Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Make a choice

Someone recently told me that the most effective strategy with toddlers was to give them choices - allowing them to choose between 2 things gives them a feeling of being in control, while providing you with an outcome that you desire. Makes sense, right? So here's how that went this morning:

Me: "Okay, Josh, I'm going to give you a choice. Choice #1, you can take a bath, or choice #2, you can take a nap."
Josh: "Choice #3 - I watch a show on TV and I don't have any other choices."

So much for that.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

We might be insane but...

This is where we're going tonight:
SECOND ROW BABY!!!

You've got to feel kind of sorry for Canada - they didn't even warrant their own tour - they got a "includes Canada" tagline on the American ad. Not only that, their cities are appended to the US shirt - with an American flag only. Kind of embarassing. For Canada, I mean - not us. We're AWESOME.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Happy Birthday, dad!

The Mom Song

Awesome - I love it love it love it!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

On the train to Toronto!



See you Monday!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Detroit Adventure Pass


Starting this Thursday, visit your public library to check out a FREE PASS to local museums. Click here for more details.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Peace out, bro

No, Adrock, this is not a hippie blog.

Here's a downer...

***Update - we ultimately did decide to get her a dedicated niche. They will letter it and them move her sometime in the next week or two. I feel relieved - I don't know that I'm ever going to go there, look at it, whatever, but it feels much better.***

So I've been generally upbeat but here's a rather depressing post. Sorry - skip it if you're not in the mood - it will not offend me.

I stopped by Roseland Park Cemetery on Monday to see if Isabel was there yet. I couldn't find a July 2007 box - but they had August & September. So I called their office and they said it went by cremation date, not date of death. That feels really wrong to me - callous or something - to just stick her in a box with about a dozen other babies based on when they cremated her.

I've really struggled all along with how much significance to attach to what happened. It started in the hospital - do we name her, do we talk about her, do we bury her, do we have a service...

In the end, we did name her. But if I'm being totally honest, I almost never use her name when we talk about it - I guess it makes it too important, too real, too much for me. But now I'm confronted with a decision that's tearing me up - do I leave her where she is, in the September box, or do we pay for her to be in her own box, with her name carved in granite for all the world to see, and for all eternity? The idea of a permanent memorial is very intimidating to me. I don't want to be one of those people that obsesses, dwells, fixates, mourns too long/too much, or whatever. But I don't want to brush it aside like it was nothing. I am so conflicted.

What would you do?

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Hangin' @ the fire station





Thursday, October 11, 2007

Sneeze you later...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 — Major makers of over-the-counter infant cough and cold medicines announced today that they were voluntarily withdrawing their products from the market for fear that they could be misused by parents.

The move comes two weeks after safety reviewers within the Food and Drug Administration urged the agency to consider an outright ban of over-the-counter cough and cold products for children under the age of 6.

Read the rest of the article here.

And another one bites the dust...

Yet another series of lead paint recalls poured in. There have been 24 separate lead paint-related children's product recalls in the last week. Yes, you read that right - two DOZEN, people.

If you didn't already, go to the CPSC website to sign up for notifications. You can also visit Recalls.gov to see all government recalls, including FDA, NHTSA, etc.

Seriously - it's getting crazy. I'm seriously thinking about buying this. And I'm tempted to stop buying anything made in China. What about you?

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

my new favorite blog

i heart cynical dad. seriously, he cracks me up.

Friday, October 5, 2007

I figured it out!

Well, I finally have figured out the secret to having a quiet, well-behaved toddler. And no, don't be silly - it's not positive discipline. It's my old iPod!!!

Seriously - look at this child. He spent 1.5 hours COMPLETELY SILENT in a Target shopping cart, just grooving to the Wiggles.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Uh oh.

Might be time to get a new phone service...

"The end may very well be in sight for Vonage, because the judgment represents at least 25 percent of its total value," said Stan Schatt, vice president for broadband and wireless networks at ABI Research. "I think the handwriting is on the wall."

Read more here.

Monday, October 1, 2007

And in other news


I managed to buy my friend's daughter a stroller that doubles as a mini finger guillotine.

On and on...

Continuing on our Mickey Mouse obsession, I have at long last secured a costume from eBay. Because there's nothing like paying a premium for someone else's hand-me-down crap.

Perspective...

"Mom, look! I'm big and big and bigger! That means I can go to Disney World!!!"

-Josh apparently grew during his nap last week and seems to think he is now big enough to go see the Mouse.