Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants

We're enjoying listening to (and watching) the new TMBG CD/DVD kids' album, Here Comes Science! Tommy is very much into the songs, which is pretty cool. We actually bought it for ourselves, as this is meant for older kids than the Here Come the ABCs and Here Come the 123s albums. Some of the "science" is a bit dodgy ("Science is Real" is a fairly ridiculous song, for example), but it's TMBG - I couldn't imagine there NOT being some dodgy science.

Listening to "The Ballad of Davy Crockett (in Outer Space)" right now. My favorites so far are "Electric Car" and "What is a Shooting Star?" Rock, rock on, TMBG.

Killer Bunnies

Must play this game again, it was a lot of fun.

Also Bohnanza.

Nero Wolfe

I've been reading as many Nero Wolfe novels as I can get my hands on. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to get my hands on all of them. I got interested in them from watching the Nero Wolfe mystery series that aired, I believe, on A&E. I watched them on DVD - awesome show. I especially love Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin, though I suspect that stems largely from my love for AG himself. I've read several classic AG lines out loud to C, and (despite having read only one NW novel himself) he obliged me by laughing. Highly recommended - though I prefer the later ones to the earliest ones.

The wee one's development

Baby R went to the doctor today for a well-baby visit. She's 6 weeks old, weighs 12 lbs, 10 oz, and is 22 1/2 inches long. That puts her in the 90s for weight and height percentiles. She has some issues with blocked tear ducts, so we're giving her eye drops to clear that up. Aside from that, she's a healthy little girl.

The cloth diapers (BumGenius) are in their second week in our house, and we've been doing really well with them (read: actually using them!). I like that they don't have all the nasty chemicals in diapers, and I like to coordinate the covers with her outfits. The washing process isn't bad, so I'm pretty happy about the whole thing, really.

Ranger's Apprentice

Recently finished reading the Ranger's Apprentice books (five out, a couple more to come). Pretty awesome books. I always hate reading a series currently being written, because then I have to wait to find out how everything turns out. But in a good way.

I may not have been posting lately (which I blame on Spike #2 and the accompanying nausea), but I've been reading like mad. We finally managed to get T-Man to sleep without sitting in the dark next to his bed for eons. Now I get to sit down the hall in the sun room, in a comfy recliner with good lighting. Oh, and lots of books. Our sun room is also our library. :) [Note: It holds less than half our books. We might need an intervention at some point about our book buying habits...]

Since it normally takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half for T to fall asleep, and since C works in the evenings, I get some cherished time to myself. (I usually need it by then...eight hours straight of three-year-old energy leaves me a little overwhelmed at times.)

People who know me well also know how very addicted I am to children's books. Now, I'm not talking Sesame Street and Animorphs and Sweet Valley High. I'm talking about the classics, and fantasy, and historical fiction, and mythology. I'm a sucker for a good kids' book. In fact, I spent a lot of time during my year at library school (where I got a master's degree, so don't be fooled by my fond way of referring to the program) reading and re-reading some of the greatest children's literature. The Little House on the Prairie series. The Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. The Lord of the Rings. Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. Almost everything I could get my hands on that was written by Louisa May Alcott.

Sadly, having read so much awesomeness in that year, I often find myself disappointed with what's left to read. Not that re-reading isn't great, but every once in a while I like to have that AHA! moment of discovering a story and characters that really get to me, and that I can't stop thinking about and wondering about.

As I said, I've been reading up a storm this past two months. Lots of shorter classic kids' books. The Indian in the Cupboard series. Some books by John Bellairs (must read further - awesome stuff). But the best, in my opinion, was the series I just finished. The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. I love the characters, especially Gen. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The plot twists were unbelievable. So I'm pretty excited about the entire series, but I'm also sad there's no more of it. And that the author hasn't written any other novels.

Recent Reads

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by JK Rowling - short, easy read, and some illumination on the world of Harry Potter, but I'd recommend for fans of the series only.

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner - excellent. I'm looking forward to reading the two follow-ups.

Here Lies Arthur, by Philip Reeve - interesting, but I wouldn't recommend. There are so many Arthur stories out there, and frankly (this could be just me, since this story is so common), it's not compelling to me.

Halloween Party Menu

This is a bit late, but I thought I'd post it anyway so I'd have a chance of finding it next year:

-Wormy Orange Punch
-Constricting Snake Bites
-Bloodshot Deviled Eyeballs (we made to look like bloodshot eyes with red food coloring instead of pimento)
-Spiderweb Nacho Spread: layered Mexican dip with sour cream spiderweb drizzled on top
-Broccoli Boo Salad
-Spider Pretzels
-Cat Cookies 1 or Cat Cookies 2
-Ghosts in the Graveyard
-Popcorn Gloves

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is awesome. My favorite book is The Lorax. I recently checked it out from the library and read it with T, who's almost three and beginning to read. Yes, really.

Green Eggs and Ham has been a favorite with him for some time - he likes to flip through and try to remember the lines as he looks at the pages. This morning, however, I caught him trying to read another Beginner Book, Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? He was getting most of the words. Even though I'm around him all the time, I was surprised at how well he got some of the more difficult words, and how well he guessed at some he clearly didn't know by sight.

On an inspiration, I sliced up some of the ham Meme sent us home with yesterday, and colored a small batch of scrambled eggs green with blue food coloring. (They looked like they should taste minty, but I suppose that's just the food industry tainting my taste buds again.) He was so excited to eat them, and he ran and got the book to look at after lunch.

When he proceeded to read practically the whole thing to me. He got a little frustrated at the end by some of the longer pages, which are basically all repetition anyway - I think he was just used to it going a little faster. But seriously - I've tried to teach a young child to read before, and it was not this easy. I am absolutely stunned that he is picking this up with seemingly little interference on my (or anyone's) part.

So, an idea is born: theme meals. We've been working on T eating more variety (as previously mentioned, he likes everything sweet - breakfast foods, desserts, fruits...and not so much meat and veggies). He's already pretty clear on not liking beef very much, and he just won't give non-French fry-potatoes a fair shake. But other than that, we've been doing pretty well with the "you have to try a bite of everything on your plate" rule.

So, why not have a "letter of the day" like Sesame Street, and plan some part of the meal to revolve around that letter? Zucchini for Z Day, for example, or Cauliflower for C Day (except then I'd have to eat cauliflower, blech - one of the few veggies I do NOT like).

I'm pretty psyched about this idea, and about expanding his palate. He's surprised us already - who knew a picky 2-year-old could begin to like jicama (or spell it?), or black beans? He's got definite potential, this kid. Now, if I could just get him to like black beans and rice, or soup. So far, mixtures are beyond him. And yet, I have hope.