ninja kitten

Words, Words, Words

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:00:00 +0000

I know that you think I'm going to blog about Christmas, but you're totally wrong. First off, I don't even have the pictures from Christmas processed. Second, I'm feeling overwhelmed by the idea, though I know I've got to do it.

Let's talk about talking. While some children are veritable verbal geniuses, Nathan has tended towards the non-verbal. Sure, he whines and cries and somewhat babbles, but he's not been talking much. After all, we know when he's pleased.

And we know when he's peeved.

He gets by the rest of the time with a few signs and some pointing. However, this last month, he's been making some real progress. From one year to eighteen months, all he's been saying has been 'go', 'wow', and the occasional 'dada' or 'momomomomom' (when in distress). However, in the last month, during this Christmas season? He's been all about trying to parrot our words. His first foray into imitating came with the word bubbles. After seeing some and falling in love with them, he asked and asked for them.

"Buh! BUH!" If you rain bubbles down on his head and say the word to him, he'll just repeat his little syllable to his heart's content.

Then came 'ba' for balloon. Luckily for his speech, our grocery store is booby-trapped with balloons all over the damned place. We come home with one about once every other month.

So, now our grocery trips go something like "Ba!" Then there is pointing to a grouping of balloons. "BA!" Another group of balloons pops up for him to point at.

Then the syllables came flying in. He got the word moon pretty quickly. This is not surprising considering his tendency to point to moons in his books from the early age of about ten months. He's also started to try to say his little bah and boo sounds for bottle and book.

But today, he mastered a word that I'm sure he'll get to know well. While he was throwing his toys into the tub, I repeated, "Uh-oh!" I didn't do it to try and make him speak. I did it because he was being funny. He looked at me, threw another toy in, and said, "UH-OH!" Then, another toy. We repeated what was coming together, "UH-OH!"

I'm thinking that he's going to get a lot of use out of this word!

Actual Conversation Overheard

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:27:00 +0000

At the Oxford Valley Mall, there is a play center which is great for toddlers and young ones. It's basically a tiny little area for parents to relax for a small bit. Today, we went in, and Nathan ran for a group of children. Two of the girls (one approximately 9 and the other approximately 7) in the group immediately ran towards him and started talking about how cute he was and they tickled him and petted his cheeks. One of the other boys, much younger, also started to tickle Nathan. Nathan laughed and laughed at everything that happened. The following conversation ensued.

9 year old girl: "What's his name?"
Me: "His name is Nathan."
9 year old girl: "Nathan, would you like to be my little brother?"
A little 4 year old boy: "I'm your little brother!"
9 year old girl (in a very irritated voice): "I know. Nathan, do you want to be my little brother?"

This girl followed Nathan the entire time she was there, helping him into and out of various cars and rocket ships. She would help him climb the slide stairs and then help him slide down. She would point out things and talk to him about them. Nathan responded by running and screaming like normal. Finally, her brother, angry about the whole situation, followed her around, trying to get her attention. He resorted to kicking her after she had slid down the slide herself. Which led to their mom coming over and saying, "If you're going to be jealous over a baby, we're leaving!"

The little girl pouted and asked Nathan for hugs goodbye. He would not humor her, but gave her a few farewell waves. After that little girl left, another three year old came in and promptly started to try to follow Nathan around. At one point, she was in a rocket ship and telling Nathan, "Come 'ere! Come 'ere!" He promptly ignored her too.

The ladies! They don't hold Nathan down. Not even the ones who dance with him at weddings.

Halloween 2009 -- The Yoda Year

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

I keep thinking to myself that I should write a post about Halloween this year before I forget what it was like, and I've finally decided to do it before the end of November since I was supposed to write fifty thousand words this month anyway!

This year, about one week prior to Halloween, we decided on the costume of Yoda for Nathan. I really held off on buying a costume this year, but, luckily for Nathan, it didn't hurt his Halloween enjoyment. I also bought him a little plastic pumpkin even though I believed we'd only go to one house to trick or treat since Nathan is still so small!

After Paul got home, we quickly got his dressed in his costume and we gathered all of our bags of candy and stuck the candy in the car. We also put a few of his Thomas the Tank Engine trains in his pumpkin to ensure that he would not drop the plastic pumpkin. Nathan went next door to our neighbors, Walt and Dot, and he successfully completed a trick or treat, though he was awfully shy about the whole thing and unappreciative of his Jedi sleeves.

To help him like the whole thing a lot more, we went back to their porch, sat down for a short bit (since it was still about four in the afternoon), and let him eat his treated goodies.

I later heard from Dot that her husband, Walt, told all the visiting parents about Nathan. They treat Nathaniel, as they call him, like an honorary grandchild. I should make them some baked goods for being sweet to him! I like people who like Nathan. After this, we packed the little man into the car and drove to his actual grandparents (ie, Paul's parents) for more tricking and treating. Nathan had kind of grabbed the idea of what was going on by now and was more confident in his tricking and treating.

After a quick visit, we went back to the car to go to my mom's house. There, we took him up and down one street for more tricking and treating. He loved it! He got very excited and quickly realized that if he held out his pumpkin, people would drop items into it which he could then shake. At some houses, people would offer to let him pick up candy and put it in his pumpkin, which he happily did. Sometimes, he'd take a little too much candy and we'd have to put some back, but no one seemed to mind. (Not surprising since I let little toddlers rob me of candy mercilessly on Halloween. If you're a cute toddler dressed like a bumblebee, make sure to hit my house. If you took all of the candy I had, I'd probably just go 'AWWWW'.)

After returning to my mom's home, my mom and I gave out candy to the hordes of children that attacked her house. No lie, we gave out about five bags of candy and we closed out early. By the third bag of candy, Nathan had figured out what was going on with the knocking children, and he started to pick up candy and give it out! I had no idea he knew what was happening until I saw him drop a candy bar into a little girl's treat bag. It was the best. After that, he gave out candy instead of us, which elicited a lot of "How cute!"

After everything was done, we all relaxed with some burgers, and Nathan practiced his Jedi mind tricks on us.

"This is not the baby you're looking for!"

