DC area folks! I've got finalized details!
First, for those who haven't already read the general plan, I will copy it below (originally in this post). For those who didn't see my last comment on that post, I had totally spaced out when I came up with the time and forgot that I have a Water Babies class with the Pookie from 10:30 to 11:00!
Not to fear, I have come up with a plan and coordinated it with the Be with me Children's Playseum! Here are the updated details (for links, please go to the previous post, since I don't have time to re-link everything):
Who's Invited: Anyone in the DC area who is interested (bloggers, commenters, Ask Moxie readers and silent lurkers), spouses* and kids
-Day: Saturday, May 8
-Times: 10:30 and 12:30
-Place: Be with Me Children's Playseum in Bethesda
-Cost: $5 per person, any age
-Other Info: Be sure to read the Safety Policies, Playseum Manners, Sickness Policies and Food Allergy Awareness pages! This place isn't like the At Play Cafe we previously went to in that they ask you to be within arms' reach of you child at all times.
Additional Details:
-Two Meet-Up Times: Because I can't get there at 10:30, there will be a second meet-up time at 12:30 for anyone who wants/needs to come later. Hopefully, this will also give flexibility for people whose children take naps.
-Place to Meet: I have contacted the Playseum, and they said that there is a Family Room at the end of the hall with instruments and couches in it. I asked for them to put up a sign over one of the couches, and they said they would also put a sign inside the front door to direct people there.
-The Sign to Look For: It will say DC Area Meet Up! We're an actual group now, peeps!
-About Lunch: There are tables there for food and snacks, but they don't serve food there. Please bring a lunch if you plan to be there during your kids lunch times. If you don't bring anything, there are lots of restaurants right near the place. They will stamp your hand if you leave so you don't have to pay to get back in.
Am I missing anything?
I'm so excited to see everyone, and to try this place out! I'm thinking we'll go low-key and free in June, but I've just heard such great things about this place that I wanted to try it!
*I wanted to be sure everyone saw that spouses are invited, because this place does ask you to be right near your children, which can be hard to do when you have more than one and you are by yourself. Though don't forget, there will be a group of us hopefully all watching out for each others' kids!
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Maestro
When the Pookie wakes up in the morning (some mornings, like this morning, at 5:00!) and wakes up from his naps, he almost always spends about 30 minutes playing in his crib. He's done this pretty much since we moved him into the crib in his nursery around 6 months old.
We have never experienced anything like that before. A child playing quietly by himself/herself in his/her own safe and secure crib? Without screaming for someone to come in and rescue him/her? Easily entertains and amused by himself/herself? Unheard of! Needless to say, we have been thrilled and try to encourage it.
We had a really nice mobile hanging over the crib for a while, but when he could reach it and sit up, he was tearing it down so we took it down. This was one of those mobiles that has two parts, and we were able to take down the hanging part but leave the music box part in the crib. We had had that music box in crib for the Pumpkin once we took down the mobile part of it, but she pretty much never played with it until she was out of the crib. The Pookie seems to like pushing the buttons to get the music going.
But we also put in a piano music player that attached to the side of the crib, which we had for the Pumpkin but never put in her crib because she pretty much had no interest in that either. But the Pookie seems to love it! We would turn it on, and it would say "peek a boo" and he'd cackle and settle down to watch.
Because those were working pretty well, I thought maybe the crib aquarium I'd seen in the store would help lull him to sleep without the need of a parent! Although that has yet to happen, he sure does love turning it on and play with it and watch it when he wakes up.
These days, he often turns on two of the toys or all three of them, making a cacophony of electronic noise. He LOVES it. He sits or stands in his crib, turning on and looking around at each noise maker, turning them up as loud as he can. When I walk in the nursery, he looks up and me with this big grin on his face! I smile and call him my maestro!
I have a feeling this will not be the last time a bunch of racket that gets on my nerves will be music to his ears that he insists on playing at the loudest volume he can.
We have never experienced anything like that before. A child playing quietly by himself/herself in his/her own safe and secure crib? Without screaming for someone to come in and rescue him/her? Easily entertains and amused by himself/herself? Unheard of! Needless to say, we have been thrilled and try to encourage it.
We had a really nice mobile hanging over the crib for a while, but when he could reach it and sit up, he was tearing it down so we took it down. This was one of those mobiles that has two parts, and we were able to take down the hanging part but leave the music box part in the crib. We had had that music box in crib for the Pumpkin once we took down the mobile part of it, but she pretty much never played with it until she was out of the crib. The Pookie seems to like pushing the buttons to get the music going.
But we also put in a piano music player that attached to the side of the crib, which we had for the Pumpkin but never put in her crib because she pretty much had no interest in that either. But the Pookie seems to love it! We would turn it on, and it would say "peek a boo" and he'd cackle and settle down to watch.
