7:05 p.m.||||2001-12-16

Why do all my titles suck so much?

(** re-edited later back to Shutterfly because, as anyone knows, storing jpgs at diaryland is a waste of precious space....9/30/02) Wow, that looks so much better than shutterflake. Please bear with me as I try to discover my picture/painting editing capacities. What I want to do is make transparencies wherein the figure is cut out and removed from its background AND the page background color is the color that is behind it. I have a feeling this is a question for Lex!Please, please, if you have html questions, go to her site, which is incredible and really thoughtful, and marvel at what she and other designers at Diaryland have done!

Ummm. I swear to heaven and earth I am not self-indulgent in the way my pictures might seem to suggest. I put these up because FINALLY I understand how to manage the files in my Diaryland Gold Account, which, up to this point, has been doing nothing but collecting dust.

I had a nice, - quiet when the baby wasn't upset because he isn't feeling well - kind of day. I made eggs with mushrooms and summer squash for breakfast and recently had half a reuben. I drank a pot and a half of coffee. I played with my imaging and painting applications until I produced the above result. I told my mom that if she wants this calendar she needs to help in the ink department. (The cost of ink! I swear!) As I told Worldgurl earlier, I got a swivel bath seat and then gave him THE bath, which went well. I showed him how to splash and he thought that was incredible.

He has these wonderful, funny baby things he does, that I think are particular to him. He spins his feet in circles when he is excited or happy. Non-stop. He kind of yells, too - like this short, throaty, squawk. He opens his mouth as wide as it will go, grinning, and barks that little squawk. When he's sitting he rocks his whole frame as if he wants to scoot forward. (OK. All babies do that one.) He has a nervous chuckle he uses sometimes when he's not in the best mood but something is amusing in spite of it. I just think it's funny because his low little stream of "talk" that he makes with "consonants" is still pretty rare...his main mode of expression is that yell, and sometimes shrieks, if we're somewhere where there's an echo. Like Best Buy. Or a quiet restaurant. Or church.

He has begun to develop his "pincer grip", using his thumb as it's intended. All day today and yesterday he has been perfecting his brand new skill, of which he is SO proud, - handing back the toy which I have handed him. When I say "thank you!" in my mommy voice he lights up like a good idea. When I look in his eyes, I see my father.

Sigh.

I have to go check my e-mail and pretend to not have signed on the second Dave walked out the door (he went to the store, in case it's important.)

Holiday cheer for everyone. Salut!