So You Think You Can Dance?

Today was house cleaning day for everyone, C included. The good thing about this age is that if we ask, "Do you want to help Ba and Mum-mum," you receive an emphatic "YES" or C's newest catch-phrase, "Yeah, sure." So very stinkin' cute, indeed. Let's hope this trend continues through the teen years.

So, C wanted to help Ba clean the floors. In true toddler fashion, C loved dunking "his" cloth into the water but made sure Ba knew the water was hot. That boy was a lean-mean-cleanin' machine, no doubt about it.

Normally, when we are doing a bottom to top cleaning of the house, I play music, usually a CD. Today's selection was Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits. Well, let's just say after hearing a few of the groovin' tunes by Stevie, C decided he needed to get his groove on. He ran from the kitchen, into the living room, and shook his tail feathers with an impromptu dance partay. I thought to myself, "this MUST be documented for posterity" (or least Grandpa and Grandma), ran upstairs, grabbed the video camera, ran downstairs, and caught C in the act (well, part of the act...he apparently gets stage fright when Mum-mum has any electronic equipment at the ready).

My plan was to upload the video to You Tube and link but...aghast, we don't have the necessary equipment to transfer the video to the computer. Bleh! Guess I know what that means...Gotta get my geek on!

Elmo's World...

Okay, so apparently I'm going through another metamorphosis thanks to E's last post. I am now (well, for now until C decides to change my name again - it's hard to say what will change more, my name or my hair) drum roll please..."Mum-mum." Phonetically speaking, E is technically more accurate in his spelling of my name. Plus, you have to admit, "Mum-mum" looks too darned cute for words.

Anyway, C's calendar was full today. After a leisurely breakfast w/ Ba, Mum-mum awoke to hear the giggles rising from the room below. "The boys" were sitting on the futon in the "playroom" where C was thoroughly engrossed in Ba's interpretative reading of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (guess he's holding out Homer for bedtime...) and just how hungry that "pill" (Colin-ese for caterpillar) was. In my haze of waking at the early hour of 7 am (note, Mum-mum is the night owl of the family...that's what I get for having a Mom who worked waaay too many years of night shifts; second note, note the time of this blog entry...), I dust the cobwebs out of my ears to hear C clearly stating the colors of most of the things the "pill" is eating. Yes, our favorite Di Man has mastered most of his basic colors and becomes giddy, sometimes celebrating with his "Happy C Dance" (think Snoopy folks), as he triumphantly names colors of objects.

E is attending a workshop on teaching large classes all week, so Mum-mum and the Di Man are tag teaming for toddler fun. Today's festivities started with a not-so-silent protest regarding Mum-mum's choice for C's attire, capitalized by the now infamous, "I do it" chant for toddler autonomy and solidarity. Fortunately, C's attention was diverted toward a very strange (yet, strangely entertaining) show called, "The Upside Down Show" on Noggin...and Mum-mum was able to help the C man dress while the main characters of the show were searching for a rogue, cowbell.

Mondays are typically playgroup days from 10-12 but Mum-mom and C had to make a brief detour to Mum-mum's office to make sure no students had shown up for a class she had been scheduled to teach. Guess no one wanted to take a class from 9-1:30 pm on Mondays for 10 weeks this summer, eh?

Anyway, C and his trusty sidekick (driver, chaperone, concierge...take your pick) arrived to playgroup at a local park around 10:30 to celebrate S's and J's (two brothers) birthdays. S turns 3 this month. J turns 1 this month also. Playgroup also meant C got to play with his other buddies: M, K, and A. There were also some new friends as well. C quite enjoyed his fruit & piece of Elmo cake (sans Dorothy, of course). Agog and aghast...it was very windy and cool in the shade (and Mum-mum had forgotten C's jacket). So, what's a mom to do? Why remove her jacket and place said jacket on her son. At first, it looked like C was wearing a straight jacket (V-8 moment...why didn't I take a picture?) until the sleeves were rolled up.

