Video Time
This whole playroom idea is good in theory, but the reality is that the kids end up playing in the living room more than anywhere else. Perhaps one reason is that I won’t let them climb on the arms of the futon but we let them go crazy on the living room furniture.
On this one I learned that focusing too much on what I’m filming means I’m not using my peripheral vision.
Background for this next one – the kids’ favorite music video is “Awakening” by Switchfoot. (You can watch it here if you want to really delve into their psyches.) Kev’s really into it, and anything he does that was also in the video, he reminds us that he’s doing it “jus’ like Swishfoot.” “I eating my dinner, jus’ like Swishfoot!” “I take off my jacket, jus’ like Swishfoot!” Bernie thought it would be fun to make them their own cardboard guitars, a la the video. We must have spent an hour playing our cardboard guitars and jumping off the couch (“I jump off da couch jus’ like Swishfoot!”). Here’s a clip of the kids playing to their 2nd favorite song, Soul Sister. At the end Kenzi reminds me of one of Robert Palmer’s creepy guitarists
Just stopping by…
…to say hello. Bernie’s at church tonight and the kids are watching Cinderella so I thought I’d take a few moment to check in, in between fastforwarding the dozen or so scenes that the kids are too scared to watch. Life has been a little bumpy lately. Like literally bumpy. In the last couple weeks: 1) Kev has fallen off a chair and hit his head hard enough to warrant an urgent care visit; 2) Kev tumbled down the top half of the stairs; 3) I slid down the bottom half of the stairs, and 4) Kev faceplanted on the concrete. The last two incidents happened this morning, so I’m writing this with a sore elbow, bum, and leg and Kev is shoving popcorn into a face that’s red and scraped. Early bedtime is looking really tasty right now.
What else, what else…Kev is talking so much right now but his favorite word is no. He’s not doing anything to help break down the stereotype of the defiant toddler. But he’s so sweet and squishy and silly that I still think he’s the best little boy ever. I also think I know what Linus Van Pelt was like as a two year old because Kev is unhealthily attached to his blue blankets. When I saw the attachment growing, I kicked it into high gear and spent the Olympic Opening Ceremony crocheting him another one so we could have a backup. He calls them Blue and ‘Nother Blue and he treats them like other kids treat dolls or stuffed animals: the Blues talk, take naps, cry, have time-outs, read books, and various other toddler activities. While all that is cute and only slightly disturbing, our least favorite Blue moments are when Kev is feeling fussy and he cries into Blue, all the time crying for Blue. We’re like, “You have Blue! You have both Blues!” but he just wails “Bleeeeuuuuueee! Bleeeeuuuuueeee!” and we consider having a blanket-burning ceremony since the stupid thing isn’t serving to make him feel any better.
But…Kev is adorable and funny and worth every second of grief. He’s also developing some sort of crush on Amy (we’re trying to teach him to sing Indie’s mom has got it goin’ on) where he acts indifferent around her but asks about her all the time when she’s not around. The doorbell rings – “It’s Eeemy!” We walk into church, he looks around – “Eeemy is not here?” He calls her on his toy phone and says, “Hi Eeemy. Daddy is not here.” I’m sorry, WHAT? All this time of acting googly over Indie – I think she was just the gateway girl.
As for Kenzi, that girl is All Princess, All the Time. We’ve had to limit the time she spends playing with her Disney dolls and coloring her princess activity books because it was getting way out of hand. Yes, she’s watching Cinderella right now but she’s had very little princess time today so I agreed. She’s handled the new boundaries really well so I think we’ll find a good balance of letting her enjoy her little obsession while making sure she’s getting lots of other activities in.
She’s gotten good enough at her reading that we can’t write or type anything in front of her that we don’t want her to read. I was trying to set up a kid-free meeting with one of the college girls and I sent her a text saying “Wanna grab an early lunch? I have Panda Express coupons.” Kenzi leaned over my shoulder while I texted, then yelled, “Yeah! We’re having lunch at Panda Express!” Or she’ll read out loud while I’m writing on facebook so I have to distract her with some inane task so I can finish my business in privacy. So much potential for good and so much potential for mischief.
Cinderella’s almost over and the kids are asking to have a sleepover in Kenzi’s room tonight so I’ll sign off for now. I won’t leave you with any empty promises to be better about writing regularly or to put up pictures soon. But I’ll promise to try. How’s that?
**Edited to add: right before I posted this, Kev whacked his head on the coffee table. But it was a minor hit. Didn’t even require Blue and ‘Nother Blue to make him feel better.
