gunky

lion in a triangle

our little boy likes to play board games.

the rest of us don't exactly feel the same way about engaging in this activity, so when someone agrees to play with the child he gets all excited and runs to get the box with a happy little gait.

today, after a long hiatus from Candy Land, the boy's daddy agreed to play one round with him.  the kid came back with the box and set it down, all the while babbling about how he figured he would get to go over the Rainbow Pass which would set him in the lead and he would quickly win the game.

he whipped off the lid and took note of the copyright area of the edge of the box . . . 

. . . and continued his monologue: "the baby with the red circle around it means that this game is not suitable for babies, and the picture of the lion inside the yellow triangle is . . . is . . . a picture of a lion inside a yellow triangle? DADDY!  does the picture of the lion inside the yellow triangle mean that you shouldn't play this game at the ZOO?"

i have no idea what the picture of the lion inside the yellow triangle means.

update: "The Lion Mark was developed in 1988 by the British Toy & Hobby Association as a symbol of toy safety and quality for the consumer, exactly what the CE Mark is not. While the Lion Mark is only used by BTHA members, its membership includes many major international and European companies. In all, the BTHA members supply around 95% of all toys sold in the UK. To display the Lion Mark, the supplier has signed a strict Code of Practice, (the TRA Code is based on this same document), which, as well as covering toy safety matters, demands the highest standards of ethics in advertising and in the thorny matter of counterfeiting."

everyone does it

our almost-twenty-month-old Baby is not at all conversational, which her brother was at about fourteen months.  

this is perfectly fine with me.

she loves to draw, has great balance, and uses the toilet a lot - all of which are valuable gifts - and these are the things she talks about.

she had her brother's Buzz Lightyear doll the other day, turned it over, pointed at his bottom and said, "poo poo. buzz."

"yes, that's buzz's bottom."

milo came tearing down the hall, having overheard part of this exchange.

"CAN I HAVE MY BUZZ LIGHTYEAR DOLL?" he shouted as he ran in.

"poo poo.  buzz!" the Baby proudly told him.  she pointed at buzz's bottom.

milo froze.  he looked at her.  he looked at the doll.  he looked at me.  he seemed to have a realization.

"buzz POOPS?!" he asked dumbfoundedly.

amazing what a four-and-a-half year-old can learn from a one-and-a-half year-old.

a phrase of OUR own

one of my oldest friend's recent post about one of her family's "inside phrases" made me think of one of ours.

we used to keep baby/toddler food on a lower shelf in the cabinet, but once my Husband shared some little crunchy, seedy sesame niblet crackers of his, from the “adult” cupboard, with our Boy when he was just about one. the kid loved them.

the next day, the little guy was pointing at the cupboard requesting some food, but he didn’t want the baby cupboard opened – he was saying “up high! up high!”  when we pulled out the sesame crackers and asked, “these crackers?” milo said, “yes! up high crackers!”

we’ve called them up-high crackers ever since.

we eat them all the time. when they are on the trader joe’s list that’s what we write.  the other day they had rearranged the store, as they often do, and my husband was confused so he asked the manager, “where are the up-high crackers?”

brought to you by

"mama!  you know why i'm wearing Batman on my t-shirt?"

"no.  why?"

"because he's my SPONSOR!"

recipe

"how to make sushi" - by milo a. moran

first you go fishing and you catch some fish and you put them in a bowl.

then you add pancake mix.

then you add some olive oil.

then you add some coal.

you then stir.

dip the whole thing in teriyaki sauce.

then you have sushi.

yuck.

cute kids

someone in this household is a little more productive than i am.

he takes lovely pictures of our kids and posts them and gets compliments.

go check them out here and tell him how cool he is.

not normal

when my Boy returned from the bathroom like this, after going there to put away a towel, i was shocked not because he made a mess with my treasured Russian Red lipstick, but because he did something so very typical of a three year old.  what a relief.

piñata

better than a bucket load of candy, if you ask me

dance class

there are ten girls  . . . 

t

. . . and one boy.

the real deal

each of The Boy's three haircuts since the first one when my hairstylist poked him in the neck with her scissors have been difficult.  he doesn't want his haircut.  he wants it in his face.  and he wants it long.

we've stooped to the kiddie cuts place where they put him in a "taxi" that is "parked" in front of a video monitor, which would be fine if he didn't end up with a whack job like this:

i wouldn't trust me either if i asked for my hair in my face and got those bangs. 

that was in early march.

so this time we stooped to buying two giant-head-sized fresh baked cookies and took him back to an adults' stylist. after three different rounds of cutting, trying to figure out what to do with his hair, and after his consuming both entire treats, we figured it out.  

a compromise.  it's long (ish).  and it's definitely in his face.

we will be going through a lot of fancy cookies to keep him looking this hip.