Interview with a toddler

O's nanny does a bunch of fun activities with the kids, often including weekly art projects. Last week they were focused on talking about themselves and what they do and like. This piece of paper came home (filled out by the nanny, but obviously answered by O):

I am really good at:
I like to jump in the leaves.

When I am home with Mommy & Daddy & Zachary:
I like to jump in the woods.

If I could be anywhere in the world:
I would like to go to the park.

I am special because:
I have ice cream at home.

Clearly a bit of a one track response. Also, O often tries to avoid leaves when we're on walks, asking "what's that?" and then responding "I don't like the leaves." Oh, and he doesn't typically get ice cream at home, though he does every Friday at his nanny's. Ah well, silly man.

Check this out

Today, Z brought home his very first library book from school. They've apparently been visiting the library for several weeks, learning how to nicely handle and open/close books, but today an actual book came home. Every student apparently got to pick their own, and Z chose an appropriate one for him. Apparently he gets to check out a new book every Tuesday. Hooray for little man's first school library experiences!

Brand Recognition

Several months ago, while stopped in the car at a traffic light, O proclaimed, "It's a purple fireman hat!" It took us a few minutes to figure out what he was referring to. To this day, he still points out the hat when we pass the sign. And then today in the car, O said "it's the raisin lady!"

Going native

A lovely Thanksgiving was had by all yesterday -- the food was delicious, the company excellent, and the boys decently well behaved. Hooray! Meh of course paid excellent attention to every detail; the kids even had their napkins wrapped in a ribbon with a feather that Z later decided to wear as a pseudo-headdress. My experiment with bite-sized challah rolls was a success (O both helped make them and ate a few), we had an enormous range of scrumptious sides and desserts, and there was a turkey cooked in record time due to our recent discovery (thanks to Alton Brown) of this preparation technique. Granted it wasn't easy; Meh eventually resorted to wrapping a rolling pin in a plastic bag and bashing the turkey trying to remove the last of the backbone. But in the end, a delicious bird that cooked in less than half the time of last year's! More pictures here.

Gone to the Dog

Hooray for visits from Uncle B! Both boys were very much looking forward to seeing him, and had a great time once he arrived from the east coast. There was much playing, talking, dining together, and a nice family walk to the park. The weather is definitely on its way to getting colder, so Z even donned an excellent penguin hat that we'd received from Uncle B and Aunt J after a trip last year.

We got to have lunch with some mutual friends we hadn't seen in a while, at a restaurant called the Barking Dog. On the way there, O was very excited to see the dog, and while I figured it was just a name and tried to set expectations accordingly, sure enough, there was a cute little pug wagging his tail and greeting everyone as they arrived. O: "I like the doggie, he sniffed me a little bit." As an extra bonus, the restaurant had a good selection of coloring books, including a Cars themed one (score) that someone had stuck a bunch of Cars stickers into (double score); both boys were very pleased, even if O passed on the tasty-looking grilled cheese and only ate his waffle fries, while Z ignored the several pounds of pasta they served him. Ah well. Uncle B also visited an orchestra rehearsal and then attended my fall concert; it was great to have him there for support in the audience!

Alas, all too soon, the visit was over - though there was a final highlight as the boys got to drive Uncle B to the airport for his flight, and proceeded to exclaim happily as we drove past all of the planes parked at their gates. We were glad to get a weekend with Uncle B and look forward to seeing him again soon!

Double Booked

"This is how I sit in two seats."

Scary Movie 3

Yesterday O invented a new drink, taking his Halloween candy choice of the day (a lollipop) and discovering that not only did it fit nicely into the straw of his drinking cup, but that he could drink juice around/through it, making it extra sweet. "I like it, it's a little bit yummy!"

O and Z's favorite film series du jour is Toy Story (we're pleased they've moved on from Cars a bit). Z's toothbrush needed replacement, and he happily picked out Buzz Lightyear one when we went to the store -- and then both boys were very excited to spot the Toy Story 3 DVD in the video aisle (we only had the first two films). Many mornings (when we stumble downstairs at 5:30 or 6 in the morning) Z will now query which one we should watch: "Toy Story 1, Toy Story 2, or Toy Story 3?". If I ask him to choose he says, "one with the spaceman, Buzz Lightyear" - note that Buzz is of course in all three of them.

Both boys will then happily snuggle with the nearly-still-asleep daddy and/or mommy and watch at least the opening sequence. But when it's early enough, we tend to make it a good 20 to 30 minutes into the movie before the kids want to go play something else. The last few times, I've noticed O start to get concerned with a certain sequence, and this morning as it approached, he actually put his hands over his eyes and ears and told me "I don't like this part!" Such a cute little sensitive man! Granted, I've also caught Meh occasionally sitting on the ottoman, pulled in by one of the many heartrending scenes in the film. Darn those tear-jerker Pixar montage sequences!