No Daddy, I Do It Myself

Thing 2 has witnessed Thing 1 rummage through the fridge and pantry for snacks and treats enough times, that it appears he can do it all by himself.

Mrs. H and I were chatting as we heard thing 2 pull the stool over to the fridge, open the freezer, get the ice cream out, scoot the stool over to get a bowl out of the cupboard, find the ice cream scoop and voila,

"daddy, I do it myself", he says...
He's learning too quickly... (BYU product placement not intended, but it is cool, huh?)

Dough-boy!

Thing 2 got busy with the flour!

Oh and by the time he was done, he had mixed enough saliva to make little dough balls. Aren't I cute?

It's Potty Time

Superbowl Sunday and I'm feeling it's man-time. To the family this just means daddy wants to be a little selfish (you know leave me alone, so I can enjoy some quality football).

Good game. Nice to not see a blowout...

Meanwhile, since I was hogging the family room television, The rest of the fam-damily was upstairs hanging out. Thing 1 was watching Drake & Josh or iCarly....(gag) and I can hear mom wrestling with Thing 2 to change his diaper.

All of a sudden, I hear her scream, "No, Koda!


She is now preoccupied with cleaning up the puppy pee, when nekked boy decides he wants to pee, too! All over his bed.

Now the most famous peeing boy, at least that comes to my mind is in Brussels, Belgium - The Mannekin PisThat was the mental picture as I asked what was going on. This Belgian website shows several of the many costumes they put on the statue, as well as background, history, etc.

So, there you go, a funny story and some culture, too. All in one.

We're a football family

I hadn't really seen much of any of this year's BCS football games. I do like to watch college football; it's more 'all-out' than the NFL.

So the other night, I tried to watch the Oregon - Oklahoma State game. It was a really good game, too. Problem was, we (alright, alright, I) had a few, oh let's just call them 'obstacles' to really enjoy the game. Nothing terribly negative, just a few "pay attention to me!" quips from the "things"; even from my sweet wife, who, strangely enough just wasn't into watching the game (Go ahead, ask her, she's a bigger football nut than I).

So, it's the 4th quarter and as I normally put Thing 2 to bed, it is time. "Ah, but! I don't want to at the moment", I secretly protest.

Thinking I can get him to sit with me (hoping he's ready to wind down) and then we'll go upstairs to do the 'night-night' routine (bath, stories, saying our prayers, rocking chair, then, a la Emeril Lagasse style "Bam!", bed) once the game is over.

So I say, "Thing 2 (using his real name) Wanna' watch football?"

"Nuh-uh", he replies.

Jokingly, I reply as the wife is playing on the computer just behind me, "Are you queering out on me boy?"

"Uh-huh" - the better half and I are both ROTFL (you know, 'rolling on the floor laughing' - it's the text talk...)

Just had to share. I know the term is not PC, but I am a Democrat.

Noise, Noise, Noise Or Bad Parenting 101

We have two "Super Wal-Marts" nearby, The newer one (a little further away) is rarely very busy... and as it was getting close to the kiddies' bed-time, we decide to go there.

The odd thing is that the last few times we've shopped at the newer store, Thing 2 has had major Meltdowns. He screams and screams, and seems just about inconsolable. Perhaps he can sense that poison gas the evil empire siphons throughout the store enticing one to buy even more... Whatever the reason, he generally isn't happy in this store.

To console or distract him, we have tried food, drink, a toy... This night, we tried a set of Handy Manny pj's (one of his new favorite shows) - He liked them, tore off the paper packaging (so now we're getting them no matter what...) Didn't work. Then we find a Manny talking toy with tools. It works; pacifying the boy and keeping him busy... Yeah!

"How much is it, honey?", I ask.

"Who cares! It's working", momma replies.

"Ok", I add, thinking it looks a little pricey. "I'll just put it back at the end of our shopping." What can I say, I'm cheap (Thanks, Dad)

As we continue shopping, the toy distraction wanes slowly. Thing 2 gets a little more vocal and Thing 1 decides she will play with her brother to help us get through the store a little faster. She takes him out of the shopping cart and starts running back and forth down the isle with the boy as we make our way through... Then she decides to take him in and out of different isles, generally keeping him busy moving and looking at stuff, regardless of where we are.

I sense the distance between parents and children is growing... But, hey "they're fine, right?."

I know, I know... reproachful comments like "Mister, this is being an irresponsible parent! How dare you neglect / abandon your children at a Wal-Mart..." "Letting them gad about the store unsupervised!" etc. swirl through my head... C'mon, I want to get through the store and back home as soon as possible. My girl was trying to help mom and dad out. And I was proud of her stepping up to help.

So we quicken the pace and as we wrap up (we're going through the produce section at the front of the store on our way to the checkout) we pause and just as the wife turns to me to say "go find the kids", we clearly hear Thing 2 shrieking. Not in pain or anger, but more of a happy "Here I am, Pay attention to me!"

He does this most frequently in the car. He'll see something and shrill out "Daddy!, Daddy!, Daddy!!!!" or "Momma!". This typically reminds me of either:

Get Smart (2008) - You gotta see it!

OR

Family Guy's Stewie

The funny thing was we could clearly hear him. That is NOT typical for the Wal-Mart, for they are generally pretty noisy. And this shrieking was likely coming from clear across the Supercenter!

I laugh and somewhat embarrassingly go fetch the children.

So, what do you think - which is more annoying?

Infamous Dumb & Dumber snippet

OR

My boy's shriek? Not the pictures, silly...
THE SOUND!

And In This Corner...

Weighing in at just over 10 pounds. The southpaw from down south... KODA.

For the 1st match of the day she'll face: Thing 2

Would you look at that - just one cross and it's over, folks... Throw in the towel!

The bleeding over the left eye is just too severe to go on.

Think he'll learn his lesson? Do not wrestle with the puppy.

So we spent a few hours at the kid's care. He has a pretty good sized gash (although the steri-strips do a good job of hiding it); he'll be on antibiotics for 10 days - which, the doc says will for sure cause some wonderful diarrhea... And he's already ready for round 2

Fun times for a Thursday evening...

Halloween 2009?

So, Wha' do think? Should he be Jack Skellington or Heath's Joker next year..?



This morning, Thing 2 found mommy's make-up. No assistance was needed by my boy. He did it all himself... And it's waterproof mascara, so Church today will be full of "well you see my boy just..."