Brian Regan- Greeting Cards

Life has been pretty stressful lately, and it seems like I haven't done much laughing.  But this cracked me up.  And I think I could actually use some of those "Old Baby" cards, since I've gotten so bad at sending anything on time any more.  Anyway, enjoy!

Asimbonanga/Biko

Tonight, I was reminded of a favorite memory.  When Kiddo was a little toddler, we listened to a lot of the Soweto Gospel Choir.  He liked to sing along, too, even though he didn't know what the words meant.  At the same time, he was going through a phase when he didn't understand why we didn't sing more in Sacrament meeting at Church, or why he couldn't request songs.  One Sunday, he was restless and being a little noisy, but we managed to distract him somewhat for a while.  Then, during a particularly quiet moment, he belted out, "ASIMBONANGA!!"  Of course, with all the children in our Church, many Sacrament meetings are noisy, but I wonder how many have been interrupted by a two-year-old singing a South African civil rights song.  :) Anyway, watch this video and see the Soweto Gospel Choir's amazingly beautiful rendition.

A Joyful Noise

Even though he only lived a short time, our sweet Isaac was a little music maker, too. I remember hearing a little person plinking at the keys of the Tap-a-Tune one day and assuming it was Kiddo. I was quite surprised to see little Isaac, about four months old, had scooted over to the little "piano" and was making his own "music." Here's a video, from late September 2009:

Have you ever seen anything cuter or sweeter than that? Oh, how I miss him!

Kiddo Counts His Blessings

Granted, I am his mother, so I think this video (from last August) of Kiddo singing is beyond adorable. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Oh, and by the way, PLEASE pardon the very messy room in this video. Be merciful and remember that I was pregnant, we have no A/C, and it was oppressively hot so I didn't feel like exerting myself much.

Sunday Will Come

This is still one of my favorite talks ever. It is all the more poignant to me because he delivered it in the October 2006 Conference, when I was just beginning to find the light at the end of the very, very dark tunnel of Post Partum Depression. What a kind and tender heart Elder Wirthlin has. His words have always brought me such hope and peace.

The full text of his inspiring talk can be found at:

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=0af888f17feae010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Interesting Idea...

Trying to embed a video:

I just watched this video on the Fox News website, and thought it was pretty amusing. I'm not sure if I'd use the same tactic with Kiddo were he to come home with a report card like that, but it would be tempting. I can't decide what's funnier: the son's reaction to his discipline, the newsman's pointing out that the child did get an A in PE, or the newswoman saying, "Congratulations!" to the family at the end of the video.

What do you think you'd do in that situation?

The Boy Genius Strikes Again... and Again... and Again!

I guess I haven't posted much lately about what Kiddo's been up to. But really, he's learning so fast that who can keep up with him? I am so amazed by his intelligence, and am as proud of him as I could be, but sometimes I think we're just dreaming it all. And I am becoming increasingly worried about his future education because #1, I am now pretty certain that he would be bored at regular school all day and probably get himself in trouble, and #2 I don't know how I could possibly keep up with him well enough to home-school long-term, especially now that he's got a brother on the way. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. REALLY. Here's just a few reasons why:

I think I eluded to the fact that in November Kiddo showed us that he can read-- for real. He's moved beyond recognizing some sight words to being able to pick up a book he's never seen before and start reading aloud whole sentences, only stopping to ask for unfamiliar words. The first sentence I caught him reading? "I am not a happy pig." Thank you, Mo Willems-- I just love that! :) Now we have to be extra careful what we've got lying around because he's been known to pull our books or magazines off the shelf to read a random sentence or two before moving on to something else!

In December he suddenly became intensely interested in his US map placemat, and began asking us to tell him each state. Within 2 weeks, he knew them all. He can find them on the map, AND recognize the names of each of the 50 states in other contexts: "Daddy's bag says Colorado!" or pointing out "New York" on the title page of a book, etc., etc..

This month Kiddo's learning the state capitals, and already has them almost all memorized. He started with interest in Iowa and Colorado. I had pointed out to him Des Moines in the Road Atlas and told him I was born there. Then one day he pointed at Denver and said, "Is this Des Moines?" so I had to explain that it was Denver. Then we taught him Springfield, in honor of President Lincoln, and he began recognizing the capitals that are actually named after Presidents. Then he learned Topeka, which is an endless source of amusement to him-- who knows why. Then, for about a week, he had no interest in capitals and would say, "I don't want to know them. I want to learn the states." Or, he would want to learn the flags for certain states instead (also on his placemat).

