Friday, August 27, 2010

Ava Discovers “Pretty Baby” Trapped in Local Fish

In the course of regular tummy time routines, Ava made friends with the rare and elusive Carpet Fish. The Carpet Fish have distinctive flat bottoms and an embedded mirror. They are indigenous to the Fischer-Price reef, but are sometimes spotted more locally at the bottom of the toy box.



The Carpet Fish was found to contain "a pretty baby...yes, she is." Ava's a bit alarmed. Here is her patented “I am a bit alarmed” face ™ ….



Then she realizes that she’s made a friend. Yar. Here is her “I’ve made a two- dimensional friend that looks strangely familiar” face™…



They’ve been good friends ever since.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Conversation with a "crunchy mom"

This is a simulated conversation based on actual conversations with EXTREEEEME hippies. Enjoy!

final consonant deletion - a toddler's nemesis

As you may know, Alexander goes to a preschool a few mornings a week. They offer "free developmental screenings" as part of the curriculum. These are conducted by a private for-profit company. Here is a reenactment of my conversation with the speech therapist. Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I've Heard of Perennials... but Cranials??

I'm not usually the type to attach gigantic flowers to my baby's head... but Ava's grandma got this for her and... well, you can't argue with these results. Grandmas are experts on CEDs (cute enhancement devices).




In unrelated, but also cute, news...

Alexander and Ava are conducting studies on the validity of "finger licking good" as a descriptor of deliciousness. Results? VALID.



MWAH!!!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Two. Yeeeeeaaaa!!!!

When you ask Alexander how old he is, he proudly holds up two fingers and says “two!” Sometimes he follows that up with a “yeeeaaa!”

Everyone should exclaim “yeeeaaaa!” after saying their age. I’m 34… yeeeeaaaaaa!!!! See? It feels good, right? As a bonus it deters any follow-up questions.

So Alexander turned two on Saturday. We had cupcakes with red "2"s written in frosting...and then I plunked down this giant number 2 candle. It took months of research, planning, and focus groups to come up with this party theme.



Here is Alexander’s friend Riley going “nom-nom-nom.” Cupcakes rock…



We got Alexander a Sit’n’Spin … or a generic knockoff of a Sit’n’Spin, anyway. I think it’s called a Twirl’n’Hurl. Or a Rotate’n’Ralph. Or a Play’n’Puke. Something along those lines.





Sometimes, he just falls off and declares “Dizzy.” Then he gets back on and starts spinning again. It’s like the toddler drug of choice. We’ll have to stage an intervention and send him to Sit’n’Spin rehab. He’ll have a hard time with the twelve step program since his counting skills get pretty iffy after ten. But those last two steps are just filler anyway...



A good time was had by all this weekend…. Including but not limited to Ava and her Uncle Dave.




Alexander woke up the next morning loudly announcing “I’m happy!” (Pronounced “hap-peeeeee”!) Who says that when they wake up in the morning?? Evidently, being two is just un-freakin-believable awesomeness.

Yeeeeaaaaaaa!