life and really miss it. Because right now, I don’t miss it. AT. ALL.
Now that Claire is nearing 6 months of age, she is starting to become quite fun. I now know exactly what to do to procure a smile and even elicit peals of laughter. She now has a favorite toy (Lamaze’s Jacques the Peacock), favorite activity (playing in her walker), and favorite thing to stare at (all the pictures, cards, and postcards on the fridge).
My little girl’s personality is starting to shine through too. She’s quite stubborn, just like her mommy (I’m pretty sure that she will roll back-to-front before front-to-back, or even crawl before rolling front-to-back, because whenever she’s on her tummy she makes NO effort to roll over no matter what I do), but is also a shy little girl, evidenced by her smiling and hiding her face whenever we face the mirror together.
Claire is also starting to understand cause and effect. She now knows that pressing certain buttons on her toys will create music and sound. And at no other time was this more apparent than this past weekend, when J sat her down in front of my digital piano…
Once daddy pumped up the volume and set the sound to “Organ” mode, she absolutely went wild and had a ball of a time banging on the keys.
See? She already looks like a virtuoso —
I know that some women absolutely adore the baby phase and wistfully look back to those days as their children grow older. Then there are those, like me, who look forward to the future knowing that their kids are maturing and learning with each passing day, and anticipate the day when they could start holding adult conversations with their children.
Maybe it’s a personality thing? Ever since I could remember I wanted to be older. Even now, at the age of 30, I want to be older still. I actually look forward to the days when I will be old and wrinkly. Anyone with me?
Does anyone remember the early 90s Nickelodeon show Clarissa Explains It All? I used to watch it ALL the time, fully soaking in the witty narration of Melissa Joan Hart’s Clarissa Darling, enjoying her wacky outfits and accessories, and wishing that I too had a best guy friend named Sam who would climb in through my window.
I always thought that Clarissa and Sam should hook up, and was majorly disappointed when they tried to be more than friends in that one episode which turned out to be a big FAIL. I was also sad to see the sitcom come to an end after 5 seasons and wondered why Clarissa couldn’t go on explaining it all in college…
Well, apparently the show’s producers had wondered the same thing!
Late last year, the pilot for Clarissa Now, the coulda-been spinoff of Clarissa Explains It All was uploaded to YouTube and the interweb has finally taken notice. According to Flavorwire:
Though the intro music still has some na-na-nas, in Clarissa Now, Miss Darling is 18 and interning at a newspaper in New York City, winning over her bosses (including the publisher, played by Tony Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Marian Seldes), pissing off the suspiciously cute reporter-in-training, playing with laughably outdated office equipment and riding the subway, which looks exactly the same as it does today. Unfortunately for us, CBS passed on the show, so the series was never filmed, but Clarissa fans can still click through to watch the pilot and have their minds blown. As Sam would say, what’s the worst that could happen?
Ack!
And here it is, for your viewing pleasure:
I haven’t watched it yet, but I will as soon as I finish writing this post!
P.S. — Other live-action Nickelodeon shows I used to enjoy watching include Salute Your Shorts, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and The Secret World of Alex Mack. And after watching a few episodes iCarly and Wizards of Waverly Place, I feel like the pre-teen shows these days just don’t compare. Or maybe my tastes are just old-fashioned?
I try to read to Claire every day but I must admit that I still feel a bit silly reading to an infant whose neverending drool threatens to soak the book with each turn of the page. And frankly, I find most books that are designed to be read to babies are…well, boring.
Oh how I cannot wait until I can start reading to her the Harry Potter and LOTR books, or even my favorite Shel Silverstein poems, and have her understand them! I am even eagerly awaiting the days when she will beg “One more chapter please?” as the clock creeps outrageously past her bedtime.
But I digress.
Margaret Wise Brown’s classic Goodnight Moon is one of the books I bought for Claire when I was still pregnant, determined to turn my future offspring into a bookworm just like her mom. I had actually never read the book myself, but I thought that it must be something amazing since every nursery seems to have a copy.
But when I read it for the first time, I couldn’t help but wonder why it is so popular. In fact, I believe the exact thought that came to mind was, “What is this crap?”
(I apologize to anyone who loves the book. I understand that it’s supposed to be a child‘s bedtime story, and as such, adults like myself may find it dull and uninteresting. Even Claire doesn’t seem to care for it much. Perhaps she will as she gets older?)
I couldn’t help but wonder if I would be more interested in the book if it contained subject matter that is more to my taste…
And today I was granted an answer.
Introducing Goodnight Dune, a mashup of Goodnight Moon and the David Lynch movie version of Dune:
Click on through for the rest.
And you know what? I find the new version much more interesting, and even fun.
