Last Tuesday, guest quizzer LM Long, offered her creative mind and a prize for one lucky participant. (link here)
So, here’s how Gage picked the winner. He has new toys and there are 10 fun colors. I assigned all colors to each guesser based on the order that you guessed (excluding 2)
Then I gave Gage the bowl and he mixed them up…
Congratulations! I’ll be contacting you shortly.
Gage, like most white babies, was born with dark blue eyes. This week he’s turn 10 months old (can you believe it?!) and I was wondering if his eyes would stay the color they are now, a hazelly color. 2 grandparents and mom have brown eyes. One grandparent and dad have green eyes. Remaining grandparent has blue/green eyes. Here’s what I found, (link here)
Q. When will my baby’s eyes change color?
That is a common question from parents of infants. Will their baby’s eyes stay gray, which many babies are born with, or will they turn brown, green, or blue?
Most experts think that your baby’s eye color will either stay the same or will darken over the first six to nine months of her life. So gray or blue eyes can turn brown, green, or hazel, but brown eyes likely won’t lighten and become blue.
Unfortunately, you will likely just have to wait and see what they do.
Genetics and Eye Color
Another common question is how does a baby end up with blue eyes when both parents have brown eyes.
That can happen because the gene for blue eye color is recessive, which means that you need two genes for blue eyes to actually have blue eyes. On the other hand, the gene for brown eyes is dominant, so you only need one gene for brown eyes to have brown eyes. Therefore, if someone has one gene for blue eyes and one gene for brown eyes (we usually have two genes for most things like eye color, hair color, or height, getting one from each parent), the baby will have brown eyes.
But even if two parents have brown eyes, they could both have one gene for blue eyes. If they each pass this gene to their baby, then the baby will have two genes for blue eyes and will actually have blue eyes.
The gene for green eyes is also dominant over blue eye color, but is recessive to brown. So what color eyes could a baby have if one parent had green eyes and the other parent had brown eyes? Since the genetics of eye color is quite complex and poorly understood, the real answer is that the baby could have almost any eye color from hazel to blue.
So, it’s anybody’s guess. His eyes do look dark in photos, but they are not a true brown. Yet.
Compare these 2 pics I took on Friday. I’m thinking they may end up closer to my color than Jason’s.
How long did it take for you or your child’s eyes to reach their permanent color?
Yesterday I told you all how charming I found this book (review here) and when I was out and about today I stopped in Border’s to see of they had any copies left. And they did! So, I picked one up for a lucky blog reader.
I fell in love with the illustrations and think you will too. Visit Laura’s website to see her talent.
To be entered to win just leave a comment with your email address. That’s it.
Giveaway open til August 31. Open worldwide.
Finished 8-11-11, rating 5/5 , Quotations, 82 pages, pub. 2007
As I was walking around our Border’s I saw this little gem on the Bargain shelves for $3.99 but with an additional 25% off, I could not pass it up and you shouldn’t either. I love books of quotes. I have quite a few but this one is different. This one has the most charming illustrations. Stoddart has done several of these keepsake books, but this is the first I’ve seen. Visit her website and click on Portfolio, then you can click on each book to scroll through some of the illustrations. They are gorgeous.
The quotes are some of your favorites and some that I’m sure will be new to you. She also includes snippets from books like Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Little Women and others. Even authors like Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse make appearances. These are older and more British than some other books of this type. There are 5 sections and I’ll include a favorite from each one.
Part I The Nature of Love
The absolute yearning of one human body for another particular one and its indifference to substitutes is one of life’s major mysteries.
Iris Murdoch (1918-1999) The Black Prince
Part II The Pursuit of Love
I am in love and I want to grow pale; I am in love and I want to suffer; I am in love, and I give away my genius in exchange for a kiss.
Alfred de Musset (1810-1857) La Nuit d’Aout
Courtship to marriage, as a very witty prologue to a very dull play.
William Congreve (1670-1729) The Old Bachelor
Part III Love & Marriage
When you’re away, I’m restless, lonely,
Wretched, bored, dejected; only
Here’s the rub, my darling dear,
I feel the same when you are near.
Samuel Hoffenstein (1890-1947)
Part IV The Love Affair
Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.
Rose Franken (1896-1988) Another Claudia
Love is like linen, often changed, the sweeter
Phineas Fletcher (1580-1650) Sicelides
Part V Last Words on Love
And what do all the great words come to in the end, but that?-
I love you – I am at rest with you – I have come home.
