Sheeple are so funny.

I had a great time last night out at The Haunted World. Possibly the best night I've had there.
I got to test the gullibility of the general public. I'm not implying that people who get scared at spook alleys are gullible. We expect that, that's our goal.
My job last night though was to lure people into taking the wrong path, into a dead end. They took the lure all night long. Half of one group decided to trust the vampire (me) over the directions their friends were giving. Another group spent over 10 minutes (I'm not exaggerating) trying to figure out how to go on when they reached the dead end. I was even able to fool back-to-back groups, several times.
Me;"They're turning back because they lacked the courage to go on. If you have the courage to face your darkest fears, go this way."
Sheeple Boy; "Okay vampire guy, I'll show you how brave I am. You can't scare me. See, I'm walking right into your trap."
I really loved the looks I got when they realized it was a trap and I said, "There is no way out. I've sealed all the exits, so you will have to stay here forever. [evil laugh]"
My absolute favorite was the guy who got scared by one of the automated spooks, left his date to fend for herself and sprinted straight into my trap. It was too good. I wish I had video of it.

Yep, that's my boy!

Momma put the alien antenna on him, but he wore them happily until they fell off by themselves.

I tried to get more pictures but he kept moving his head around to see the balls wiggle.

Sitting like a big kid

Just before he slid down to stand by the couch, he was doing this. He sat like that long enough for me to get the camera, turn it on and snap this picture, at least a couple minutes.

He's cruizin' now

Yep, there it is. He slid himself off the couch to a standing position. He didn't walk along the couch yet, so he's not quite cruising yet, but he's on his way.

A Funny Sam story

Sam rolls over now. By that I mean he does it regularly, at will, both ways. He likes rolling over.
Yesterday, at a family reunion for Barbra's family, I changed a wet diaper on the floor, and then left him laying on the changing mat while I went to throw it away. I asked Grandpa A to watch him, and I told Sam, "I want you to wait right here for me, until I get back. Don't jump up and start running around with these other kids, or go crawling around the room like these other babies. Just wait right there on that mat. Grandpa will watch you."
When I got back Grandpa reported that he had been very good, "He didn't fuss or anything. He didn't even roll over."
I said, "Oh good boy. I didn't mean you couldn't roll over though. It would have been ok to roll over. Daddy's back now, so you can roll over if you want to."
He immediately rolled over, and laughed out loud.
Such an obedient child.

Four Generations

My grandpa came to visit last weekend. In honor of the occasion we took pictures of him, my mom, me, and Sam. You can probably notice a slight family resemblance. Grandpa is 90 now.

For my friends at work; The Bumbo

My co-workers bought Sam a Bumbo baby chair. It's one of the coolest baby accessories I've ever seen. The first time he used it, he did okay, and he liked it, but he wasn't that good at it. That was about a week ago.

Yesterday he tried it again. He did a lot better. He actually sat in it happily for several minutes. Then he got bored because he's only 2 1/2 months old and he gets bored easily.
By the way, I think he looks a lot bigger in the second picture too, but I think it's because of posture and camera angle. I really don't think he's grown that much in one week. I know he can still wear the clothes he wore a week ago.

new pictures, because it's time for an update

As you can see, my son loves his food.

This is probably the most recent picture we have of him, taken yesterday, July 18.

We took this one a few weeks ago, because it was a cute outfit. He'll never wear it again. He's too big for it already.

those ears

This is my son Sam's right ear. The other one is basically the same. As you can see, they are slightly pointed.
At first I thought it was a sign he must have some elven ancestors on his mother's side (there certainly aren't any elves in my family tree), but one of my sisters reminded me that hobbits have slightly pointed ears. Hobbit ancestry makes more sense, for both sides of his family tree. So now my sister's family calls him Samwise.
When I talk about my boy's pointy ears, some people think I'm being negative, or complaining, and they try to tell me they aren't really that pointy, or that he'll grow out of it. I think his ears are cool. I wish I had slightly pointy ears. I hope he never grows out of them.

My son is amazing!

The following are actual unretouched photos of my three week old son rolling over. He did it on purpose, with full intent, and no assistance.






The photos make it look a bit easier than it was. The whole process took at least 15 minutes, probably more like 20. He also had a few almost overs and restarts, but he never stopped trying until he made it.
Yes I'm silly proud of him.