Nathan And The Shore

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:56:00 +0000

So, this post is only about four months too late. I know I should have posted this way earlier, but I think the appropriate phrase here is 'better late than never'. This year we decided to take Nathan to the shore. Ocean City, Maryland, more specifically. It was a fantastic time, even if Nathan wasn't able to walk. While at the shore he made a few pretenses at moving from butt bopping to crawling, but mostly he bopped around on his butt or rode his wheelie bug around the condo (which occasionally led to him falling backwards off of it when he tried to jump over the sliding door grooves).

The first day we were there, we forced him to the sandy beach even though it was slightly chilly. We allowed him to walk with the help of two people and he didn't seem overly fond of the sand or surf.

If you think he looks grumpy in these photos, you should see his face should you actually put him into the ocean water. We did so on our warmest day there, and he acted like we were inviting sharks to eat him simply because we put his toes in the water.

He wore a hat or sunglasses nearly the entire time we were at the shore, even while in the pool. This thrilled many people at the condo center or on the boardwalk. They'd all ooooh and aaaah at him, especially in the pool. We got several comments to the effect of, "Oh, your baby is the one that wears those cute shades!"

We had great breakfasts, and then we went swimming EVERY morning for at least two hours, and most days Nathan would fall asleep in my arms as I walked around the pool with him. After he fell asleep or close enough, we'd bundle him up in the biggest, driest towel, shower him clean, and give him a bottle pre-nap, and then Paul, Nathan, and I would all nap together for several hours. Those were some of the best mornings of my entire life.

After nap, we'd wake up, have a small snack, and prepare to hit the beach again for kite flying, or go to the boardwalk, or go out for a nice dinner.

We made Nathan go on baby friendly rides such as the Ferris Wheel, which my mom thought would lead to his death, or the puppy ride, or the Merry-Go-Round.

Those rides did not thrill him nearly as much as the ice cream we let him sample did. Nathan was pro-ice cream, anti-rides.

It was a good time, and I wish I had blogged it a little more while I was there or right after, because I feel like I've forgotten some of the best moments, such as my mom's attempt to devour all of Ocean City's crab, or Nathan's ewok look, or the way Nathan loved to sit on our balcony and splash himself in the face.

Nathan At The Park

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:02:00 +0000

One of my favorite autumn activities with Nathan is the playground or park. We visited several times in the summer, but he still needed to be carried then since I didn't want him crawling on the dirt, and he enjoyed the swings, but swings would only provide him with a few minutes of happiness before he'd simply look bored. Combine that with the dislike I have of being super sweaty hot and my dislike of grass and dirt, we'd simply go home after a very short visit and our visits were few and far between.

In the last months, things have vastly changed. The weather has cooled remarkably, but is still within the 'nice' range. Paul has started to come home earlier due to a change in work location. Nathan's started walking and climbing around the playground sets.

Now, when he sees a tunnel, he's the first to try and crawl through it.

Or he'll rush up the nearest set of stairs, without looking to see if I'm behind him until he's more than halfway up.

That's given me several heart attacks, I assure you. He enjoys playing on the playground stuff like slides and stairs most, and he's figured out how to slide on his own. ("Sit down near the slide and SCOOT SCOOT!" His dad taught him the scoot and he's mastered it well.)

But, where I enjoy him most is the swings.

Sometimes when he swings, he laughs every single time he is heading for me. Today, he kicked his feet all over the place when I went to push him because he was laughing hard. I laughed just as hard, which is pretty hard. Both Nathan and I have loud voices and laughs. I'm lucky, though. Now that I got him with me, the rest of the world seems to love to hear us laugh.

First Hair Cut

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:31:00 +0000

Earlier this month, I had decided that Nathan's wispy bangs were getting to me and had to go. Unfortunately, and I knew this, his lovely curls were probably going with the bangs. Knowing this, I kept putting off the cut, but finally forced myself to go with Nathan and Paul to the child's salon at the King of Prussia mall. They had a Thomas the Tank Engine¹ area set up, which Nathan flipped about.

Ironically, the slogan of Rollercoaster Cuts is "Haircuts kids will scream for!" This is not an inaccurate slogan. I would go so far as to say that Rollercoaster Cuts uses truth in advertising, and they might like to use this photo underneath that phrase.

Our hairstylist would not let me give Nathan a pacifier, telling me I was coddling him. Nathan did not want to watch the Teletubbies or whatever other crap was playing on the television to entertain him. He did not want to be amused. He did not want his hair cut. He wanted me to take him out of that chair and move him back to Thomas the Tank Engine. I thanked God we had gone at night and no one else was in the place.

After a while, Nathan calmed to merely sobbing hysterically rather than screaming outright. Finally, everything was done, locks of hair were put away, Frank was thanked and tipped, and our boy photographed. Having already gone through anger and depression phases of hair cutting, he finally moved to quiet resigned acceptance.

He's still ridiculously cute with his haircut, but I miss his sweet little curls so much. This is a bit like when he first got his teeth in for his smile. They were adorable, but I missed his gummy smile. Well, I'll get used to this less curly hair. He still has his chubby cheeks, after all.

1. Woe betide you if you call him Thomas the Tank or Thomas the Train. Children between the ages of three to six will look upon you as if you were the most stupid individual on the face of Earth. I one time called Percy "the green train" and a little girl of about five said to me, "That's Percy" in the same way I might state "That ball of light in the sky is 'the sun'."

Fifteenth Month Doctor's Appointment

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:25:00 +0000

Fifteen month old baby coming at you! Do you like looking at him sliding and losing his sandal (which no longer fits him) because he unvelcro-ed them from his "tiny wide feet"? The "tiny wide" thing is from the Stride Rite people we saw today when we got him measured for his new sneakers. Them shoes cost money, it's true, but they were helpful, sweet, and honest. When we were looking at the shoes, the person helping us told us not to take some of them because they weren't up to snuff.

We went to Nathan's fifteenth month doctor's appointment today with Dr. Chin. I still love her, but she's going on her maternity leave so she won't be around for his eighteenth month appointment. I resisted the impulse to tell her she didn't look like she was eight months pregnant, and she didn't, because I remembered everyone telling me that all the time.

Nathan decided on this visit that he hated the doctor's office, he hated being locked into the room while I stripped him, he hated the nurse, and he hated the doctor. He decided to tell each of these things and people and events how he felt by howling and crying. After his visit with the doctor, the nurse came back to give his vaccinations to him. I mentioned to her that he had cried during his visit with the doctor, and she laughed, and said, "We heard." I flushed red, I'm sure.

