The 43

Going through another posting lull, mostly because I've really thrown my efforts into the NFL blog and there was much other stuff to do this week. Today, I'm going to write about one of Eldest's favorite songs. No, not from Paul McCartney, but from children's television. For several weeks now, Eldest out of the blue will start singing "Hold tight, hold tight, hold tight, hold tight." We couldn't figure out what song he was singing. I thought maybe "Hold on Tight" by ELO, but when was he going to hear that and internalize it so much. Maybe it was something he learned a Terrific Tots? We had no clue. Then, Saturday morning, Wife wakes me up, and on the TV is "The Backyardigans." On this kids show, the Backyardigans are singing "Hold on Tight (hold tight)" The characters are pretending to be Vikings and are stuck in a ocean whirlpool. It now made more sense: Every time Eldest sang this song, he was running in a circle around a di...

Eldest's new favorite movie is "101 Dalmations." My new least favorite movie is "101 Dalmatians." We decided to get some of our older Disney videos, the ones on tape, not DVD, into circulation. Though some are scary and not quite allowable for a 3-year-old, we decided "101 Dalmatians" he could handle. He's handling it very well. Since its first airing in our house last week, he's watched it about 15 times, always asking for the "puppy movie." It was cute at first, now it's becoming tedious. I've seen "101 Dalmatians" more in the last week at least three times more than I did in my childhood. I joked today that I'm about to start rooting for Cruella, which didn't sit well with Wife. We've tried to deflect Eldest into "Lady in the Tramp" -- no luck, we think he might think it's too scary -- and "The Aristocats" for which the jury is still out. Oh, Littlest likes the opening credits ...

I relented and decided to let Eldest get a Happy Meal today. It was my fortnight big shopping day, and my thought was to pick him up from pre-preschool, hit a McDonald's with a Playland, then go to the grocery store. We should have just went to the grocery store. At McDonald's, neither child wanted to eat, odd because it was around lunchtime when both are normally hungry. Eldest wanted to play right away, which isn't unusual, but didn't a couple minutes in when he was the only kid at the Playland. For a strange few minutes, he didn't want to eat or play, saying he was afraid of the Playland. He got over his fear a few minutes later when about 12 kids showed up. He had fun, and managed to eat a little of his cheeseburger. Littlest was sitting in the high chair while Eldest played. I tried to give him food, he kept throwing it on the floor. Eventually, I thought I'd let him try the Playland. Now, most Playlands have an area for younger kids. This one didn't. M...

Haven't posted in a few days, been working and also busy with the other blog. Yes, the other blog, I'm writing an NFL blog for Skinny Moose Media. There's a link to the second blog on the side of this page; it's not too flashy yet but I'm hoping to get some more work done on it this week. Enough with the advertising. Eldest was a classic 3-year-old today, missing a chance for a Happy Meal for the second straight swim lesson. Both boys take 10-minute private swim lessons at our old pool, which includes a kiddie pool. I've been letting Eldest play in the kiddie pool after his lesson while I get Littlest changed out of his trunks. The last two lessons I've been offering to get a Happy Meal for lunch on the way home, and for two lessons, Eldest misbehaved himself out of the Happy Meal. Simply, he hasn't removed himself from the kiddie pool when I asked him to. I've given him plenty of reminders ("10 minutes!", counted him out, provided warnings...

One of the last lines on the last episode of "The Wonder Years" was said by the Dad (and I don't know if I have this exactly right, but this was the gist): "It was a good Fourth." It was a good Fourth. We went to the neighborhood bike parade, and it was fun. Eldest got off to a little slow start to the parade, he rode the whole thing (about 5 blocks). There was a potluck picnic after, and we stayed about an 1 1/2 hours -- it was starting to get hot and the boys started getting tired. Oh, the other highlight, during the singing of the national anthem before the parade kicked off, right at the part at huge sporting events fighters might fly overhead, four fighters flew overhead! OK, we are with 30 miles of an air base and we've seen fighters before, so it was just a coincidence, but that was some great coincidence. The afternoon wasn't too eventful. Wife and I got a few things done around the house, nothing major; Littlest napped; Eldest was crabby but nev...

On the eve of the Fourth of July, perhaps the first our kids will see a fireworks show (we'll see how tired they are tomorrow evening), I was trying to recall my most memorable Independence Day from my youth. A few came to mind (and no, I don't remember anything specific about the Bicentennial, though check out my new Back in time video): -- My godparents' old house was near the end of a suburban parade route, and we went there about every year in the morning to watch. Sometimes we'd stay and see the big fireworks or whatever my dad and uncle procured (fireworks are very illegal in Illinois). -- There was one year Dad somehow snagged a couple bricks of firecrackers and a bag of M-80s (they actually might have been M-100s). He gave a lot of the booming things to my older friends, but those M-whatevers were fun. -- We went to Arlington Park Racetrack one year to watch fireworks, and a tree on the infield caught fire. Kind of prophetic -- a few years later, the whole place...

Eldest was feeling much better today, just in time for Littlest to get the same bug his brother had. We're not sure if Littlest has the sore throat -- he's been alternately crabby and in a good mood all day -- but he's definitely got the fever, up to 103, which is a lot scarier for a 1-year-old than a 3-year-old. If Littlest is at 101 tomorrow, he'll match the temperature outside -- it got even hotter today, and it's supposed to be in triple digits all week. I let Eldest get some chocolate pretzels at one of the stores we visited today (we hit about five stores, to get about 1-2 things at each) that started to melt before we got home. Our neighborhood's Fourth of July parade should be fun if it's this hot.