N's Favorite Song/Music Video

Electric Car by They Might Be Giants, Here Comes Science

Current Family Favorite

I literally watch this and immediately start snorting and have tears rolling down my cheeks. We are all quoting this incessantly.

Elmo with Ricky

N enthusiastically asks for an Elmo video at least 10 times a day.  He has a handful of Elmo books, and a few weeks ago August introduced him to the glorious 'Elmo on Demand' aka Elmo videos on my phone from YouTube.  I hadn't given in to his request to watch snippets on my phone until today when we were stuck in some pretty nasty evening traffic traveling home from his doctor appointment; he's sick with fever, ear aches, and was hungry and grumpy.  So after sitting in a dead stop and staring at blinding brake lights forever I quickly pulled one up and handed him back my phone... it ends about 3 minutes later and he immediately of course asks for more so I hit the next one on the roster and all the sudden I hear a familiar British accent asking if Elmo wants a lullaby because he's having trouble sleeping.  I was in the front seat in hysterics.  I can't see it, mind you, just listening and picturing it.

So I get home, give him dinner, put him to bed, call D and E over to watch it with me and we were just rolling.  There's also this Ricky Gervais/Elmo interview as well that is just great.

Giraffe House video

*Apologies for the shaky camera work...I was a little preoccupied, but you get the idea.

NDB words

The lexicon of NDB:

Mama: mom or dad
Dada: dad or mom
Eh-Nuh: Ellanor
Papa: Papa
Buh: book, ball or balloon
Boo-Tah or Tuh: Please, I want that, More
Uh-oh: oops
Uhm: Yes
Duh: duck
hi-ya: hi
Up: up & down
Aht: help
Tt: Train

More often than not we have to look for contextual clues to point us to what he's talking/humming/verbalizing about.

Take a Walk in My Shoes

In Lake Chelan N took these first real steps! He's been so apprehensive, but he's now taking the bull by the horns and diving head first into each attempt...and we have the war wounds to prove it. E was so excited with this first pass between the hearth and coffee table...cannot believe I got it on tape!

First Hair Cut

*Flight of the Bumblebee performed by Rafael Mendez, haircut acrobatics performed by Ann-Krestene, she is a professional and these stunts should not attempted at home.

The Leaning Tower of N

* FYI you may find this easier to view in a dark room



Can you believe this?!  This week the little turd has habitually fallen asleep sitting up!  The first time he did it his room had been quiet for about a half an hour after I had put him down for his morning nap, so I went in to check on him.   I found something identical to what this little clip shows and immediately helped him lay down which woke him up and threw him into another "I don't wanna take a nap," fit.  So the last few times I've just let him figure it out, but the end result is pretty much the same; he'll fall over eventually which startles him into tears...He's totally going to be one of those annoying people that fall's asleep on your shoulder on an airplane.

Here Comes Trouble

Now that he's on the move we're back into keep-everything-off-the-floor-phase. I walked out of the living room for a minute, only to come back and find him in the dinning room with his mouth pressed up against the laminated map we use to keep track of where D is daily. We use an overhead pen to trace his route, and then wipe it off when he returns...N's just few steps ahead of us!

Didn't fully come off either...

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On another note, he has started entertaining us to no end with little games. Like this one; He'll put something on his head, let it fall, then go after it. It's cute until he tries it with his lunch and ends up with tofu cubes in his shirt pocket, green beans all over the floor, and banana slime in his hair...

*I love how he pulls down his shirt at the end, so funny!

*Also please excuse my stuffy-nosed-half-naked-one-sock-little -rugrat.

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Finally cut his first tooth this morning...hopefully that explains his completely terrible sleep patterns lately...maybe I'll try a preemptive strike of Motrin tonight just to be on the safe side.

Spring Break - Day 5

We earned a day off today. We stayed around the house until the late afternoon, and it felt so nice to just relax for this last day off for Spring Break.

*I love how N keeps looking at the camera like, "Can you believe this girl?"

Cod Fish

N has taken to open & closing his mouth repeatedly in the most hilarious way:



*Please excuse the messy avocado-dinner-face...

If You're Happy & You Know It...

Magic Penny

I think we all learned this back in the day, didn't we? Well, E learned this golden oldie this week at school. She originally tries for an impromptu Rock & Roll version, but gives up and goes all out with motions and everything! N does back-up maraca.



P.S. Thank you Crafty Crow for the very sweet hearts!

Puff Practice

N's workin' on practicing his pincer grasp, he's so determined, and it usually leaves us in a fit of laughter. They'll stick to every part of his hand and it still takes great amounts of concentration to maneuver one to his mouth (note the double fisted execution). Practice makes perfect.

It's Time to Play the Music!

I ordered up the first Season of The Muppet Show from 1976 via Netflix. E wasn't sold on the idea of turning it on, she's been petrified of Animal since her initial viewing of The Muppet Movie (when he grow's to a gigantic size and scares the bad guys. But I talked her into it, and she really likes it. In fact she's been singing Mana Mana repeatedly ever since.

And check this act out from Juliet Prowse:

Papa-Cake, Papa-Cake, Baker's Man!

N and Papa were playing a game at the table after super this evening. It's so sweet to see his fondness for my dad and learning new tricks!

Jumparoo

N's learned how to jump, and he loves it. Although, sometimes I think he wants to stop, but the message is getting lost somewhere between his brain and legs. He also got this amazingly cute hat from a friend last night, I thought it was a fitting 'jumping hat.'

Under the Tree

This Christmas was easier in so many ways. E is into all sorts of typical little girl things; art supplies, books, movies, games and music. She loves music, she sings all day, she can't help but wiggle, twirl and bounce whenever a tune is playing so we thought it was time to get her own music player. An iPod seemed a little over the top for a 5-year-old (however carefully she tries, things get dropped...). So with a little research we settled on the SweetPea3, a very kid friendly player with a decent built-in speaker and headphone jack.


E has taken an extra special interest in marine animals within the last year, especially dolphins. And has hopes of opening an oceanarium here in our small town when she grows up. So when I came across the nearly 4 foot stuffed dolphin on Melissa & Doug's online store I just knew she'd freak out! She lugs this thing from room to room with her talking to it (she's it's trainer, of course), and requests to snuggle up next to it in bed, which makes for fairly tight sleeping quarters as you can imagine.



N hasn't been able to demonstrate any real affection for any of his gifts, but there are a few things that repeatedly catch his eye:

I found a few reissued Fisher Price toys down at our local shop and couldn't resist the Chatter Phone! And this clever little guy; he has a crank on the bottom instead of using batteries and plays 3 songs that correspond with the 3 blinky push-buttons!
This sweet little picnic basket is full of friendly faces on soft food items that jingle, rattle and crinkle as well!

Another little ingenious guy I found, is this nightlight for his room. It projects a starry sky on his ceiling. E's jealous of this one and often asks to have my put it in her room after N's fallen asleep for the night.

*again shaky camera work as I'm lugging the baby too, sorry.

Alma Mater

D's and my former high school (yes, we're high school sweethearts) and it's rival have been getting a little bit of notoriety this week. Their video production class's made competing 'lip-dub's' on YouTube.

Check out the full story here and watch the 2 videos!

Winter Concert

E had her first Winter Concert today at school. Her music instructor chose a teddy bear theme for the two songs the Preschool and Jr. Kindergarten performed. E's in the red sweater in the front row...yeah, the distract-o who's giggling with her best friend practically the entire time.



Sorry the camera work is a bit shaky, N was strapped to my chest and he's a bit of a wiggle worm...