Sunday, August 10, 2008
Anner blog
Continuing today's trend of thematic whiplash, here's a new photoblog Anner started with some nice lady from Australia.
CLICK!
CLICK!
Swanky Roofs of NYC
A return to a kinder, gentler time (was it only last month?) when the Baxblog casually strolled the internet collecting appealing blossoms for its bouquet of links instead of obsessing about the human condition.
set on Flickr.
set on Flickr.
Great Moments in Diapering Volume I
Laid the fella on the changing table & dismantled his poopy diaper.
With tragic history as my guide I laid a washcloth over his plumbing.
As I was prepping the fresh diaper he started pooping everywhere.
Undaunted, I grabbed his feet and slid him out of the swamp, wielding fresh wipes with elan.
New diaper at the ready I snatched the washcloth heavenward.
Sensing opportunity he struck, trying to write his name on my shirt in urine while I laughed uncontrollably.
A few weeks in I can see how someone who wasn't 100% behind the whole project, or who had unrealistic expectations about family life, would be absolutely miserable and prone to taking out that disappointment on the blameless child.
I'm happy my automatic reaction to being pissed on was a laughing fit.
With tragic history as my guide I laid a washcloth over his plumbing.
As I was prepping the fresh diaper he started pooping everywhere.
Undaunted, I grabbed his feet and slid him out of the swamp, wielding fresh wipes with elan.
New diaper at the ready I snatched the washcloth heavenward.
Sensing opportunity he struck, trying to write his name on my shirt in urine while I laughed uncontrollably.
A few weeks in I can see how someone who wasn't 100% behind the whole project, or who had unrealistic expectations about family life, would be absolutely miserable and prone to taking out that disappointment on the blameless child.
I'm happy my automatic reaction to being pissed on was a laughing fit.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
reinforcements
Recruiting The Burl to help sort out mom's stuff was a stroke of genius, I must say.
Genius born of desperation still counts, right?
An uninvolved cohort disrupts hidden gravity fields of family attachment and keeps everything moving forward. If I get snared by cards from a Christmas 30 years gone or a pile of beaded leather hippy purses from mom's (officially redacted) roach clip era, Burl is there to exclaim in horror over a jar of olives that expired ten years ago or brandish something from the kitchen cupboards and ask me "antique or junk?"
We trucked 20 bags of garbage to a dumpster last night.
Things mom had a lot of
televisions.
4 sets in a one bedroom apartment.
expired spices.
I filled a 30 gallon trash bag with stuff from her pantry. I kept one 50 year old tin of Schilling Pumpkin Pie Spice as a memento.
empty perfume bottles.
Collected they filled a shoebox.
ancient bars of soap.
Emptying out her dresser I unearthed at least 20 bars of soap. some, like the worn tan fleur de lis she put out when we had visitors, I remember from my childhood.
Apparently no-one was brave enough to use it.
old dolls.
Presumably immigrants from the estates of my great grandmother and grandmother.
Their creepy Twilight Zone aura of menace argues for the incinerator, but the voice in my head whispering Ebay...Ebay...Ebay... mounts a compelling defense.
pictures
After sorting the relevant bits I was left with roughly seven feet of photo albums and a banker's box full of unbound pictures. She was inordinately fond of blurry landscapes and underexposed interiors.
self help/diet books
These were hard for me.
note to future generations:
If you're serious about your mental health spring for a good therapist, and no matter how much you obsess about weight you're still gonna die.
Genius born of desperation still counts, right?
An uninvolved cohort disrupts hidden gravity fields of family attachment and keeps everything moving forward. If I get snared by cards from a Christmas 30 years gone or a pile of beaded leather hippy purses from mom's (officially redacted) roach clip era, Burl is there to exclaim in horror over a jar of olives that expired ten years ago or brandish something from the kitchen cupboards and ask me "antique or junk?"
We trucked 20 bags of garbage to a dumpster last night.
Things mom had a lot of
televisions.
4 sets in a one bedroom apartment.
expired spices.
I filled a 30 gallon trash bag with stuff from her pantry. I kept one 50 year old tin of Schilling Pumpkin Pie Spice as a memento.
empty perfume bottles.
Collected they filled a shoebox.
ancient bars of soap.
Emptying out her dresser I unearthed at least 20 bars of soap. some, like the worn tan fleur de lis she put out when we had visitors, I remember from my childhood.
Apparently no-one was brave enough to use it.
old dolls.
Presumably immigrants from the estates of my great grandmother and grandmother.
Their creepy Twilight Zone aura of menace argues for the incinerator, but the voice in my head whispering Ebay...Ebay...Ebay... mounts a compelling defense.
pictures
After sorting the relevant bits I was left with roughly seven feet of photo albums and a banker's box full of unbound pictures. She was inordinately fond of blurry landscapes and underexposed interiors.
self help/diet books
These were hard for me.
note to future generations:
If you're serious about your mental health spring for a good therapist, and no matter how much you obsess about weight you're still gonna die.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
baby update
The tyke is doing great, the wife not so much.
I'm getting off easy, since I don't have to feed him- I've been getting most of a full night's rest, then getting up early to spell the wife after the morning feed.
The biggest issue is he doesn't sleep much at night.
He fusses and he eats and then fusses some more.
He sleeps more during the day, but during the day the wife has things she'd like to do extending beyond feeding a bottomless pit and changing a succession of diapers and clothes.
This morning I was roused at 4am today to play cavalry for the beleaguered wife and rode to the rescue pennants streaming in the pre-dawn breeze.
A spell on the glider resulted in a series of worrisome volcanic sounds from deep within his soft mantle of blankies. A quick change, a re-swaddle, some more gliding and voila, I was free to watch House of Flying Daggers while he snoozed on my chest.
I wasn't exactly sure why we got a 5 dvd changer when we upgraded years ago, but it's a handy arrow in the quiver when dealing with a restless infant who squalls if you so much as think about putting him down.
I kept him placated until 6, when he roused from his slumber to root around for breakfast. My Moobs are resplendent but purely decorative and so I awoke the mobile buffet.
A quick nap before work and here I am, no worse for wear after a couple of mugs of coffee.
I'm getting off easy, since I don't have to feed him- I've been getting most of a full night's rest, then getting up early to spell the wife after the morning feed.
The biggest issue is he doesn't sleep much at night.
He fusses and he eats and then fusses some more.
He sleeps more during the day, but during the day the wife has things she'd like to do extending beyond feeding a bottomless pit and changing a succession of diapers and clothes.
This morning I was roused at 4am today to play cavalry for the beleaguered wife and rode to the rescue pennants streaming in the pre-dawn breeze.
A spell on the glider resulted in a series of worrisome volcanic sounds from deep within his soft mantle of blankies. A quick change, a re-swaddle, some more gliding and voila, I was free to watch House of Flying Daggers while he snoozed on my chest.
I wasn't exactly sure why we got a 5 dvd changer when we upgraded years ago, but it's a handy arrow in the quiver when dealing with a restless infant who squalls if you so much as think about putting him down.
I kept him placated until 6, when he roused from his slumber to root around for breakfast. My Moobs are resplendent but purely decorative and so I awoke the mobile buffet.
A quick nap before work and here I am, no worse for wear after a couple of mugs of coffee.
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