Dorothy l Sayers (1893-1957) Busman’s Honeymoon
I highly recommend this book and think it would make a great gift. I look forward to tracking down the other two anthologies by Stoddart.
I am so excited to introduce author LM Long to my quizees. She has come up with a totally awesome quiz and for once I actually get to participate, yippee. I hope you will visit her website because she is obviously a very creative lady. I do warn you that her quiz is hard. My advice is to read them all aloud and then have someone else read them aloud so you can listen. Print them out and when you figure one out come back and leave a new comment.
Oh, did I mention that she is offering a prize? Awesome and very generous. I will randomly draw a name from participants to choose a winner. So, you only need to get one correct answer to be eligible. Thank you , Laura!
Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Who’s Older Quiz here.
Have you ever played “Mad Gab”? Basically you need to read the words aloud and try and come up with the book title the words sound like. For example, “Pry Dan Pledge You Dish,” and the answer would be the real title. (Pride and Prejudice) I tried to do book titles I think everyone would be familiar with, that they should have read in school, or are YA titles (since I’m a YA author). Sort of a hint right?
Finished 8-7-11, rating 4/5, mystery, 528 pages, pub. 2011
Second Dave Gurney thriller
What are you thinking?” he said.
She smiled and frowned, almost at the same time.
“I’m thinking life is short,”she said finally, in the way of someone who has come face-to-face with a sad truth.
“And therefore…?” he prompted, trying to break through her strange mood.
She seemed to be weighing his tone, his words. Just as he concluded she wasn’t going to answer him, she did.
Just as he concluded she wasn’t going to answer him, she did. “Therefore we’re running out of time.” She cokced her head-or maybe it was a tiny involuntary spasm-and regarded him curiously.
Chapter 14
Dave Gurney, retired NYPD detective, is trying to stay retired, but having a hard time relishing his new life in the country. It’s been a year since he was pulled out of retirement for a case and it almost cost him his life and marriage. Now a new case has been dangled under his nose and he rises to the bait and goes to work on another seemingly impossible murder. A woman is murdered on her wedding day at her reception. Not just murdered, but decapitated while more than a hundred wedding guests lived it up, oblivious to the horror. Dave can’t resist, much to the consternation of his wife, Madeleine, and takes the offer from the murdered woman’s mother.
I really liked the first one and I really liked this one. Dave Gurney is the man you want to hire if a crime has been committed and you want answers. He is a brilliant detective. I liked the initial impossibility of the crime and I didn’t completely figure out the how until the end. I liked the continued look into the marriage of Dave and Madeleine, although Madeleine got on my nerves a bit in this one, but only for a little while. I think Verdon is very skilled at fleshing out a character which doesn’t always happen in a thriller.
There was a lot going on in this one and lots of characters I wanted to know more about, but even though the book was over 500 pages it wasn’t long enough to get to know more about some of the more interesting characters. Maybe we’ll run into them in a later book. I do think the story could have been tighter. I had to stop a few times to try to wrap my head around everything that was going on. I did figure out the murderer and related mystery before the halfway point, so maybe part of my enjoyment came from feeling smart when I turned the last page. One of the main storylines involved sexual depravity and it wasn’t something I really enjoyed, but it did keep me reading.
I thought this was a solid follow-up to Think of a Number.
I received this Uncorrected Proof for the TLC Tour. Visit these other bloggers who shared their thoughts about this thriller.
Monday, July 11th: Life in Review
Wednesday, July 13th: A Bookworm’s World
Thursday, July 14th: Simply Stacie
Monday, July 18th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Wednesday, July 20th: Books Like Breathing
Monday, July 25th: Thoughts of Joy
Tuesday, July 26th: Stiletto Storytime
Wednesday, July 27th: Jen’s Book Thoughts
Friday, July 29th: Colloquium
Monday, August 1st: Cafe of Dreams Book Review
Tuesday, August 2nd: My Random Acts of Reading
Thursday, August 4th: Life.. with Books
Monday, August 8th: Stacy’s Books
Wednesday, August 10th: Lesa’s Book Critiques
Monday, August 15th: Rough Edges
Wednesday, August 17th: Bewitched Bookworms
Thursday, August 18th: Rundpinne
Monday, August 22nd: Book Junkie
Wednesday, August 24th: Readaholic
Being a stay at home mom has many advantages. The one that comes to mind this week is the fact that I don’t miss many firsts. First smile, check. First laugh, check. First da-da, check. But yesterday during the one hour he was at My Gym with Jason I missed a first. His first crush. Apparently, Gage made his big boy moves by taking the hand of the girl next to him, Mallory, and the two of them stared into each other’s eyes for few minutes. Aww. At nine months that’s like a first date!
