Thursday, February 26, 2009

Mr. Weirdo

So Nic gets this email from her dad tonight:

Subject: Gamble just hung up on Grammie

1st line of the body: ....because he wanted her to call him Mr. Weirdo.

Really. You can't make this stuff up.

For Science

This from Mommie:

"Gamble to Mommie, 'Mommie, I asked Daddie something last night that you might be able to answer for me. How do phones connect?'

"In my hurried half-hearted response first thing in the morning, I responded with a quick answer, thinking that it would pacify him. 'Electricity,' I responded.

"Gamble retorted indignantly with, 'Well, that's not what Daddie said, and he is a scientist. You weren't, were you?'

"Nice, real nice."

She Count Three

Tonight, Nicole was putting Random to bed when I walked in.

"Check this out," she said.

She held up a flash card with a picture of three fish on it.

"Random, what's this?"

"Dis?" First, she almost always repeats the question. But in this case, she continued on.

"Bish!"

"Good girl!" Exclaimed Mommie. I was amazed.

"Random, how many fish?" Mommie asked.

"Un, dooo, dree!"

Yup, counted to three. Right there in front of me. A very cute encounter with a very cute counter.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Tennis

So just a general observation. It's an observation I voiced to Nicole the other day, but I think it's amusing enough to share.

In any gathering where the kids outnumber the adults, I always feel overwhelmed. Like there's so much going on that I can't possibly catch it all. Look away for thirty seconds and Random has dipped a dinner roll in tartar sauce and has proceeded to turn herself into a mime trying to eat it. And I realized what it feels like.

It's like watching a tennis match, played on a hexagonal court, with flaming tennis balls, by six hungry wolverines on PCP.

Rock Show

I took Gamble and Random to see Justin Roberts yesterday. It's not the first time we've taken Random to the theater, but it was her first rock show.

It was the best show we've seen from him. Kids shows are notoriously short, and like any concert you go to where the artist has six albums full of great material, you never hear everything you want. Even when we were doing the post-concert wind-down with some CDs in the car, Gamble kept saying, "Hey! That's my favorite song, and he didn't play it!"

The show was chock full of references for the adults in the audience, or parts of the show that only adults would appreciate. As a ferinstance, during the last song, the second encore, a ten-minute extended dance remix of "Yellow Bus" that was simply a blast to be part of. Somewhere in the middle, Big Dave, a member of the "Not Ready for Naptime Players" went over to the drums and took over seamlessly from the regular drummer. It's something that the adults have seen at concerts for years, but the kids probably don't really appreciate.

There was also a freakout breakdown, an audience reponse section, references to other songs, talking parts, etc. If you've ever been to a Metallica show and seen the 20 minute "Seek and Destroy" section, you have an idea what it's like.

They also had a puppet named "Little Dave" that Big Dave voiced with a high-pitched falsetto. Liam Davis, another guitarist with the band that plays with Justin in more capacities than the NR4NP, in the middle of a song that seemed to be a stay at home dad, started rocking out with the opening riff from "Back in Black" by ACDC. Then out came little Dave to sing a high-pitched version of the song with lyrics about going to school, riding the bus, coming home, etc. It was hilarious for Gamble, who laughed so hard that he was rocking back and forth in his seat, and just cool to see for the adults.

Random was entranced. We listen to Justin Roberts in the car every day I take her to day care. Anytime she heard a song she knew, she'd stand up on her seat and watch carefully. As the concert rolled on, she did more and more of the hand motions, and by the time they did "Meltdown", she was standing up in her seat, flapping her arms and shaking her head side to side and screaming along with the other kids.

He's really come a long way from when we first saw him at the Wheeling 4th of July festival. The venue was the biggest one I've seen him in yet, and it was almost full. Kids... everywhere! He's also traveling more around the country, getting to all sorts of places, so if he gets close to where you live, check him out!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Farm in the Car and the Color Wheel

I was driving Random home in the car tonight from day care. She was being cute as always and singing along to the music.

I had kinda zoned out, watching the snow and keeping the car on the road, and wasn't really paying attention, just letting her enjoy her music (we were getting ready for the concert on Saturday). What breaks me out of my deep reverie is "Nay! Nay! Neigh-eigh-eigh!"

I checked my rear view for horses. Just Random.

I was about to say something when she moves on. Mooves on.

"Moo! Moo! Mooooooo!" she says.

I did say something to her. I don't remember what, but something along the lines of "great job!" And then, because it was snowing harder, I zoned back out, paying attention to the road. Again, another surprise, "Lyellow! Ylallow! Yellow!"

What an odd transition. At first I thought she was doing another animal sound, but that was soon followed up with "Bink! Bink! Pink!"

From the farmyard to the color wheel, she's one entertaining little chickie. Cluck!

