The key is lots of bubbles....

Miss M was graced with a daddy bath this weekend. Baths are usually mommy-baby time, but we decided to switch it up a little. Mr. Zimny got the bath running (with lots of Mr. Bubble!) while I got Miss M undressed and ready. I sat on the toilet and watched and talked to them while they played. After a few minutes Mr. Zimny asked me if I was ok... as in, was I ok not being in the bath. I took that as a clue that I should give them their time alone......
But not before I snapped this classic pick:


After the bath Mr. Zimny told me that there was an "issue" after most of the bubbles were gone. Miss M started trying to grab for "things" that weren't bath toys. While there were bubbles, she couldn't really see below the water, but as the bubbles popped she started noticing "things". As Mr. Zimny says "the key is lots of bubbles....".

IFC does not mix well with TIVO

So we discovered that we get IFC (Independent Film Channel), which is about the quirkiest and fun channel on cable.

Here are the pros of IFC :

1) There aren't commercial breaks!
2) The movies are uncut. This might not seem like that big of a deal, but considering the kind of movies IFC tends to show, if the bad words were bleeped there wouldn't be any dialog. It would just be one long bleep.
3) The Whitest White Kids U'Know are on IFC. It's a show from the writers of Kids in the Hall. It is freaking funny - how can you not laugh at a rap song about dinosuars? I tried once. My head almost exploded.
4) You can see all the movies that major celebrities hope no one ever sees again. The movies they made before they cared about how much money they'd get. Before they had a career to ruin.

It also at least a couple cons.
1) You will get caught up watching crazy french movies that only show at 4am on the Independent Film Channel. I'm not sure there is any lower standard.
2) The is a lack of movies with romantic happy endings. If you are looking for the guy to end up with the cute girl instead of the nerdy guy, you're watching the wrong channel.
3) You can't watch ANY of these movies in front of your child. EVER. See pro #2.

So.... here we are. It's 12:04am on a Sunday.
We're watching a movie about strippers.
It's not a happy go lucky movie, if you know what I mean.

Here's a quote from Jennifer Tilly's character:
"I'm gonna have this kid! I'm gonna have this kid and
it's gonna grow up and sell drugs to your kid."

If you were to make a graph (and oh, I might!) of actors vs the number of their movies that are shown on IFC, Jennifer Tilly would be one of the highest scorers. It's just a guess.

You turn your head for a second.....

And your baby turns into a pirate!

Maybe not.
But when I said "You turn your head for a second...." you totally thought I'd finish it up with a "your baby falls and gets a goose egg" or something...didn't you?
Or maybe you're an optimist... and you thought I'd follow it up with a "your baby takes her first step".
Huh... Maybe I underestimated you.
Anyways. We finally made it on The Morning Walk
that I promised Miss M. Oh, you know The Walk.
It's The Walk that I promised we'd take if they actually opened
the Crack Shop around the corner from our house.
And by Crack Shop, I mean Starbucks. It's the same thing.
I told Miss M that if it actually opened it would be a good excuse to take a walk in the morning. True to my word, we made the 14 minute trek this morning. After we de-pirated the baby hat.

Coming to a tub near you!

Fat and Naked Baby....now with Bubble Beard.

Like a baby with a real facial hair, but more cute and less weird.

Baby Bites

For anyone who has ever tried to feed Miss M, this might actually mean something. For those who haven't, you'll just have to trust that it is significant.



In one sitting...... a whole container of baby food in one meal. It was almost too good to be true, but it happened again at daycare the next day and at home the next night. We are on a 4 day eating spree right now!
Mr. Zimny and I theorized that there has been some experiment where our baby has been secretly switched with her opposite -a baby that now eats, but doesn't sleep. But it turned out that the not sleeping was a new TOOTH. It 's a TOOTH and not a tooth because it 's a big'n. It's a lower side tooth and looks like it really hurt. So now we have a baby that both sleeps and eats...
can you say happy family?! Miss M can't - she's got a mouth full of food!

The grass is always greener in a big girl room

So... we did it. Just barely, but we actually got Miss M's room ready and her moved in by Monday night. At like 11:55pm. Whatever.

And on with the dramatic before, during and after pictures.....

Before - empty and yet full of loneliness...geez, does it get anymore dramatic than that?!



















During-with Mr. Zimny taking care of strangling hazard type coax cables:














During- with lovely grass, painstakingly (read: hurriedly and with great back strain) painted by mom.














Because every yellow walled baby's room needs random green grass...Why?
Because I SAID SO! WHEN I OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO STENCIL ANYTHING.
FYI: It's especially hard to stencil something when 1)you don't actually have a stencil and are forced to make one and 2)you've never actually stenciled something before.
But after doing like 6 feet, the grass kinda grew on me. Ha! get it... GREW on me.... 'cause it's grass...right. Anyways, now I really like it.

During- While Miss M decides exactly where in her huge room she will store her various helmets and stuffed animals. You can never have enough storage space for these things....

After- with Miss M in her crib. 'Cause it's like 11 or something and shouldn't babies be in bed by then? You'd think her parents would be more responsible than that. Geez.















Oh.... a note about responsible parenting. Say you get away from the baby for an evening. You decide to go out and have a nice time with your friends... but you feel like there is something missing... a little baby sized void... it's good to have a replacement. But remember, safety first - strap it in.

Just Trying to Help

This weekend starts the changes to Miss M's room. Thanks to grandpa R.L. it is now painted a lovely and cheerful yellow.




Grandpa R.L. : " Does this color please you my Princess?"
Miss M : " It will do for now, and yes, two coats will be necessary. Do not let any drip... if I see one drip on my floor..I'll take you by the collar and...."
Grandpa R.L. : "Yes, Princess, yes, what ever you desire..."

And as a side note, while typing this I realized that I couldn't call my dad grandpa Randy on here because there are two grandpa Randys. Thats never been a problem until now.

Anyways.... Miss M helped a little too....

At first she was the tape holder.... but as you can tell by the look on her face here, she became a bit bored with that job. This look means something like "Woman, your actions have become tiresome. Stop putting stuff on my head, give me that camera and let's go play airplane."
When I turned my head for a second she took it upon herself to become "helpful":

By the end of this long weekend, I'm hoping to give both before and wonderful after pictures.... if someone could just stop being "helpful"....