Munchkin and Squirm Update

Munchkin and Squirm go to school and day care respectively starting on Monday. Why? It's time for me to go back to work. Yes it's been 12 weeks. 12 weeks exactly come Thursday. Munchkin will be starting a new school. As mentioned previously MD and I pulled Munchkin from her school because we weren't happy with the location any longer. Squirm will be going to the same daycare that Munchkin went to. She will be loved and spoiled appropriately which is really important to us. Plus we already have a relationship with these ladies. It should be interesting getting two children ready and out the door come Monday.

Babycenter gave the following update regarding Squirm:

Cooing is your baby's way of showing she's happy. This pre-speech exercise lets her play with sound just as she plays with her fingers and toes. Show your approval by cooing or talking in response; see if you can have an extended conversation. While you're at it, set her down in front of a tape recorder and preserve her first sounds for posterity. In a few years, both of you will love listening to that early baby talk.

MD and I are ahead of the curve. Squirm has been talking for weeks now and she has a lot to say. MD and I have already recorded these musings for posterity sake. She carries on conversations with whoever will listen to her and talk back. Let's see what the upcoming weeks hold.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Wife:: Beaters
   
2. Criminal:: Intent
   
3. Campaign:: Contribution
   
4. Infection:: Mecurocomb
   
5. Portland:: Trailblazers
   
6. NASCAR:: Racer
   
7. IMAX:: Theater
   
8. Martian:: Invasion
   
9. Nike:: Air
   
10. Trial:: 10 Days Free
    

Getting to Know Me

I found these quizzes at sasoozie's place and found out that:

Do I Like Math Or What?

I am p Everyone loves pi _

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa

This is totally cool because I love math. WOOHOO!

My Soul Force
I think this is very neat and on point as well.



You are guided by light. While all can be bad
around you, you still stay calm and make things
better. There aren't a lot of people in the
world like you. (Rate my test)


What force is your soul?
brought to you by Quizilla

Baby Update

Squirm is officially 10 weeks old (11 on Thursday). She discovered her hands a two weeks ago and she talks all the time. She is vocal. We love her. Munchkin is feeling a little of the left-outs. She obviously isn't getting as much attention as she did before Squirm was born but she is a great big sister. She gives Squirm hugs and kisses whenever she can. It's when we go in public that we have a problem. She gets into everyone's face and tells them she's five. On top of that she is being disobedient. WE have to tell her multiple times to do things before she does them. It's very frustrating and Mommy is tired of hearing "No, but..." I don't have the patience for it. Basically if I ask Munchkin to do something I need her to do it as quickly as possible without the excuses and dragging of sleep. Secondly she doesn't want to take naps and doesn't want to go to sleep at night. She's trying to get attention but she isn't going to get the kind that she wants. This is the hard part of psarenting.


My Baby This Week -- Your 2-Month-Old, Third week
Your baby is busy absorbing the sights and sounds around him. How? By looking, listening, and touching. You can help keep those brain cells multiplying by letting your baby handle a wide variety of objects such as soft teddy bears, hard plastic cookie molds, and rubber balls. Just make sure they're too big for him to choke on: Children under a year old shouldn't play with toys that have parts smaller than 1 1/4 inches around or 2 1/4 inches long.

And You Thought You Knew Me

Khandi found a few interesting surveys. I've posted my results here.

What's Your Life Rated?

My life is rated R.
What is your life rated?

Belief-O-Matic
The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

1. Orthodox Quaker (100%)
2. Eastern Orthodox (92%)
3. Roman Catholic (92%)
4. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (91%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (82%)
6. Seventh Day Adventist (81%)
7. Liberal Quakers (60%)
8. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (58%)
9. Orthodox Judaism (56%)
10. Sikhism (50%)
11. Hinduism (49%)
12. Unitarian Universalism (49%)
13. Reform Judaism (46%)
14. Islam (44%)
15. Jehovah's Witness (44%)
16. Bahá'í Faith (36%)
17. Neo-Pagan (34%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (31%)
19. Scientology (30%)
20. New Thought (29%)
21. New Age (29%)
22. Mahayana Buddhism (26%)
23. Theravada Buddhism (25%)
24. Secular Humanism (24%)
25. Taoism (19%)
26. Jainism (17%)
27. Nontheist (12%)

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Old Navy:: Performance Fleece
   
2. Out:: House
   
3. Indecent:: Proposal
   
4. UPN:: WB
   
5. Pupil:: Apt
   
6. Toothpaste:: Fluoride
   
7. 1999:: The Artist
   
8. Passion:: The Christ
   
9. Social security:: Fraud
   
10. Cliff:: Hanger
    

Ahead of the Learning Curve....

According to my weekly update from Babycenter, Squirm should be doing the following activities. But we all know that she's been doing this for a couple weeks now. My daughter the high achiever! :)

All the diapering, feeding, kissing, and cuddling you've been doing for the last two months will be rewarded now with a real beaming baby smile — and when you see it, you'll know the meaning of pure joy! Her past smiles were probably involuntary or the result of passing gas. These are the true "I'm happy" signs. Take advantage of your baby's new ability to show joy by making her grin and giggle. Silly faces, funny noises, and blowing bubbles are surefire hits.

