A round of applause please

"Yay!" This is the most frequently used word at our house these days. Yes, Laurelin has learnt to clap and so we spend most of the day shouting "Yay!" to give her something to clap about. (other than the kitties that is - they get claps without prompting)



She continues to be a champion night sleeper (13 1/2 hours the other night) and a decent napper - who is this child? A far cry from the maybe maybe 8 hours a day total sleep time - night and naps inclusive baby of the first 6 months. My baby will be 7 months on Mother's Day - how is that even possible. Just today I am sorting though 3-6 month clothes to put them away and putting the 6-9 month clothes in her drawers (of course she decides to outgrow all her non decidedly summery stuff the week we are heading to South Dakota and expected temps in the low 50s) - she still fits 3-6 around but she's just too darn tall for her sleepers and onesies anymore. (hope she keeps the tall and skinny thing up till adulthood - I'd love it for her sake if we managed not to pass on that "sturdy" Burns body type) She has also figured out how to bounce in her jumparoo. Used to be you'd set her in there and she'd almost immediately howl to be taken out - now that she can bounce though... just try taking her out before she's ready. She likes to hold onto the bar with beads and froggy as if it were the reins to a bucking bronco as she bounces herself with all her might (is it possible for a kid to give themselves shaken baby?)



She is also completely in love with bananas. I am rather disappointed with this, I was hoping she would also hate them and I wouldn't have to deal with the vile things but alas they are her favorite thing ever. She can devour an entire banana at one setting and yesterday when I tried to introduce the first new food (avocado) since introducing bananas 4 days previous she refused to eat it - wanted a banana and nothing else would do. When I finally gave in and got a banana to mash up she lit up and started clapping the minute she saw it. (I did wind up just mixing about 1/3 a banana with the avocado and she would happily eat it that way)

Now if you'll pardon a (long) moment of geeking out (I really don't blame you for skipping this)- Doctor Who - I was worried the first few episodes that Moffat wasn't going to meet expectations. The plots had been convoluted, there had been no emotional connection, and art direction had been more with an eye for toy marketing than with what actually fit the characters (shiny-happy-rainbow!Daleks anyone?). But then finally there was The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone. Much much Win! Don't want to say too much (Spoilers, as River Song would purr seductively.) but just...wow. 10 will always always be "My Doctor" but I am very very impressed by 11. I especially love his lack of filter between brain and mouth. I mean - 10 could babble like no body's business and did tons of thinking out loud - but a lot of his babble was to hide his true feelings. 11 on the other hand just blurts out everything - like an old person, Leif said. And since it's safe to say he's lying about his age (he was 900 and something (968?) way back in his 7th body) and is probably well over 1000 by now, I think it's fitting that he's got all these grumpy old man characteristics (not the least of which, his bow tie and tweed coat) - especially while in his youngest body yet. And I like Amy - don't love her yet (Rose and Donna will always be my favourites as much as 10 is) but she's fun - kind of a little bit of all of the girls of NewWho. Donna's forceful personality and refusal to be too impressed by the Doctor's antics, a bit of Rose's confidence and warmth with others, Martha's crush though much less pathetic unrequited longing and more of - "you're kinda hot, let's shag" - maybe I should say she has Jack's crush... Anyway - I hope the rest will take after eps 4 and 5 more than 1-3 - this is what I was expecting out of Moffat, clever, snarky and witty, creepy (I don't know that I will ever be completely comfortable around a statue again), he doesn't do emotion as well as Davies (which I miss) but he is fantastic and I'm glad to see that again.

Hamlet, likewise, is amazing, absolutely amazing. David Tennant is one of the best actors working today and it's just sad he's so little known outside of the UK (unless you're a sci-fi geek) because he can handle any role you throw at him and can take very tired (if beautiful) lines like "To be or not to be" and give them a fresh new life and meaning. And to focus on Hamlet's wonderful sarcastic wit so is very refreshing and makes me like the play for more than just it's beautiful turns of phrase. (besides - no one can do mercurial, manic to melancholy and back again like David Tennant, he actually seems to have a habit of playing manic/depressive sorts now that I think of it... Campbell, The Doctor, Hamlet.) Patrick Stewart is of course as good as one would expect and the pleasant surprise was the guy who played Polonius - Amazing. He did the meandering and confused old fool soooooo well. The Hamlet/Polonius scenes were the highlight of a production that is one big highlight. I'm so glad they listened to the (thousands and thousands name long) petitions and made the film version - this production was too good to be lost as a footnote in the history of theatre.

And with that I will say Adieu for now.