Everything in Relative

So bedtime meltdowns are never a good thing. Erin has them when she's really tired, and usually spends the time yelling about how she's not tired at all. Last night she had one about watching American Idol - and who can blame her - the talent is just not that great this year. But tonight she nearly had one over the fact that this great little book we have with cartoon strips telling 7 Shakespeare Stories (Hamlet, McBeth, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Winter's Tale and Julius Caeser -- just the 7 I would pick for children, how about you???) did not actually include As You Like It -- so in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather her have a meltdown about poor editorial choices on the part of Shakespeare books for children then say, about wanting to sleep on the sofa, wanting to sleep naked, or just not wanting to sleep at all. But really, all I want is 8 solid hours of sleep with no interruptions - how early can kids go to college these days????

Oh, and Sean has learned how to fake sneeze -- it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen - I'll get a video up soon.

We Are The Ones Song by will.i.am - Obama

To deviate from family posts for a moment -- I'd like to share this new Obama video. His speech on race yesterday sent chills down my spine -- and this video is great! Enjoy!

Dueling Shakespeares

Daddy Daughter Date Night 1
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

So last night as I was putting Erin to bed

Erin: Mommy, I can't sleep. I have A Midsummer Nights Dream on one side and As You Like it on the other.

Me: Side of what, sweetie? Your Brain?

Erin: Yep - they're duking it out.

Me: I wonder which one will win.

2 minutes later she's sound asleep. I guess we know which one won!! Where do these things come from??

The picture is from the Daddy Daughter Date Night and the Winston-Salem Children's Museum back in Feb. Check out their home page slide show and you'll catch another one of them together.

From the mouths of babes...

hats2_march08
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

So tonight we had our good friends Betsy and Jeremy Chapman over for dinner with their son, Ian. We played, had dinner and then were all watching Weird Al (see previous post). Erin turns around to them and says "Why are you still here??"" and then goes on about her business. Luckily Bets and Jer are not the types to get offended, or we would not have been friends for over 15 years.

The picture is further evidence of my son's infatuation with hats. He and Pat played in his re-enacting closet for a long time this morning. Sean just kept pointing up and saying 'haaaaaaat' and Pat would pull out another one --- and another -- and another. But it made for some great pictures!!

Milestones

I guess we all measure time in different ways and we all have expectations for things we can't wait to do with our kids. For me, having Erin learn all the words of the WFU Fight song has been a highlight of the last year....add to that the fact that one of her favorite insults is to call people 'Blue Devils' and my job on this planet is just about complete. For Patrick, one of his great dreams has now come true....in addition to being able to name all the superheroes she sees, Erin is a Weird Al Yankovic fan. We have spent the last 4 nights watching our DVD and Erin now knows most of the words to 'Dare to be Stupid' AND 'Jedi' -- it is a wonder to behold. 'Smells Like Nirvana', one of my favorites has yet to catch on with her, but she's warming up to "Amish Paradise." So really, what more can we ask? I guess she could grow up to save the world, but if not, we'll love her all the same!!

Sean's Vocabulary

So Sean is talking much later than Erin did, which is to be expected since he spends most of his time trying to kill himself by climbing up on things and falling off, or knocking things over on himself. But anyway, here's his latest list of vocabulary in order of daily frequency(note the lack of any reference to his female parent).....

PopPop (his grandfather)
UhOh!!
BiBi (for his passifier)
Ree Ree (read)
Eee Eee (Eat)
Da Da
Ehwin (for erin)
Deek Deek (Deac Deac)
Bah (for ball)
Beh (for Beth)
Ba (bath)
Duice (for juice or shoes)
kaka (for cat)

And a few other random sounds that he makes while pointing at things and yelling. So we're still waiting for MaMa -- I'm sure a year from now I'll be wondering why I ever wanted him to say it at all....

Happy New Year!

Kid Pics Take 1
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

It's been too long, but one of my resolutions is to stop feeling guilty for NOT writing in the blog, and just be happy when I do. So lots to remember from a great Christmas (although a bit tainted by round 2 of the stomach bug that wouldn't go away). I won't get to it all, so I'll start with this picture....6 adults four cameras, dozens of shots and not a one got a decent picture of Erin and Sean in front of the tree on Christmas Eve. Such is life, but I bet we remember it longer than if they both sat sweetly and smiled.

But part of my joy at being a parent is teaching language to my children and to become ever more infatuated with and frustrated by this thing called English. Erin is so astute that the minute something comes out of someones mouth that is a cliche, or a saying she doesn't get, she's all over it. Case in point. Last night - hot dogs at GrandJos and PopPop's house. GrandJo was getting ready to put ketchup on Erin's hot dog and GrandJo said 'OK -- tell me when....' and Erin looked at her and said 'right now.' Which cracked me up -- so we had to explain that 'tell me when' was a saying for tell me when to stop.....

Today, watching this insipid Barbie movie "Mermaidia" -- (I have nothing against Barbie movies, many I like very much, but this one stinks) and a character said something like flying fleetly through the flowers and Erin turned to me and said "Mommy - he used alliteration!!!" That's my girl......