Monday, February 16, 2009

A Fitting Question

From Mommie:

"Last week while I was gone, and I was talking to Gamble on the phone. He said to me, 'Mommie, you are so beautiful, and you always smell so good. Do you think that maybe you could wear a dress for me sometime?'

"What a little charmer.

"'Uh... Sure, Gamble. Why?'

"'Well, I just haven't seen you in a dress in a while, and I really think that it would make you look more beautiful. Maybe you could wear it Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?'

"Oozing with charm. How could this Mommie refuse? 'Okay, Gamble. Mommie will see what she can do.'

"Then today.

"'Mommie, I am looking forward to getting married but I think that I am going to be embarassed to kiss the girl in front of people.'

"'Uh, Gamble, what brought this up?'

"'Well, I was just looking at the picture of you and Daddie and thinking about it.' (He was looking at our wedding picture.)

"'Oh, of course, Gamble. Well, you have time for that.'

"'Does that dress still fit you, Mommie?'

"'Why do you ask Gamble?

"'Well, I was thinking that I would really like to see you in it.'

"Wouldn't we all, Gamble. Wouldn't we all..."

Even if this Mommie doesn't now, she's still as beautiful as the day I met her.

Birthday Doctor Visit

From Mommie:

"For her birthday, Pobbes ended up at the doctors again. Not the fun birthday we'd wanted for her, but she wasn't feeling good, so I called the doctors from the portrait studio and he got her right in.

"Turns out that she had a sinus infection and 2 molars coming in. While in the appointment, the doctor was trying to figure out what had her screaming so much and so he decided to ask her directly.

"'Random? What hurts?'

"She answered right away, 'Mommie.'

"How right she was. I had a splitting headache from all of her screaming. The doc and I both got a good laugh from that one."

No No

From Mommie:

"So Pobbes is getting very demanding these days, and she is knows what she wants and expresses it, more clearly every day.

"The other night while I was 'ocking' her to sleep, I was so tired from my long weekend that I just closed my eyes and was trying to sing to her. After a few minutes, I hear her say, 'No, no.'

"Okay, Pobbes. Mommie will stop singing.

"So, I started to hum, which usually helps her fall asleep faster. As I close my eyes and lay back, I feel her head pop up again, and I hear her say 'No' again.

"I continue to hum, as if she is saying no to something else.

"All of a sudden, I feel her tiny hands grab my cheeks and hear her say 'Hey! No... No!' Well, okay, Pobbes. I hear you. No singing. No humming Got it."

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Establishing Lid Rules

From Nicole:

"So last night as I was coming down the stairs, I hear Gamble's little voice.

"'Mommie, we really need to talk'.

"What? A 5-year old needs to 'talk'? 'Yes, Gamble? About what?'

"'Mommie, we need to establish (yes, he said establish) a girls bathroom and a boys bathroom. I am getting really tired of having to lift the seat up all of the time. Tell you what, us boys can take the bathroom down here and you girls can have *both* bathrooms upstairs. How does that sound? Isn't that a good idea?'"

Seriously. Five years old, and already making sensible toilet seat arguments.

Everything Starts With E

One of Random's favorite Justin Roberts songs (we're going to see him this Saturday, yay!) is "Everything Else Starts With E".

I don't know if that accounts for the recent phenomenon. Everytime I'm playing with her, and she's got something that has a lot of large letters on it, she'll point at the letters and say "E. E. E." As if she's trying to spell out the words, but thinks either all letters are "E" or that she's trying to say different names like zee, pee, see, dee (I think it's the former).

And then there are the times where she just squeals, "Eeeeeeee!"

Bathtime

Gamble and Random sometimes takes baths together. They have a great time playing, and it gives us a couple minute break to take a breather.

Thing is, the water is always cooler than Gamble likes. He eventually gets cold and then he wants her out, so he can add hot water. He's even offered to get her washed up.

Last night, we let him take a shot at it. Five minutes later, we hear, "Mommie? I washed her all up. All except her wiener, nuts, and butt. I didn't realize that this was his generic term for private area, but apparently it is.

And then we hear, "Ok! I washed her fanny too!" And I don't know if this is American fanny or British fanny.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

berries

Ok so I missed blogging her birthday, mostly because we were out of town and it was so hectic.

Happy second birthday, baby girl!

She's into Strawberry Shortcake in a big way, and it's what she always wants on TV, and what she always wants to wear.

This morning, g and r were eating triple berry cheerios. Gamble likes to eat the Os, and Random only likes the berries, so I watch on in delight as they barter and exchange. Problem is, there's not many berries in it, so Pabu kept calling out to me, "cake-cake"!

I didn't know what she meant. Silly daddie didn't realize that she thinks of shortcake whenever she wants strawberries...