Milestones

While there are the established milestones in the life of a baby, I have a couple underappreciated ones I look forward to. When your baby sleeps through the night for the first time it's like magic. You go from a baby that wakes up every few hours, instantly screaming because he's hungry, to a calm baby who sleeps anywhere from 8 to 12 hours and then wakes up happy. And when you walk into the room, they light up with a huge smile. It is such a great way to start the day, even at 6am. See Mathieu above on a recent morning. Although the smile isn't as big as usual because he gets distracted by the camera's flash.

Another moment I love is the first time your baby grabs onto you when you pick him up. That little hand holding onto my arm is so sweet.

Just Say No to Double Ds

The annoying "Pinks" get sent home on last night's Amazing Race! Thank god. And, although the token old couple walked by the clue box again, I would really like to see Lake and his subservient wife go home next. I don't think I can take one more "dang it" or "dadgum it" or whatever else hick saying comes out if his mouth! Here are my highlights: The Hippies won! And wearing Bowling Mom t-shirts! LOVE the Hippies! Palomino = not a dumb blonde? And seeing how geeks fight.

Here are some highlights from the EW.com recap.
Every week when I watch The Amazing Race, there comes a time when I have to double-check my channel guide to make sure I'm not watching the Cartoon Network. That moment is when Lake comes on and yells, ''Dadgum it!'' or ''sumbitches!'' — because for a moment I think I'm watching an old Yosemite Sam 'toon. I can only imagine what this dentist is like in his workplace. I picture him walking in to see a patient, stomping from foot to foot in a cloud of dust while waving two spinning drills. ''Dadblasted humdingered hornswogglin' impacted wisdom teeth, you git out of those dangflabbered flapjackered gums or I'm-a gonna yank ya to smithereens!''

When she [Michelle] walks with him — three paces back, to show the proper respect — is she always thinking, ''Look at him, going left, right, left, right, with his legs. Honestly, how does he figure that out? If it weren't for his example, I'd probably be just using my left leg and we'd be going around in circles''?

...while — no surprise — the hippies breezed through: Those two seem to be dancing along on a lucky cloud that may or may not be medicinal.

Gwen Stefani, if she were a 14-year-old boy

Check this out.

Scenes from the Southie Parade

Uncle Leo Finishes 4th!

I was somehow able to stay up and watch Amazing Race last night. (My ability to stay up past 8pm seems to be linked to Rory finally sleeping in her own bed. Hmm, imagine that.) So, okay, Uncle Leo and Fran weren't incredibly annoying, and they finished fourth, but I'm still not going to invest in them! The Frat Boys, as annoying as they are, seem to be unstoppable. But god, I LOVE the Hippies. The one who looks like Shaggy -- when he was dancing around during the Roaming Gnome field thing , I was in tears. The Double Ds really need to go -- and before the old folks, I'd say. They're just lazy. Did any of you mothers out there feel really bad for the "Spanglish" comment Desiree made to her mother? Oh, I know that kind of thing is coming my way. Anyway, I was sad to see them go, they were interesting. And we discovered that, yes, all men really are the same, even when you're half way across the world. The German guy on the train telling the Frat Boys that German girls get better looking the more beer you drink? Right back at yeah handsome. I'm not linking to the EW.com recap because it isn't good. The regular writer is on assignment and someone is filling in. She stinks.

On a totally unrelated note, I had to post this picture of Mathieu in his Farrah t-shirt before he grows out of -- which could be at any minute at the rate he's eating!

Amazing Race - No recap!

I missed all the TV I really wanted to see last night. I fell asleep right before Chris sang on American Idol and never recovered. I have a vague recollection of seeing like, 2 seconds, of Amazing Race... Anyway, here's the EW.com recap. The only thing I have to add is that there's something oddly familiar about the old guy, Barry. A post on EW.com revealed why he's familiar: he looks just like Uncle Leo from Seinfeld. Hello!

Family Time!

With the warm weather and Shawn off all weekend, we got in some quality family time. Friday night we headed to the ever-upscale (!) Salisbury Beach. Yeah, I know, but you can't beat the pizza. Shawn and Rory played some arcade games and then we got a box to go. On Saturday we headed to Newburyport -- along with every other young couple with kids! It was crowded at the play area, but everyone had a good time and it was just nice to get out.

Do I Need a Reason? Part II.

"I'm ready for my close-up."

Do I Need a Reason?

Come on, really, it's just an awesome picture of Mathieu, so here it is.

"Kiss, 3."

Oh people, I came THIS close to winning a contest at Kiss108 to have breakfast with Nick Lachey. How cool for the blog would that have been? I was going to bring the kids and get pics of Nick with them. Just imagine it: A mom, still struggling to lose baby weight, dragging her infant son and toddler daughter to the radio station and making Nick Lachey sit down and take pictures. The teeny bopper girls would have been horrifed!

