I'm a huge fan of nearly all the HBO series, and a few on Showtime (Dexter premiere Oct. 2!!!!), but the shows are a Sunday night thing for me and the husband, usually. So earlier this week while we were having breakfast mid-week we caught what sounded like the honky tonk True Blood theme song  on tv and when I turned I was like whaaaa? Sesame Street parody -- True Mud. Brilliant! The Bill and Sookie characters were spot on (mysterious and ditzy-blood/mud-lovin). The toddler K no tiene ni idea about True Blood and the connection went over most kids head, I'm sure (I hope). Looks like its a re-run from last year but last year we weren't watching Sesame Street on a daily basis. Loved it, and for the record, I'm on Team Eric Northman.

It's a funny thing when the kid and adult worlds collide. The toddler K is actually starting to reject some of my adult music. She absolutely protests when I play anything Ryan Adams when I'm driving. But she asks for Madonna's Cherish over and over again by yelling from the carseat in the back, "That one, again, maaaaas!" And today we were driving and listening to Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks, where the chorus repeats over and over again: All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, outrun my gun/ All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

And when it was over, the toddler K yells from the back, "Again! I want bullet! I want bullet!" Nice. Real nice.

I'll admit it, I let the television babysit my child at times, especially in the morning before I've drowned myself in coffee. If I can help it, I put it on cartoons or children's programming in Spanish, because I figure that balances out my lax (lazy) parenting, right? I never really paid attention to Plaza Sesamo -- which airs on V-Me  -- until around a year ago. I grew up with Sesame Street and I figured maybe it was just a Spanish-dubbed version of Sesame Street.

So you can imagine how aghast I was when I found out Big Bird for Latinos wasn't yellow, but a cotorro-fied big green, red and pink bird named Abelardo.

Abelardo es un perico gigante con cuerpo verde, cabeza de color rosa y rojo, pico amarillo y una gran cola. El primo pequeño de Big Bird es un preescolar exuberante. Es muy honesto y tiende a tomar las cosas tal como se dicen literalmente. A Abelardo le encanta resolver problemas y aprender cosas nuevas, especialmente letras. Disfruta mucho columpiarse, andar en patines de ruedas y otro tipo de juegos, así como cantar, bailar, hacer ejercicio y escuchar historias. Abelardo admira a Pancho y tiene una gran relación con Lola. Aunque por lo general es optimista y positivo, Abelardo vive las frustraciones de cualquiera de 3 años. Es curioso, espontáneo y a veces tímido. Él está aprendiendo el alfabeto y empezando a leer.

My husband was totally unsurprised by this, and says he grew up with Plaza Sesamo. Well, this was all news to me -- this little green cousin of Big Bird -- but I gotta say, it's a great show. There are still some familiar Sesame Street characters on Plaza Sesamo, like Lucas el Monstruo Comegalletas, Beto & Enrique, y el Conde Contar. I like Pancho Contreras, a blue peluche who seems to me to be the most chismoso of the lot. The toddler likes Lola -- who is absolutely divina to me, too. The big difference to me is that through its sketches, which come from all over Latin America, Plaza Sesamo really peels back the blanket label of "Latino" to explore the distinctness and diversity among different Spanish-speaking countries.

Sesame Street has always done a pretty great job about including diverse groups, whether it's minorities or special-needs populations. Still, the only recurring Latina I remember on the show as a kid was Maria(from the Block). Maria was awesome, but I'm glad the toddler can grow up watching Pancho, Abelardo, Lucas, Lola and the rest of the Spanish-speaking amigos. And she can still watch Sesame Street too, and its terrific English-speaking friends.

Ah, the perks of being bilingual. El que sabe dos lenguas puede compartir de dos Sesame Streets -- cada uno distinto y maravilloso.

We just got back from a week-long trip to Miami to visit the in-laws. We totally overindulged in things like the sun, pork, empanadas, jugos, cortaditos, Pitbull on the radio and Xuxa. Yes, Xuxa, as in the Brazilian bombshell actress, singer, performer for children but whom dads really, really like too. Thanks to Youtube and the toddler's tia's, Xuxa, pronounced Shoo-Sha, in case you don't know who she is, can be reincarnated for children of today with a few strokes of the keyboard.

Y la cancioncita de Xuxa, well, the toddler loves it, does her little merengue dance move to it.

Ilari, Ilari, Ilariê ... Oh, Oh, Oh! ... Ilari, Ilari, Ilariê ... Oh, Oh, Oh!

