(If you can’t read the nametag, it says Camasaurus Rex!)

Last Thursday was a milestone in the Johnson household - Cam used his big boy potty! Over the last few weeks we’ve encouraged him to sit on his little blue and white plastic throne just to get him comfortable on it. Luckily he took to it right away and started sitting on it several times a day - before/after baths or around diaper changing time. In fact, it’s possible he got a too comfortable with the idea:

Anyway, Thursday night he was in the bathroom pointing out (about a hundred times) which one was his potty and which one was daddy’s potty. Aimee and I were getting a little restless, so I got my hands damp in the sink, then opened his potty and flicked some water into it, which triggers some annoyingly happy music. Cam thought that was pretty awesome, but didn’t get the hint. So I went into the other room to talk with my mom for a minute, when all of the sudden I heard Cameron crying and Aimee celebrating!

Apparently while I was gone, Cam had started dancing around nervously, saying “Mommy…ish!” She sat him down on the pot and boy did he ever make an ish! Again, I know you have to be a parent to fully appreciate this, but I’m proud to show you Cameron’s big bathroom movement…I mean moment (picture edited to keep your appetite in tact):

Way to go buddy! Next up, driver’s permit!

Fortunately, she’s doing much better now. However, Brinkley and her sister Jada are in for another disappointment this week. First, let me say that while we do have the pups tone-trained on a remote collar system, unless we watch them constantly while we’re outside, they will leave our yard and wander the neighborhood. As a result, their potty/exercise breaks have had to be shorter and shorter (since we obviously have to keep an eye on Cam at the same time), and Aim and I have felt bad about that.

So, in an attempt to improve quality of life for them and us, we’re biting the bullet and installing Invisible Fence tomorrow. I know a lot of dog owners are against this kind of “jail,” but I think it’s a win-win for everyone.

Plus, I’m buying a third collar so I can put it on Cam and teach him not to cross the street without permission. (It’s a joke, folks. You don’t have to call Dr. Phil or Oprah.)

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Actually my secret is something my pal Erin told me about. Check out YearbookYourself.com, and if you post your pics online somewhere, let us know in the comments section!

Cam caught some serious air…

…and fortunately none of the little kids smashed faces during some heated rounds of Ring around the Rosy:

We made a cake featuring Cam’s favorite Sesame Street character…

…complemented by some appropriate decor:

The best party decoration of all, though, was courtesy of Barb from Party Bags to Go:

I’m not sure if you can tell from the picture, but this Elmo is four feet tall! Cameron loved pointing at Elmo and talking to him from a distance, but wasn’t real thrilled to see him up close…

…and really didn’t like it when mommy and daddy gave Elmo a hug, so we joined Cam in a group cry session:

We loved keeping that balloon Elmo on display for a few days…except for the time I had to get Cam a drink of water in the middle of the night. I thought a short person dressed in red was burglarizing our house.

Last week Aim and I stopped at SuperAmerica to gas up for a road trip, and as I futzed through my wallet to find my credit card, I was happy to stumble upon a gas card given to me as a gift almost a year ago. I couldn’t use the card at the pump though, so I had to prepay inside (this is critical to the story, so keep this in mind).

I grabbed some snackies and pop, then settled in back of the one open checkout line. The cashier managing the line looked like that one lady from The Goonies. As I watched her grumble and belittle customers as they came through the line, I looked frantically for an alternative cashier to help me escape my doom. Unfortunately, Giggly High School Girl was too busy texting and LOLing on her Sidekick, and Bitter College Kid was committed to refilling propane tanks. My fate was sealed.

I put my products down on the counter, gave Goonies Lady a big smile and said “Hi, how are ya?” as she began to ring me up. She grunted in my direction, scanned my goods and gave me the total. What transpired next was uncomfortable:

Me: I’d like to use this gas card for $40 on pump 10.

Goonies Lady (looking at my pop and chips): *Grunt!* That card can only be used for gas.

Me: Right. Well, I want to buy gas with the card, so I think we’re all set.

Goonies Lady: But you are also buying this stuff! *Grunt!*

Me: Ok…so…

Goonies Lady: I’d have to ring this stuff up separate if you use that gas card.

Me: Ok…so…

Goonies Lady: Oh, FINE! *Grunt!* *Grunt!*

She pounded away at the register, swiped my gas card, rang the transaction, charged me for the pop and chips, rang that transaction, then threw my change and receipt at me and grunted again. I tried to remain calm as I left, thinking that I could either:

• Burn the place down on my way out.
• Write a heated email to SuperAmerica corporate.
• Do nothing.