Get Rid of the Old Folks

Okay, so I know that one day I too will be old, but I won't be subjecting myself to ridicule by trying to show how I can compete with much younger folks in a race around the world, or anything else for that matter - except maybe a contest about how to best spend your social security check. That said, I don't feel the least bit bad about saying, "Why are old people allowed on the Race?" Fran's incessant chattering about how she was failing at the waterfall ascension was EXACTLY like last season's (I say last season because in my mind the family edition doesn't count) Gretchen and her constant caterwauling. I just can't take it. By the VW gods, they survived and the Glamazons were eliminated because well, one of them couldn't drive the car. I think it's because they're just too tall, ya know? In that small car, how could she even move her legs to shift the car? The EW.com recap has some great Fran commentary: I do have to give her some credit, though: Considering how many times last week she walked right past the clue box on the bridge, this week it was impressive that she was able to find the bottom of the building when she rappelled down. I expected to see her hovering three feet above the ground, saying, ''I don't see the street, Barry! Maybe it's up a little higher?'' And then there was the subsequent waterfall rope climb. Fran seemed to have little idea how to use the ascender, and they kept showing her twirling midrope and going nowhere. From a distance, the only way to tell her apart from a chicken hanging in a Chinese-restaurant window was the crash helmet. Come on, that's gold. Anyway, the hippies came in first because the annoying frat boys didn't trust the local and stopped at a gas station to confirm they were going in the wright direction. Here's what hippies know that frat boys don't: Always trust a local. How excited must the nerds have been to see a detour that involved a bunson burner?

Pooping out of Her Mouth

This is what Shawn told Rory I was doing when I was getting sick last night. She asks me today over the phone if I was still not feeling well, did I need to see doctor and if I was pooping out of my mouth last night.

Rory Sleeps in Her Bed! Rory Sleeps in Her Bed!

Okay, okay, so it was only for about 3-3 1/2 hours, but still, that's progress. Baby steps, people, baby steps. So, Shawn put her in her bed after she fell asleep downstairs. (I was sleeping upstairs, fully clothed and with Matty right next to me, after having puked my brains out from a combo of cheap wine and a migraine -- but that's another story for another time.) A couple of hours later, I hear, "Mommy? Mommy?" Rory is half out of the bed. I go in and lay down next to her for a couple of minutes and she falls back asleep. About 1 hour later, I hear her calling for me again. This time she's sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me. I figure she's done good enough for the first night and let her come in with Shawn and I. Daddy gives her a kiss and tells her she did a good job. Tonight we'll shoot for 4 hours!

Baptized

Mathieu Pierre was baptized yesterday in a really nice ceremony. Of course, he was the baby who WAILED during one part, and got the rest of the babies going, but once we got the favorite binky, all was good. Rory was very cute in a little nautical number. The deacon reminded me of Rowan Atkinson's bumbling priest from Four Weddings and a Funeral, which made it just that much more sweet. All in all, a great day. Well, except for Shawn not speaking to me for 30 minutes because I neglected to order pasta with the meatballs and chicken parm, but hey, what are you gonna do?

Hermione Granger boozing!

Pink is the New Blog has pictures of Hermione Granger drinking! For you normal adults who don't read Harry Potter books, she's the female lead in the movies. Her character is VERY straight laced. Don't think J.K. Rowling would approve.

I'm in Luv (Wit a Stripper)

No, not really, but I'm digging this song of the same name. I'm driving on 93 and the song comes on, I start bobbing my head, and then all of a sudden I'm singing the chorus, "I'm in love with a stripper." It dawns on me what I'm singing, and that the fact that I'm a 37-year-old, suburban mother of 2 driving a station wagon makes it that much funnnier. Go figure.

You Talk for Elmo!

"You hold Elmo."
"You talk for Elmo."
This is what I hear from Rory every day now. I hold Elmo and I talk for him. She talks right back to him and totally accepts that it's not really him talking, but Mom. Cracks me up. She'll look right at him, tap him on the head, and say, "Hey Elmo, want to play a favorite game?" When "Elmo" says yes, she takes a toy fire engine and runs it all over him, requiring me to try and duplicate Elmo's signature laugh. Ahh, the mind of a toddler.

EW.com Race recap

Forgot how much I love the EW.com Amazing Race recap. Read and enjoy. Do you think I like it because we almost always agree?

Amazing Race is Back!

Thank god the family edition of Amazing Race is over and we're back to teams of two racing all over the world. This is where the heart of the show rests: taking Americans and throwing them into foreign countries with a map, a little money, and a destination. The great equalizer of Amazing Race is dealing with local cab drivers. After last nights premiere, my top team is absolutely the hippies from San Fran. BJ & Tyler. They rock. Running a close second for me is the geeks. This picture doesn't do them justice - they should have their glasses on. So far no other team stands out as someone to root for, but that could change. As far as teams that annoy me, well, let's start with the token old couple. Seriously, how many times did they pass the clue box on that bridge? I was so irritated I had to call my friend Jeff. Mind you, it's past 9pm, which if you have children is a no-no for phone calls. And Jeff recently moved to some small town near Worcester and I didn't have the number. I had to call information twice to get it. This is how motivated I was to talk about the old couple. And then they actually tried to put together a motorcyle in one of the challenges. Please, I can't take it. The frat boys are mildly irritating, but not as much as the hot chicks. Does their opening scene remind you of anyone? How about the idiot chicks from season 7? Same shot of rollerblading together. Apparently all good looking women rollerblade. This guy is clearly a racist - and an a-hole to boot. I mean, to only partially take the blame for the phone reservation airline ticket mistake? He's this year's Jonathan. Haven't decided if I like, or hate, the glamazons. The rest of the teams, including the locals who got ousted last night, haven't piqued my interest yet. Check back every week for my recaps and thoughts! What did you think of last night's premiere?