I do need the few hours I get for myself, but then I miss some fun moments.
So, do you remember the first ‘first’ you missed? Or do you remember your first baby crush?
Gage loves books. At 9 months he looks, listens, then eats. We took him to the park today and brought along a book that was graciously sent to us by the author.
Abe is homeless in the big city, but homeless doesn’t mean hopeless. When something he needs is presented to him through good fortune (food, gloves, money) he gladly shares his bounty with others that are also in need.
This is a lovely book about sharing without expecting anything in return. It reminded me of Gift of the Magi by O.Henry, but with a happier ending! It was also made more relevant to children by using a person they may see on the streets. It is a great way to teach kids about sharing and treating everyone with respect, even those who you don’t know or understand.
The illustrations by Kalpart were very good, although there was a mother who looked like she was supposed to be a nurse but looked she was wearing a man’s shirt with thigh high tights. This really wasn’t a problem, but I kept coming back to her because it didn’t seem right. Definitely not a problem for a child reading the book.
I think this is a great book with life lessons for kids in the preschool age group. I know I’ll be reading it to Gage again in a year or two.
You can purchase this book at Outskirts Press. It was published last month and is 31 pages.
Booking Mama hosts this feature every Saturday to post anything related to children’s books. This is my first week joining in the fun. Why not you too?
Finished audio 8-4-11, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2005
Unabridged audio read by the author. 14 hours.
Book 2 of the Oz series.
I loved Wicked, the first book about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. I was less in love with the musical, but it was still good. The book had it all. Here is a link to the review I wrote for another book review site before I started my blog. I thought the book stood on its own brilliantly and was not all that excited to read a sequel, Elphaba was dead, the story was told.
Liir might be Elphaba’s son, no one is sure. He was raised by her but without maternal actions he was left to feel more like ward than a son. Liir was just a boy when Elphaba died and the story begins when he is found left for dead on the side of the road. He is nursed back to health at the cloister by the quadling girl, Candle. In alternating chapters we read about his recovery and what he did on the ten years between Elphaba’s death and his being found.
I felt a detachment from Liir that I didn’t feel to Elphaba, so the story, while good, did not touch me in the same way. I loved revisiting Oz and the Scarecrow and Glinda, the good witch. Maguire is a genius at creating an alternate reality. You will never watch the movie The Wizard of Oz in quite the same away again. This Oz has a dark underbelly full of political intrigue, revolution, animal rights, and an army of dragons trained to kill.
With all of the spectacle that is Oz this is still Liir’s story. His quest to find himself and discover his purpose. The journey was full of love, pitfalls, rediscovery, and disillusionment.
I would recommend this only for those who loved Wicked.
Maguire did a great job narrating his own novel, but I wonder if the distance that I felt from Liir was because that is how he chose to read him. It’s hard to say.
This is from my personal library and was chosen by Shanyn, JoJo, Laura, Donna, and Lisa-Marie. Here’s what they had to say…
“Son of a Witch is REALLY good! I think you’d really enjoy it!” Lisa-Marie
“Absolutely one of the books everyone should read. Well actually they should read all 3 in the series – Wicked, Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men. There is so much more to these books than them being loosely based odd the Wizard of Oz.” Donna
“I have that in my stack and would like to know what someone else thinks of it.” Shanyn
In my ongoing quest to keep books moving out and not just in I give away a few books each month. Leave a comment, tell me which book you want and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon. The first one to request each book wins. Once you’ve ‘won’ the book I can get your shipping address if I need it. Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want. These have all been read a time or two.
1. No Way Out by Kenneth Fearing (originally published in 1946 under the title The Big Clock). Basis for the movies The Big Clock (1948) and No Way Out (1987). fiction paperback. paperback. 173 pages. B&N review here. for Carol M
2. Sunset Embrace by Sandra Brown. paperback romance. originally published 1990. 360 pages. B&N review here. for Melissa
3. The Hope by Herman Wouk. hardcover historical fiction. published 1993. 687 pages. B&N review here. for Esther
Happy Reading 🙂
Stacy's Books 