I was already cooling off as I got in the car, so I chose option C and figured I’d probably never see that lady again. And besides, I had a Mountain Dew and Pizza Craver’s Doritos, so life was good, right?

WRONG! I looked down at my gas gauge and it was almost at the E! What the heck…did I prepay for my gas and then not pump it? Yep, that’s exactly what I did!

I whipped a 180 at the nearest exit, and told Aimee that she was going to have to go in there and explain everything to Goonies Lady. She refused, of course, and left me to die via public embarassment.

I sulked into the front doors, ready for my death, when to my surprise…Giggly High School Girl had just opened a register! I ran to her like Forest Gump and whispered what had just happened, hoping Goonies Lady wouldn’t overhear. I almost succeeded, except once Giggly High School Girl realized I was “that guy” who just did a real boneheaded move, she got all excited:

“Oh my gaw, we saw you drive off and were like, oh my gaw, like what is he doing? Haw-haw-haw! But like, I totally saw you drive off and just canceled the prepay credit on your pump so nobody would like, get free gas or something.”

Though I was blushing from the fact that everyone in the store heard about my stupidity, I did want to hug Giggly High School girl and tell her she had a, like, totally bright future in customer service. I ran out of the gas station like my life depended on it, but not before catching a quick disapproving glance from Goonies Lady.

I remembered to actually put the gas in the vehicle this time, and soon we were ready to go. I considered rolling down the window and shouting “Say hi to Sloth for me!” but decided that would be childish. I also toyed with the idea of finding Goonies Lady’s car in the parking lot and shoving one of Cam’s skid-marked diapers in the tailpipe. But again, my high character (i.e. Aimee telling me she’d kill me if I did either one) prevailed.

The Skinny:
A team of astronauts are sent to re-ignite the sun.

The Good:
This movie was made by Danny Boyle, whose past work (such as 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later) I loved, so I was excited to see this film. The first act of the film was really enjoyable because it does a good job of setting up the fact that these astronauts are in for a bumpy ride. And it’s unclear whether the crew’s difficulties will include natural disasters, conflicts among themselves, or perhaps some sort of alien villains.

The Bad:
Without ruining any surprises, I can say that the crew’s difficulties are the focus of the film, but unfortunately the handling of those difficulties is really poor. There are several scenes where potentially interesting conflicts were setup, but then those conflicts were either not followed up on, or completed in a way that lacked any real tension or drama.

This is made worse from the fact that the actors are more or less just character placeholders. They aren’t developed or given any back story, so it’s really hard to give a rip about them. Cillian Murphy was the only face I recognized, and though I still don’t know how I feel about his acting, his scratchy hushed-tone voiceovers made me want to get hearing aids.

The Ugly:
The final “challenge” for the crew was pretty far out of left field. I started laughing and half-expected to hear “Jason-Jason-Jason-Jason-kill-kill-kill-kill!”

The Bottom Line:
This movie made me thankful for the sun, as well as the stop button on my DVD player.

Score:

Technorati tags: Sunshine, movie reviews

The Skinny:
Hayden Christensen plays a young man who can “jump” to any place in the world just by thinking really hard about it. Yep, that’s the whole story folks!

The Good:
The film’s premise is definitely one of those “Oh man, I wish I could do that!” kind of things I thought about as a kid, and it is mildly amusing to watch Hayden zip around the world, and explore the freedom of his new powers. I can’t think of many more positive things to say except that Rachel Bilson, playing Hayden’s girlfriend, does exactly what is asked of her character (pout a lot).

The Bad:
While Jumper’s concept has potential, it clearly wasn’t thought out very well, because there is no further definition of Hayden’s character or powers to make him a well-balanced hero. For example, Superman can always take the “easy way” out and fly away from danger, but not if the bad guy has Kryptonite! In this case, Hayden doesn’t really have a Kryptonite. The bad guys just need to be fast enough to catch him like a rat. So it’s hard to feel nervous for Hayden in tense situations when he can be half away across the world in a blink of an eye. On a nerdy side note, I’d think eventually the bad guys pursuing him would give up after a few of his “jumps,” given how expensive plane tickets are, and how tight airport security is getting :-).

The Ugly:
Samuel L. Jackson sports blond hair, perhaps to try and somehow differentiate this character from the 24,391 other bad/angry guys he’s played.

The Bottom Line:
I hate to get caught up in a reality check again, but after you see the film, ask yourself this: wouldn’t this have all been over a lot sooner if Hayden just “jumped” Sam Jackson during their first encounter? Then again, if he did that, this movie never would have existed. And that would be fine with me.

Score:

Technorati tags: Jumper, movie reviews