Kids Say the Darnedest Things: The Little Bug Edition

Am I the only person who despises reading blogs wherein the writer is a parent who dotes upon his or her offspring and believes said children to be full of charm and brilliance and possessed of qualities that render them a little lower than the angels? Just me? Okay, then. *ahem* Well, I have now become that which I most hate and fear. [I'm pretty sure there's a sobering and deeply meaningful moral somewhere in there.] The Little Bug is reaching the age of crazy and hilarious statements and I just may start documenting some of them. If you hate reading these kinds of irritating cutesy items, feel free to skip. I won't be offended.

Today: We were discussing fossils, because he's my child and therefore we're as likely to be talking about paleontology as anything.
First, "Fossils are called ants!"
And as I was still trying to sort out that first statement, he came out with "Fish fossils are angry."

Sure, kid, whatever you say.

More singing

You can imagine how proud I am that, in addition to sometimes singing "When He Cometh", the Little Bug now sings along to the theme song for Daria.

"La-la-la-la-la."

Precious Children

I put my Little Bug to bed nearly every night, and he always asks me to sing him a song. He specifically requests a song he has termed "the precious children song". And I always comply. Sometimes I ask him if he wants to sing too, and he just shakes his head. So imagine my surprise when, night before last, he suddenly piped up and sang with me on the choruses (with almost all the words being correct!):
Like the stars of the morning
His bright crown adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty:
Bright gems for His crown.

The song is one that my parents sang to me when I myself was a tiny tot, under the title of "When He Cometh". It was one of the first songs I taught myself to play by ear on the piano. I don't know how widely it is sung in the general population, however. Here are the lyrics as I learned them.

When He cometh, when He cometh
To take up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning
His bright crown adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty:
Bright gems for His crown.

Little children, little children
Who love their Redeemer
Are His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning
His bright crown adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty:
Bright gems for His crown.

The Cyber Hymnal has a MIDI of the tune and slightly different words for the lyrics. I have to pull out my keyboard to play it, and learn it on the guitar as well. I want to pass on to my Little Bug all the sweet, simple songs that my parents gave to me, because they are a part of our heritage as a family and as believers. I've never forgotten the hymns that I learned as a child and consider them to have played a tremendous role in the development and sustainment of my faith. I have reason to think that my Little Bug is responding to the words, and though he does not yet understand the full import of what Jesus has done and is for him, he knows that somehow, somewhere, there is a Redeemer who loves him and holds him as His own precious child.

February already!

It was 8 F when I came into work this morning at 6:30 am. I'm pretty sure my brain can't actually comprehend that, because I was reasonably okay walking from my car to the building (it wasn't windy) but I just kept repeating "COLD COLD COLD COLD" in my mind.

The Little Bug's daddy has been visiting us for several days, so that has given me a welcome respite from bearing the entire burden of parenting. I've had a few nice early mornings at work. I haven't had to plan and cook dinner after work. The Little Bug has been able to spend all day with his daddy instead of going to daycare.

Speaking of the Little Bug, he turned 3 years old on Super Bowl Sunday!

Anyway, that's the summary of the past week or so. I never like cold weather, and naturally, I like it less and less as winter wears on. I'm looking forward to spring with a wistful eagerness.

Marketing 2

For the first time EVER, the Little Bug actually ASKED to wear pajama pants! They have Thomas on them, of course.

Now I have high hopes regarding the Thomas bedding that Meema Debbie is sending him for his special new big boy bed... He may soon be ready to sleep on his own!

Marketing

Conventional wisdom would have us believe that the marketing of popular children's characters is aimed at children. Seems reasonable. However, my theory is that much of the marketing is actually directed toward parents. Case in point: Thomas the Tank Engine outfits from Wal-Mart. I bought three sets (shirt and pants) as winter clothes for the Little Bug. True, they cost $1 or $2 more per set than would a more generic non-branded product. HOWEVER, from a parenting point of view, this relatively tiny markup is MORE THAN WORTH IT. If the Bug has Thomas on his shirt and pants, his resistance to getting dressed in the morning is greatly reduced. It's worth $2 to me just to have one easy morning. Amortizing this cost over an entire winter? PRICELESS!

VALUE isn't just a question of how much something costs in money; it's a question of how much money and effort and some other intangibles are required in outlay, versus utility (and even enjoyment) you will obtain from it, and the appropriate cost-to-use ratio that you yourself are willing to assign. Nobody else can assign value on your behalf. And that's a beautiful part of being a wise and responsible consumer.

Mommy's Little Helper

Kneading the dough for some rolls.
They're never too young to start learning how to cook!

NPH has twins (so to speak)

Everyone's favorite amazingly multi-talented person, (openly gay) Neil Patrick Harris, is the new father of twin babies! Babies are awesome in and of themselves, of course, but I also found a fair amount of amusement from this article, which concludes by helpfully pointing out that "the babies were born with the help of a surrogate".

So Far, So Good

The Little Bug actually opted to go to sleep in his own bed, three nights in a row. You have no idea how amazing this is, and what an answer to prayer!

Mommy Life

Why yes, there IS a reason why I walked into church an hour late and carrying an unpainted balsa wood toy fire truck. Thanks for asking.

