Bathing Beauty

And the Moral of the Story Is...

Life is not worth living unless you are beautiful.  Sound a little off-base?  I think so too.  But that is one of the lessons I learned from the book that Staley and I read tonight.

We read to Staley a lot.  A few nights ago, I noticed that we had some children's books from Zach's childhood days on a shelf in the office.  I moved them into Staley's room and we have been adding them to her story-time repertoire.  One of Zach's old books was "The Ugly Duckling" that I read to Staley tonight.  Although I know I'd heard this story as a child, I was appalled at this version of the story.  It was so horrible that I found myself laughing out loud, in a I-can't-believe-they-wrote-that-in-a-children's-book kind of way.  And since it made me laugh out loud, I thought I'd share a little of the book with you.  And I quote:

"The little duckling was so unhappy.  He had no friends.  Everyone laughed at him, EVEN HIS MOTHER."
(REALLY?  The story I remember at least had a loving duck mother.)

"He decided to run away.  'Nobody will miss me,' he said.  And nobody did."
(We can assume this includes his evil duck mother who is probably still laughing at him.  Uplifting so far, isn't it?)

"Winter came.  The days were cold, the nights were even colder, and food was very hard to find.  Now the little duckling was not only lonely, he was cold and hungry too." 
(So now we have an unloved, unwanted, cold, hungry, lonely, and depressed swan whose mother doesn't even love him or miss him.  Great children's book, right?  But the kicker came next...)

"He called to the swans.  'Please, come and kill me.  I am so ugly, and I am so lonely I do not want to live.'"

Seriously.  This was directly quoted from the book.  So now our unloved, unwanted, cold, hungry, lonely, depressed, ugly little duckling is also SUICIDAL.  What kind of book is this????  But don't worry.  Luckily our little duckling realizes that "he had changed into a beautiful swan and would never be lonely again."  Apparently as long as you are beautiful, you won't be lonely and you don't have to kill yourself.

So there you have it.  I think this was one of those books that is supposed to teach children a moral lesson.  Well, the lesson I learned tonight is never to read this book to my child again. 

So if anyone wants to borrow a book....

So Big!

I had mentioned in Staley's 2 month post that I thought she had started to play 'so big', but I didn't want to be one of those over-zealous parents who think their child has skills that are merely coincidental.  Well, I can officially say that Staley has mastered 'so big'.  When we ask "how big is Staley?", she lifts up both arms and smiles.  She loves this game and will do it over and over again.  Even after we have finished playing, she will throw her arms up and look at us expectantly, waiting for the clapping and cheering.  She knows the answer without even having to be asked the question.  If that doesn't indicate true genius, I don't know what does.

So big!

Football is Serious Business

Millionaire athletes and owners squabbling over billions of dollars.  An NFL lockout.  The possibility of no 2011 NFL season.  When it comes to football right now, there is nothing to smile about.

Grabbing Life By the Tail

Instead of just swiping at toys, Staley has started to try to grasp at objects.  This is still a very new skill, so she is generally not successful.  However, she is becoming pretty consistent at grabbing the tail "feathers" of the toucan on her play mat.  Although Jake and Elwood have recommended that we discourage any and all tail pulling, Staley is very proud of her new skill...and so are we. 

And judging from the smile on the toucan's face, I don't think he minds.

Big Girl Bed

Staley slept in her crib for the first time today during her morning nap.  She still sleeps in her co-sleeper at night and generally naps in her pack and play during the day.  Sometimes I still prefer to hold her while she's napping, just because I know these days will be gone all too quickly.  As fast as time is going, Staley will be outgrowing her crib before I know it.  So today I took this picture to remember when she still looked so little in her big girl crib.

Something to Laugh About

And apparently the something to laugh about is...bugs.  We had thought we might have heard a giggle or two from Staley over the past week or so, but nothing we could positively label as a first.  Well, tonight during dinner, Staley shared her first definite laugh.  Three times!  So cute!  Unfortunately, her laughs were not in response to anything we said or did.  All the funny faces and goofy noises and play time we have shared were apparently not worthy of the first laugh.  Her first laughs were in response to 3 pastel-colored, non-moving, non-descript bugs on the mobile for her swing.

 I must not have the same depth of humor as Staley, because I've looked at these bugs many times and they have never elicited anything more than a passing smile from me.  Well, look out bugs because tomorrow I will be busting out all my favorite 'Modern Family' episodes, digging up my favorite You Tube videos, and possibly even resorting to personal injury (which always gets laughs on 'Funniest Home Videos').  I may not have gotten to be part of the first laugh, but I'm determined to fight for second.