Samkitten is one of the few wee ones who makes me want to have kids:
This picture presents a real dilemma for the Balloon Juice ladies- do they ogle the baby, the hardwood floors, or the big closet?
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lamh32
Baby wins!!!
RedKitten
The closet is actually just a regular double closet. And the floors are laminate, not hardwood.
There, I’ve made your choice easy. :)
robertdsc
What a doll!
Cat Lady
He needs a Molson, eh?
TuiMel
@RedKitten:
That is one adorable little guy.
merrinc
As the mother of two above average (in every way) children, I can say with some authority that is one extremely adorable munchkin. You did good, RK.
Keith G
Samkitten obviously does not care who McChrystal is.
Yay Sam!! Oh and, he always brings a smile.
demkat620
I loved this age. The happy time. Everything is new and good and easy.
And then they hit three and its all downhill from there.
beltane
Sam is a beautiful child. Beware, John Cole, an acquaintance of mine went from fostering rescue dogs to hosting Fresh Air kids to adopting two of her Fresh Air kids. You may be at the beginning of a long journey here.
poco
And what dilemma does it present for the balloon juice gents?
Just Some Fuckhead
Mrs. Fuckhead luvs the pic. I wanna see pics of Fallows. I’m still all tingly from his earlier stopover. James Fucking Fallows. Pinch me.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@poco: Make a snarky comment and get e-smacked or StFu.
I’m going with Door Numero Dos.
(OK, seriously, that’s one cute kid.)
PeakVT
I’m painting the front bedroom a similar color this week. No wood floors yet, though. Maybe next summer.
MobiusKlein
A rocker like that is a death-trap.
Or a Darwinian engine, not sure.
You Don't Say
Unbelievably sweet.
Go USA!
beltane
I’m ogling those little shoes. We gave a few bags of baby clothes to Goodwill a couple of weeks ago and I was sad about it for a few days. No more baby shoes in my future.
Linda Featheringill
Samkitten is so cute.
One of the advantages of living a Life of Very Modest Means is that you frequently wind up in older houses. Lots of hardwood floors [that need a little TLC] and lots of charm.
But I have never found a Samkitten in any of these charming houses.
You Don't Say
@Just Some Fuckhead: I emailed him once and he replied!
Just Some Fuckhead
@You Don’t Say: You don’t say??
Cat Lady
@Just Some Fuckhead:
BJ visitors off the top of my head:
Greenwald (complete with his flying monkeys)
Charlie Pierce
James Fallows
James Wolcott
Jake Tapper
Joyner (ugh)
Rick Moran (get a brain, moran!)
Someone on Maddow’s staff
Someone on Jon Stewart’s staff (skull fucking a kitten reference)
Not bad for a shitty blog that still doesn’t pay for itself.
Jennifer
Definitely ogling the baby. I already have hardwoods and a closet about 3 x the size of that one (seriously, it’s so big that my dresser is in there and it doubles as a dressing room).
Barbara
No dilemma here: baby wins (though I do like the color of that room!). What an adorable little fellow, with those adorable little shoes!
Just Some Fuckhead
@Cat Lady: I prolly got the same way when Wolcott dropped by but the way I drink, who can remember.
canuckistani
@Cat Lady:
Wil Wheaton as well, but he ran away when everyone dorked out.
beltane
@Cat Lady: I suppose Big Tent Democrat/Armando doesn’t count as a special celebrity appearance.
JCT
Another vote for the baby, already have hardwood floors and I’m not a clotheshound.
He’s a beaut– my son got very naughty around that age though. Now he’s 6 inches taller than I am and sporting a mustache.
It is a very odd realization that the next time I get to have some serious baby time it will be as a grandmother. Yikes!
Mark S.
@Cat Lady:
A couple of the guys from Reason. I can’t tell them apart; all I know is none of them were Fonzi.
Cat Lady
@beltane:
He would have been, until he wouldn’t go away. How can you miss someone, if they won’t go away?
williamc
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Fallows was here today?
Gosh darn you job! I missed a stop-in by the sage of The Atlantic (a magazine I have read and loved for most of my life)? Damnit!