Then in mid-January, Mommy accidentally found this book at the Library called "Celebrate the 50 states" and it has been his constant companion for a week or so. Each page has bright, colorful pictures of 2 states, and the capitals are clearly marked. One night, Daddy-O teasingly said, "I'll bet you don't know the capital of Colorado!" It was like you could see a light turn on above Kiddo's head, or as if he was thinking, "Okay, Daddy-- GAME ON!" because now he is busy learning them all. He actually asks us to say, "I'll bet you don't know..." so he can show us what he does know. If you've got a few minutes, here's a video of one of Kiddo's new favorite "games." I can't figure out why he likes to be quizzed, but maybe he's setting out to beat Ken Jennings' record on Jeopardy and thinks he needs an extremely early start!


By the way, "Scary Nevada" is a term he came up with the day before, all on his own. :)

But, lest anyone think I'm just trying to show off, I really don't take credit for his insane brilliance. Goodness knows the only part of it he inherited from me was just general nerdiness-- meaning that he often sees me looking at atlases and dictionaries and reference books-- NOT the amazing memory, huge brain capacity, or the incredible energy. I will also let you know that he still has ZERO interest in using the potty. I asked him over the weekend how old he thought he'd be when he starts using the potty. His reply? "Fifteen." I guess we're definitely gonna hafta home-school... ;)

Sing Us A Song...

Just because he's cute!



Question: Does it make me a horrible Mommy to admit that his little dance routine with the rainbow flower reminds me of the Munchkins singing to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz?

You just never know...

This post is for all the current and former Nursery teachers and leaders. I remember the 6 months I was Nursery Leader, and feeling there was really no point sometimes in trying to give a lesson because, who was listening, anyway?

As a parent, I always ask my Kiddo what he did in Nursery, and his answer every time is, "Share!" I'd like to hope that he's actually sharing, but I sort of doubt it. Anyway, since they've started using the new Nursery manual, we sometimes get to see a glimpse of what the lesson must have been, based on the coloring pictures he brings home. But rarely will he ever talk about what the picture represents. Here are two exceptions.

First, this video, from August. It cracks me up, because it is a pretty good representation of Kiddo's true feelings about obeying Mommy and Daddy-O... sigh.



Second, a story from a few weeks ago. While getting Kiddo ready for his after-Church nap, I was singing, "We are a Happy Family" ("I love Kiddo, He loves me. We love Daddy, yes sirree. He loves us and so you see, we are a happy family."), not a song that we routinely sing, for whatever reason. At the end, Kiddo exclaimed, "YEAH! And, I can love others!"

"You can love others?" I asked. "Where did you learn that? At Church?"

"YES. In Nursery."

He didn't care to elaborate, but after I got Kiddo to sleep, I told Daddy-O the story and asked him if he had looked at Kiddo's picture for the week. Daddy-O hadn't seen it either, so he pulled it out of the diaper bag and looked.... Sure enough, the caption reads, "Jesus Christ showed us how to love others!"

So take heart, Nursery Leaders, someone just might be listening after all!

Tongue Twisters

Kiddo really likes to hear me say different tongue twisters. I can't even remember when or why I started doing them, but I think this is his favorite. At least, it's the only one he says back to me!

If this doesn't make you smile-

-then your heart is made of stone! It makes my day every time I play it.

I have been trying in vain for MONTHS to get a good video of Kiddo singing, and last week I was finally able to sneak up on him in the car and capture a few seconds of his "concert." He may look like he's imitating musical geniuses Ray Charles and/or Stevie Wonder, but he was actually listening to Elizabeth Mitchell.

Perhaps the best part of the whole story is that when the song finished, my husband turned to Kiddo and said, "Chief! You just gave your Mama another thing to post on her blog!" Ah, yes.

In case you need a laugh...

As an actual crazy person, I have to say, it's pretty true to life! :) Although I haven't actually ever had a therapist with pillows. Don't they get paid enough?!?!

New Favorite

Or, Kids' Music That Isn't Annoying, Part Three

Several months back, I was listening to music on www.pandora.com which, if you're poor and cheap, er, frugal like me, is an awesome thing. Any-hoo, on one of my stations, a song came on by Elizabeth Mitchell. I can't remember what it was, but I liked it a lot, so I looked up some info about her and found that she has recorded at least 3 CDs for children. We checked out You Are My Little Bird from the Library back in December and liked it, but then went to Lesotho and sort of forgot about it for a while. To take a break from Raffi and Buddy Holly, I checked it out again and now my little "Old Man" likes to hear it every day. He calls it "Wiza Jane," referencing the first song, "Little Liza Jane." Then I discovered that another library in our system had her CD You are my Sunshine, so we checked that out 2 weeks ago and have listened to it on all our recent trips to Gobby's house. Because "Old Man" doesn't like to bother to say Elizabeth Mitchell, we call this CD, "New Wiza Jane."