Zoo Visit

Early March, and just warm enough that we could wear light jackets during the day.

Snow!

The Little Bug walks out into snow for the first time.


Editor's Note: I would just like to add that I am fully aware of the fact that I have the most annoying recorded voice on the planet. I cringe when I hear myself.

Vintage Sesame Street

A new-found dedication to Elmo, combined with a lack of actual television access, has led to a fair amount of time spent viewing Sesame Street video clips on Youtube. There is a decent selection, and there is always the fun of clicking on a "Related Videos" link and being transported to other venues of awesomeness, which is how I happened upon this clip, featuring folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie teaching Big Bird about early pediatric nutrition.



I think this is so amazing, with the amusing but logical setup (of course Big Bird thinks nursing is a funny way to feed a baby: he's a bird, and females in his species do not lactate) and the simple way that breastfeeding is presented as a natural and healthy action, while at the same time respectfully avoiding condemnation of mothers who don't breastfeed.

I wonder if Sesame Street would ever broadcast a segment today with a celebrity mama nursing her baby in this day and age. I hope so. I'd watch it.

Let it snow, let it snow!

Winter arrived with a vengeance some time last night, here in Buckeye Land. When I awoke this morning, there was a dusting of real snow over everything, and the temperature has been hovering in the low 20s F all day. Fortunately, I had an inkling (i.e. the weather report) that winter would soon be upon us, and so I'd prepared for it just two days ago. I went to the mall to purchase some items for someone else, and while I was there, I got a few items for myself:

Eddie Bauer coat (30% off), nearly identical to this one below, except that mine has fur lining on the hood. Warm, wind-resistant, relatively chic. I wish the coat was longer (full length instead of 3/4 length) but I have to admit, the Eddie Bauer folks totally know what they are doing when it comes to making cold-weather gear.

Bear Paw boots (40% off), very much in the style of the popular Ugg boots. I've always hated Ugg boots, but then I've always seen them worn in California with mini skirts or short shorts, which is just about as crazy a trend as anyone could find. I swore I would never wear boots like this, but then again, I also swore that I would never live any place that had snow. And with heavy denim trousers and a sensible jacket, these boots look great, utterly appropriate, and are water-proof, snow-proof, and extremely comfortable. Again, these manufacturers totally know what they are doing.

And never fear: Baby Bug also has his own cold-weather clothing, with a puffy down coat, a snow bunny suit from L.L. Bean (gift from Grandma Debbie), and water-proof baby Ecco boots (that cost, I might add, 25% more than a pair of my own boots).

Elmo's Song

The little Bug LOVES this video. He is crazy about Elmo (or rather, about Melmo, as he's known around here).

Penguin

Buckeyes!!

See how far I've come! Or, how far I've fallen...

But I decided that Baby Bug and I are real Ohians (Ohio-ans?) and Buckeyes now. If I'm going to move most of the way across the country and totally change my life around, I'm not going to be half-hearted about it. Maybe together, the two of us can enjoy being part of a larger community here.

And let me tell you, the Buckeyes are a HUGE part of the community here. People are CRAZY about Ohio State, especially now that football season has arrived. People are rabid OSU fans, even if they've never been to college (heck, they probably can't even spell it!). So it's sort of self-preservation to start showing a little spirit right about now; I'm beginning to fear that if I don't put an Ohio State pennant in my window, my neighbors will slash my tires.

Oh, I kid, I kid! [But only a little.]

Happy 18 Months, Nater-bug!

Naters is 18 months old today. He is a lovely, happy, healthy little boy. He is, as always, very smart. He hasn't been talking as much as some children his age do, and I was starting to get a bit worried. I knew he understood a lot of what I would say to him, because he would respond very intelligently. But why didn't he speak?! My conclusion is, he didn't bother to talk very much, because he didn't really need to; he could get what he wanted without it. He'll say some words if he wants to.

Now, he says "Mama", which he's said for a long time, actually. He also says, "Nah!", which means "nose": he will point to (or bite) your nose while saying it. I taught both of those to him. I nearly missed the first word that I didn't teach him that he said. At daycare one day, I had come to pick him up, and he was playing in the main room. I came over, and he said, "Bah!" He will produce a lot of syllables all the time, so I don't much pay attention to them, since most of them are unintelligible. This time, however, I noticed that while he said it, he was pointing to a round object a few meters away. "Bah!" Oh, yes yes yes!! I went over and rolled it back toward him. "Yes, sweetie, it's a BALL!!" I don't think I'll ever be prouder, even when he wins a Nobel Prize.

Furthermore, last weekend, we visited with my friend Spencer from work, and he has a little fluffy dog. Nathan likes cats and dogs, and he LOVES to shriek with laughter and chase them around. When he saw Spence's dog, he said, "Beppie, beppie!" Yes, PUPPY!!

He's learning more and more about everything in the world, every day.

I love you, Nater-bug!

Oh, yes, he's mine, all right!

Gryffindor!

We went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Grandma Willow made Naters a Hogwarts scarf, and she is pretty certain he belongs in the Gryffindor House.


So, dear readers, please leave a comment and tell us to which Hogwarts House YOU belong, and why.