I doubt that an actual book will be published due to copyright restrictions, but one can certainly dream, no?
Via Flavorwire.
As I’m sure the majority of my readers are already aware, last week the iPad 2 was announced with a flourish only reserved for Apple’s cult products.
Despite the not-too-impressive advances from the original iPad (to me, thinning the profile and slapping two mediocre cameras to the device do not warrant a significant upgrade), thousands of iPad owners are already ditching the old iPads for the newer models.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one underwhelmed by the upgrade. Conan O’Brien aired a mock promo of the iPad 2 on his show last night, alongside the headline “iPad 2. You’ll buy it no matter what we say.” Take a look at the clip below — I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the smooth talker with “a non-specific ethnic accent.”
That being said, there’s a very good chance that we will be adding an iPad 2 to our household. Although I have no need for the device, J could use having a portable computer that is (1)not falling apart and (2)not his work laptop.
He is sure that Claire will get a kick out of it too, as she already stares with fascination at his touchscreen phone. I have heard that there are many baby-friendly apps available for the iPad which we will be tempted to download for our progeny. However, I am hesitant to let a (drooling, clumsy) baby play with such an expensive device.
How about you? Do you have an iPad, and if so, are you planning to upgrade?
Would you let your baby play with an iPad?
This Harry Potter infographic was compiled in “The Daily Prophet” wizarding newspaper style. It’s a bit difficult to read, but cleverly arranged and a must-read for any Harry Potter fan.
Via Nerd Approved.
P.S. — Speaking of Harry Potter facts, I am still eagerly awaiting the inevitable release of a Harry Potter edition of Trivial Pursuit. No, I have not heard anything about it, but it’s a give-in that they will create one, right? I can only assume that they’re waiting for the release of the final movie so that they can include scenes from all 8 films.
The Disney Parks Blog has posted the latest additions to Annie Leibovitz’s “Disney Dream Portrait” series.
The three new photos include Olivia Wilde as the Evil Queen and Alec Baldwin as the magic mirror from Snow White, Penelope Cruz and Jeff Bridges as the title characters of Beauty and the Beast, and Queen Latifah as Ursula from The Little Mermaid.
Some have criticized the photographs as being overly photoshopped with a poor choice of actors, but I think they perfectly convey the surreal, dream-like aura that these fairytales are meant to provoke.
For the rest of the photos from this series, check out Super Punch.
(And just in case you’re wondering, my favorite remains Rachel Weisz as Snow White.)
Via The Daily What.
Any dog owner can attest to the fact that walking your dog in the rain is a giant PITA. And those adorable doggie raincoats? They don’t work so well with dogs (ahem, Comang!) who freak out at the mere idea of having anything on their heads.
Enter the Dogbrella.
Selling on Hammacher Schlemmer for $29.95, the genius of this combination umbrella and dog leash is almost difficult to see through all the comedy.
…And I definitely see myself purchasing this for Comang in the near future.
“But mommy, what will all the other doggies — especially that hot maltese that lives down the block — think when they see me using this ridonkulous contraption?”
They will be jealous, my little pet. For you shall stay dry while they shiver in their wet fur.
Via Geekologie.
I’ve been feeling under the weather the past few days — hence the lack of quality posts. I have read often that one of the biggest downsides of being a SAHM is that you do not get sick days. However, in my case, I have been very fortunate to have family who are giving me a hand.
Yesterday, my little sister Suzy (well, she’s not so little — she’s 28 years old!) came over and cooked not one, not two, but THREE delicious dishes and stocked our fridge to the brim. And I must admit that Claire is really starting to warm up to her eemo (“aunt” in Korean). Even just a couple of weeks ago she would cry whenever Suzy held her, but now she smiles when she sees her face and even holds marathon giggle sessions with her, as seen in the video below:
I thought that after yesterday’s pamper fest I would feel better today, but that was not the case. I woke up with a low fever and just could not stop feeling sleepy. J rushed home after lunch and took over baby duty while I napped for FOUR hours straight. 😯
I hope that you’re all having a better week than me — please keep me in your prayers that I’ll feel better soon!
A big thanks to Geeks are Sexy and Car Insurance Guide for my new favorite Star Wars-related infographic!
I like books, gadgets, spicy food, and art. I dislike shopping, hot weather, and the laws of entropy. Although I am a self-proclaimed computer nerd, I still have a love for handbags and makeup... and I am always teetering on high heels. To learn more about me, visit the "About" page.
These represent the current most popular posts (by pageview). If you would like to see a more comprehensive list, please see my Popular Posts page.
 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue V. E. Schwab |
 The Orphan Master's Son Adam Johnson |
 The Last of Us |
|
