Yesterday Emma was pretty demanding that I give her every ounce of my attention. We went for a walk with her doll and stroller, read books, danced, had a tea party, played hotwheels, you name it, we did it. She has one of those tunnels that collapses and has been playing alot in it recently. I decided to get in it like Kris always does to play with her. She squealled with laughter as she peek-a-booed with me from the other end and then crawled in to hug me. Her loving got a little carried away as she crawled up on top of my back. Remember, we’re in a tunnel and it’s not very big. The inevitable happened–we were stuck! I started laughing hysterically, I was laying on my stomach and she had crawled up so that her head was wedged between my back and the tunnel. She started crying even as I couldn’t control my laughter. She kept saying “Up Please” between her sobs as if I didn’t know she was stuck. Finally, I managed to stop laughing for long enough to yank on her feet which were hanging in my face and pull her out. She sure manages to find trouble whatever she’s doing. Can’t believe we were stuck like Winnie-The-Pooh in rabbit’s door! Too funny.

Emma has been testing her independence, our reactions, and mostly, our patience by throwing temper tantrums lately. She will start to cry and actually throw herself to the floor and lay down. Normally once she lays down, she completely forgets what she was doing. It’s like she’s not sure what to do next. I’m sure the kicking and flailing will come soon but for now, once she lays down, it’s over. We try to ignore her but sometimes it’s hard not to laugh. Yesterday she was starting to throw a fit and was crying and yelling when a Pampers commercial came on t.v. She stopped to watch it and carried on when it was done. Too funny! If you ignore her and walk away. She’ll stop long enough to follow you to the other room and then start again. She’ll actually say “mommy” sometimes to make sure she has my attention before she starts crying again. I was hoping that she’d be on a more even keel like Mark. Unfortunately, I think both the kids take after me in regards to their “rage management”. Poor Mark.

Oops!
Spectacular: Last year (according to a March 2007 Associated Press report), a computer technician for the Alaska Department of Revenue accidentally erased a disk containing all the data for paying the state’s 600,000 residents their annual oil-revenue dividends, and a duplicate disk was also erased, and the fail-safe backup tape was discovered to be unreadable. It took two months of around-the-clock work for state employees to re-computerize all paper records. [CNN-AP, 3-20-07]

London’s Daily Mail reported in April that it was probably a 17-year-old apprentice plumber, on his first day of work, who mishandled a blow torch and started the fire that quickly burned to the ground a waterside mansion in Devon, England, worth the equivalent of about $9.8 million. [Daily Mail (London), 4-17-07]

John Brandrick told London’s Daily Telegraph in May that he will seek compensation from Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske, England, because he’s still alive. He was diagnosed in 2006 with pancreatic cancer, with about a year to live, and he quit his job, stopped paying his bills, and used his life’s savings to enjoy his last days. However, he was recently told he merely had (non-fatal) pancreatitis, and now he’s broke. [Daily Telegraph (London), 5-7-07]

www.newsoftheweird.com

It’s funny how our perspectives, tastes, and habits change as we grow up and have kids. Here are a few examples:

When I was quite little, there was this record set that I LOVED and would listen to over and over. I still remember Bixy Bunny singing Campton Races from that album. I am quite sure that I played it so much that my poor parents could now sing any of those songs even now (my Mum can still recite my favorite book to thanks to my carefully making sure that she repeated it several thousand times).

Then I grew out of kid’s records and when my brothers were younger, I hated the constant playing of music like Raffi and Sharon, Louis and Brahm. After two brothers I was so sick of it!

Recently, my Mum retired and was getting rid of a number of kids things. Initially I said “No” to those old tapes, but somehow I still ended up deciding to take them “for Emma” and yesterday I ended up driving Paula nuts by wandering around the house all day singing the few lines of “Baby Beluga” that I remember. So far Emma doesn’t care if I play Raffi or Pink Floyd, but I guess that will change soon enough and she will start her own cycle of growing tastes.

Another thing that always baffled me is that Tree house (a young child oriented TV station) broadcasts all night. Also, many other stations have children’s programs ridiculously late. It just seemed so pointless. Saturday morning at 5am, I was very glad to have some Sesame Street takeoff on to help calm Emma. We don’t usually let her watch TV, but in the early morning, with her sick and crying like a banshee, she can pretty much have whatever she wants! She eventually fell back asleep sitting next to me on the couch watching some kid’s program or another. It is all a haze. I was just glad to get her back to bed and then get me back to bed.

Mark and I have both joined facebook. It is highly addictive but is really quite good at keeping you in touch with people a little bit more. I’ve also found that it puts you in touch with people you haven’t talked to in years. Really good for remembering people’s birthdays and stuff. You can post all kinds of pictures on your profile, send public and private messages and gifts and then there’s the annoying, pointless poke. It just sends a message saying that you’ve been poked. Drives me crazy! I’ve upgraded so I can also be karate chopped, hugged, pinched, bitch slapped, etc. Try it out www.facebook.com.

Well, Emma is talking more and more. Sometimes she even makes sense.

Paula taught her “Please” (pronounced “pees”) and so now if she wants to be picked up (and is in the mood to ask nicely) she will say “up pees”. She definitly knows “momma” and will sometimes just say it over and over and over…

Other words:
“dada”
we think Kris is “buba” (short for “brother”).
“Yup”
“no” – so far rarely used
“Peek” (as in peek-a-boo)
“cat” (it goes either “meow” or “bow wow”) and dogs go “woof”
we think that she is getting “nana”, “belly button”
- There are several more, but I can not think of them…

She also understands enough that we can talk to her and she often seems to understand. I didn’t say that she always listens though… We are hoping for listening in the next 10-20 years…

After much waiting, I’m pleased to announce that Kris’ name change finally went through. He is now legally Kristopher Jaymen John Mitchell-Bentley. He decided to hyphenate for fear that he wouldn’t recognize his own name if it was just Bentley.

On another note, I found a cool site that lists local farmer’s markets. Check it out…
http://www.foundlocally.com/Calgary/Shopping/Sh-FarmersMarkets.htm