My tropical prince still does get chilly more easily than me (as manifested by him saying "cold" and doing his shiver dance...not to be confused w/ the Happy C Dance).

So, after yummy food at the birthday party...it was time to return home for a much needed nap - albeit a much shorter powernap than his usual marathons of slumber. This afternoon found us searching for more "pills" and sandbox fun.

The evening's festivities concluded with an introduction to the "Potty Book," complete with magnetic stickers that can be used to celebrate the expulsion of bodily fluids into the porcelain goddess (hey, it has been awhile since our last poop reference, don't cha know...), sharing of a homemade strawberry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream (or "keem" - in Colin-ese), for which C dictated who would receive the next bite..."C" "Ba" "C" "Mum-mum" "C" "Ba" "C" "C" "Mum-mum"...you get the drift.

Now for the pictures....

Note the fabulous haircut C received this past Saturday.

If only Mum-mum could interpret toddler-ese...she's sure there would be an answer to life, the universe, and everything!

And we'll have fun, fun, fun until our Mommies take our sandbox away...

Happy Mum-Mum Day!

Happy Mum-mum Day (in Colin-ese) to all you moms out there. As a Mother's Day present, the mysterious E is making a guest cameo reappearance on the blog. And having just entered his spring semester grades, he has a few minutes to write before having to respond to dozens of emails from mystified students who don't understand how they could rarely attend class, not study for exams, not turn in assignments, and be unfairly given a failing grade in the class. (Actually, the ones with failing grades are usually too lazy to protest; it's the Ds and Cs that respond...).

C's langauge is improving steadily. This seems to be helping him be more open and at ease in public. His lastest gems include: "Whoa Cool" and telling a white lie to Ba (that is, saying "No", when asked if he knows that Ba is just making up words to a song--then giggling after his response).

The picture below is from the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. We stopped there for an educational break on the way back from PA last week. Robert E. Lee and family are buried in the crypt below the chapel. Lee was president of the university following the Civil War and spent his last five years of life there. The photo is from the chapel itself, where an addition was built to house a marble statue of Lee. The chapel is plastered with signs stating "No photographs", but the docent allowed visitors to take one. Colin decided to cover his face as I started to snap our one photo. I decided to take it anyway, knowing that it would be a good goofy and one that we could use to embarass him as he got older: "We could take one photo, and look what you did!" T (the southern belle) thinks he is hiding his face to avoid association with the confederate paraphanalia in the picture.


It was prophesized that C would enter the "mine" and "I do it phase." That day has come to pass. C has developed a vendetta to create his toddler autonomy. Now, if that autonomy will transform itself into potty training, Ba and Mum-mum will be set.

With the recent warm weather, C has enjoyed going outside frequently to look for "more pill" --that is, more caterpillers. He is now consistently naming the basic colors. He imitates his mother by turning ordinary objects into microphones and singing. He imitates his father by reading Plato's Republic on weekends. Next month: The Iliad and The Odyssey.


C, Mum-mum, and Ba really enjoyed our first Mother's Day! Fortunately, unlike her birthday, no puking was involved. C even made mum-mum a special card at church this morning. With his gratuitous use of the glue stick, there are extra, extra special add-ons that are sure to warm Mum-mum's heart for years to come...

Changes they are a comin'

Gotta love the Internet and all the cool things you can learn. Case in point, the new layout of the blog. The header was actually created from a picture taken during our trip in Vietnam (our ferry boat ride to Ben Tre). I've also decided to move the video montages below the posts, to allow the blog updates to be at the top of the blog. Hope you like the changes!

I confess..."Mom Mom" seriously needs to do a better job at keeping up with the blog, especially since C is making incredible strides in the language department, having officially entered the "I do it," "MINE" stage (anyone who has parented a toddler can appreciate that ever growing independence and autonomy that comes with an increasing vocabulary).

I'm working to become more technologically savvy (exploring the world of You Tube) and hopefully will one day be able to upload some video of C! But for now, I hope to have some new pictures (or better yet, another montage) uploaded very soon!