Hey JC, can you butcher a quote from Marty Peretz of TNR next? I always wanted to give that hater a piece of my mind, though its hard to see what he would take offense to enough to slum over at BJ (maybe if you mistook some of his writing as non-Arab hating?).
ellaesther
Ok, I’m sorry, you leave me no choice:
Behold! The spawn of ellaesther! When they were but wee.
That Sam Kitten is a very cute fellow, of that there is no doubt. But mine were no slouches….
Comrade Mary
He’s not a baby any more. He’s a little man, oh yes, he’s a real little man with his PANTS and his SHOES and he’s all oogum schmoogums, isn’t he? ISN’T HE?
Ahem.
Sorry, ovary overload. Carry on.
ellaesther
Also, too: Ogling the sweet rocker into which Sam Kitten just fits. I love little-kid sized furniture…!
lamh32
I’m long past the point where seeing pictures of cut kids makes me want to have one of my own. That no longer does it for me. If anything, the things that make me think about kids, is the thought that once I get really old (i’m 33), I’m gonna need someone to take care of me. I can’t count on my little sister, she has already said that she will use my old age to get back at me for all the bitchin’ and bossin’ her around…lol.
Skepticat
That is not a kitten any longer. That’s a CAT.
ellaesther
@poco: Really, man! As if the gents canna appreciate such delights!
TaMara (BHF)
As always RedKitten, Sam is one of the most adorable babies ever. Maybe we should get him an agent.
And John Cole, it’s your birthday and you’ve had quite a bit of wine, so I’m going to ignore the sexist comment. This time.
You Don't Say
@Just Some Fuckhead: Your disdain doubles my pleasure.
Mark S.
Is the goal in the NBA just to create cap space? A guy who averages close to 20 a game (albeit for crappy teams) is traded for two stiffs who average a combined six. You’d think the Bucks made out on this trade. You’d be wrong, because the two stiffs have those alluring expiring contracts.
There only seem to be about 4 or 5 teams that are even trying to win a title. Everyone else is just trading for guys like Juwon Howard so they can get rid of them at the end of the season.
ellaesther
Oh hey, that’s right! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN COLE!
I hope your menagerie of happy animals gave you all the snuggles you could handle.
Mnemosyne
We’re still going back and forth on the pros and cons and, shallow as it is, one of the pros for me is that we’d almost certainly have a little redhead like SamKitten.
Svensker
@Comrade Mary:
Ha ha ha. Yes. Ha ha.
Just Some Fuckhead
@williamc: Yeah, I missed the whole thing too. Summer cold, sinus infection, laryngitis and I had to work anyway. The only thing that makes me feel better is licking everyones keyboards while they’re at lunch.
JGabriel
Rolling Stone:
Whatever else you can say about McChrystal, his loyalty to his team is kind of admirab…
Oh. Umm, well, uh, never mind.
.
Just Some Fuckhead
@You Don’t Say: No disdain intended.
stinger
Why not all three? But baby first and last.
frosty
@Just Some Fuckhead: I sent him a comment about the Santa Monica / San Diego freeway interchange (and the female CalTrans engineer who designed it) and he wrote a post about it. Kewlness!
I’ve been reading him since he wrote for the Washington Monthly. He’s been consistently good in all that time. Too bad his magazine swerved to the right.
Karen in GA
Happy birthday!
@TaMara (BHF):
Ha! Yeah. SamKitten is adorable (and I say that as someone with no interest whatsoever in kids) — but… um… are those my only choices?
Now, if he were on a motorcycle and holding a ferret, that would be something else entirely.
Mark S.
Nikki Haley won today:
No idea why that’s fitting. Regardless, because Sarah backed her we’ll be getting 5,000 more articles about how Sarah and the teabaggers are taking over.
Anne Laurie
@ellaesther:
Seconded. Sam is a truly adorable child, but I can admire him without covetuousness, and be grateful to the universe that other people are willing to put in the hard work required. That weensy lil rocker, on the other hand…
Kerry Reid
@ellaesther:
Indeed. I want a bigger version just for me — so I can impersonate Edith Ann.
