Monday, February 16, 2009

Some random thoughts and weekend updates

1) per comments and questions below, Christopher James is the name we’ve picked out for #2. I hope that it’ a strong enough name for our future President. Ha!

2) I feel better, thanks for asking. Apparently it was an annoying 24-hour bug because I was back to eating normal [amounts of] food on Saturday and haven’t had problems since.

3) Though Valentine’s Day is largely uncelebrated in our household Jim did bring home Nicole and I a red rose each . It was very sweet. Nicole’s hand-made Valentines went over well and she got some in return as well as a ballerina doll from Grandma that is bigger than her. She and the doll have waltzed around the family room several times since!

4) I'm wearing a borrowed shirt of Sarah’s today (a navy blue cotton one) for the first time and I LOVE IT. It’s so comfy, can be dressed up or down, and isn’t too low-cut (a common and confusing problem with maternity tops). It immediately became my new favorite shirt.

5) On Saturday I took Nicole to Furniture Fair to look for a big girl bedroom set. Unfortunately she was not living up to the purchase and threw a tantrum in the front entry when I wouldn’t give her Cheerios (I didn’t want her to spill them everywhere in the store). After about 2 minutes of cajoling I hauled her back to the car, sat her on my lap and told her that she was not to behave badly again or we were leaving. We did give it a second go, the nice salesman even brought her a balloon which made her smile but when I tied it onto her stuffed cow (so it wouldn’t float to the ceiling if she let go) we started on tantrum #2. My girl friend Jamie told me once that her son Ryan was so bad in the grocery store that she took him out with items still in her cart. This memory gave me motivation to apologize profusely to the salespeople and take Nicole out of the store immediately, never having made it past the first 20 feet of the store. I was steamed. On the way home Nicole got a lecture about good behavior in stores, how acting that way embarrasses both of us and that she was getting a time out once we got home. She sniffed and looked pathetic on the drive home but, true to my word, she sat on the step for a minute once we got back and she didn’t budge an inch. I don’t know if she got it or it was luck, but she was an absolute angel the next day when we took her out for several hours to the mall and Meijer.

6) They announced on the radio today that there was a speed trap around a certain exit on the highway. While I appreciate this as a driver it doesn’t seem “right” that they can just publically announce this over the airwaves. Then again, if the point is to ensure that drivers are safely driving, maybe the city of Montgomery doesn’t care that people are being warned…

7 comments:

Finlands finest said...

I think Christopher James is very presidential!

I was told by my dad on friday where a sobriety checkpoint was. I am not sure they should be telling that one either....it would be very easy to avoid if you have been drinking.

I think how you parented was spot on! Nicole probably did learn her lesson!

Martha said...

another 24 hour bug? I won't go on my same rant as with your last one... I am glad you are feeling better and please take care with what you eat (particularlly with being pregnant).

Yea, Nicole! (I mean for behaving the second day.)

While I think it's shady to announce speed traps, I agree that it means people slow down in general - good! It is also shady on the police's side - to go out in search of someone doing something wrong, and hiding, in order to "catch" them. If they want to go out and search, go wait outside the bank and see if someone's going to rob them.

Jen has better not be drinking and driving!!

Viki said...

I thought James might be his middle name. That's a nice tribute to daddy. :-)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking Nicole out of the store after she started a tantrum. I'm sure she'll be like an angel 99% of the time for the rest of her life as a result. My mom said it only took getting yanked out of a store once or twice, but that was the end of it (and she had to walk out of stores with stuff in carts, too). There are few things worse than being a shopper in a store with a child who's throwing a tantrum and a parent who isn't doing anything about it.

LisaMarie said...

Okay, am I a bad parent for only expecting my son to aspire to People's Sexiest Man Alive and Karen saying Christopher will be President some day? LOL!!!!

I think the way you handled the Nicole situation was just right. I wish my in-laws would handle our niece that way.

And the Valentine Max got was PERFECT! It was the only one he got from a "girlfriend". I was waiting to say something to you until we got his picture taken with it....but he was a bad baby yesterday...

Give Nicole a HUGE kiss from Max. :) And let's get together soon so she can give him one of her own in person.

markjx said...

#6: While on vacation, I happened upon a small Florida town. In the newspaper, I read the section where they list all of the arrests from the previous week. There was a little blurb where they listed where the speed traps would be for the upcoming week. I support this.

I think the point is to use various methods to deter people from doing bad things. Let's face it: the people who will note where the speed traps are going to be and then adjust their actions according are probably the people who shouldn't get the tickets anyway.

Random speeding story:

Yesterday, I absolutely *flew* by a cop on the highway. I was in the left hand lane doing something between 64-66 mph. He was cruising in the right hand lane, with petrified drivers ahead and behind him, doing no more than 58 mph. I knew that I wasn't breaking the law... much, and continued at my speed. I was nervously checking my mirrors for a few minutes, but nothing happened.

Finlands finest said...

Why does Martha think I was drinking and Driving just because my father told me where a sobriety checkpoint was?!?!?

Martha said...

why point it out unless he thinks there's a chance you would get caught?