Presenting Sam

We're finally back online. The computer was down, for a number of reasons, but it's all fixed now and all the parts were under warranty, so that was good.
Since the last post we've been a bit busy.
On Friday May 8, 2009, at 3:01 pm, Samuel Abraham Miller entered the world. By the way he screamed, I think he may have changed his mind right away, but it was too late. He seems to be settling in okay though. We're thrilled and proud, of course. We made a great baby! He can already smile (no it's not just gas).

Here are some pictures;His first picture.
Here with daddy. He calmed down a bit.

New Grandma and Grandpa
It's not a great picture of Daddy, but isn't he cute?
The new family. 1, 2, and 3.
Here with Mama, on the day he came home.

I'll try to get more pictures up as soon as I can, but updating a blog while tending a new baby isn't easy.

About a Farmer

There was a farmer, from the land of long winters
He grew many things; potatoes, grain, cows for milk, and sheep
But his most important crop was flowers, five plants, each unique
All that he grew he cared about, but his flowers he loved
Now the other crops are gone, and the land is all sold
But the flowers remain
From them he has more than five times five twice
And he loves them all, down to the flowers’ flowers’ flowers.


Do you know this farmer?



(Grandpa, if you read this, I already know it doesn’t rhyme and that’s ok)

Poets

I found a new community of poets (new to me). It's called Strong Verse. ( strongverse.org ) It's published by Orson Scott Card, and I love their motto, "Good poetry is meant to be understood, not decoded." The editor also says, elsewhere on the site, "If it can only be understood by you and a few close friends, share it with them." and "If it doesn't make sense when you read it aloud, you're doing it wrong." I must say I like his philosophy. There are too many people who seem to think cryptic=deep. And, why does all poetry have to be deep? What's wrong with a poem that just makes you smile, or say "humm, yeah"?
I'm not a big follower of poetry, but as someone who has written some poems, I am interested in the subject. You may notice that I said "someone who has written some poems" and not "a poet" (now that I pointed it out, I'm sure you'll notice). I'm not sure where the dividing line is, but I don't (yet) see myself as a poet. Maybe it's because I can't say "I think I'll write a poem about the rain" and write one. My poems come as flashes. Sometimes they come fully formed (or nearly so), or I get a flash that starts it and then I have to keep mulling it over for weeks before I get it right. Without that flash, though, I got nothin'. Maybe it's because I'm waiting for some teacher/professor of literature to look over my work and say, "These poems are very good, you're a very good poet. May I share these with my students?" or for English lit majors to sit around and discuss the impact of my work. Those two senarios aren't likely to happen, so maybe I just need to have a poem actually published. Just one. (and a web-site that takes any poem submitted doesn't count) I did submit some poems to Strong Verse, so maybe if a professional editor, who's opinion on poetry I respect, chooses my work, then I'll feel like a poet.
Maybe it doesn't matter if I think of myself as a poet or not. I still keep getting the flashes, and writing them down, and hammering out what doesn't fit. Maybe it's better if I don't think of myself as a poet. Maybe it keeps me humble about what I do write. Maybe it doesn't matter that most of it is never widely seen.

I need to lodge a complaint

with the postal service. I just decided today. I need to complain about my letter carrier. She doesn't leave me envelopes with big checks in them often enough. I've heard other people get envelopes with big checks in them all the time (no one I know probably). I rarely get one. I feel that I am entitled to more big checks. Or at least I feel I should be entitled.

The Peanut Gallery begins

Ok, here it is, the reason this blog is called The Peanut Gallery:

This is Peanut.

and so is this.

and this one too.

The nickname "peanut" is kind of a tradition in Barb's family, and our baby will often be called peanut throughout his or her life

These are from the 20 week ultrasound, taken just before Christmas. We're quite proud of our baby. As you can see, he or she already learned how to suck his or her thumb. As first time parents, we consider the obvious early learning of such an important skill to be a sign of tremendous potential (and we DON'T want to hear that it just means our baby is average). We also love how clearly the 3d ultra sound shows how very cute our baby is. Adorable right? Yes, we agree.

We are now at 28 weeks, and our baby is fine and healthy. The due date is May 4.

We are currently keeping the gender of our baby a secret from all but a select few. We just don't think everyone needs to know. If we haven't told you yet, please don't ask. You'll find out when Peanut is born.

Just because we have them, here are a couple more pictures.


Btw; that is not the baby's tongue (we asked).

This is a test post, just thinking about trying to start a blog again. Who knows, between the two of us we might double the post count of the last one ;) I can't restart the old one because I lost the password, and the account is on my old e-mail address.