Scooter Chronicles

Night Night Nigel
It depends on who you talk to, but some say that a baby’s first words can be pinpointed when they say sounds that identifies something. Meaning that it is the same sound that always identifies that thing. Nigel has yet to say a real word that is clear, but over the last two weeks he has a strong grip on something that sounds awful close to “night night” when we say it to him. It has even reached the point that we don’t even have to say “night night”, but “it’s bedtime”, or “good night”, and he will reply with his version of “night night.”

Marcia and I are trying to find ways to make him talk. Sometimes it is tough because he can identify things with actions. For example, if he wants some milk, he runs to the refrigerator and tries to pull the door open. Or if he wants something to snack on he points to his Crunchies containers on the table. Or if he is hungry he runs for his high-chair. We need to read up on ways to get him to talk without being cruel.

“This is your blanket. Can you say blanket? No? Well, that means you don’t get it until you can.”

At least with him saying something close to “night night” at bedtime gives us a feeling that he will be catching on very soon.

Thank You Ducks
There is a blog that I try to read everyday called “From Abel to Yzerman” which is about the Detroit Red Wings. When the playoffs started, they were taking entries for a contest where you picked the four conference finalists, the Stanley Cup finalists, and the eventual Stanley Cup champion. The winner would get a $65 gift certificate from the hockey swag supplier of their choice. Well guess who won the contest?

ME!

I only got two of the conference finalists correct (Anaheim and Buffalo), but I am assuming that there weren’t many that picked the Ducks to win it all. I haven’t seen the official scores, but I am not too concerned over that. I will just except my prize and be happy.

Hemingway and Baseball
As you can see in the posts below, I read a historical novel about the Mexican baseball league (”The Veracruz Blues”), and then followed it up with a Hemingway novella (”The Old Man and the Sea”). The funny thing was that Ernest Hemingway was a character in the first book, and in the Hemingway book the character Santiago talks about following the American League (he even mentions my beloved Detroit Tigers a few times). What’s even stranger is that in the baseball fiction novel “The Great American Novel” by Philip Roth, Hemingway is a character as well.

There are many things I think about when the name Ernest Hemingway is mentioned, like big game hunting, bull fighting, his fiction, and his coverage of the two World Wars, but not baseball.

Getting Adjusted
My new employer has flex time, which I have always had, but there is a difference that I am not used to. There is hardly ever a need for employees in my position to work overtime, so they set up the start time to be between 8:00 and 9:30. I am used to getting into the office at 6:30 or earlier. Now, I am not complaining. I have the opportunity to get more sleep then I usually do, which is a very good thing. But it is going to take sometime for my body to get adjusted to being able to sleep in. Even on weekends I have a tendency to wake up before 6:30 (which is still earlier then I need to with this new work schedule). I may start using some of that time in the morning before going to work to read.