Who Wants a Dish Now?

After this happens what happens to all the DISH customers in these markets?

Viacom Channels Yanked From DISH Network
Customers In 16 Markets Lose CBS Affiliate

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As many as 9 million DISH Network customers across the United States lost some of their TV channels early Tuesday morning.

EchoStar Communications, the parent company of the DISH Network, pulled the plug on 10 Viacom-owned nationally distributed channels, including MTV, Comedy Central, VH1 and Nickelodeon.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Dogma:: Rhetoric
   
2. Spirit:: Holy
   
3. Voodoo:: Doll
   
4. Demon:: Devil
   
5. Digital:: Revolution
   
6. Ceremony:: Wedding
   
7. Research:: Lab Rat
   
8. Career:: Lifetime
   
9. Penis:: Enlargement
   
10. Film:: Noir
    

A Drunk by Any Other Name...

I found this at Carlos's who found it at Quizilla.:

Alcohoroscopes MRK 2- the stars and your drinking style
Taurus Style: (like me)
Taurus prefers to drink at a leisurely pace, aiming
for a mellow glow rather than a full on zonk.
since a truly intoxicated Taurus is a one
person stampede, the kind of
bull-in-a-china-shop inebriate who spills red
wine on white carpets and tells fart jokes to
employers, the preferance for wining and dining
(or bud and buddies) to body shots and barfing
is quite fortunate for the rest of us. this is
not to say that the bull is by any means a
teetotaler -- god, no. a squiffyTaurus will
get, er, gregarious (full of loudmouth soup or
verbal squits, some would say) and is extremely
amusing to drag to a karaoke bar when
intoxicated


Alcohoroscopes MRK 2- the stars and your drinking style
brought to you by Quizilla

What is the world coming to?

Third-Grade Boys Allegedly Molested 7 Girls
Mothers Hold Daughters Out Of School During Investigation

CHICAGO -- Several girls who attend Sandridge Elementary School stayed home Wednesday and will continue to stay home until their parents are certain their children are protected from sexual harassment.


Racial Slurs Continue To Air On Fire Radios
Mayor Says Offenders Should Resign

CHICAGO -- Fire Commissioner James Joyce said Wednesday there were two more incidents of racial slurs over fire radios in the previous 24 hours -- making a total of five incidents reported since last week -- and aldermen are calling for fast, decisive action.

You wanna know?

You wanna know which side of the Mason/Dixon line you really live on? Click here: Yankee or Dixie.

I'm 42% (Yankee). Barely into the Yankee category.

You wanna know your political standing? This quiz will tell you your political standing...leftist or rightist, but also authoritarian or libertarian.

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -4.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.95

Now you know where you are on The Political Compass, you might like to explore the ideas of those with similar (or wildly differing) views in our Reading List.

I am similar to globally known figures Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

What's in a name?

Thanks to sasoozie I found out that

My very British name is Amanda Callaghan.
Take The Very British Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Parenting 101

As of yesterday, Squirm (yes I've decided) is officially 2 months old. This necessitated the 2 month visit to the doctor. All of our visits up until this point have been pretty easy. This visit would introduce a new loop in the life of our growing baby - SHOTS! I don't care what anyone says. Immunizations are important for a child. There are many resources for parents who can and can't afford to immunize their children. No child should go un-immunized. With that said I will get off my soap box and continue the story.

Squirm got 3 shots yesterday. She got them in her thighs. One thing I will say for my nurse, she's good at what she does but she hates giving babies shots. Believe it or not that is a comfort for me. It means that she will do her job but she will try to do it as quickly as possible to cause the least amount of discomfort to the baby. Squirm did pretty good. As a parent who has been through child immunizations before I had the infant tylenol at the ready. I gave Squirm the doctor recommended dose before she got her shots. Word of warning - don't try to give a baby medicine after the fact. She will be much more cooperative before you have inflicted pain on her without warning.

Squirm took the medicine like a good little trooper and gave me a laugh. Little did she know that the laughter would be replaced by pain. Nurse gave Squirm the first shot in her right thigh. Squirm looked like "What was that?!" and cried for about 10 seconds and then stopped. Nurse gave Squirm the second shot in her right thigh too. Squirm looked like "Now wait a minute" and cried for about 20 seconds. Nurse gave Squirm the third shot in her left thigh. Squirm looked like "WTF?!?!?" screwed up her faced and cried until she turned purple. The mommy bounce didn't help. She was pissed off and in pain. I was able to placate her by nursing her.

She fell asleep - wouldn't you after all that crying - and Munchkin and I were able to grab some lunch and drive out to my job for a visit. Squirm was pretty cranky. Usually she lets people pass her around like a sack of potatoes but I had to stop and feed her 3 times while we were there. I will say that she did sleep through the night with minimal feeding and this morning work up and gave me a great big smile. Hopefully all is forgiven - until 2 months from now when we have to do it again.