Pogo Rocket Star

Lately Dangerboy has been saying he wants to be a librarian-daddy when he grows up, so he can "sell" books to people as well as be a father (which I thought was nice). However, the other day we were watching a clip of Bono and U2 sing "Ultraviolet" in the Rose Bowl...here's the link, but basically Bono wears this really cool jacket with lasers on it, and swings around on a microphone suspended from the ceiling.

DB: What's that?
Me: It's a microphone hanging down from the ceiling that Bono gets to swing around on.
DB: Why?
Me: Because he's a rock star, and rock stars get to do stuff like that.
DB: Oh. (pause) Mom, I don't want to be a librarian-daddy anymore. I want to be a rocket star-daddy.

(Poor librarian-ism didn't have a chance!)


Another one:

DB: Mom, I'm getting big Optimus Prime for Christmas, right? (this has not officially been confirmed) But what else should you get me for Christmas? (very thoughtfully) Hmmm...I wonder...I'm just not sure what I should get...(Tapping his chin) Maybe...a pogo stick?!

(This just made me laugh because it was so out-of-the-blue. I didn't even know he knew what one was. Apparently he played unsuccessfully with one last year at preschool.)

In other news, our camera is still broken...sad. And Cookie-Nut learned how to say "pretty" which is super cute. She still eats crayons, markers, and chalk, and floor food (of course).

A Day in the Life II

Today, I:

• Hacked most of the fat off a roast and put it in the CrockPot (yuck).
• Carpooled Dangerboy and one of his friends to and from preschool.
• Did four loads of laundry (our laundry room is not in our apartment--lots of lugging back and forth).
• Did the morning dishes (no dishwasher).
• Made rolls (from scratch).
• Made three sandwiches for a picnic.
• Forgot the sandwiches, ate emergency-pack energy bar for lunch (pretty yucky. I think my car emergency supply could use some rethinking-the kids didn't even want them).
• Played with the kids at the park.
• Put Cookie-Nut down for two naps.
• Taught two piano lessons.
• Played for a 2 1/2 hour kids' music theater rehearsal.
• Ate dinner.
• Put Dangerboy to bed.
• Straightened up the living room.
  
• Watched Glee.
  
• Folded all the laundry and put it away.

I did not:

• Eat breakfast sitting down.
• Practice the piano for upcoming flute recital.
  
• Put Cookie-Nut to bed (thanks PDaniel).
• Do the dinner dishes (ditto).

Today was unusually busy and tiring, but writing it all out doesn't make me feel as accomplished as I thought I would. Hmm.

And now for some bush tea...

Since Masterpiece Classic has ended, I've been yearning for something clean and quality and uplifting and fun. And not stupid.

Side note: I had high hopes for Glee, since the pilot was so fun--but the following two episodes have pandered a bit to the fun-music-is-always-about-sex crowd and have left me a little disappointed. Come on, people! "I wanna sex you up" at a PTA meeting?!? That's not even believable! (The Josh Groban bit and the thumb-cake bits were funny though).

Really, though, HBO just released the first season of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency on DVD. Yay! I've been waiting for it to come out, hoping it hadn't been canceled--but apparently it survived a season on HBO, despite the fact that it's not about people who repeatedly make bad life decisions!

Just as important, it's quality stuff. Jill Scott does a lovely job playing Mma Ramotswe in all her warmth and traditionally-built glory, and it's filmed entirely on location in Botswana, a country apparently just as beautiful as author Alexander McCall Smith describes. I've only seen the pilot--I hope they can keep up the quality in future episodes--but even just that was enough. It covered much of the material in the first book, and was about an hour and a half long--feature-film length. Well-cast, gentle humor, a love letter to Botswana with all its beauty and some of its dangers.

Like the books, I don't expect to devour the entire series in one sitting--it would probably be too much of the same. And I was iffy about the accuracy of one scene (I didn't remember her kissing that one guy). And if you see it, don't expect to see a totally accurate depiction of Africa today--I recognize that its image maybe isn't gritty reality. But who wants grit in your popcorn, sitting on your couch on a Sunday night? Not me.

Magnifying Cookie-Nut

Our 14-month-old baby is officially a toddler, with all that comes with it! The toddling, the falling, the talking, the tantrums because she wanted the banana still in the peel, the running, the running away, the climbing, the falling. The getting into the fridge and chomping on strawberries:
Forgive me for what comes after, but this is really the only journal I keep. So get ready for some shameless child-pride and details that you likely don't care about.

Cookie-Nut has lots more signs now, and she can make all of her animal sounds. (Rather than type those out, I'm making a mental note to get them all on video camera). She has more words now too, some more often than others: Mama, Dada, Jesus (identifies him in pictures), wawa (water), Let's go!! (said after she brings me her shoes first thing in the morning), I did it, I got it, what is that (wa' i' da?), cracker (ka-ka), shoes, hat (just a vowel sound--"A."), eye, hello.