Ana Gama
Just so ya know, you won’t get one of those the same way you got Rosie. Happy B-Day!
John Cole
@TaMara (BHF): If it makes you feel better, I was checking out the closet and loved the color of the walls and was examining the paint job near the window frame.
Just Some Fuckhead
@TaMara (BHF): My little guy was pretty cute back in the day when two year olds with mullets were cute.
demimondian
You know what’s funny? I agree that Samkitten is an incredibly cute child. Seeing him being so cute, however, evokes absolutely no interest in having any more babies in the house — and that’s even during a week whenneither FDDD nor the demi-offspring aren’t here. (Yes, I was a bachelor for Father’s Day this year.)
I think I’m done with my own babies. Other people’s though…yeah, the great thing about working where I work is all the people who are just starting to have kids. They’re always glad to lend me their babies, for some reason.
valdivia
a little late to the thread but have to say I pick the baby. Love SamKitten.
ellaesther
@Just Some Fuckhead: Aw man, I love that picture! I can almost hear them laughing! That’s kinda awesome, that is.
Violet
SamKitten is so, so cute. Seriously, the kid could do TV commercials or movies or something. He’s that photogenic. Not that I’d recommend doing anything of the sort. But he’s just that gorgeous.
Ramalamadingdong
Ogling the outfit, especially the hoodie, along with the paint color. Some guy is taking all the closet space.
Hiram Taine
If you are watching the World Cup on your computer and the sound of the vuvuzela is aggravating you I just found an article that has a link to a free filter that will largely remove the beelike drone from your audio..
Devuvuzelator..
I suspect you could probably route the audio from your TV through the computer (assuming they are close enough and you have the wiring) and use this also but that’s pure conjecture on my part..
Enjoy..
Athenae
I think I’m done with my own babies. Other people’s though…yeah, the great thing about working where I work is all the people who are just starting to have kids. They’re always glad to lend me their babies, for some reason.
Nicest thing about being Auntie Athenae. I get to sugar ’em up, spoil ’em rotten and send ’em home.
A.
ellaesther
Hold the phone. I just realized: No Balloon Juice luv for the spawn of ellaesther?
Hearts of stone you people. Hearts of stone.
Just Some Fuckhead
@ellaesther: I missed the link, sorry! Adorable, and yer written piece captured it all. Remember when ya’d fall asleep with ’em and wake up and be half-crushing them and then frantically check to see if they were still alive and they’d be sleeping so soundly ya couldn’t tell??
I don’t miss that.
ellaesther
@Just Some Fuckhead: Missed the link you say? Well then, let me link more boldly, because honestly, my spawn were two of the cutest damn babies I ever laid eyes on. If I do say so. Ahem
BEHOLD! THE SPAWN OF ELLAESTHER! NOW IN CLEARLY LINKED FORM! http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/babies/
And thank you for your kind words about the accompanying post! I never feared that I had crushed them, so I don’t Not Miss that, but I do Not Miss doing other horrifying things, such as slamming fingers in a door (the boy), or leaving the basement door open thus allowing a ten-month old to roll down the stairs (the girl). These are things I very much Do Not Miss. Yikes.
Just Some Fuckhead
@ellaesther: There’s been a shift change and the night folks haven’t shown up yet so don’t take non-comments personally. And keep checking back, Steep is usually about three days behind.
eemom
@ellaesther:
they’s beauties, so they is! Scrumptious! As is the little Kitten.
I loves babies. Loves ’em, loves ’em, loves ’em. My kids are now 11 and 15 and I’m sort of in a constant state of denial that they will never be babies again……won’t let their mommy snuggle with them and hold them on her lap and give them lots of kissies. : (
They are definitely lower maintenance now though, which does have its advantages.
ellaesther
@Just Some Fuckhead: No worries, I don’t take it personally — I just like to yank the chains of the baby lovers on this wanna-be 4 chan joint. And of course, hear how lovely my babies were!
Now my kids — well, they are likely to be scarred for life. But I hope that doesn’t keep anyone up tonight. Or anything.