I was a little too old by the time la Xuxa hit the states, but I hear younger chicas' fond memories of her show and especially their Xuxa sandalias, which were the ultimate jelly shoe. I'll bet the toddler K would love those. It seems as if they still sell them -- but maybe that's only in Brazil. I definitely haven't seen them in the states. The toddler has a hideous pair of wool-lined crocs with Dora on them, which she picked out herself and her grandma bought for her, that she would wear every day if it were up to her. Her little feet hit the floor and she is literally already asking for us to put on her "totas." Her papa just bought her a pair of havaianas sandals -- also Brazilian -- but the toddler refuses to keep them on. Think she hates the material between her toes. I got a pair for myself and they actually bother me, too. Where's a Xuxa sandalia, child and adult size, when I need it?

By now you've probably already heard the _____ news that Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is one of us. Don't be afraid. It's true, we share the same ethnicity. See here as she explains:

That's sooooo post-modern. I love it and am totally going to steal it. If we're gonna really make this post-racial America a reality, forget the prez because Snooki might be leading the charge there. I'm totally teaching the toddler K to say that -- even though she's not really the tanning kind as far as I can see.

I undulate between Hispanic, Latina, Texican or Mexican-American in describing myself -- depends on my mood or where I'm at or what circle I'm in. I'm not all wedded to one label or another like I was when I was younger. In the end, I've realized most people really don't see the difference and mean no harm when they call you one thing or another, so no need to get into a tizzy. Besides, Snooki is onto something. As our country continues to churn its melting pot, soon we'll all be tan so it won't matter.

Snooki's Chilean but was adopted by Italian-American parents. Modern Family en vivo. I have a soft spot for Snooki. She's like a little trash-talking Gremlin. She's funny, and, she's also a best-selling author now. And getting her own spin-off show with Jwoww -- so just in case you thought she was going away soon she isn't. Go on, girl, with your tan self.

My mother is a telenovela-watcher, and every weeknight line-up begins with what we call "El de la que era gorda y ahora es flaca," which translates to Llena de Amor. During the day she also keeps the television on in the background, and apparently the toddler K likes the little "teeny-bopper" (as my mom calls them) telenovelas that air at that time and dances to their music. Oh lordy, so this is how it starts. The only telenovelas I've watched from beginning to end were the ones I watched with my grandmother years ago when I was in elementary. Actually, the only one I really, really watched and liked was Rosa Salvaje with Veronica Castro. Rosa ... Salvaje ... soy yooooooooo. It was fantastic, from what I recall. Las gemeles were total wiatches.

As I absorb (because there is something almost hypnotic about these shows) these telenovelas over my mother's shoulder, I've realized something I should have known all along: They are really, really terrible. I'm sure there are decent novelas -- and it seems that everyone still rages about El Clon years later. But forget about the juicy (albeit, overdone) plots for one second, I'm talking put it on mute and watch. They visually look terrible. I think one of their biggest downfalls is that they don't seem to have evolved much in the past two decades or more. They're relying on the same formula -- the sets look the same, the dialogue sounds the same, the characters which are all caricatures repeat over and over again, and there is not a shred of subtlety. It's like sit-coms -- I'm so over any show with a laugh soundtrack and a set, like Friends or Seinfeld. So it is literally TORTUROUS for me to watch something like Two and a Half Men. I'd rather pull out my fingernails. Sitcoms had their day, and now we've moved on to shows like Modern Family (yay!) and Ugly Betty (boo that it was ever canceled!).

Telenovelas need to shake themselves up and remake themselves. And I say all this because in my old age, I want to be able to watch telenovelas with my grandchild, too. And keep my fingernails.

Oh, and this is pretty funny:

So it's mid-January already, thank Gawd. I am not a fan of January. I literally just brace myself, grit my teeth and push through it. I don't even want to focus on keeping New Year's resolutions -- I just want to close my eyes, plug my ears and lalalalalala my way through it. It's especially crappy now that we live in a place where there's a real winter and there are some weeks where I have to trudge in the snow/sleet or black slush to work. I saw two kids slip on the ice in front of my house on their way to school this morning. Fun! Oh, and the sun is still setting by 5:30 p.m. so by the time I get home it feels too late to do anything. Wah, wah, wah, I know.

BUT ... I gotta say this January has been so much more tolerable since we got Apple TV. It's my official winter savior. Actually, I gave it to my husband for his birthday late last year. It was $99 -- more than I usually spend on gifts, but this seemed really worth it since we could download Netflix movies (and since I suck at returning Netflix movies and leave them on my dining room table for months on end). Apple TV is a little device that hooks up to your TV that lets you stream movies, TV, music or photos to your TV. You can buy or rent new movies from iTunes or watch the network shows. Or watch YouTube videos til your brain rots. Or listen to podcasts. Or scroll through yours and your friends' Flickr photos.

