Lolita

Once upon a time I decided I would read all the books on Random House's 100 Best Novels. It occurs to me that this must have been about 4 years ago because I was still working at the time. It has taken me this long to finish the first book I decided to read. Lolita nearly killed me. I have a weird thing about not finishing books no matter how much I hate them. Yet, I still stopped reading Lolita twice and went on to read many many other books before making another attempt. I finally just barreled through it last week.

Don't get me wrong, I see why it's on the list. It is beautifully written. He's very lyrical. He loves his adjectives and details. He could spend entire paragraphs describing a mole on a leg or the curtains his wife had chosen for the living room. Yes, it was as boring to read as that sounds. I would very often do the thing where you are reading but not really taking in any information. The beauty of this book was it didn't matter. He spent so much time describing things you could zone in and out and really miss none of the actual story. The story itself probably takes up 20 pages.

It is still the story of a man who loves a 12 year old. As a girl and a mom to a young girl it still oogs me out to know there are people out there who think like this. It has a sad, but not unexpected ending. So I'm glad I'm done with it, not really glad I read it. I had to read the entire Twilight series again just to regain my love of books. I'm not proud of that, but it's the truth. Next up... A Bend in the River. Obviously, I'm doing this in no particular order.

The Name Game

This is a very touchy subject with me since I just named a child of my own. I hearby declare, it is my belief that no matter what a parent tells you they are planning to name their child you should smile and say, "Aahh, I love it!" I don't care if they like the name Flipsy McGoo, YOU LOVE IT. Because at the end of the day, the parents are the only ones who have to like the name. It doesn't even really matter if the kid likes it. They will one day grow up and get to name their own kids whatever they like.

I thought we were being pretty safe with the name Joe, but apparently not. I have just returned from a Lowes trip where the delightful man helping me told me with utmost certainty, "Joe? He doesn't want an old-fashioned name like that." Oh really, old man. I guess in the 2 minutes you've been standing here with me, my 3 month old son told you that?? As I get older my propensity towards violence seems to be increasing, cause I wanted nothing more than to kick this 80 year old in the shin.

So I reiterate, YOU LOVE IT. Strangers don't care what you think, and you're just gonna make them mad. And if you're family or close friends, they then have to decide whether to keep a name they like, but will know for the rest of their kids life you don't or to choose a different name and know for the rest of their kids life it's not what they wanted to do. It sucks the fun right out of the naming process. I now get why people don't share what they are going to name their kid. If we have more I will probably think very hard about not sharing our plans. And if I ever say a derogatory comment about anyone's baby naming plans you have my full permission to punch me right in the face. Hard.

Update Ahoy!!

Here are some pictures of our latest adventures, in no particular order...

Seriously, the belly on this kid is outstanding! I'm starting to feel bad about putting him in horizontal stripes :)

I don't know why, but he always seems to be wearing this shirt. I promise we change his clothes on a semi-regular basis. This was taken on his 2 month birthday!
We went to the Dallas Aquarium randomly last week. Monday Caleb walked out of his office and goes, "Want to go to the aquarium on Wednesday?" To which Blythe and I answered "YES!" For the next 2 days she kept telling me, "I go see fishes with Daddy!" And we did. The place was packed and it kind of felt like being herded through like cattle, but she loved it. I think she would have stood with her little nose pressed against the tanks all day.
I was trying to get her to smile and so I said, "Show me your teeth" and this is what I got.
Thank you, Aunt Chrystal, for our fun new tutu! She's been flouncing around the house in it as much as possible!

Tummy time!!

Blythe has been showing more signs of being jealous of Joe. She wants to be rocked and held and wants to ride with us like Joe does. She's pretty cuddly so we don't mind the extra holding time! Here we are riding around the house together.