Love You, Mama

Tonight, Jackson said his first ever, "Love you, Mama."
As a response to my "Love you, Jackson."

Shout out to Jason for repeating the phrase at every opportunity.
"Love you, Jason!"

LoJack for Babies

A few weeks ago, Jackson bolted in Target. When I found him, he was 1/2 way across the store. So I spent the night comparing child locating devices on line--LoJack for babies. There are all kinds. Everything from GPS enabled devices that are trackable online (with or without a monthly subscription fee) to radio frequency beepers. I opted for the latter option--much cheaper, instant, and practical. Sure, my child could be abducted, but statistically that's a pretty remote possibility. The likely scenario is that he either runs or drifts away in a public place (or the backyard).
We opted for the Mommy I'm Here Child Locator. $25 at Amazon (link from the blog title). This one seemed the most practical and had better reviews. The only negatives were from units that arrived with a dead battery. Our's arrived in good working order.
Only drawbacks are that it sometimes beeps with no apparent reason, but I could've leaned on the button. You also have to thread it through something-- a belt or shoelaces for example. Minor inconvenience for peace of mind. Bonus, I'm not the parent with a toddler on a tether.

Some Pics from the Spring

New Features

I'm trying some new blogger gadgets. There's a new blog list, if I missed you, it wasn't because I think your blog is dull (I wouldn't exclude you for that), its just that I forgot or didn't have the link handy. Remind me. This new list lets me see when you have a new post. It also saves me a click to Jamie's blog where I had been getting that info.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm keeping tabs on you, my readers in other ways. I have a new site monitor that collects data on my viewing traffic. It's imperfect, but compelling enough to be latest OCD fixation. And hey, if the government can data-mine the web, shouldn't I get in on the game as well? I need to know if they are watching me.

Try the new search tool. Next time you want to find that post from forever ago, you can.

Hopefully the best gadget of all is the one that allows me to send this post via email. Here's hoping for format compatibility.

Emu Blogger?

Hi Emu Blogger.
We don't know who you are and your profile is private.
It sounds like you know us. Send us an invite to your blog.

Or, if you wish to remain unknown, that's cool too.

Fat Cat?

Jack has been going around the house asking "Fat Cat?" for some 6 weeks now. It has been a mystery. We do have a fat cat, but if I refer to his girth, I call him "Fatty Ballooey". I haven't been using this name lately, I've been calling the furball "Ballooey Kitty" mostly. Usually the feline in question is nowhere to be seen when Jack poses the question. I sometimes wonder if he is asking for the cat, or where the cat is, but it doesn't seem likely because when he sees the cats, he squeals and the cats skedaddle through the hole in the door.

A few days ago, he said "fat cat" in the closet, which really made no sense since its not a favorite haunt of my fluffy kitty. He then requested to be lifted, and reached out for the bag of goldfish crackers left on the shelf (leftover from our camping trip.)

So, 1 mystery solved. Another mystery opened. Jack can say "Fish" very clearly, and says "Crack" for all other crackers. (Ironic since he goes after crackers as if they were indeed crack cocaine). It seems strange that combining 2 words he says clearly made both words corrupt. I am enjoying hearing his language development unfold. Hoping to soon post at length with a list of his sweet utterances and the English translations, before his speech grows up and I forget.

See, Mom...

"See, Mom...Ope"

That's was Jackson's proud announcement of the day.
He unlocked the deadbolt for the first time.
We are doomed.