Scandalous

I JUST WATCHED THE SEASON FINALE OF "SCANDAL"!!!!!!!

Mr. Fantastic doesn't watch it (YET--I think I'm going to start getting the DVDs from Netflix so I can get him hooked.) and my parents stopped watching it... AND I NEED SOMEONE TO HELP ME DESTRESS! Talk me through this, friends!

(Beware: Spoilers to follow. You may want to stop here if you haven't seen it yet.)





(Come on, really. You don't want me to spoil it for you, do you? It's worth watching for yourself.)






(Are you still here??? Go watch it and get on back over here quick!)





OK, now that we're all on the same page, let's take a deep breath and talk about this calmly...


THE B613 GUY IS HER ***DAD***????????? Did she know this? Is that how she got Huck "out"? Or will it be a complete surprise to her? Why did he send someone to KILL her? Or WAS that woman going to kill her? But if she wasn't, why did they put Jake in the hole? Is her dad really just trying to keep his "little girl" away from the President, or is there something more?

On another note, I am SO OVER the Olivia/Fitz thing. I was all on board until this last breakup and he goes back to Mellie. For goodness sakes, folks. If he and Olivia start back up, I'm not sure I can keep watching. I wanted them to be together, but now I hope that it just stays over.

Oh, and I forgot to ask the most important question: NO NEW EPISODES UNTIL THE FALL??? What am I going to DO with myself?

Oh yeah, I'll be in an RV in Yellowstone with 3 children. I could film my OWN high-drama television show.

I just hope Huck pulls through this OK................. (They're NOT real people... they're NOT real people... they're NOT real people...)

Rumble, Rumble

Not long ago, Mr. Fantastic and I were talking about Roo's development, and we noted that he had waited and waited and waited to start walking--and then went immediately to running. Everywhere. This kid never slows down. He has two speeds: running and TOP speed. Nothing else. And then Mr. Fantastic mused, "I think he's going to do the same thing with talking. He's picking up more and more. I think one day he's just going to burst out talking."

I think he's right. And today I feel the rumblings of the coming "language explosion."

Here are the words that Roo used in context AND unprompted at Target this morning:

• "Car"
• "Ball"
• "Shoe"
• "Cow"
• "Mama" (YAY!!!!!!!!!!)
• "Cheese!" (when he saw the cameras :-) )

This is not the full extent of his vocabulary, but for most of those words, this is the first time he has used them on his own, without me saying it first or pointing to something for him to name.

Here is a more complete list of all of his words...

• Hi
• Bye
• Yes
• No
• Up
• Down
• Hello! (Different from "hi"--he says it when he sees or hears a telephone)
• Help
• Eat
• More
• Please
• Play
• Walk
• Go
• Yogurt
• Popcorn
• Oatmeal
• Cookie
• Belly
• Sock
• Shoe
• Book
• Daddy (Actually, it usually sounds like "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!")
• Upstairs/downstairs (They both sound pretty much the same.)
• Thank you
• Love you
• Cow
• Doggie
• "Moo"
• "Woof, woof"
• "Meow"
• "Baaa"

AND he can say his name. Add in the first six words I listed, and that makes almost FORTY words and animal noises! FORTY! He also makes consistent noises for "cracker", "train", and "milk", but I'm not counting those because they don't sound ANYTHING like the actual words.

And he sings pretty hilarious renditions of "ABCs", "Jesus Loves Me", and "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." I'm trying to get a video, but every time I get out the camera he stops singing and turns into a big ol' ham.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this boy is incredible. Some days I can definitely get bogged down in the delays and the seemingly endless toddler phase, but I really wouldn't trade it. I love the opportunity to really relish each and every milestone. We have fought for every word he can say, and I cherish them all.

And these are just the rumblings. There's an explosion of words waiting to happen, I can feel it. One day in the not too distant future, I'm going to walk in his room after his nap and he'll say, "There you are, Mommy! I'm so glad to see you!" Actually, it'll probably be more like, "Get me out of this crib, woman! I've got stuff to do!"

Either way, I'll take it.