We've watched a ton of movies over the past few weeks via Netflix via Apple TV. Most of that is after the toddler K has gone to bed, but she's seen a few, too -- Annie and James and the Giant Peach. Of course, I know better and that I shouldn't let my child get sucked into TV wasteland, but a little bit won't hurt, plus she loves the singing and dancing. I'm know for a fact that most of the current generation of parents watched way too much television. And it gave us something interesting to talk about.

So this weekend we watched a couple of great movies (using Apple TV) that I totally recommend. I had been resisting watching The Hurt Locker because for some reason everytime I'd see it listed on Showtime my mind interpreted it as saying The Blind Side -- which is just an awful, condescending movie, and I had to endure it on three different flights. But anyway, the Hurt Locker is not like that. It's intense, keeps your adrenaline going and a fascinating perspective on a war that has too quickly settled into the backs of our minds.

We also watched Exit Through the Gift Shop which is brilliant and features a fantastic splash of graffiti art and artists. It tells the story of a French filmmaker who develops an obsession with filming street art, and basically how that whole world swallows him up. He's a bit of a spaz, and yet, he ends up the victor.

Sin Nombre is a story about the dangerous trek taken by thousands from Central America to the U.S., and the brutal pull of gang life in the homeland. Maybe it's because this story isn't new or in any way surprising to me that I was less than impressed. Still, it's a good film and an important story to tell. It's not you, Sin Nombre. It's me. I think I'm just craving something I haven't seen before.

And forget about all those movies I just mentioned, because THIS IS THE ONE YOU NEED TO SEE ... We just finished watching this one tonight -- Catfish, which has been hailed as the other, better, the real Facebook movie. I haven't seen the Social Network yet, but this story had us on the edge of our chairs, cringing behind the sofa pillow, covering our face with embarrassment, gasping out loud, etc. This is the basic premise, from A.O. Scott's review:

Anyway, the story goes like this: A few years ago Nev Shulman, the younger brother of one of the filmmakers, was befriended by a girl in Michigan named Abby, who seemed to be an artistic prodigy. She wanted permission to use one of Nev’s photographs as the basis of a painting, and in the course of their correspondence revealed that she was, at the age of 8, exhibiting and selling her work online and in galleries in her hometown. Nev’s fraternal friendship with Abby led to a warm rapport with her mother, Angela, and also to a blossoming cyberflirtation with Megan, the girl’s 19-year-old sister, who posted enticing profile pictures on her Facebook page.

I don't want to be a spoiler, so watch the movie then read the whole review. And never think of Facebook in the same way again.

Whew -- and those movies I just listed were just this weekend. Might as well get it all in now, because in two weeks, it'll be February -- the month of love, supuestamente. All I care is that it's one month closer to spring!

We saw the documentary 'Babies' this weekend, and if you haven't seen it or heard about it the trailer should be enough to suck you in. Prepare to be intoxicated by the overwhelming cuteness.

The film follows four babies -- Ponjia from Namibia, Hattie from San Francisco, Mari from Tokyo and Bayarjargal from Mongolia -- from the time when they are helpless little blobs fresh from the oven until they are babbling, toddling, feisty and curious little humans. Their parents are just wallpaper in the film, which makes it all the better. The focus is on their faces, their reactions, their eye movement and little then bigger gestures. It's fascinating to watch.

I loved the scenes with Bayarjargal the best, especially where the goat sticks his head into the window and starts drinking from the bathwater. Or when el gallo mas gallo is walking along the edge of the bed where baby is lying. Or the older brother is literally whacking the helpless child with a scarf.

But I also realized how protective we are as parents and our jaws dropped every time we saw Ponjia pick up a piece of rock and start chewing on it. And we'd gasp every time she would crawl over powdery dirt and lick up a mouthful, and mom, who was always by this baby's side, wouldn't fret. Wouldn't even react. I mean, we live with two big peluche dogs that shed like crazy, so we are not exactly a model of a hyper-clean house. But we have baby-proofed. And I worry about things like pesticides on strawberries, and lead in the water and in ground from paint chips from old houses. We are beyond just trying to survive. We are fixated on helping our children thrive.

This film is a good reminder to keep it real. It ain't that deep. I mean it is, but it isn't.

So I need to remember:

The world is not sterile. That's a good thing.

We do not, should not live in a vacuum.

Exploring is natural. It's how we stumble upon amazing things.

The world has lots of beautiful things to offer: skies that change every moment, trees that clap their leaves when the wind runs through them, flowers that awaken your senses down to your fingertips.

Tune into the world.

Tune into what other mothers are doing across the globe at this very moment.

I'm sure most aren't fretting about hormone levels in milk.

I feel connected. Who needs the internet to figure out this baby thing anyway?

I am very blessed to have my baby, my Special K.