Because those were working pretty well, I thought maybe the crib aquarium I'd seen in the store would help lull him to sleep without the need of a parent! Although that has yet to happen, he sure does love turning it on and play with it and watch it when he wakes up.
These days, he often turns on two of the toys or all three of them, making a cacophony of electronic noise. He LOVES it. He sits or stands in his crib, turning on and looking around at each noise maker, turning them up as loud as he can. When I walk in the nursery, he looks up and me with this big grin on his face! I smile and call him my maestro!
I have a feeling this will not be the last time a bunch of racket that gets on my nerves will be music to his ears that he insists on playing at the loudest volume he can.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Is It Only Wednesday?
This has been a crazy week. My husband has his super important annual meeting (of some sort or another) tomorrow, and each year it requires a LOT of preparation on his part and his team's part. So he's been working late every night this week. And although he was able to help me out a little this morning, it's pretty much been me and the kids for the past few days straight.
We've been having a really fun time! Whenever I get to do the late afternoons with the kids, I have so much fun. Our mornings almost always feel so rushed and hectic, with me trying to get everyone ready for the day and fed breakfast and then getting the Pumpkin and myself out the door. In the afternoons, I pick up the Pumpkin and come home to the Pookie. The nanny leaves, and we have snacks and play inside or in the back yard. I make some dinner, we eat and then get ready for bed.
I do get some help at bedtime, since both kids need a person with them until they are asleep (though, sometimes the Pookie is able to be put in his crib in that almost mythical state of drowsy-but-awake and then falls asleep by himself!). My dad came over last night, and my mom came over tonight.
My only real issue with this week is that I am not able to get into work any earlier but I have to leave early to get the Pumpkin and relieve the nanny in time. I'm not getting enough done at work because of the short days, and I'm spending hours each day in meetings. Luckily, we are really getting stuff accomplished in those meetings--real working meetings!
These days, I have precious little time for myself, which means very little time for blogging. And the worst of all? My work no longer allows me regular access to Blogger! Apparently they've changed the access and to log into Blogger, so that there is a "quota" of time that I can have on that site. It said I have 60 minutes for the site, but I don't know if that is per day or per week or what! Not that I'm logged into Blogger much at work, but I do have to log in to publish comments. And I think that each time I log in, subtracts 10 minutes at a time. I'm scared to find out for sure! Either way, it SUCKS!
I'm really looking forward to this weekend, though! DC area meet up on Saturday, and Mother's Day on Sunday!
We've been having a really fun time! Whenever I get to do the late afternoons with the kids, I have so much fun. Our mornings almost always feel so rushed and hectic, with me trying to get everyone ready for the day and fed breakfast and then getting the Pumpkin and myself out the door. In the afternoons, I pick up the Pumpkin and come home to the Pookie. The nanny leaves, and we have snacks and play inside or in the back yard. I make some dinner, we eat and then get ready for bed.
I do get some help at bedtime, since both kids need a person with them until they are asleep (though, sometimes the Pookie is able to be put in his crib in that almost mythical state of drowsy-but-awake and then falls asleep by himself!). My dad came over last night, and my mom came over tonight.
My only real issue with this week is that I am not able to get into work any earlier but I have to leave early to get the Pumpkin and relieve the nanny in time. I'm not getting enough done at work because of the short days, and I'm spending hours each day in meetings. Luckily, we are really getting stuff accomplished in those meetings--real working meetings!
These days, I have precious little time for myself, which means very little time for blogging. And the worst of all? My work no longer allows me regular access to Blogger! Apparently they've changed the access and to log into Blogger, so that there is a "quota" of time that I can have on that site. It said I have 60 minutes for the site, but I don't know if that is per day or per week or what! Not that I'm logged into Blogger much at work, but I do have to log in to publish comments. And I think that each time I log in, subtracts 10 minutes at a time. I'm scared to find out for sure! Either way, it SUCKS!
I'm really looking forward to this weekend, though! DC area meet up on Saturday, and Mother's Day on Sunday!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Question of the Week - Monster Mash
Lions and tigers and bears? Those are nothing! Zombies and werewolves and ghosts? Now we're talking about some scary things! The mythical have always been more terrifying to me than mere ferocious animals. Though sometimes the terrifying has a romantic flip side or intriguing survival scenerios or some other aspect that we can't help but find fascinating.
This week's question of the week is:
What mythical creature do you have an affinity for?
For me, it's vampires. It's always been vampires. Before Edward Cullen was a twinkle in Stephanie Meyer's eye, I was hooked on Bram Stoker's Dracula. I read Anne Rice's Vampire Trilogy (it was orinigally a trilogy!) before Brad Pitt even heard of Louis de Pointe du Lac. I loved The Vampire Diaries way before the CW even existed as the WB, let alone thought of making those books into a show*. Before Buffy became a household name, I was one of the few who couldn't get enough of the campy Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.
