Not a Trick Question

Guess what Pebbles is going as for Halloween?

Pebbles Flintstone!

Guess what I replied when I saw the text with her costume?

Yabba dabba doo!

As Babysitters Do

Always on the lookout for good TV shows to stream in their entirety, I appreciated the interactive "Want to Watch" button on the NY Times list of the 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century. Of course, I also enjoyed the "Have Seen" button and the resulting list of 25 shows I already watched; although it's not a very braggable percentage, I love a tally sheet. Even more granular? Once I marked a show as "seen," I could also record whether I liked it. Call me easy; I only disliked two.

Even though I followed the list when it was released, 20 at a time, read it again a few times, and discussed it show by show with Treat, Riley, and Julie, it was not at all on my mind when I went to babysit yesterday. "Here's the TV remote," my friend said before she left, "watch whatever you want."

I laughed because I rarely watch television in the middle of the day, but I thanked her anyway. After she left, the baby was asleep, and her husband was working remotely in the study, and after a few minutes on my phone, I looked at the big screen above the fireplace. For some reason, Friday Night Lights, number 14 on the list, and a show I had heard a lot about but had never even seen an episode of, popped into my head. 

"Have you ever seen this?" I asked her husband when he came in to check on the still-sleeping baby and me. He shook his head no. I was about halfway into episode one, and it didn't take long to bring him up to speed. From then on, he joined me and the baby, who woke up, ate, burped, and went back to sleep, whenever there was a break in his work. We became absorbed in the drama of the small-town Texas high school football team. Somehow it seemed a good fit for the vibe of the job.

"Wow!" he said to me at the end of episode three, "you are really putting a dent in this show!"

"Without commercials?" I shrugged. "They're only about 40 minutes. Plus, isn't that what babysitters do? Watch the kids, then watch TV? It's definitely how we did it in high school!"

"That seems appropriate," he agreed, nodding at the kids on the TV .

The Days Are Just Packed

The contract for my consulting/coaching gig is in limbo, and it looks like the school system finally got their sub program to the point where one no longer has her pick of dozens of jobs, so my days have opened up.

Or have they? 

I'm still bowling, walking my neighbor's dog, and going on adventures with my friend Mary. Plus, I've volunteered to give our friends with the new baby a couple of hours two days a week; I'll hold, feed, or change Pebbles while they fold laundry, do dishes, take showers, or whatever. A little dopamine and oxytocin can only do me good!

Here's Looking at You, Kid

"She's the most skeptical baby in the world!" Pebbles' dad told us when we finally met her yesterday. "All she does is give you the side-eye whenever you change her, feed her, talk to her, whatever."

"She may come by that honestly," I laughed, because he is the questioning, analytical type himself.

And, sure enough, she did side-eye me with raised eyebrows as I cooed and rocked her, but you know who she looked right at? Heidi! 

No one can resist those big blue eyes, not even the most skeptical baby in the world.

Baby Sun Signs

It's been day-to-day for our friend who is nearing the end of her pregnancy. She has a C-section scheduled for September 1, but it's likely that Pebbles, as we affectionately call the infant-to-be, will make her appearance before that. Of course, we are excited to welcome a new baby into our friend circle, and we have been getting daily reports on how likely it is that we will meet her sooner rather than later. 

As part of that conversation, I've been contributing astrological information. "If she comes this week," I told her mom as we were floating in the pool the other day, "Pebbles will be a Leo."

"I don't know what that means." My friend shook her head.

"Well..." I started, considering how to put it. "Leos are brave and bold, like a lion. They have big personalities."

She smiled and nodded.

"They can also be willful and stubborn," I added.

"I'm stubborn enough," my friend sighed. "She might just take after me."

"If she's born next week, though," I said, "she'll be a Virgo."

"And that means?" my friend asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Virgos like routine," I told her. "They are generally calm and practical, also observant and helpful."

"I can get behind that!" she laughed. "That would totally work in our family."

And so, when this morning passed with no word of a new baby, Heidi texted. "Congratulations! Pebbles is officially a Virgo!"

Taking a Swipe at It

 "We've been talking about names," our friend who's expecting told us this afternoon.

"You mean Pebbles might not stick?" I joked. "What could possibly be better?"

"Actually," her husband said, "we downloaded an app."

"That's smart," Heidi said.

"It gives you a list of names," our friend said, "and you swipe right if you like one."

"We do it separately," her husband continued, "and then it tells you which ones you matched."

"Yeah, but we went through, like, 500 names," his wife said, "and we only agreed on maybe five."

"What were they?" I asked.

They shrugged. "I think one was Zoe," he told us.

"I honestly can't remember any others," she agreed. "And we need a middle name, too."

"You still have plenty of time," Heidi assured them.

"Or? Pebbles it is!" I added. "We all agree on that one!"

Pebbly-Poo and Bubble Trouble

Our friends, who are expecting their first child in early September, are having their shower this weekend, and mutual friends who have moved away are traveling here to attend. These other friends have three little girls, and the kids are very excited about both the trip and the shower. The oldest even has some ideas for what to name the baby. She favors either Julia (her own baby sister's name) or Bubbles. 

Personally, I can get behind Bubbles, but not for this baby. This one is already Pebbles to me. We have been calling her that since last Halloween, when we saw a family dressed as the Flintstones. "That could be us next year," our friend said to her husband, since they were planning on starting a family soon.

"Oh my gosh! Promise me you'll call the baby Pebbles!" I laughed. "That would be so awesome!" 

And so she has been Pebbles to all of us, and will be until christened otherwise, and maybe even after that. But I know they are planning a second child in the near future, and she can totally be Bubbles!