31 Flavors?

Today's the 31st, and Kiddo turned 31 months old this month. In tribute, here are 31 of his favorite books, in random order.

1. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
2. Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems
3. Angus and the Cat, by Marjorie Flack
4. I'm a Big Brother, by Joanna Cole
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
6. Toes, Ears, and Nose, by Karen Katz
7. Arthur's Baby, by Marc Brown
8. Hi, Fly Guy! by Ted Arnold
9. Three Cheers for Tacky! by Helen Lester
10. Clifford's Birthday Party, by Norman Bridwell
11. Hickory Dickory Dock, by Keith Baker
12. The Napping House, by Audrey Wood
13. Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton
14. I am Invited to a Party, by Mo Willems
15. Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
16. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst
17. The Nursery Manual (Behold, Your Little Ones)
18. The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats
19. Celebrate the 50 States! by Loreen Leedy
20. Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson
21. The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss
22. Corduroy, by Don Freeman
23. I am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed, by Lauren Child
24. Snuggle Puppy, by Sandra Boynton
25. Puppies are Like That, by Jan Pfloog
26. A Charlie Brown Christmas, by Charles Schulz
27. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert
28. Hello Kitty, Hello Numbers, by ???
29. Freddie the Frog, by ??? (I, however, do not enjoy this one!)
30. Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss
31. Danny and the Dinosaur, by Sid Hoff

A lot of these are classics, but if you haven't read any of these to your kiddos, I recommend them all except #29 (board book about a chubby frog who needs to lose weight-- not really the message I want to send out to my toddler). Hope you enjoy them too!

P.O.C. Update

Maybe you remember that I posted a while back about how much I hate, loathe, despise and abominate my camera? Well, it still isn't going to win any awards, BUT...

I did decide to invest in a battery charger and rechargeable batteries. Thank you to those who suggested it!!! I do believe these rechargeable batteries are actually MAGIC batteries. I have had the same two in my camera since the day before Thanksgiving, and have taken several photos and filmed more than 24 minutes of my sweet little Kiddo... and I STILL have power left on them. Wowie-wow-wow!!!

I will definitely not be buying ANY MORE regular old batteries for this fussy little camera. I am a rechargeable "convert."

Piece of cra-yup, Piece of cra-yup

Well, I'm not exactly sure how you'd spell my exclamation of choice if you were to make it a two syllable word... that's just my best guess. Any-hoo....

One kid from my Junior High days that I'm not likely to forget was a character named Nathan Holmes. I actually think we went to 5th and 6th grade together too, but my only real memories of him are from 8th grade English with the awesome Mr. Turner. Nathan, a short, unusual dude who sat behind me, had given himself the nickname "Swamp Frog" (but that is certainly NOT the reason I now like frogs!) and also decided that he was going to be my psychiatrist. I find the latter interesting, because at that time, I don't think anyone knew that my future would include actual appointments with actual "shrinks." Nathan would tell me he had scheduled sessions for me-- at "The Swamp." This "therapy" was always to take place at night. Was he sexually harassing me or just weird? I don't really know, although it was decided at that stage of my life that I was "not very good-looking," so I've always assumed he was just, uh, different.

So, anyway, the thing I remember most about him was that he would occasionally chant, "piece of cra-yup, piece of cra-yup!" Sadly, I forget the context in which he would say this, but I assume it was when something broke, didn't work, or was annoying. At least, in the many years since, I always think of that phrase in reference to things of mine that break easily, don't work, or are exceedingly annoying. Sometimes I even find myself muttering it, because I do seem to have really bad luck with my possessions.

For instance, today I was pretty close to insanely bored, and my grandmother's quip, "Only boring people are ever bored" came immediately to mind. In desperation, I decided to take Kiddo on a walk through the "neighborhood." Once you get about four or five blocks south of our place, you reach a lot of small businesses, many of which we've never explored. The first one we went to was a Kids' resale shop, and immediately Kiddo wanted to play. I handed him the first thing that I thought he'd like-- a yellow toy Hummer. He seemed to really like it, and it was only $2, so I was already considering purchasing it when I noticed he'd broken off a piece of it (the bumper?). Feeling guilty, I decided that yes, we were definitely buying it. Kiddo was happy; it is kind of cool, because both of the front doors open, as do the "trunk" and the "hood." Personally, though, I think Hummers just look like fancy station wagons propped up on enormous tires... So we went along our way, Kiddo holding tightly to his new treasure. Within two hours of our purchase, yet another piece fell off. I'm not sure that either piece had any real function but really, shouldn't it be more durable than that? "Piece of cra-yup, piece of cra-yup!"