(I love the image of a shift change, by the way! Bj-ers with their metal lunch boxes and hard-hats, muttering curses and sweet nothings as they pass each other down the long series of tubes that is the internet. I appear to be a swing-shifter).
demimondian
@ellaesther: Yeah, the time the eldest rolled — head over heels — down the stairs. The time he shoved his hand into a car door just as I was closing it. (FDDD tells me it’s the only time she has ever heard me hysterical on the phone. No permanent damage done, except to me.)
I was listing precious memories for a colleague who’s expecting her first, and is having a very, very difficult pregnancy. I remember the exaltation of the first time I held the eldest in my arms. I remember the second one singing “birthday daddy birthday daddy”. I remember holding the second one very close as the baby in the crib two over died one night. I remember sleeping sitting up in “the chair” when he was a little older, because that way, he could sleep tucked in next to me with his head vertical so his ears didn’t hurt as much. Sleeping next to a hot, whimpering bundle of toddler with ear infection is not restful, but it’s incredibly meaningful. I remember telling the third one, during a temper fit, “All right, you may hit me — but you must not hurt me or you’ll have to stop.” He responded by yelling at the top of his lungs .. and hitting me in slow motion, being as careful as he could to barely touch me with each punch. Then after a minute of this, he laughed and threw his arms around my neck, giving me the biggest hug.
I would never do it again, but the memories make it more than worth having done it when we did.
Just Some Fuckhead
@ellaesther: I took paternity leave for three months when the boy was born because Mrs. Fuckhead’s business was tanking without her. My mom asked me what I knew about taking care of an infant and I told her, “I don’t have to take care of him, I just gotta keep him alive until she gets home.” So I spent about three months trying to remember to feed him and then getting rewarded by being puked on.
Restrung
Rundgren has kids.
Rundgren story, plz.
Mary G
@ellaesther: I’m on the West Coast and just checking in. The babies are both adorable. As is SamKitten.
ellaesther
@eemom: Thank you! I agree. The boy is now nearly-11, though, and the girl nearly-7, and I have taken to telling them that whereas they used to be cute, they are much more portable now, and that makes up for it. (But they’re still cute…). Thank God in heaven, both still allow me to snuggle them (if, occasionally, in seclusion from other mortals…).
@Just Some Fuckhead: As I understand it, we are well advised to expect no other reward. Puke, and bills. Bless them!
@demimondian: Aw man, that is quite a list. I am stunned by how fragile they are — how fragile they still are — and how little we really can do about it. Holding one’s own as another died… wow. I just can’t even imagine.
TrishB
I’ll just say that the closet looks too small, i.e. like mine, and the ovaries have probably shut down, so this pic is safe for me.
ellaesther
@Mary G: Thank you! I shouldn’t fish so blatantly for compliments. But yes, they were something! As is Samkitten.
Cat Lady
Well, that birthday was pretty cool Cole. Not many people get feted for 24 hours.
Why did Todd “same birthday” Rundgren call you an asshole? You can’t just say that, and not explain. Todd is God. I saw him in concert in the lobby of the building where I worked in 1999, at lunchtime. I’m jealous – I wish Todd called me an asshole. I’d feel pretty special.
fourlegsgood
the floors – the closet isn’t a walk in and I only like babies for a few minutes at a time.
josefina
In order:
* Scrumptious toddler! Two-ish? Must dig up the file of crafty projects for littles to send to his mom. Mum. Whatever.
* That is a gorgeous yellow on the walls.
* OMG. They hang their knits? On wooden hangers? With room to spare? Luxury!
slag
You’re cute, kid, but you still look like a lot of work to me. The hardwoods (as laminate as they are) look like a lot less work. So, they win.
auntieeminaz
@RedKitten: There was no choice! Sam is a dream.
josefina
(Not sure why everything’s bold. I edited like someone who edits real hard and I couldn’t fix it.)
slag
@fourlegsgood:
I only like people of any age for a few minutes at a time. With rare exceptions. That’s probably not a good thing.
