a plea to the creative people of public television

Could you please create a character appealing to and beloved by children who doesn't have an annoying voice?

Thank you.

quote of the day

(at 7 a.m.)

"Papa, play chugga chugga choo choo!"

"Papa wants to lay down for a bit."

"Papa lay up!!"

wanna know what's cute?

Last night, as we made our way to his crib, little e grabbed my t-shirt off our bed. He held tight through our whole going-to-bed routine -- the counting of the stars, the twinkle, twinkle, the turning on of the ceiling fan. As he snuggled up to it, I asked him if he wanted me to take it or if he was going to sleep with it. He said, "Sleep with mama's t-shirt." So, I thought last night was just a fluke. But tonight when Ed put him to bed, he asked for mama's T-shirt again.

And now for the Debbie Downer portion of the story. All that sweetness aside, don't think I'm not going to remove the t-shirt just as soon as I get upstairs to eliminate any risk of strangulation by said t-shirt.

a boy and his tower

care for some crackers with that cheese?

donut for hill-yee

Lately I've been trying to generate some excitement for trips to the grocery store by letting Raisin pick out a treat for the babysitter. So far, each time he has picked out a donut with sprinkles.

When Hillary arrives, he charges to the front door to proudly present her treat. And somehow he manages to convince her that he needs just a "little piece" of the donut. I try to explain that we bought it for Hillary and that's not polite to be mooching bites before she even puts her stuff down. But before I can, he's in his high chair wolfing down a chunk of donut searching for any "teeny tiny sprinkles" that may have escaped.

close call

This morning at the grocery store, the little man spotted the grocery cart disguised as toylike truck that I've been trying to avoid since he was old enough to sit up. When he spotted the steering wheel his eyes popped out of his head and he exclaimed, "Has whoa whoa...CUCAMUNGA!" Luckily, we had already done our shopping. And since it was raining, the truck-cart was all wet in the parking lot.

It's not that I'm so much a fun-killer that I refuse to let my boy discover the joy of cruising through the grocery store behind the wheel of a large automobile. I just fear the day we get there, after he's seen gay par-eeh, and it's gone. Undoubtedly, the chaos will ensue (cue psycho music). And me no like the chaos.

But something tells me we're not going to be able to avoid this one for much longer.

because one marker is never enough

why yes, he is indeed cultured

Here we are at the art museum, just moments before papa was scolded for taking pictures. Bad papa.

sybil, is that you?

At any given time, our boy can assume any one of multiple alter egos. He doesn't even give it a second thought when we call him by one of these names:

Raisin - His oldest nickname. Given to him while in utero -- at the precise time that he was the size of a Raisin. "Ray Ray" is his version.

Felix - He usually assumes this personality while playing basketball. Based on a little boy in Blues Clues who learns he has to practice to become good at basketball. "Yay, Felix!" our little boy often cheers after he makes his shot. "Felix practicing."

Yoda - This year's Halloween costume. He doesn't usually call himself by this name, but that doesn't stop Mama and Papa.

Mr. Noodle - The goofy mime from Elmo's World. He usually becomes Mr. Noodle when he plays the drums based on said Mr. Noodle's crazy drum antics on the one episode of Elmo's World he has seen multiple times.

little e - Nickname bestowed upon him by Dan and Jan. The smaller version of his papa (formerly E, now Big E since our the boy came along).

Puff - Based on the kitty Cat from Dick and Jane stories. Likes to be Puff while eating dinner - somehow, he's convinced that kitty cats eat a lot of macaroni and cheese. Also likes to be put in the tree like Puff.

Dr. Worm - This one goes back to when we used to swaddle him as a baby. He looked like a worm with one swaddler, so we'd play They Might Be Giants Dr. Worm. We still call him Dr. Worm and now he can even sing the song.

Buffy - Um, we have no idea where this one came from. Perhaps it's an imaginary friend. He brought it up in conversation a few times so now we call him that every so often -- it never fails to get a smile.

we're baaaaaaack

It's been more than a week since my last post. And I think it's safe to say (knock on wood) that despite the week plus of horrendous stomach ailments, we are not going to give birth to alien babies.

Ed and I healed a little faster. But poor little Raisin is not 100% himself yet. At least that's the excuse we're giving him for waking us up 5+ times a night asking for milk. Tonight it was peas. Yes, the boy requested that peas be brought up to his room so that he could go to sleep. Ed brought them up and reported that he did in fact eat the peas, one by one as he tried to devise his next stall tactic.

We did have a fun day today. Went to the model train museum where little e played with the Thomas the train track the whole time -- nevermind the super-dooper delux, painstakingly detailed model that replicated the city. Then we went to a garage-turned-diner and feasted on french fries and hamburgers -- because that's what you do after you've suffered a week with the stomach flu.

it's official, i feel like a mom

Yesterday Raisin puked on me. His first time ever puking. It was so sad. I don't know what was worse for him, the sickness he felt or experiencing his stomach contents being expelled from his mouth. About six loads of laundry later, I'm happy to report everything is vomit free (let's hope) -- even Target.

Today he went down for his nap before I left for work. The babysitter said that he didn't wake up until about 4. Four hour nap. Nice. He kept telling me that puking was fun. NO fun, I'd correct him. Let's hope he's confused and he doesn't develop some freak toddler eating disorder.

This just in: The husband's now sick. I'm probably next. Hello toilet bowl.

happy bloggiversary to me!

Can you believe it -- it's been a freakin' year? This marks my 169th post. Can you believe it? Neither can I. In your face blogger.com!

may the force be with you

happy (belated) halloween