Nathan is still sitting at 50% for height and weight, but he fell to about 80% height. I am not sure how accurate the height or weight measurement were considering Nathan was howling the whole time and clinging to me. He's doing fine for walking (ie, he is walking unassisted at this point) and for feeding himself, but he's on the low end of normal on his speech. He doesn't like to talk to us in real words, and he uses Mommomomomomomo and Daddadadadad more as babbles than as a way to get our attention. He does say "go" an awful lot, and he's started to say "wow" after I say it when he's done something with his toys that is neat. Like, if he sorts his toys correctly, I say "wow" and then he says "wow". Or if he puts his stacking rings in the right order, we repeat this wow process.

Two updates in two days, folks, try not to get used to it. I think I'm just posting here to avoid my knitting/sewing blog.

Nathan -- The Update

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:35:00 +0000

Okay, it's not really really an update about Nathan. Well, it's a bit of an update. He's 15 months old, officially, and he can walk! I realized the other day that I wasn't posting here, and Paul asked me to post something.

I should really be using this space more to post about what he does and to show you all photos of him at his cutest. I've been trying to get back into the habit of photographing and videotaping him, because I know one day I'll want to remember the days when he easily falls asleep in his car seat after a big party, or when he can barely stand up on his own.

So, I'm really just writing here to say I'll be trying to write here more often. If nothing else, I want to post pictures of our vacation in Ocean City, Maryland from July!

Cute Nathan moment of the day: When Nathan, my mom, and I went to the Shins' apartment, Nathan did not want to talk to them. He kept hiding his face in my neck, or against my chest, or against my legs. He didn't even want my mom to hold him, constantly trying to shove into my arms when she took him away. I held him until he calmed down, and which point, he was all about playing with their tennis ball and smiling at everyone.

One Year Old Plus

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:05:00 +0000

Oh, Nathaniel, I'm a slacker. Your first birthday came and went and I posted no blog entry, nor did I even post photos until two weeks ago. I wasn't even going to write anything tonight until I realized I was going to put it off forever, forget some of the sweet details of your birthday, and be angry at myself for the rest of my life, just because I wanted to read more blogs.

On your first birthday, or slightly before it (because it is bad luck in the Korean culture to throw a birthday party after an individual's birthday, and your grandmom refuses to acknowledge that Americans believe in 'jinxing'), you had your first birthday party. It was thrown by my mom, your grandmom, and your whole family was there.

I mean Aunt Becky and Uncle Tom and their family came! Your Godparents and Isaac came! Every Korean my mom knows came!

There was sushi, and kalbi, and kimchi, and meatballs, and roast beef, and scallion pancakes, and every good thing. Your grandma's friend Janet, and Mrs. Shin, and grandma, and your grandma's family spent days making the food. It was all delicious, and everyone enjoyed it. The main decorations were baby blue "First Birthday" and baby Winnie-the-Pooh "First Birthday" selections.

There were a ton of little kids like Josh, and Isaac, and Misha, and Andrew and Lilly, and Nate, and Hana and all of your cousins from the Laub side. I had got some sidewalk chalk and they spent a great deal of time eating or drawing. It was fun to watch you interact with all of them, even if you couldn't walk or talk much yet.

We dressed you in an adorable little "First Birthday" onesie, and then changed you out of it to put you in your hanbok.

You hated it, and I really can't blame you. It was really hot at the party, and that outfit was even warmer.

I wish I could say you had a terrific time, but you were overstimulated, tired, and cranky. You mostly wanted me or your daddy to hold you, or you wanted to ride your horsie all around the place. The best part of the day for you was playing with the balloons we blew up prior to everyone arriving.

Dear Lord, Nathan. You love balloons. If I owned a balloon emporium, you'd be the happiest baby on Earth. You love Mylar balloons, regular latex balloons, balloons that float, balloons that bounce along the ground, single balloons, large batches of balloons. You've never met a balloon you didn't love. You only loved the balloons (including the batch your Aunt Talena and Uncle Dan brought).

Wait! That's not true. You also liked the cake.

We ordered it from Rillings, a bakery that also made the wedding cake for your daddy and me. We tried to do the standard thing where you smooshed cake in your hair and face, but you're kind of a little too neat for that, just like your mommy. You touched it, hated how it got all over you, and refused to do anything more than lean in for bites of it after that.

We also made you pick out your future/destiny/big life deal out. I think it's kind of mean to do that, but it's tradition. We offered you wealth, a long life, health, art, and sports, but you wanted to be a scholar or a reader.

Then, Nathan, people accused me of training you to pick that option, because your mommy loves to read. Nathan, I didn't train you, but you probably associate books with your daddy or me snuggling you up tight and making funny noises and kissing you and tickling you and telling you we love you.

We gave away little party bags to the children who came. I remember that they included animal crackers, bubbles, stickers, and crazy straws.

After mostly everyone left, a few close family members and friends such as Uncle E and Aunt C (who were engaged at the party) and Aunt Talena's crew, and Uncle Erick and Uncle Jason, and Mr. and Mrs. Shin were all still around, and my mom made us open your presents. You were too tired to care at that point, but you got some cool little presents, such as trucks and cute clothing and a wheelie bug.

Your daddy and I celebrated your actual birthday two days later a little more quietly. We opened a little card I got you, and gave you a little cake, and danced with you. You seemed just as thrilled with that option.

Happy Birthday to my little man, snuggle bug, bunny, baby boy, Captain Rottenbottoms, and all around awesome little son. May you have many more.

Darling, Eleven Months

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Nathan, you're eleven months old. I can't help but feel that this is definitely a betrayal on your part. Somehow, when I first held you, 11 months or so ago, in my arms, I felt you would be that small and that helpless forever. I imagined snuggling with you and I couldn't imagine a different life. You still love a good snuggle when you're tired, and when you're upset, and when you just haven't seen me in a few minutes, but sometimes you're trying to dive out of my arms. Sometimes you're attempting to dive into another person's arms, such as Daddy's or Grandma's, but other times, you just want down. You want to stand. You want to explore. You want to tear our house apart, while riding your little horsie through it.