She also has a few important signs: car, baby (for her baby doll that she sleeps with at night), and passie. The passie (binky) sign she made up herself; it looks kinda like the sign language "eat" sign. (When she actually wants to eat, she just says "ka-ka" or signs "more"). Before I forget, she also made up the sign she uses for "music" months ago, before she turned one. She looks like she's conducting. I won't lie, it gives me hope!

Cookie-Nut's main activity for the past few months has been finding things, carrying them around the house, dropping them wherever, and then tripping over them. She also still has a passion for eating chalk, soap, and crayons, though she doesn't eat sand or dirt as much as she used to. Or rabbit poo, thank goodness. (We have a lot of rabbits around here. They poop on the playground, and sometimes I'm just not quick enough! They must just look like delicious little coco-puffs or something.)

Cookie-Nut also loves to look at books. A couple of times this week, I've wondered where she is, and found her sitting on her daddy's pillow on our bed, today with her church dress spread out around her, looking at a book.

We were looking at pictures of animals on MSN's Animal Tracks (which we love) and if she saw a picture that really struck her fancy she'd stand up on my lap and kiss the computer screen. She seemed to have a particular affection for "daddy" lions and baby elephants, but she also does this with pictures of herself and her reflection in a mirror.

To sum, she loves: Her daddy, books, going outside, her passie, bottles of milk, and her "baby." And maybe her brother. Usually her mom, but lately she loves Dad more. (That's OK, he's been gone more lately so he's a bit novel.) And dogs. And climbing up on the piano bench and playing a few tunes. And falling off. And crackers. And playing under blankets. And hugs.

"...but I like it."

Dangerboy, after a long sweet summer, has at long last started preschool! Whoopee! We have switched preschools to a smaller one run by a woman from our ward. It's been a bittersweet adjustment, but DB is enjoying himself. He was definitely ready!

Dangerboy has, little by little, been learning how to read and spell. We've been enjoying the signs he's made for posting around the house, including "Clozd" and "No Bab" (no babies). If we push too much to get him to read to us, he pushes back, but when he's in the mood he's actually getting quite skillful. He likes silly words so far, sound effect words: "flop," "zap," boom," stuff like that. "Poop." You know, the useful stuff.

He's also developed a taste for rock and roll. Unfortunately for me, "rock and roll" for him means anything with a male vocalist and distortion guitar. Oh, and it has to be upbeat--ballads don't count. His favorite song lately, next to "Twinkle Twinkle" is "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. And when we're in the car, nothing but his flavor of rock and roll will do--no Dave Matthews Band, no Beatles, no Elvis. These things are not rock and roll. When he finally listens to the good stuff, he scrunches down in his seat, gets a wild look in his eye, juts out his jaw and wiggles it back and forth. Sometimes a little air guitar. Who do you think he got this from--me or PDaniel? I have my theories. His dad has taught him to finish the phrase, "Hey, it's only rock and roll..."DB's still been a little lonely, but I've started back to work, so with some time with babysitters' kids, and school time, I think he's feeling better about life!
Plus, his friend Kasey came back from Japan (OK, like a month ago). Kasey lives a few doors down from us, his parents are fun, and his mom's Japanese so I can practice my Nihongo with her. Kasey is two years older than DB, but they still have fun running around together--their fun being fueled mainly by a mutual interest in bugs. We're so glad Kasey's family is here--at least for couple more months!

A fish story

(Ok, it occurs to me that this isn't a very good review. But I'm really tired. Just go see it if you can. It's worth it for the opening sequence--but not the music in that scene--and the scene where she runs on the waves, which you can see online but it's way better in the theater.)

Took Dangerboy to see Ponyo yesterday. Hurry, quick, everyone go see this while it is still in theaters! It's so beautiful on the big screen, and the child characters are really cute too. It's a perfect escape from a muggy summer day: immersing yourself in crystal-clear ocean water teeming with life--the fact that the theater is air conditioned helps too! Your kids will like it; no scary parts, really. It's actually the Little Mermaid story, but with more interesting characters.
And more famous people do the voices, if you care about such things.

If you've never seen any Miyazaki films before, this is a pretty good introduction. I'm not a huge fan of anime (Japanimation) but I love this director's films; they're always filled with fabulous creatures and colors and places. A couple of caveats for all these movies: the plots do not conform to any pattern that you'll be used to; also, some of the music is a little too overblown for most American sensibilities. For instance, you may want to run screaming from the theater during the closing credits as Noah Cyrus chirps some hellish ditty about happy little Ponyo. But maybe that's just me.

If you like it, try Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. But those ones are a little scarier, FYI.

Summer #1

Well, summer is almost over--no,no, it's really not that sad; there's something to be said for having places to go (preschool) and people to see (preschool buddies). But it would be truly sad if summer 2009 were over and we had no record of it. So here goes:

In June, Grandma Wendy paid a visit, yay! and we all went to the beach. Oh, I think we saw Monsters vs. Aliens too. We liked. Here's the beach:And here's a little alien:
Just kidding. Actually, Dangerboy devised some earmuffs for the night the fire alarm went off repeatedly at bedtime, for no reason. It's fixed now, hallelujah.