MikeJ
@josefina: Did you start your bullet points with asterii? That does it.
Jennifer
For those of you drooling over the color of the walls, you can approximate it with Benjamin Moore’s Chestertown Buff. (Be aware that all yellows have a tendency to go much brighter when they go up on the wall – this one won’t go neon and will get you very close if not dead-on to the lovely color in the photo.)
Steeplejack
Night shift checking in (for Ellaesther).
What the hell is going on here?!
I go away for 11, maybe 12 hours, and upon my return I find not the usual snarling nest of vipers, malcontents and layabouts but a fucking estrogen-soaked hippie lovefest, apparently triggered by some inane picture of a kid in a rock–oh, look at the little SamKitten! You’re the man, aren’t you? Who da man? You da man! Nom nom nom nom [slap]
Thanks, I needed that. Where was I? Oh, yeah, I am really feeling the love tonight here at Balloon Juice, and frankly it is disconcerting. Okay, SamKitten I’m used to, but Ellaesther is tossing out pictures of retro cuties and people are testifyin’ to the parental love. Man, even Fuckhead is showing his human side–and posting a picture of two extremely charming kids, allegedly his own spawn (although I will check Awkward Family Photos to see if he Photoshopped something from there). Frankly, Fuck, it humanizes you in a way that is simultaneously awesome and terrifying. I think I need a drink. And I mean in a different way from the way I always need a drink after work.
Next thing you know AsiangrrlMN will be showing up with a picture of herself at age 6 with her first rusty pitchfork (which was really just an old salad fork she found at the beach one summer).
Mark S.
@Steeplejack:
That would be adorable!
Comrade Mary
Give me back my fucking ovaries, Steeplejack.
ellaesther, JSF, demi: thanks for the baby stories and pictures. Damn, but our DNA does a fine and heartbreaking (and backbreaking) job of perpetuating us.
IndyLib
@ellaesther:
Gorgeous, gorgeous babies.
RedKitten – SamKitten just keeps getting cuter and cuter.
JSF – your kids are cutie pies, too. I love mullets on little guys. My 11 year old has one and he won’t let us cut his hair any other way. My husband is in the military and all of my boys have longish hair – they so look like little mini DFHs when they are playing with the boys of other military families.
Mark S.
Speaking of AsiangrrlMN, I noticed from the pings of aluminum bats that the College World Series has started, and Sothern Miss or Miss St or whatever hick school Brett Favre attended isn’t there. Favre said he’d only come back if his alma mater made the WS, so I guess he isn’t coming back. Right?
Yutsano
@Mark S.: Snicker. Favre will play football with a fucking walker and still be allowed, if only because he’s still a ticket draw. It’s not like he still needs the money, he’s made a fortune and $20 million dollars goes a very long way in Mississippi. But ego is winning out over all with him at this point. Oh well, at least he won’t be the oldest professional athlete in the US. I believe that title still belongs to Jamie Moyer, and please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Oh and obligatory SAMKITTEH!!
R-Jud
Thanks for this picture, RedKitten and Cole. It made the Bean stop crying.
RedKitten
Glad everybody likes that yellow — it took a long time for me to pick it out. Yellow is tricky.
I got it at Home Hardware (Canucks will know the place), and the colour is “Rattan”. If someone really wants that shade, let me know, and I can go and ask them what the colour mix is.
RedKitten
Oh, and you think THAT’S a wee rocker? We have one half that size.
Mum
@lamh32:
Absolutely. Hands down.
Lisa K.
Hoping to do some home revisions soon, including repainting my dining room and living room, I’m studying the wall color myself…
CynDee
I go for the baby; the rest is just details. I had one like that, but he grew up on me. Now a great big interesting, smart and joyful man — but just as fun and appealing as he ever was.
Now, if you want a wall that color, get Benjamin Moore eggshell finish Yellow Haze. We did our breezeway in that, and people who come to our house always want to go in there for their entire visit. They ” just LOVE this room!”
We started out with the idea not of yellow walls, but a room filled with sunlight (my husband’s idea), and that is the effect this color delivers.
