ABC's

The last couple of days The Blond Guy has started singing the alphabet in bits and pieces. Yesterday I got some good footage of his singing, although the first take which you see here ended up being the best. Later on we were running a bunch of errands and one was at a strip mall with CVS. From the back seat of the car he said to me, “Mommy, lots of ABC’s!” and he also said “Big ABC’s!” in reference to the signs above the stores. I was glad that he took notice. I wouldn’t have even thought to point them out.

Got Goslings?

On our way to the park there is a nursing home with a pond, home to several geese and a few turtles. This year two families of geese had 5 goslings each. We've had the distinct pleasure of watching the baby geese grow up. We stop by and watch them and if we have crackers on hand we share. The parents are always nearby and they hiss if we get too close so we have to be careful. But they are also always eager to get in on the action if there is food in the mix...and each family seems to like to boss the other one around. At first we would watch the parents bullying each other for territory and lately we've seen the same behavior duplicated in the offspring. I guess it's just one of nature's obvious lessons which makes me even more self-conscious of my own foibles in parenting.

Our Most Recent Talent Exhibition

The Blond Guy's act is called Not My Era.

Nogster performs 60 seconds to don your fire-fighting gear.

"Is that funny, mommy?"

Ah....life with a two-year-old. I'd not thought it possible but The Blond Guy seems to be producing an endless supply of funny antics for us to smile about. I chose this picture because I think it illustrates well a funny TBG-ism that happened a few days ago....although it wasn't taken on the same occassion. To give a little background, usually when he is in another room Stone or I will try to check on him by calling out "P, what are you doing?" Most of the time he responds with a resounding "Yeah!!" However, on one particular day I called out, not expecting anything different. His reply: "Making a big mess!" And so he does. He gets started early in the day, too. He's always the first one up and lately has started resorting to any method he can think of, fair or foul, to get us out of bed. It used to be just asking for us to get him some breakfast toast or juice. However, a few days ago we were particularly slow to respond and he had to keep going down his list of tactics. Finally he stood by my bedside and said, "Time-a scripture study!" Yeah, he's a pretty spiritual kid. Tonight he wanted to say the closing prayer for FHE with my help, of course. I was feeding him lines, like any good parent would do:

Mom: Please help us to be happy...

TBG: happy....

Mom: and healthy...

TBG: and healthy....no naps...

huh? I guess it's good his prayers are starting to become more and more genuine...spoken truly from the heart. I must say, though, he definitely inherited the humor streak in his dad's genes. He is constantly labeling himself and all our family members as "funny" whenever anyone makes someone else laugh. "Mommy, P's funny." He also frequently asks for my reaffirimation of his jokes. "Is that funny, mommy?" Usually I say yes. Unless it's a behavior I really don't want to encourage. Then I say, "Kind of." He doesn't like this answer. He furrows his brow and says, "Mommy, don't say kind of."

Name That Book of Mormon Character

(Hint: Mosiah 11:15)

Once Upon A Cozy Halloween

I was going through our photos and videos for the purpose of ordering prints (this will tell you how far behind I was in that area) and I remembered this darling video of The Blond Guy, me, and Nogster reading TBG's favorite Halloween book on Halloween night. You can see he's still in his cozy Eeyore costume. So, even though it's horrifically out of season, I wanted to share anyway.

We Made a Snowman Today

That was the easy part. The hard part was getting The Blond Guy to smile and look at me at the same time for the picture. And in case you're wondering if those are olives, the answer is "yes."