They Might Be Avengers

With the advent of iTunes, Matthew has access to our complete music library. And since this is Kev and me we’re talking about, that music library is extensive and eclectic.  Matthew has a tendency to explore our collection and while he has his continual favorites (Michael Buble, Dinosaur Train, Star Trekkin’ from Dr. Demento…apparently his tastes are as eclectic as those of his parents) he is always finding random stuff and loving it for awhile. One of his latest discoveries has been the album “Flood” by They Might Be Giants.

This album always takes me back to high school when they were not singing songs for the teeny boppers, but for the random minded.  In my sophomore and junior years of high school there was this big group of us that hung out all the time and there were media choices that were repeated time and time again…”Flood” and “Return of the Killer Tomatoes” were two of those choices. Gives you an idea of just how random we liked it. But I digress.  Back to Matthew.

Matthew’s favorite song from “Flood” is “Particle Man.”  I can’t say that I blame him.  It is enormously catchy and one of my favorites as well.  He also has a tendency to make up songs…or just new lyrics to songs he already knows. Given his love of all things Avengers, I should not have been surprised when I started hearing an Avengers song around the house. He has verses for Captain America, Hulk, Loki, The Avengers as a whole and even Wolverine, but my favorite verse is this one:

The Many Faces of Matthew

Yesterday Matthew was grounded from screens for lying to me. For him, that is just about the worst punishment in the world. When Malia goes down for a nap, Matthew usually gets to watch t.v. for a bit so being grounded from screens is a blow. When it happens, he usually asks me to print him some pictures to color. When he asked for Avengers coloring pages yesterday, I happened to come across something much, much better. 

 (I love how he always throws out his chest when he has his arc ‘rejector’ on.)

He cut them all out (except some of the super tricky tabs) and this morning I helped him glue and tape them in all the appropriate places. And then Daniel helped him create a Captain America shield out of a cracker box.  If you have a little (or maybe not so little seeing as I’ve seen Daniel in these as well) Avengers fan, you have to check out these masks!

I Made a Total Stranger Snort-Laugh

A couple of weeks ago I was grocery shopping with Matthew and Malia. We were looking for fresh ginger and when I found it the following conversation occurred:

Matthew: “What’s that?”

Me: “Fresh ginger.”

Matthew: “Is it good?”

Me: “If you eat it by itself you go bleeaah (I stuck my tongue out, make a super yucky face, you get the idea), but in stuff it’s good.”

A lady happened to pass by us just in time to hear this conversation and see the face that accompanied the “bleeaah.” I completely caught her off guard and she did the whole snort-laugh thing as she hurried by. It totally made my day that I made a complete stranger laugh simply by having a moment with my kid .

So when is the last time you made a stranger chuckle?

We’re Saucy!

One day + 2 ½ bushels of apples = 30 quarts + 15 pints of applesauce ≈ a years’ worth of a million times better than what you can buy at the store!

Look What I Can Do!

Malia has finally figured out how to pull herself up to standing all by herself. This is one of those skills that she is definitely running a little behind on, but I think she realized that she is able to get to more stuff if she gets herself off the floor. With a little guidance and a lot of cheering from all of us, it has become a daily occurrence to see Malia standing around. Now she just has to figure out how to get back down...

A Sneak Peak

Halloween merchandise has hit the stores and the first wave of sales has begun. Knowing that Matthew's costume of choice will most likely be the choice of about a million other little boys means that I planned to get it early so he won't be all emotionally mooshed in October when I can't find it. He was so freakin' excited that he let me take his picture...and a video. This costume is definitely good stuff!

 

And by the way, the "arc rejector" in the middle of his chest lights up.Once he had his costume on he kept thrusting his chest out and staring at his reflection in the piano. It made me giggle.

Baby Buffet

Matthew accidentally spilled the box of Kix while he was having a snack after school earlier today. He came and told me that he made a mess and asked (very nicely, might I add) if I would help him clean it up, then got his broom and my broom and helped me sweep. As many of you may know, Kix are round so when they spill they have a tendency to roll everywhere. Matthew called it an “avalanche of Kix.” Malia called it lunch.

It was a bit hard to get it swept up since Malia kept snacking from the floor…and the dustpan (yuck!). But she was pretty pleased about the whole thing. And Matthew had to call Kev once we got it cleaned up to tell him all about the picture we took of the avalanche. I love that I have a kindergartener who knows the word "avalanche" and who helps clean up the messes he makes. I don't mind cleaning up the daily avalanches, floods, and other natural disasters quite as much if the maker of the mess happily helps in the aftermath.

Tall and Thin…Which She Does Not Get From Me

The past year has gone by far too quickly and in spite of my wishing that she would stay a baby for awhile longer, Malia is growing like a little weed. She had her 12 month well child check this morning. She is 29 ½ inches tall (64%) and weighs 19 lbs. 15 oz. (30%). She is advanced in verbal skills and small motor skills and lags a bit in gross motor skills. We are not too concerned about the lag because the doctor says she still falls in the normal range and I figure she lags because she has three doting older brothers who willingly do everything for her. In addition, she seems to be afraid of falling and therefore is more cautious about pulling to stand up and taking steps. But she still seems to be doing everything she should, just at her own pace.

In addition to saying “bath,” Malia has about a dozen other words that we can understand. She is beginning to tell us “wet” when she needs a diaper change and will say “no” and shake her head when she is in opposition to her current situation (like when we clip her nails-she will shake her head and say “no” over and over). She is a social laugher and will laugh whenever anyone else laughs. She is a bit of a finicky eater, but is slowly expanding her food repertoire. She is just beginning to pull to standing, but is very cautious about the whole thing. She prefers to be barefoot because she uses her feet to hold toys so she can use her hands to play with them. She doesn't cry to let us know she is awake in the morning; she laughs. She definitely makes our lives a lot of fun!