Hurricanes and Zombie Babies
2005-09-14,

Considering the amount of things going on recently, both in house and out, I wanted to take a little time off of the oh so timely accounting of our trip to vent and gush about more recent issues and events.

First off, thank you Andrew, for IP blocking! It's been my secret wish for a while now - how did you know? Rest assured that I will be renewing my account here. Because I know you were worried about that.

Katrina: I can already feel the media scrutiny fading. As Martin Luther King said, "This is a 10-day nation... in 10 days, we'll be back to business as usual." I heard that the 'official' death toll has risen to a whopping 430-some people. I hardly believe the number to be so low, considering the reports I've heard on the news about groups out over the last week or so collecting the dead (or not, as was often the case) from the waters. I read a report that reporters are being kept well away from the clean-up areas, under orders from officials and disregarding a court order (based on a complaint filed by CNN) that they be allowed access out of 'respect' for the dead. I'm pretty sure that if the people lost to this tragedy due to failures of government policy were able to say anything about it, they'd say 'yes, please, let us be seen so the country knows what really happened here.' Fall Guy Michael "you're doing a heck of a job, Brownie" Brown 'quit' yesterday, but hey, that's okay, he'd already done the job he was supposed to do. No fraud or cheating here! Please disperse! *jingles John Roberts like a set of shiny keys* Lookie over here, a judicial nominee! Go play! *waits 10 days*

Speaking of distracting the infantile... baby baby baby baby baby! Hooray, baby! Laurana may suck up every spare second we have at home and/or force us to do many household tasks one-handed, but that's okay - babies are still awesome! It's amazing watching her catch up at lightning speed to about where she should be for a 10-month-old. She's almost crawling - she pulls herself along by her arms and pushes along with her feet, but her legs are out to the sides like oars, or frog's legs (thus leading me to believe that she may be a decent swimmer in the future). When she drags herself along, she kind of looks like a zombie. Zombie Babies, next on Cartoon Network.

She's starting to open cabinet doors, so it's time for Lockdown Phase II (Phase I was outlet covers and breakables). She's also taken to pulling newspaper out of the recycling basket and tearing it up. A couple of weeks ago she discovered that she could eat with her hands, so almost immediately after she was refusing to be spoon-fed except for things like oatmeal or yogurt. Messy, but cute (especially when we have pasta). Since we got her, there's only one things she's refused to eat, and that's blueberries. Otherwise, she's an eating machine. Again with the catching up - she's got a lot of nutrients to make up for.

She's also become a lot more vocal. As in loud. And talks a lot. And occasionally voices this grumbly hiss (hard to describe) that lends toward the zombie motif. If we hadn't already gotten the pumpkin outfit, that'd be her look for sure for Halloween. (Zombie Babies! New episode today at 10am!)

It's still bizarre and scary and wonderful to have this little person (emphasis on the little) dependent on you for virtually everything, including supplying paper to tear. Having been a full-time parent now for a little over two months (only two months!), I have to say that I like it. A lot. Yes, it can get exasperating, and yes, we have no free time anymore. So what? We'll have free time again in a few years. Right now it's all baby, all the time. Check your local listings. Zombie Babies!

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