Later the Mr. did a small bedroom in his mom’s house with it, and it plays the same in there. Definitely spectacular with white trim and furnishings.
That said, SamKitten’s face here is what REALLY fills this room with sunshine . . .
P.S., John Cole, some might call your remarks sexist, others could find them: tuned in.
WereBear
@ellaesther: Late to the thread, but wanted to say:
Mmm, mmm,mm splutrt splurt ( on their bellies)
Sorry couldn’t help myself. What was that I was saying… Oh yes! Your babies were adorable! What a lovely reminiscence.
But you do have them, in your memories. Fortunately, they do grow up.
What a cute photo of SamKitten! My nephew was that age when we got him his own little Adirondack chair. Sigh.
When he was about SamKitten’s age, I put on a little adventure movie around his crib, using his stuffed animals, and he laughed and laughed.
You just don’t hear that kind of laughing except from babies.
JCT
@WereBear:
*Nothing* is as infectious as that baby belly laugh. I miss babies.
CynDee
Oops, I see that RedKitten already listed the yellow paint color.
debbie
A majorly cute baby. Nothing beats a kid’s smile!
Gus
@You Don’t Say: Same here. Best part is it was about beer.
flukebucket
Very, very late to this ogling but I cannot believe how much that kid has grown.
RedKitten
@flukebucket: I know. He’s huge. When I tell people his age, they invariably say, “He’s only TEN months old!?” Most everybody thinks he’s more around the 15-month mark, seeing as he’s already 32 inches long (> 97th percentile for length).
chuck
Enough with the fucking dogs and babies already.
Tsulagi
Happy looking little big guy. Yeah, he has grown. Cute. Of course what’s missing in that pic is a little brother or sister to keep him company. Better get busy.
Liz
OH I am late to the party but thank you! Lovely little Samkitten baby. How big he’s gotten!!!
twiffer
he is cute, but i’ll jump into the cute kid link battles with my own.
RedKitten
@chuck:
I’d say SOMEONE needs a nap…
shelly
Sexist much?
demimondian
@shelly: Given that it’s a fair evaluation of the commenters *here* — as the thread above shows — what makes it sexist? SamKitten threads almost always draw only comments from women; it’s actually relatively unusual to even see any of the male regulars in them. Are we not allowed to know our own pattern of activity?
flukebucket
Well. I may not comment on the SamKitten threads but I am a male regular and I have read every one of them. I have my first grandson on the way and I am trying to get mentally prepared.
SadieSue
@ellaesther:
Your kids were absolutely adorable & I absolutely love what you wrote about going back in time to relive certain moments – I can relate completely. My shortly-to-be five honorary twin nephews (& their 2 1/2 year old sister) were here a bit ago & your essay made me tear up. I’ve helped raise these three (no kids of my own by choice) since the boys were 3 1/2 weeks old & the one moment I would most like to relive would be when they would fall asleep on my shoulder after feeding & burping. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, better than an absolutely boneless baby, butt tucked into my palm, fast asleep against my chest & shoulder.
I’m still finding it funny that I chose not to have children because I utterly adore babies & am amazingly good with them. As the kids grow, I am also finding that I’m brilliant with kids, too.
And finally, SamKitten is SO adorable. I’m really enjoying watching him grow! Thank you for sharing, RedKitten.
asiangrrlMN
Very late to the party. I take one night off, and all teh cuteness comes exploding into the picture (no pun intended). Hey, Cole! I can do all three things at the same time, but why bother? SamKitten is insanely cute and would commandeer attention in any picture he’s in.
And, I must say, we have some REALLY FINE looking kids on this blog. #Peers about her suspiciously#.
I love kids. I am a great aunt. Why? Because I can give ’em back at the end of the night.
@Steeplejack: Oh my god. Had you already been drinking when you wrote this?
I couldn’t stop laughing as I read it. Now, I might actually have to ‘shop something (I was a cute kid, if I may say so myself–and then I grew up).
@Mark S.: I took your advice and concentrated on one player. Worked, didn’t it? This is how I root for the Vikings: Go, Vikes! Get a concussion, Favre!