I saved time today feeding Josh his oatmeal cereal by just tossing half the container on his bib and face. (just kidding) He’s getting better at swallowing. I’ve sweetened the deal by using breast milk instead of water. I think he likes that better and it adds nutrition to an otherwise bland cereal. I think I’m getting better too at finding out how to make the spoonfuls stay in. But it’s still a holy mess.

A growing pet peeve of mine is the lack of friends contacting me/us. It seems like unless I’m hosting something (party, BBQ, game night) people don’t take the initiative to call or get together. I spoke to a few people last week I haven’t seen since Josh was born. That was five months ago. In our conversation, inevitably they close with “We should get together” or “I need to come see you guys”. And then nothing happens. In marketing, we use a term called Call-To-Action in advertisements. That’s the corny but essential line that tells people to do something in response to the ad, like get off their lazy butts and buy the product. “Call Today!” “Buy One Now!” “Visit Us Online!” “Attend Our Sales Event!” People who make comments like “we should get together” should make a call-to-action statement. “We should get together sometime- Are you busy Sunday afternoon?” If they don’t, their putting the initiation on me to contact them (again) to do something. It’s like the empty line at the end of a bad date: “I’ll call you”. If I took the initiative to contact them, and they feel the need to reconnect as friends, they should be the ones to make something happen. Propose a date and time to call, do lunch, have drinks, visit, whatever. I guess I'm tired of being the one to make the first call or schedule the events.

“Proof” is a decent movie but leaves you wanting more. It’s the fancy meal that looks good on the menu but the portion is way too small. Four characters make up this dish: Gwyneth Paltrow is the daughter who cared for her father before he died – Anthony Hopkins is the father - Jake Gyllenhaal is a grad student who idolizes the father’s work - Hope Davis plays a controlling sister who wants to sell the family house after the father dies. There are several potential stories going on: Half crazy recluse girl questions her sanity. Boy meets crazy girl and starts a fleeting relationship. Father makes some great contribution to math and science in his formative years. Girl learns from father her own flare for mathematical genius. Sisters fight over how to settle several matters. Sister tries to “fix” things after their father dies. All of these stories are started but none are fully resolved. This film was a cross between Beautiful Mind and Shakespeare in Love. I have a hard time deciding what this movie is about because so much is set up but nothing is really explored in detail or finished. It would have been great to know how the father went insane, why the controlling sister is so different, what motivates the daughter and the grad student to understand the math left in the wake of the father’s death. Anyway, it was fun to watch and worthy of a rental for those who are looking for my opinion.

So just how did I see “Proof” anyway? The Angelika Theatre has a Cry Baby Matinee for people with little ones. They put out a diaper change table and keep the lights dimmed so we mothers can see what we’re doing. Josh watched some of the movie with me, played on my lap a little then took a nap. About five or six other women with babies were there, along with a few non-baby people who either didn’t know it was a special matinee or didn’t care. No one’s baby cried loudly or caused a scene. Overall, it was nice getting out and bringing the babe with me. I’ll probably do this again. There should be more places that offer baby-friendly things to do in the daytime. Performance halls, theatre houses, comedy clubs, gyms, zoos, museums, and the like could benefit from offering discounts to stroller pushing patrons in the day.

Last bit of update about Josh... I'm slowly trying to teach him how to put himself to sleep at night. It's not going well. I like sleeping too much to try the cry-it-out method, even for two minutes. He doesn't nap long enough in the day to practice. Plus, I feel guilty letting him bawl if he wakes up and no one soothes him. His only way to communicating is through crying sounds, even if he's not really upset about something. So I've been popping the pacifier in whenever he stirs in his sleep at night. My only progress is laying him down somewhat awake but really sleepy to let fall asleep on his own. But I'm not sure how to best handle the waking from sleep and returning to sleep issue. Ahhh- a question to pose to the next new moms group on Friday. :)