By the way, I never showed you the awesome tiny little teeth you have! They are a bit bigger now, and very sharp, and very good for chewing into things like cookies. They hate raspberries and peaches though, which is the saddest thing ever.

You've been kind of cranky recently, which is making me sad. I'm always afraid that you're bored of me or that you want me to be more energetic. I try to be as energetic as possible, and you still appear less than thrilled. Then, other times, you're as happy as can be to spend time with me.

You definitely love other children. You want them all to be your best friend. While that is admirable, you might need to dial down your enthusiasm. It's kind of scaring off the potential playmates.

You're still not walking, but I keep thinking it is really going to be soon. You love to walk around with help or play Ring Around the Rosie. You get so enthusiastic, in fact, that you fall down while I say "We all..." and then, I join you half a second later on, "fall down." and we both clap wildly. You've also realized that you can get from one area to another if you hold on to Mommy or another solid object and cling as you slowly shuffle your feet.

Oh! We got you a swinging and playing with other playground toys for the first time this month. You loved swinging. You just sat there and enjoyed it and occasionally, you'd smile, but mostly you were thoughtful. You didn't really enjoy the slide when you rode down it on my lap, but I'm sure that'll change one day.

By the way, honey? That last picture? I sewed those clothes for you. Do you see me making anyone else clothes? No! I make them for you because I love you. And you look adorable in them.

Darn, looking through my photos of the last month, I keep seeing things I forgot we experienced. Like your first Easter! You spent most of that day getting passed from person to person, exploring things such as the Easter basket your grandmom brought to you.

We got a great family photo on that day.

I love you, Nathan. Try not to grow up too fast. I'm going to be sad when you can fill out this shirt you're wearing.

So big!

Dear Audience

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:57:00 +0000

Do you ever wonder what I do when I don't blog? Sometimes, for people I'm interested in, when they don't blog, I wonder why. Are they doing terribly interesting things that day/week/month/year? Are they off making successes of themselves? Have they failed? I recently read a blog post from a woman whose child reached four months, and she just gave up blogging. Couldn't do it anymore. Her job and her child took over her life and she had one free hour of life a day which she devoted to reading. I couldn't blame her. When I was working full time and driving home to Nathan, I was hectic. I didn't want to be near computers at all. On the other hand, I read the blog of a woman who stopped blogging because she had succeeded in starting a business.

This weekend was a very busy one for me. Paul, the Nate-bomb (he's a bomb of cuteness), and I drove down to Maryland. Technically, Paul drove, and Nathan and I snored. On the way back, I drove, and Nathan and Paul slept peacefully. We went down for Draftsgivings Day 2009. It is a day of delicious delicious delicious Philadelphia Sports. I believe everyone attending was in some sort of Philadelphia sports gear. Nathan busted out his Phillies outfit, Paul and I suited up in Flyers shirts. Sadly, the Flyers hate us. The day included a lot of coffee for me.

Today, we all went to Lilly's Baek-Il and Nathan had a hell of a time. It was discovered that he loved shrimp. He'd clap mightily any time he ate so much as a tidbit. He also stood, all on his own, for a few seconds. It was amazing to me. He's going to be walking so soon and I can't even deal with it. I want him to be my baby forever and he's just growing so quickly.

A note for myself, on Friday night, Talena, family, and Nathan, and I went to dinner. I gave Nathan some chocolate mousse. I've never seen Nathan so excited in my life ever. Before hand, he'd smack his lips watching the spoon come to him. As it was about to reach him, he'd break into a gorgeous laugh. After every bite, he'd clap wildly and look at the spoon, waiting for it to dip into the chocolate. I'm going to make mousse for him just so he loves me so much.

Plays Well With Others -- Month 10

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:11:00 +0000

Hey, month 10 came and passed, Nathan. Dude, this month you were all about discovery after discovery! You started clapping this month and it is something that thrills both of us to the bone. The first day you did it, you would only clap once, and then you'd stop. Bryan and Helen came over the next day, and we were bragging about your single clap. We made you show them it, and you decided to take off on your own by clapping full time. You'd clap, we'd clap, you'd clap, we'd clap. Helen and Bryan probably think your daddy and I are nuts, but who cares! So awesome.

Also, last Monday, April 6th, you got your first tooth. It's on the bottom of your mouth and you won't let me take a picture of it. You get very angry when I try to feel it, but it's there. I can see it occasionally. And you like to bite on things now such as spoons, fingers, teething rings, and green beans.

You're still not crawling, but you get around by doing a combination of worm/peddle action. And you will also bounce along on your butt when you're sitting down. That is hilarious.

We started to go to the library for their baby story telling time. We haven't made any friends yet, but today you made a grab for another baby, and she waved at you. I think it's progress. Hopefully we can start going to more baby/children meetings so you can make some firm friends in our area.

Outside of our area? Wow, you are making a ton of friends. Check this out!

You so clearly think that your cousins are awesome, which is great! I can't wait to have this next month with you, Nathan. I think you're wrapping me a little more around each finger every day.

BTW, don't be fooled too much by your friendliness. Sometimes you're kind of mean.

Clapperama

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 04:08:00 +0000

Do you know what this is?

That is the face of a baby who has totally mastered clapping. Go Nathan. It's also the face of a baby who will follow me with his eyes as I walk around the room no matter who is in it. I know I should be a big person in spirit and try to get him to love everyone and not cling to me, but it still kind of makes me feel good.

Tomorrow, Nathan, we go back to the library story hour!

Kisses and Kisses and More Kisses

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:56:00 +0000

Paul and I are always kissing Nathan. Always. We kiss him when he wakes up, when he goes to sleep, when he is being cute, when he is being good, when he's just kissable. I'm the worst offender, firing off kisses over each of his cheeks and on his nose whenever I damn well feel like it. But Paul gets his share of kisses in.

About two weeks ago, we think he started to catch on. He started to lean in to me when my mouth was near him, and open his own mouth, and stick out his tongue, often licking my lips rather hilariously (or disgustingly if you're not a parent yourself). Paul and my mom tried to get 'kisses' out of him, but he would only do it with me. And, he would only kiss about 5% of the time. Then, last week, he tried to 'kiss' his cousin. I was well chuffed about it. (And oddly, the phrase 'well chuffed' just came to me. I had to look it up to make sure I hadn't made up a new word in my head.)