A lot of our friends moved. They are truly missed (read: We're screamin' bored!). I don't have pictures of all of them (Palmers, you left before we could get back!), but here are a few. Dangerboy still talks about Tiger Lily almost every day. "She loves me," he's been heard to mumble when things aren't going well:
Don't forget to check out the Faded Paper Figures new music video on MySpace. (John, above, is a member. Brooke rocks too, I've heard her.) They were a featured band there, ya know. I'm featured in the acknowledgements of their first album, having introduced the band members to each other (and forgetting that fact until the album came out). Yes, I'm bragging. When one has so few claims to fame, one must make the most of them.

I'll be back with more summer...

It's so haaaaaard...to say good byyyyye...

Well, it's the beginning of PDaniel's fifth year in grad school, which means that many of the lovely friends we've made here are gone, or leaving soon. Happily, even in this pitiful economy, many of them have still managed to find jobs this year! Whoopee!

The down side is, most of Dangerboy's friends--whom he has known basically his whole short life--will be leaving, or have already. For example, all the other kids in this picture, who DB has played with on a regular basis, will be gone by the end of the year:These friends are gone already (to work at a certain Ivy League school, the lucky stiffs):DB will most miss, I think, his best buddy Tiger Lily, who moved last month. She was our neighbor for almost four years, and they played together almost every day. I'm not sure the adoration was equal on both sides--girls can be fickle--but DB has loved her dearly.

DB had been thinking about Tiger Lily, and told me one day, "Mom, when I'm big like Daddy, and (Tiger Lily)'s big like you, I want to marry with her." Later on, after he had seen the movie Up, he said that he would marry her and move to South America. He even picked a ring from my costume jewelry and presented it to her when she came for her goodbye play date. I didn't hear the actually proposal, but I know she accepted, because I heard her yell across the playground "(DB), let's marry now!"

We miss you, Tiger Lily! (And the rest of your family too!) Here's a picture of the happy couple (with ring and DB's other friend Cheetah-Cute):

Happy Birthday Cookie-Nut!

Cookie-Nut's birthday was on the 8th. So smiley, so curious, so amazing. The day after this, her first birthday, I left her alone for a minute and came back to find that she'd used a small chair to climb onto another chair, up to her booster seat, and was standing on the arm of her booster seat with her hands on the counter (presumably ready to climb up there!). So scary. Today she got into the toothbrush drawer again and PDaniel found her sucking on a tube of toothpaste...had to call Poison Control just in case...she's fine, of course, but Dangerboy was not this climb-y or into things. Gonna hafta watch this one. (BTW, Poison Control is going away in California. Gone the way of budget cuts. What is this state coming to? This seems like a pretty basic service to me.)

And she is soooooo loud! On July 4th we went to Ruby's for dinner. PDaniel stepped away to take Dangerboy to the bathroom (which turned out to be a messy experience, yuck) and she let out a screech of displeasure that literally made the whole restaurant fall silent and look our direction. As in, "What are you DOING to that child?" I paid the check as quickly as possible and skedaddled. (PDaniel went back for shakes, of course).

(In other July 4th news, we went swimming with our friends, braved the ward breakfast, and tried, with extremely modest success, to view the fireworks at Huntington Beach. Maybe I'll write more about that later).

Anyway, for Cookie-Nut's birthday, we went to Wild Rivers, a water park here in Irvine. Cookie-Nut had fun, I think. Her favorite part was the section with the fountains that came out of pipes and the ground...meaning we probably could have gone to the Spectrum Mall and she would have been just as happy. And we went in the evening, when it was cheaper, so it was kind of...cold. But Dangerboy had a blast and would love to go back, even though he could only ride the tiny waterslides. He and his daddy loved the wave pool too. (Sorry, we didn't get any pictures--should've got a waterproof disposable).
Then we came home and had cake. Cookie-Nut was pretty tired, but since we presented her with the whole cake, she mustered enough energy to dig in. She poked it a lot first, though. With one finger. :) It was a pretty boring-looking cake, if tasty--some random organic white cake mix from Sprouts (I ran out of time), with homemade lemon buttercream frosting. I could eat that stuff with a spoon! And did!

She opened presents in the morning--she got books, yay!

Anyway, in tribute of Cookie-Nut's birthday, here are some things she has come to be able to do since I wrote last:

• Walks well
• Says "uh-oh," "hi," and "flower" (wow-wow)
• Signs: bird, dog, cat, bear, more, all done, fish, drink, milk, and music
• Has shrieking contests with her brother--they've started to play together
  
• Rolls a ball back and forth with me
  
• Tries to put on clothes over her head (she did it once but cried)
  
• Readies herself for diaper changes (basically comes and sits down on the diaper mat)
• When she wants to be read to, she brings you a book, throws it down on the floor, and sits on you.
• All her first-year molars have come in!

She's really growing up, no? This first year has gone so fast.