Sing for your supper... or dessert!

So dinner on Saturday was one of the most enjoyable ones we've ever had. After a small protest from Milo because he didn't like what we were having, we all dug in and had a nice meal.

2 year-old Joey started singing his favorite Bumble-bee song. Since I hadn't heard him sing it before in from start to finish I told him that I would give him a cookie if he sang it again.

Well, what he sang wasn't the Bumble-bee song. He actually sang The Alphabet Song... in its entirety. Sure, he was a little pitchy... but he didn't miss a letter. Even though it wasn't the song that was requested, it was well worth a cookie for sure!

Next up was 4 year-old Milo. I told him that he too could get a cookie if he sang a song. So Milo sang "A-B-C-D-E-F-G... um... next time won't you sing with me..."

Now that's commitment!

No, this is not a photo of Joey wasted on diluted apple juice, post-snack.

Joey's been potty training and doing quite well. Ms. Nohea took this photo after the little dude fell asleep at the lunch table. Before she could get him to his nap mat, he fussed and insisted on using the potty. Good job!

And then, after "missing" for several minutes, little Joey was found asleep by the potty. Dedication? Perhaps. Yucky? Totally.

No Rocking Around the Clock!

For Christmas this year Santa brought Milo one of the coolest toys ever made. It's a toy copy of a Gibson SG... a truly historic lightweight design suitable for most blues, rock, and hardcore genres. It comes programmed with backup music so the user can play along with a few select songs. For this guitar, some of the songs include; "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead, "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest, and "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. These are legendary tunes by what many would consider to be pioneer bands of the British metal movement. (Daddy was fortunate enough to see two of these three bands last Summer.) That's all probably a bit much of an analysis for a child's toy.... and I'll bet you can't guess which parent recommended it to Santa!

Anyway, it's not uncommon for us to hear the guitar in action after the boys have been put to bed. Over the weekend we heard Joey turn on the guitar. I went in to take it from him and return him to his bed. I reminded Joey that it was past his bedtime and Milo added "Yeah Joey, it's too late to rock!"

Toot your horn...

What kid doesn't like putting vacuum attachments to their mouth and making proclamations?

Milo was caught chanting "All hail Plankton!*" this morning.

Indeed.



*If you don't know who Plankton is, check out any "Spongebob Squarepants" episode, or just trust me that it's really, really funny.

Happy New Year!

This New Year's Eve was special. We went out for Chinese food as a gesture of goodwill to Chinese people everywhere for the western world's insensitivity to their traditional new year celebration. We were then joined by friends Stephanie and her 5 year-old daughter Hallie who were visiting from Dallas.

Milo and Joey partied in the new year to another viewing of Nightmare Before Christmas and a first-ever viewing of Wall-E.

As 12:00am came and went, the children were still up. The grown-ups had champagne and the kids drank juice.

By 12:15am, the celebration had ended... and this was the aftermath.

Tool Time with Joey

This one was from last Sunday...

It was the point in time of Joey's diaper-changing ritual where he sits on the potty after his old diaper is removed and before the new one is put on. Since he's an ace staller, we usually have to just let him hang out a bit. During this time I'll give him his privacy... mainly so that I don't have to stand there while he goofs around.

Before I made it back in I heard Joey crying. I met him in the hallway. He was holding his "you know what" in one hand and a pair of toy pliers Milo got for Christmas in the other.

I didn't see the point in asking him what happened. But I hope to God he takes shop class in school just so I can tell his teacher about this.