Well, today, he was all about the kissing at the grocery store. I would lean down, he'd open his mouth, a little like this, only less sideways.

Then, we'd kiss, and I'd laugh and giggle and clap like a moron in the middle of whatever aisle we were in. Do all parents appear idiotic when with their children or is it just me?

When we got home, Paul came in and he gave his daddy a few kisses. I think as soon as he learns to close his mouth and pucker, we can call the kiss mastered!

Not mastered: crawling. He still drags himself. He manages forward motion, especially when toys are out of reach, and he gets onto his knees, but he doesn't get up. He just drags. I'm a little upset about this. Is this a failing on my part?

Lastly, he now like to share his paccy.

Yesterday, I was sleeping next to him during a nap. We both awoke, and I yawned, and he shoved his pacifier backwards into my mouth.

Teeth-brushing

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Prior to month nine, my dearest Nathaniel, you started to brush your teeth.

Your tooth brush has duckies on it and your toothpaste smells like a bubble gummy fruit. It's fantastic and you're enthusiastic and you smack your toothbrush on the floor and hand it to me. How can one baby be so darned cute?

La Croix Brunch

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:24:00 +0000

Went to La Croix today for brunch upon the recommendation of Helen. Helen did double duty too. Not only did she recommend, but she watched Nathan. He normally loves "Aunt Helen", but I think he's getting used to being around me too much, because he apparently did not like being left for babysitting. Sorry, Helen. He can still be cute and sad, but he's a much more adorable happy baby. Hopefully she will babysit sometime again in the future, but I think he needs more exposure to her awesomeness in the meantime.

We went to celebrate E and Christy's engagement. E is Paul's brother and Christy is now my soon to be sister-in-law! I seldom take pictures of them as a couple for some reason, so I've got nothing to post of them together.

La Croix was wonderful. The service was attentive, yet not overwhelming. The food was delish and not something you can get just anywhere. Though I loved the novelty of the chocolate fountain, what I really adored was their hot area in the kitchen. Paul and I agreed that the pork belly was not to be believed, and we both had some. I also adored their lobster bread pudding and duck confit, while Paul admired their braised short ribs.

From the cold area, I liked the cavier (though I'm admittedly a sucker for some cavier), the grilled brie sandwiches, and the smoked duck croissants. I was sadly disappointed by their oysters, especially after having the ones that Helen got from her CSA last year. The worst, however, was the red beet gelee. I shall probably never get the horrible taste and texture of that gelee out of my head. I know for sure that it will be a damned long while before I have another gelee ever again. In fact, it might be years.

In any case, I highly recommend brunch at La Croix if you have some spare cash. Don't try their gelees unless you like gelees, but eat everything else you can. Paul also recommended their juice and smoked fish. I say try all their little desserts.

In other news, I played Paul in chess for the first time in almost ten years. For those of you not in the know, Paul and I stopped playing after he taught me years and years ago. One day, I was sitting to play my twentieth or so game, and I lost. HIDEOUSLY. I lost so bad that I cried. I sobbed and sobbed, and said, "I can't win in this game against you." Paul was upset and, rightly, angry. I was upset and angry at myself for being a moron who clearly couldn't master basic intellectual tactics. I refused to play chess again even though I bought him a nice little chess set.

Since we've gotten married, Paul has made several chess overtures to me. I don't understand why since Paul and I should not play games of intelligence and patience against each other. I hate waiting for my turn to come up, and Paul hates feeling rushed. Prior to dating, Paul and I would occasionally play Magic: The Gathering against each other. I distinctly remember him saying to me in a very annoyed voice, "Would you just calm down and let me complete my turn" when I was waiting for him to finish his move so I could crush him. Either way, last week, I took his chess bait.

We set up the game board, and sat down to play. In the first few moves of the game, Paul captured two of my pawns and my knight, while all I got was his stupid bishop. He also forced me into moving my king very early. I was getting very angry at myself internally, so I took a second and forced myself to relax and not wing my queen at Paul's head. I pushed back the tears, and continued on. I was pretty sure that I was fighting a losing game from that point on, but we kept going for a bit. At the end, we traded queens and I surrendered the game. He had two rooks, some pawns and a knight left, while all I had was a bishop and my pawns. He told me that I had definitely done well, which I was happy about.

I've come to realize that it is going to be a long long time before I win a game against Paul who has been playing most of his life. I have to be happy when I simply don't lose hideously to him. Lesson learned!

More Info From Month 9

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 06:22:00 +0000

I told you all that I was going to blog more, and I meant it. Took Mr. Chubby-Cheeks to his doctor appointment on the 10th of March for a nine month checkup.

It appears that his cheeks and tummy truly are made of marshmallow fluff, as he is only 45% on the weight scale. He still hit 90% on the height scale, and, frankly, the nurse possibly measured him short since she tugged the measuring tape from my hand to below the tip of his head. He's about 25-50% for his head size. Teeny-headed Nathan.

This last month we introduced him to my old piano at my mother's house. He loves it and will bang across six octaves, leaning far in either direction to make noise. Sometimes he'll pound incessantly on the lower octaves, and sometimes he'll hit with both hands at once.

I think this baby is getting cuter every damned day.

Murder Mystery

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:33:00 +0000

"ACT YOUR ROLE!"
Originally uploaded by sunhi

I'm trying to blog from Flickr again to see how it goes. This is simply a pic of our murder mystery dinner and everyone dressed in character. I love murder mystery dinners and can not wait until the next one. I'm sad that Paula and Tom won't be there though.

Months Seven, Eight, and Nine

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:43:00 +0000

Damn, Nathan, I'm so embarrassed. One day, you're going to read this, and you're going to ask me why I was so busy that I couldn't post for months seven, eight, and nine separately, and I'll answer, "I was reading blogs." You'll make this face at me.

I won't have any defense EITHER! I'll just have to face up to that horribly sad face. We experienced Christmas, and I didn't say anything to you on this blog. Look at how cute you were!

There are baby kittens WEEPING out there because they know they'll never be as cute as you. Christmas was great. My mom got you a boatload of presents. We, and everyone else, got you another boatload. You had two boatloads, which I opened for you. Some of your presents were so big, you couldn't even see over them.

