Thursday, July 20, 2006

Wait a minute... we're fish!

On Tuesday morning while “climbing Mama” Noah accidentally head-butted the bridge of my nose. And damn did it hurt. Still does. I have some slight bruising but luckily no apparent breakage and no black eyes. Shortly after the incident we set out of the house at 9am to beat the heat to the playground. Not possible. It was fine in the shade, but surprisingly enough I couldn’t keep the boy in the shade. He wanted to stand on the black top, soaking in the brain melting rays. To lure him back home I promised to finally take the plastic kiddie pool out of our basement and brave the mosquitoes on our concrete slab. Luckily said slab is in the shade of a neighbors giant weed tree prior to noon. Of course I couldn’t hold Noah off long enough to sweep all the plant detritus from the “yard” so when he got in and out of the pool he brought with him bits of leaf, pollen, and general mucky guckiness. Though he didn’t seem to care, I did, so after awhile I abandoned the pool and my constant attempts to filter it with a sand sifter, and left him to bathe in the watery leafy mess alone. Of course this left him at the mercy of the mosquitoes. My bug repellent plan had been to douse myself with poisonous Off wipes and stay close enough to Noah to transfer my bug repelling power. But after I fled the swampy pool he got a few bites. Despite those nasty blood sucking beasts, Noah had a great time and it was difficult to get him out for lunch. After lunch we both had long naps and then readied ourselves for a trek to West Philly to meet Mark at New Delhi for Indian buffet. YUM.

Wednesday we went to Tot Swim and I was god-fearin’ enough to wear my contact lenses and thus not cause a scene. Noah happily sang “swimming, swimming, swimming” as I floated him around the pool telling him to kick his feet. He really does love being in the water. He also enjoyed climbing up and down the ladder and jumping into my arms. I didn’t get to socialize with the other Moms much, but Noah and I had a lot of fun.

Today we took the wagon in for service. We went to Saturn of Trevose this time instead of Saturn of Jenkintown and I was thankful for the change. The drive was shorter, the staff was friendlier and less skeevy, and the kid area was cleaner and nicer. Of course we still came away poorer. Do you ever take your car in for a check-up and oil change and have them say “Absolutely nothing is wrong with your car. Go on your merry way!” Anyway… we needed it serviced both because it was overdue and because we’re driving to the beach on Sunday morning to see some of Mark’s mother’s family. We’ll spend Sunday and Monday swimming in the surf, playing in the sand, and eating at the insane buffets served up at Aunt Jean’s beach house. In the pre-Noah years we would just crash at their place, but it’s not polite to crash with a toddler so Mark reserved us a room for Sunday night in the same motel we stayed at last year. I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.

While Noah and I were rough housing in the Saturn play area he tripped over me and fell nose first into the carpet. So now we’re both sporting slightly bruised noses. People might think Mark beats us.

Tomorrow Mark and I are going to THE MOVIES. It will be our first time in a theater in 2006! Mark’s Dad and his wife Sylvia are coming to our place to watch Noah while we go to see “Lady in the Water.” I PRAY I love it. I consider myself an M. Night fan because not only is he local but I loved “Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable.” I even liked “Signs” up until I saw the alien. But I was VERY disappointed in The Village (I had very wrong notions about the nature of the plot) so I really hope that the new movie blows me (a lady) out of the water. (BAD - I know.)

OH! I just learned something online. Sometimes this internet thing is really useful. I had heard years ago that M. Night was going to direct a film version of one of my favorite books “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel. This was particularly exciting to me because M. Night’s family was from Pondicherry, India which is where the opening scenes of “Life of Pi” are set. Upon looking it up on IMDB just now I see that must have fallen through, which is disappointing. However it seems Jean-Pierre Jeunet (A Very Long Engagement, Amelie, The City of Lost Children) will be directing it – which is also a very cool choice and something to look forward to seeing.

This post is all over the place. I was going to end with some new Noah tidbits, but my mind is too addled. I’ll leave you all to go about the peace of your day.

5 comments:

hazel said...

glad you got all kinds of pruney over the last few days. I put bug repellent on bella and she isn't sprouting new limbs yet...but you just have to weigh the pros and cons I guess. I get Off for Kids. (which would make a horrifying bumper sticker.)

anyways, movies! I wish you'd let me babysit once, like, ever. then you could maybe even get dinner AND see a movie!

thelyamhound said...

I think M. Night to Jean-Pierre Jeunet is an upgrade, personally. City of Lost Children is one of my favorite films ever, and Amelie introduced me to Audrey Tatou (oh, for the love of God, Audrey Tatou . . . ). Have you seen Delicatessan, the first Jeunet & Caro film? That's another keeper.

I've heard good things about Life of Pi; I should get around to reading it one of these days.

The buzz on Lady in the Water hasn't been great, but I do love Paul Giamatti, and I keep hoping that M. Night will reach the transcendent heights of Unbreakable, his best film (IMO).

Marksthespot said...

While I agree with the Hound that on pure talent Jeunet is a major upgrade, Life of Pi by M. Night had two things going for it: It's set partly in his birthplace, and it features the type of breathtaking perspective switch that made him famous for Sixth Sense.

Whoever directs, I'm still impatiently awaiting the movie.

Missuz J said...

Soph is such a wussy about the pool. I think it has to do with, what she reports as, "When dad taught me how to dive." Hmm.

I miss going to the movies.

lonna said...

We use Off for kids too and we haven't had a problem. We did use Skin so Soft when Dermot was under a year old.

We haven't been to a movie since March of the Penguins, and we took off work to see that. Those days are gone I'm afraid. Eventually we are going to have to find a baby sitter.

Dermot was constantly hitting my nose at one time. It always made me think of the advice for self-defense about using your palm to smash someone's nose into their head because of how bad it is.

I would also recommend Delicatessan. It's been ages since I saw it, but I remember really liking it.