Month: August 2009

Two Year Old Swimmer

Thing 3 loves water.? He likes to drink it, spill it, pour it, splash it, bubble it, and throw it.? He is really fascinated by water.? He would run his hands under the faucet all day if he could.

And, this weekend, we found out this kid is also a natural when it comes to swimming.? He is utterly fearless in the pool, which is both good and bad.? I’m happy he isn’t afraid but a little fear is actually a good thing.? It is what prevents him from running headfirst into a body of water.

At just two years old, Thing 3 has managed to figure out all by himself how to hold his breath and float on his belly.? Sure, he swallowed some water a few times.? But he just came up laughing and wanted to do it again.

This kid loves water.

Funniest Moments

I’ve heard that kids laugh hundreds of times each day, compared to adults who only laugh 20 times on average per day. I’m not surprised. Kids will find humor in the strangest places.

And they remember funny stuff like it happened yesterday. Thing 1 and Thing 2 have a funny moment “hall of fame” of sorts. Incidents that happened, which they may or may not have found funny at the time, but have since taken on a much bigger laugh as they recall them over and over and over.

One of the them will say, Remember when such and such happened? And they’ll break out in laughter and relive the moment, often talking in code words which only they understand.

With that, here are the top moments in the Thing 1 and Thing 2’s Funny Moments Hall of Fame.

Daddy got in the back seat of the car. Happened at least 3 years ago. We were walking to the car when a huge downpour started, so I jumped into the back seat with them to get out of the rain. That was before the minivan so I guess it was funny to see me climb to the front seat of my Civic.

Daddy dropped the egg. I was cooking breakfast and placed an egg on the counter. It rolled off when I wasn’t looking and splattered on the ground. Thing 2 found it hysterical at the time, and loves to relive the event.

Note the theme of the first two: laughing at Daddy. Apparently I am a source of amusement at my expense.

Boppy. A babysitter brought her brother one time, probably 3 years ago, and I think his name was Bobby. They called him Boppy. I guess you had to be there. All it takes now is saying “Remember Boppy?” and they will be on the floor laughing.

Sit on me. This one is just for Thing 2. He likes me to sit on top of him to see if he can escape. It never fails to crack him up. He can be mad as hell, in the middle of a tantrum, and if I sit on him he will cheer up. At first, he’ll try to stay mad and tell me to get off. Then, when I try to walk away, he’ll ask me to sit on him. Other times, he’ll walk up randomly and tell me to sit on him.

Daddy forgets. I forget to bring things to school, forget to take food out of the oven, forget names. When it happens, which is often, laughter ensues.

Prepare to be amazed! A quote from the movie Meet the Robinsons. After every bath, before getting dressed, he throws the towel off his shoulders, arms out, buck naked, and exclaims Prepare to be amazed! like the Bowler Hat Guy did in the movie. Here’s the soundbite from the movie. Blank It won’t be very funny, but I’ll try to get some video of him doing it after his next bath and you’ll see for yourself.

Comfort Object of the Month

Comfort objects are a curious stage. For a while it was a monkey stuffed animal, then a duck. I can understand being attached to those nice cuddly objects.

The last few weeks Thing 3 has become attached to a flashlight. He carries it around the house, takes it to school, keeps it with him when he eats, and takes it to bed.

Yes, the batteries will run out soon. Yes, this will cause Thing 3 to have a tantrum. No, I’m not going to keep putting in new batteries if he leaves it turned on 24/7.

The Best Parts of My Day

I will preface this post by stating clearly, for the record, that I enjoy spending time with my kids.

But I’m sure other parents out there can appreciate this, especially those with more than one kid close in age and young ones like mine. Just because you enjoy spending time with your kids, doesn’t mean you want to spend all your time with your kids.

I can’t be the only one who thinks the best part of my day is after I drop the kids off at preschool and get to my desk at work. I eat a bagel, sip a hot caffeinated beverage, catch up on the day’s headlines, and enjoy the QUIET. Oh yeah, for those co-workers who read my blog, I also get right down to work.

To put yourself into my state of mind when I get to work, check out this old post about why I love Mondays.

The second best part of my day comes after 9 hours of sitting in meetings and in front of a computer. I walk through the door and I get ambushed three times by a little person running full steam and yelling “Daaaaaaaaaaddddddyyyy!” Each one wants to play and tell me what they did during the day. All at the same time.

Well, usually that’s the case. Sometimes I walk into a scene of pure chaos and deafening noise levels. That’s when I quietly close the door and sit in my car for another 20 minutes. Just kidding of course (SuburbanMommy will read this).

No Shoes, No Service, No Kidding

File this under hard to believe. A manager at a Burger King in St Louis told a family they had to leave because their 6 month old wasn’t wearing shoes! The baby couldn’t walk or even crawl. To borrow from John McEnroe, you have got to be kidding me.

A possible violation of the health code? There are plenty of other possible health code violations to worry about at a fast food restaurant. For example, there is our little adventure a couple of years ago that I’m still trying to forget.