You had your first major snow, which was terrific. You didn't really enjoy it, to tell you the truth. Hopefully next year will be more exciting for you, and you won't cry in the snow.

I'm sad to say that you are still toothless and you still don't crawl. I'm wondering if I did something wrong, to tell you the truth. I put you on your stomach, and you are uninterested in crawling. I guess if someone would pick me up and carry me all the time, I'd be uninterested too. Also, you have your walker which is much more interesting to you since you can chase after me and Daddy and Grandmom when you're in it.

You've finally figured out how to drink from a sippy cup.

You still prefer a bottle or someone else's 'real' cup. You like to eat solid food too. Our solid food. Solid food belonging to Mommy and Daddy. For instance, when Mommy has a nice bowl of soup, you like to "EH EH EH" at me until I give you your fair share. You consider your fair share the whole bowl.

You're making a lot of noises nowadays. You like to play with me and we say "DADADADADA" to each other a lot and then screech at each other. I think you're going to say Daddy for reals first. I can't blame you. Look at you two! You're twins!

What are we doing in our days? Well, we're not going to an endless series of classes like some babies. I wish I were that ambitious, but that might interrupt your naps. You love your naps.

You are not happy unless you, and I, and the cats, are all napping. When that occurs, you are the happiest baby ever. You giggle while I tickle you to sleep and make kissing noises and move my head back and forth like you. When you wake up, we roll over and go see Baby in the Mirror.

I promise to post more often, my darling. I want to blog more anyway. Helen has invigorated my blogging mojo with her crazy blog that is updated near hourly. Now, sometimes I'm sitting around and I have a thought, and I want to blog it. Why don't I? Because this was the all Baby blog. All about Nathan. But my life is a lot about Nathan so this blog can be about my life. That way, one day, when you wonder what I was doing instead of posting updates on you, I can say I was not reading blogs, but writing blog entries.

Can you do me a favor too, honey? Try crawling! Let's close this blog entry on a positive note between us. Look how cute you were these last few months!

You are some cute baby. Keep giving us the cutes, Nathan. I love it!

Months Five and Six

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:14:00 +0000

THIS IS SO LATE NOW. Sorry!

From Month 5:

Honey-bunny, you're so grown up now. You can't even sit up on your own, but I feel like you're almost a toddler. You've done such crazy stuff this month. For instance, you ate some 'solid' food, called rice cereal. Man, I'm telling you, the people who named this particular food as solid are total liars. It is not solid at all. It's barely thickened liquid. You love it, though. You see the spoon and open your mouth and lunge at the spoon. Sometimes you try to grab the bowl we are feeding you with. If the spoon comes anywhere near your mouth, you shove it in and look angry if there is no food on it. Sometimes, after you get the food, you hold it in your mouth as if confused. Other times, you just let it dribble down your bib.

We also totally had Halloween! You were a pumpkin. And a black cat. And you had two different 'my first Halloween outfits' and some Halloween socks. Your mommy is kind of crazy. She wants you to have so many special moments that she kind of overdoes it. But you were the plumpest, cutest pumpkin that was ever in existence. I didn't spend the day of Halloween with you, though. I went to the parade for the Phillies, also known as the 2008 World Series winners. I'm sorry. We didn't take you because you would have been smooooooshed. Then, I would have killed the person who did it, and I'd be in jail. However, you brought those Phillies the luck they needed to win! Let's see you work that magic for the Flyers and Eagles, baby. I got back in time for Halloween night, if it matters to you.

There was some snow in the last month, but it was really weak, wet snow that didn't count. We didn't take you for photos in it since it was such lame snow. We'll wait for a better snow and make that the first snow that counts.

You have found your feet. In fact, you like to hold onto your socks or your booties and tug, tug, tug! Most of the time you tug your socks right off your feet and then try to tug your pants up like some kind of weird baby rap artist.

You're also blowing raspberries. All the time. Daddy and I love to imitate you when you do this because it is adorable. You blow raspberries while you eat your solid food, while you take baths, while you're getting your diaper changed, while you're watching the Backyardigans. Tummy time might as well be called raspberry time.

Daylight savings time came and went. Wowee, did you hate that. Six forty five rolled around and you declared us the worst parents ever for not letting you sleep right then and there. You threw a gigantic fit when we finally put you in your crib to remind us that you were not to be put down later than you desired. Of course, that was the only night you cared. Two days later we were back on our normal sleep schedule with no more screaming fits. Thank God.

I took a trip to a yarn festival without you. Your mommy loves the yarn. It's how she makes you the knitted goods. I ordered your daddy to send me hourly pictures of you because I was so sad. I cried when I left you, and I cried to myself that night, and I tried not to, but I couldn't stop myself. I hated being away from you for more than 24 hours. I would look forlornly at the little phone camera photos I was getting the whole time.

And you are just so aware now. Instead of weakly rattling your toys, you try to tear them apart. You grab them and throw them and slide them and consider them. They are now objects to you rather than things to flail with.

You're so amazing.

Month 6:

Damn. Damn. You rolled over several times, but you seem not to like doing it. Also, the only time you rolled over from back to tummy? I totally missed it. I was off making coffee to keep myself awake. And you were rolling. Why didn't you tell me you were going to roll? I could have hung around for several minutes. That coffee wasn't so great. We could have just been hanging around doing our thing, and you were all, "It's okay, Mommy. Go get some coffee." And then, when I turned, you rolled!

You love to see other children. You become so excited when it happens. You try to tear them apart. I'm not quite sure why, and we need to work on that. I'm not sure your slap-happy leg-shaking excitement is appropriate, even if you are happy and not mean. You even get that way at the mirror or when you see pictures of yourself. You start to bounce, hitting as hard as you can to get to other babies. Every time we pass the bedroom mirror, you stare at it and laugh, even when you're sleepy and cranky.

You really need to work on dealing with other children though. Poor Isaac, and Thanksgiving.

I found out that you're 50% weight, 40% head size, and 95% height. Honey, are you going to be the tallest? While I don't want you to outgrow me too quickly, it's going to be awesome when you are super tall. You can make up for my super shortness. You'll be the cutest, tallest boy ever.

It's clear you already have the cute part down pat. (Look at you sitting up! All on your own!)