If you like the folkie kind of kids' music, which I obviously do (must have been all the Peter, Paul, & Mary, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Simon & Garfunkel I heard as a kid), you should definitely love her music. Even the Daddy-O seems to like it, and I don't even think it sounds exclusively like children's music, although her husband, daughter, and nieces and nephews join in on some of the songs.

If you read reviews of her work, the critics refer to it as "kid's music that's actually cool." When I first read that, I thought, "Well, of course, 'cuz I AM a trendsetter, after all." Then, the more I thought about it, I worried that you all might think I just like her because she's supposed to be cool. Au contraire! That's just not "how I roll." I can't tell you how many unpopular things I've liked; the number of TV shows I've liked that have been cancelled in the first season is quite remarkable. And Elizabeth Mitchell just has a wonderful, pure voice. Some of her songs may be quite "old," but they have a fun, fresh quality. It's just not "overdone" or ridiculous, like so much of kids' entertainment. And my kid loves it. I can't tell you how much I enjoy listening to him sing along with "Peace Like A River," "Three Little Birds," or "Ooby Dooby." And did I mention that she covers "The Ladybug Picnic?" How could I not like her?!?!

Kids' music that isn't annoying (Part Two)

This is our other favorite Children's CD: Putumayo Kids Presents African Playground. We discovered this one at the Ames Library several months ago and checked it out several times before breaking down and buying it for Kiddo's birthday. Our whole family loves it. Daddy-O especially appreciates that all the songs are performed by legitimate African artists who are popular throughout the continent. They hail from various countries-- Senegal, Benin, Uganda and South Africa, just to name a few. Unfortunately, no Sesotho songs, in case you were wondering. "Grammy" is also a fan-- heaven forbid we should go for a visit and forget to bring this CD with us!!



It was actually the only gift we managed to get him to smile about for a picture on his birthday. He'd seen it enough times that he recognized it immediately and popped it right out of the CD case as soon as we opened it. Whenever he hears Anjelique Kidjo's "Battu" start, he lights up and starts dancing. It is one of the cutest things ever! But his favorite song has to be Aura Msimang's "Langa Mo." The Zulu word "Hamba" is repeated several times in this song, and when he hears the song, he almost always calls out "Hamba" at least a few times.

Daddy-O's favorite is "Hello Hello" by Mose Fan Fan (from Congo) and I simply love "Jambo Bwana" by Them Mushrooms (from Kenya). I am very amused by the fact that I can now sing the chorus so I "know" some Swahili. ;) I also end up singing "Langa Mo" quite a bit, so now I also "know" some Zulu. The liner notes are fascinating and educational, so be sure to read them if you get a chance.

This music doesn't have a real "kid" vibe, but boy, does our kid enjoy it. I highly recommend this CD to anyone of any age. It is so catchy and upbeat, you'll find yourself and your kiddies dancing to it all the time.

Kids' music that isn't annoying (Part One)

Well, it's a sad day in our little home. We have to return our new favorite CD-- "Country Goes Raffi!"-- to the Library. We've renewed it twice already, so I guess we'd better give another family a turn. I've looked this up on Amazon.com, and unfortunately it's $17.98, so I guess we'll depend on the Library for a fix every now and then until we are "poor no more."

I am always looking for music that our budding musician will enjoy but that won't drive the Mama and the Daddy-O crazy. The kiddo and I are quite fond of Raffi, but Daddy-O is not a huge fan because he says Raffi puts him to sleep. When I saw this CD listed on the Library's website, I was pretty amused at the concept of country artists singing Raffi songs and knew I'd have to check it out-- especially when I saw Alison Krauss was one of those artists, and I am in total awe of her talent.

For us, this CD did not disappoint. While neither my husband or I are big country fans and I'm not familiar with about half of the artists, I like pretty much all of the songs on this CD-- really, the only song I skip is the lone selection sung by Raffi himself. The Kiddo LOVES, LOVES, LOVES "Shake My Sillies Out" and "Apples and Bananas." I sometimes hear him babbling words from those songs while he's playing. And the other morning, the kidlet woke up and said "Bowl! Bowl! Shirt! Shirt!" which we can only assume was a reference to "The Bowling Song." Daddy-O's favorite is "Baby Beluga" (in my view, way better than the original) and I, of course, can't get enough of AK's version of "Blessed Be." It is so beautiful that when I try to sing it to my son, I usually end up crying. Raul Malo's take on "Thanks a Lot" is also high on my list. I'm not sure who Marty Stuart is (doesn't he have a mullet?), but he's managed to actually get me to like the song "Naturally" -- not a small feat.

One of the great things about this CD is if you find yourself doing something so embarrassing as singing "Apples & Bananas" all over town, you can remind yourself that keith urban recorded it and he is considered very cool. Therefore, you are still cool also... right?