The other thing that makes me want to scream is my stupid, stupid, stupid camera. Daddy-O bought me my first digital camera for my birthday five years ago, but after we had Kiddo, he realized that I was using it A LOT more, and that I might like to have one with more features and more mega-pixels. So, last year for Mother's Day, he bought me a new one, a different brand. I was SOOOOOOOOO excited, and began taking even more pictures. But within 5 months, I noticed something bad about this camera. It EATS batteries. It requires 2 'AA' batteries, which I initially thought was great because 'AA' are much cheaper than lithium-- well, theoretically... I go through so many 'AA' that I probably could have bought myself a new camera by now. For instance, in two and a halfweeks, it went through TEN batteries. Yes, TEN. I took, at most, about 280 pictures in that time period and maybe seven or eight minutes of "film. " I don't know what the deal is, but I get even angrier when the display goes from displaying a full battery to low battery in about 30 seconds, and less than a minute later the camera turns itself off completely. I would complain to the company, but I have had it for over a year now, and I have never found any documentation of a warranty. Dear Daddy-O, sadly, did not buy the extended service plan, either.

So, currently, I am silently cursing my so-called improved technology and thinking, once again, of good old Nathan. For,

no new batteries = no new pictures or video of Kiddo for who knows how long

Sing it with me, folks: "piece of cra-yup, piece of cra-yup!"

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?!?!

I hate tornado watches!

ARGH! Being the nerd I am, I've been super-excited about the finals of the National Spelling Bee airing on ABC tonight. This is actually the one channel that we get that is always clear, so it's quite the event for me. But now they're issuing a tornado warning, so I guess I'd better head to the basement. Let's hope this all goes away in the next 49 minutes, eh?

By the way, if you like documentaries, and I do, check out Spellbound! It's about eight real kids competing in the National Bee, and it's highly entertaining. I loved it. Akeelah and the Bee is also good, but it's fiction, if that matters to ya. Bee Season, however, was very strange and I don't recommend it.

Well, let's hope the tornado doesn't eat me while I'm blogging! BYE, GUYS and GALS!!!

UPDATE (10 p.m.): I got to see about FOUR spellers before the weatherman took over for the next TWO HOURS. I swear that the Midwest is a dream location for TV meteorologists!!! They get to interrupt scheduled programming all year long, even if it's a season finale or a one-time only airing. ARGH! I am so peeved!!!

My Favorite (So Far)

Well, I had some great ambitions to celebrate Children's Book Week by posting every day this week to pay tribute to a different Children's book or author, but you can see how far I got with that! So, now that there's just 20 minutes left of CBW, I think I'll just write a quick post about this wonderful book, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban. You should read it. REALLY.

At some point, I discovered a cool blog titled Deliciously Clean Reads (www.cleanreads.blogspot.com), which posts reviews of books that are totally free of all the stuff that might make you uncomfortable to recommend them to your Grandma or 12-year-old niece. And one day they reviewed A Crooked Kind of Perfect. I was intrigued, but waited a while before I decided to check it out-- most likely I already had a pile of books waiting to be read. Once I finally opened it, I couldn't put it down. I think I finished it in less than 2 hours! I've read just about one book a week so far this year, most of which have been really good, but I do think this one is my favorite.

I think of this book as "the book I wish I could have read when I was a child." The heroine, Zoe, has visions of being a concert pianist and performing in Carnegie Hall. Imagine her disappointment when her well-meaning father tries to help her fulfill her dream... by buying her an organ. She's also recently been "dumped" by her best friend, and often worries about her Dad, who is devoted and kind, but struggles with anxiety and mental illness.

I could relate to this book on so many levels, and plan on reading it again once I've made it through my current stack of Library finds. It's humorous and touching, and a very quick read. For me, a raging perfectionist, it's also a great reminder even if life doesn't usually turn out the way you think it should, there will still be surprises and blessings along the way.

My reviewing abilities surely don't do this book justice, so I'll just repeat: You should read this. REALLY.

Hooray for Kids' Books!

Every time I turn around, it seems to be another day/week/month set aside for honoring books. It’s hard to keep up with them all! There must be some bookworms with some serious connections to have gotten so many days officially devoted to books and reading.

Anyway, this week is “Children’s Book Week,” so in honor of that, here are Mr. Smarty-Pants’ favorite Library Books, in no particular order. There are probably more, but these are all that I can think of right now. It is fun for me that he’s starting to get so interested in picture books, so that I can share some of my favorites with him.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

I Am Invited to a Party by Mo Willems

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Hickory Dickory Dock by Keith Baker

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert

Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 by Bill Martin, Jr., Michael Sampson, and Lois Ehlert

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Grandma and Me by Karen Katz

Bunny, My Honey by Anita Jeram

Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton

Horns to Toes and In Between by Sandra Boynton

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

We have checked out, and renewed, some of these books so many times that I’m wondering if any other families are getting to enjoy them. Sometimes I wish I’d never discovered Hickory Dickory Dock. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a great book—but after having read it multiple times a day for about 3 months, it’s starting to get old. The sad thing for me is that he can find that ONE book on the shelf at the Library with absolutely no help from anyone. And once he has found it, it MUST go home with him.

If you have any suggestions for us, we’d love to hear them. We’re always looking for more great stories!

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?