Months Three and Four

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:30:00 +0000

Baby, I'm not going to say much about your third month. It was not my finest month. I was a weeping mess for some of it. So were you.

Since month two, you've gotten a lot of firsts in. You started to giggle a tiny bit. You got your hundred day party, which Koreans like to do.

You were totally saved from sin. I got your soul baptized, sucker.

And you outgrew some awesome outfits. Your butt will never fit into this again:

But... let's skip to month four. Woah! Since month three, all kinds of crazy stuff has happened. You decided that holding up your head was no longer the worst chore on Earth. If I put you into a Bumbo substitute, you decided to give it a try.

Mind you, you do slump over pretty quickly in it and then kind of fall to the side. You decided to laugh at me. That was the best ever. EVER.

One day soon, when I die of exhaustion, I will not blame you, and only because of the way you laughed at me when we played Peek-a-boo. You're lucky you have the best laugh in the universe.

You started a sleep schedule! It's amazing because you do not appear to hate it. We give you a small amount of food, a bath, a book, and we sing to you, and then you go to bed. Since we started a week and a half ago, you've only flipped out once. Most of the time, you go to bed approximately five minutes after we first put you into the crib. You just roll to your side, get a small backrub, and zonk out. Most nights, we don't even have to pick you up out of the crib. You're amazing at night.

During the day? Well, at some point in the past, you've started associating naps with torture. If I miss your nap, or if I don't, around two hours after you wake up, I started to hear this noise. "EHHNNNN! EHHHHHHH! WWWWWHHHHHEEEHHHHH!" It doesn't matter if you're in the car, or if you're in the crib, or if you're in the living room, or if you're taking a walk, it's always the same, "EEEEEEHHHHHH!" Then, about five to ten minutes later, you start to give it your all. The tongue starts to show and it's all downhill from there. You start to scream like I, or your daddy, or your grandmom, or whoever is in the vicinity, is tearing your little baby toenails out. Sometimes, when we are lucky, you then take a pacifier and fall into a deep sleep. Other times, you continue to cry until anyone near you is exhausted, including yourself.

You're also shoving your hands into your mouth like crazy and you're also trying to shove my hands into your mouth. It's like you want to determine if they could possibly taste as good as you think they taste. Sometimes, you grab my hand, shove it into your mouth, and then shove it away, and then repeat. You also like to rub your feet together as if you were a cricket or grasshopper.

You're babbling a ton nowadays too. I like to answer you. We coo or grumble at each other a lot. Our conversations are a lot like "Agoo! Agoo!" "Agoo? Agoo?" "GOO-AAAHHH!" "Goo-ahh?" "Aggoooooo!" Daddy joins us in the conversation too. Other people don't know that you're telling us that you love us. A lot!

You got even cuter, if possible.

We dance a fair bit around the house. Your favorite song is still "You Are My Sunshine" but that's a bedtime favorite. During the day, you like "Shake That Booty" and "Hey-Ya", but you only like them if you're being shaken. I know I promised that hospital I wouldn't shake you, but you love bopping along to music. You smile and giggle and play shy when I shake your booty for you.

Your second favorite song of all time is "Hey There, Delilah." Wow, I'm glad I like that song. If I didn't love that song prior to your birth, I'd hate it now. See, sometimes, when we are in the car, and you're cranky, I can play that song, and you shut up. Only, it doesn't work with other songs. When we're returning from a day out and you're cranky, and we're five minutes into a long ride, I turn on the song, and you quiet down. I then proceed to a Weezer song or Ben Folds, and you're all, "WWWAAAAAAHHHHH! What is this lousy song?!!!!!!" So I return to "Hey There, Delilah." And you shut up again. I keep trying new songs, you keep crying. I return to our favorite tune, and you quiet down. Sometimes, you and me, we listen to that song TWENTY times in a row in the car. I could sing that song in my sleep now. I barely even like it anymore. When you have children, Nathan, make sure that you play them music you only love to the extreme. God help me if you had become attached to some country music song. I might have killed myself four or five repetitions in.

We got a big month ahead of us, Nathan. Halloween is coming up. You're probably going to roll over fully anytime now. We are probably going to start you on rice cereal sometime soon. I promise I'll love you during this next month. You just continue to smile at me like I'm the most awesome person who has ever existed.

BTW

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:04:00 +0000

If you are wondering why I'm posting about my baby and announcing my love for him all over the place today? It's because today is the day we discovered peekaboo and all of its glories. I need to get that video of peekaboo up on Flickr. Nathan thinks his mommy is the most hysterically funny mommy that has ever and we played peekaboo for about half an hour today. Most of the time, Nathan and I spent the time laughing somewhat maniacally. He would shriek with laughter which would cause me to shriek with laughter and then we'd just be laughing with each other.

After this rousing game of peekaboo, Nathan took a bath, got read a bedtime story, listened to a few nice rounds of "You Are My Sunshine", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Hey There, Delilah" (sing what you know), and then he got put into his crib instead of his Pak'n'Play. He whined a tiny bit, got his pacifier, turned onto his side, and fell asleep.

He's old enough to fall asleep on his side. Nathan, you totally promised me you'd never get too big and you are getting too big. How are you going to stay my itty-bittiest baby if you keep growing like this? You are growing so fast that I feel like you'll be in high school tomorrow, and you'll be sulky and angry and hate me. (Paul thinks I'm crazy for thinking this as he had no emotional problems in high school, but I hated my parents in high school like most normal teenagers.) Now I am paranoid there's going to be a day that comes when I can't nuzzle my nose into your neck, or that there's going to be a day when I can't kiss your checks until my lips hurt, and that day is going to be, like, tomorrow.

This is totally why some woman keep pumping out the babies, I think. I want a never ending string of baby necks to nuzzle, and I hated pregnancy. If I were a glower, Paul and I would eventually have fifty babies or something, and I'd never sleep again.

four months old. already.

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:29:00 +0000

Remember that this was once a knitting blog? Back in the day? Oh man, those days changed. Then this was my blog blog, where I blogged stuff. When I was funny, I'd type stuff here. When I wasn't funny, I also typed stuff here. Now, I type stuff here about my child.