The romantic aspect of vampire stories has always had me hooked, along with the darkness and danger. In fact, I got hooked on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer because I started watching Angel re-runs** and wanted to see the story line between him and Buffy. Being a fan of the romance novels, I believe I found my way to them through the romanticism of vampire stories (as well as the Jane Austen and the like). While I haven't yet seen or read the True Blood stories (no clue why, as they are high on my list of stories to get), I do own the DVDs of the only season of Kindred: The Embraced, as well as all the Angel and Buffy seasons.
So, I have an affinity towards vampires and vampire stories because the best ones are are sexy, dangerous and brooding, and often are great redemption stories (and I do love me some redemption stories!). I'm extremely happy that there has been a recent epidemic of vampire stories in books, movies and TV.
Meanwhile, my husband has an affinity towards zombies for entirely different reasons. He is thrilled with the recent outbreak of zombies in books, in movies and on Twitter***. He loves the survivalistic aspect of a zombie apocalypse. Though he has clarified to me that he prefers the zombie stories based on viral outbreaks than on voodoo or magic. He figures that ifwe he makes contingency plans for a zombie apocalypse, then he we are pretty much set for anything****.
What about you? Which monsters or other mythical creature do you have an affinity for? And why? Got any good recommendations for stories about any of these beings? Tell all!
*Although I think the show is alright, I still can't get over the fact that Elena has brown hair in the show. In the book, she totally had blonde hair, as you can clearly see on the cover of the original book (which I still own). The actress on the show is very pretty and plays the part fine, but I have always thought of her as a blonde. I just can't get over it.
**I have two things to say about those shows:
1. They are two of the best written shows on TV. Seriously well done. Totally worth watching every season. Don't be turned off by the first season of Buffy, because they were young and the show was just starting to find it's feet. Joss Whedon is a GOD!
2. As for Angel (David Boreanaz), va va va vooom! Is it any wonder I started watching the show?
***Oh, how The Blogess cracks me up! Also check out this post about zombie-fighting furniture.
****Although his best friend, who is terrified of zombies, pointed out on Saturday that my short legs which cause me to walk slower than them are going to get us (our family) killed by the zombies. Londo cheerfully pointed out that they will get only me killed. Thanks, sweetie!
This week's question of the week is:
What mythical creature do you have an affinity for?
For me, it's vampires. It's always been vampires. Before Edward Cullen was a twinkle in Stephanie Meyer's eye, I was hooked on Bram Stoker's Dracula. I read Anne Rice's Vampire Trilogy (it was orinigally a trilogy!) before Brad Pitt even heard of Louis de Pointe du Lac. I loved The Vampire Diaries way before the CW even existed as the WB, let alone thought of making those books into a show*. Before Buffy became a household name, I was one of the few who couldn't get enough of the campy Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.
The romantic aspect of vampire stories has always had me hooked, along with the darkness and danger. In fact, I got hooked on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer because I started watching Angel re-runs** and wanted to see the story line between him and Buffy. Being a fan of the romance novels, I believe I found my way to them through the romanticism of vampire stories (as well as the Jane Austen and the like). While I haven't yet seen or read the True Blood stories (no clue why, as they are high on my list of stories to get), I do own the DVDs of the only season of Kindred: The Embraced, as well as all the Angel and Buffy seasons.
So, I have an affinity towards vampires and vampire stories because the best ones are are sexy, dangerous and brooding, and often are great redemption stories (and I do love me some redemption stories!). I'm extremely happy that there has been a recent epidemic of vampire stories in books, movies and TV.
Meanwhile, my husband has an affinity towards zombies for entirely different reasons. He is thrilled with the recent outbreak of zombies in books, in movies and on Twitter***. He loves the survivalistic aspect of a zombie apocalypse. Though he has clarified to me that he prefers the zombie stories based on viral outbreaks than on voodoo or magic. He figures that if
What about you? Which monsters or other mythical creature do you have an affinity for? And why? Got any good recommendations for stories about any of these beings? Tell all!
*Although I think the show is alright, I still can't get over the fact that Elena has brown hair in the show. In the book, she totally had blonde hair, as you can clearly see on the cover of the original book (which I still own). The actress on the show is very pretty and plays the part fine, but I have always thought of her as a blonde. I just can't get over it.
**I have two things to say about those shows:
1. They are two of the best written shows on TV. Seriously well done. Totally worth watching every season. Don't be turned off by the first season of Buffy, because they were young and the show was just starting to find it's feet. Joss Whedon is a GOD!
2. As for Angel (David Boreanaz), va va va vooom! Is it any wonder I started watching the show?
***Oh, how The Blogess cracks me up! Also check out this post about zombie-fighting furniture.
****Although his best friend, who is terrified of zombies, pointed out on Saturday that my short legs which cause me to walk slower than them are going to get us (our family) killed by the zombies. Londo cheerfully pointed out that they will get only me killed. Thanks, sweetie!
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