If you want to read my funny stuff, you can visit my future to be blogged at space: The Dialogue Project! That is where I will hopefully be funny in the near future. If you want to read about crafts (and I craft way more than I joke apparently), you can go to: Ninja Kitten Knits. Join my on my voyage to blog about knitting, sewing, and cardmaking, but mostly knitting!

If you want to read about my baby, you gotta check out this blog, though. See, I'm going to blog about my perfect baby here.

What? You didn't know I had a perfect baby? Sadly, I didn't blog all of my child's beginning moments, so one day, when Nathan asks me what I thought during his first three months, I'll simply respond that I was thinking, "I hope this baby sleeps soon so I can get some rest." Maybe I should do a recap.

Week One:

I wonder if anyone knows I have the cutest baby on Earth? Will they try to steal him? I had better take all the anti-theft baby advice they give me in the hospital so that no one ever steals him. I love him too much. I love him more than I ever thought I could love anyone. I think I might die for love for this little being. I wonder what I should name him? All these people coming here better think this is a cute baby. What if all my friends think I have an ugly baby and are lying to me? How can they think this baby is ugly? Maybe they're blind. Damn, I really really love him. More than Paul loves him. I'll tell him that one day. Baby, whose name I do not yet know, I love you more than your dad does. If he tells you he loves you more, he's a liar. Who lies.

PS. Breast-feeding is totally hard and impossible and people who say otherwise are lying liars as well.

Week Two:

This having a baby thing is way way easier than anyone ever told me with the exception of feeding. I'm going to knock this out of the park, and I didn't even like babies before. I really wish Jade and Inigo liked Nathan more, but they'll eventually deal with it. All this baby does is sleep while we go places like Barnes and Noble or Dairy Queen. I wonder why I'm not losing any more weight. Breast-feeding is still impossible and now I kind of want to give it up. Why won't my Nathan bond with me? I don't understand it. Maybe he doesn't actually like me. I hope he likes me. Is it normal for his head to be at that angle in the car seat? That really can't be comfortable. I can't believe he's supposed to fit into this clothing. It's huge on him.

Week Three:

This is still the smallest thing on Earth. I cannot believe he is this tiny. Why is he so red and why are his eyes still gray? Paul and I are both pale pale people with brown eyes. What if this isn't really my son and he got switched at the hospital? I kind of love this one now. I don't think I'd give him back even if he weren't my real son. I hope he passes his hearing test. I want my baby to go through life with no problems. Clearly I have to protect him from everything. He sleeps so much still. Only, he kind of cries a lot when he's awake for those five minutes now.

One month:

He's still so tiny tiny. Why isn't his belly button healing right yet? It was supposed to be 14 days, but it is still kind of oozing, rather disgustingly. I'm glad Paul cleans it and I don't. It's yucky. I have to be so careful with his head nowadays. This whole taking care of baby stuff is kind of harder than I thought it'd be now that Paul has gone back to work and Nathan wants to be awake more. I still love him a lot though. Man, he's super awesome. I wish I wasn't basically wearing pajamas every day and all day long. I wonder if I should call my mother so I can get a two hour nap. Oh man, two uninterrupted hours of sleep. SWEET. Oh, damn, he just smiled at me. He smiled at ME. ME. He thinks I am awesome when he's awesome!

Month Two:

Okay, so babies aren't supposed to be up so long as I've been keeping him up. Babies get tired roughly two hours after they wake up. I wonder why that's not in a manual somewhere? I wonder why they don't make baby manuals that include stuff like, "Wiggle baby's legs to get rid of gas" and "Baby will try to step in his own poop during diaper changes" and "Spit up will often be explosively hurled over your shoulder during a burping? That would have been useful rather than that stupid "Don't shake your baby" information. I still love Nathan more than I thought humanly possible. LOVE HIM.

(Next post: Month three and four thoughts. This post will occur AFTER his fourth month birthday!)

fictional confusion

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 05:02:00 +0000

Things I find confusing about television, books, or movies I'm mentally invested in:

1. Why does anyone live in Gotham?

Sure, it seems like a perfectly pretty, if dark, city, but... Well, if I were living in the DC universe, I wouldn't even take a frickin' plane if it had a layover in Gotham. Other cities in the DC universe such as Edge City or even Metropolis just seem so much safer and nicer and brighter. There's crazy villains in those other cities, I guess, but Batman's city is just creepy. I never understand why the populous doesn't move en masse.

2. Why is Slytherin allowed to exist?

Honestly, if you were the Headmaster of Hogwarts, wouldn't you have gotten rid of Slytherin ages ago? It seems to foster malcontents, troublemakers, and plain ol' evil. I mean, I like the Slytherins and find that to be either the best of the houses or the second best (I've got a fondness for Ravenclaw), but I think a smart leader would make sure that people sorted into Slytherin instead got sent to another school.

3. In the Potterverse still, two related questions. Why does Hermoine like Ron? And why was Hermoine sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw?

Admittedly, I haven't read the last two books, but Ron seems a bit like an incredible doof. Hermoine could do much better, if you ask me. Also, I never believed that she was Gryffindor material. She has Ravenclaw written all over her.

4. Why wouldn't you tell Veronica Mars the truth?

She'll just get to the truth anyway, and then she'll be pissed at you for not telling you the truth in the first place and she'll get revenge.

5. Alternatively, why would you get involved with Veronica romantically?

Dick is right. She's rich boy kryptonite. Her boyfriends have been drug dealers, gotten fired from their jobs for selling evidence, have been arrested for murder multiple times over, and have been forced to leave the country with their illegitimate child. It just seems like a bad scene.

6. Why would you get involved with a vampire if your whole job in life is to kill them?

And not just one, but two different vampires. Buffy? Vampire Slayer, not Vampire Layer. Just clearing up the confusion for you.

7. Why does anyone trust Ben?

It flies in the face of all reason to believe him or trust him, yet every moron on that island appears to. If you ask me, if everyone besides Ben gets massacred on Lost, they all fully deserve it. I hope you win, Ben. I really do.

before i go any further

jschival@gmail.com (Kitten) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:37:00 +0000

If any of you are here because you used to read my blog posts regarding knitting, I've separated my knitting off onto a new blog -- Ninja Kitten Knits. It is filled with pictures, opinions, and quite a few posts now. I recommend giving it a read if you care about knitting.