March 14, 2010

Conversations with Max

Me: [having just put Max down, after giving him a hug] You are getting SO BIG, I can barely lift you.

Max: You are getting SO BIG, too.

Then he started running around shouting, “WHERE are my CUPCAKES? WHERE are my CUPCAKES?”

I had just brought over some dinosaur St. Patrick’s Day chocolate cupcakes for him (and Lucas and Tammy and Ron, too).

I believe he meant to express gratitude.

Posted by adrienne at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2010

Ways to Lose an Hour

I obviously have a bit of a reputation where daylight savings is concerned because every single person I have seen or talked to in the last 24 hours has reminded me to spring ahead tonight. Around 5:00, I decided that if I was going to lose an hour of my weekend, I might as well lose it already, so I turned the clocks ahead early. Then I put on my pajamas and started making dinner because, hey, it was 6:00. By the time I’d finished the Béchamel sauce for the vegetable gratin I was making, I looked at the clock and thought, “Wow, it got late quick.” Then I remembered that it was just daylight savings.

When I turned the timer off on the oven when the gratin was ready to come out, I thought, “Wow, it got late quick.” Then I remembered it was just daylight savings.

When I got done washing the dishes, I noticed the clock and thought, “Wow, it got late quick.” And then I remembered yadda, yadda, yadda. It’s been happening ALL NIGHT.

I could use this as an opportunity to complain about daylight savings or to meditate on the fluidity of time as a construct or to expound on exactly how hopeless my sense of time really is. Instead, I’d like to tell you that the vegetable gratin I made was freaking awesome.

But daylight savings really is stupid. Arizona has the right idea ignoring it.

Posted by adrienne at 08:41 PM | Comments (4)

March 12, 2010

“Campus” by Vampire Weekend, as a Fingerplay

I wake up [yawn and stretch]
My shoulder's cold [hold shoulders, shake, let teeth chatter a little]
I've got to leave here
Before I go [do “move on back” motion from “The Wheels on the Bus”]
I pull my shirt on [mime putting on shirt]
Walk out the door [walk]
Drag my feet along the floor. [drag feet]
I pull my shirt on [mime putting on shirt]
Walk out the door [walk]
Drag my feet along the floor. [drag feet]

Posted by adrienne at 07:42 AM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2010

Time to Start Getting Your Peeps Ready for Easter

The new salt and pepper set is courtesy of my father. I’ve been so focused on getting ready for PLA that I keep forgetting that it will just about be Easter when I get back from the Pacific Northwest. At least I have my decorations taken care of.

Posted by adrienne at 10:21 PM | Comments (8)

March 08, 2010

Board Books Gone Awry

As I’ve been reading more board books from the library’s collection, I’m finding a bunch I really like, but I’m also finding some I’m not crazy about. As an example, let’s take Shoes by Maisie Munro and Jenny Hale. At first it looked quite promising. It has a shaped cover with smooth curves instead of the more traditional little rectangle or square, something I’m a fan of because I think this makes it easier for small children who don’t have a lot of manual dexterity to manipulate the book. This is also a cover in two layers—the top layer being a bright red sneaker with fuzzy white spots covering up a lovely picture of a monkey (the main character of this book) on a bright lime green background. Then the verso reveals this is an Australian import—better and better. I LOVE Australian children’s books.

Now we get into the book itself. It starts out much as one might expect, with pictures and short sentences that talk about the things we use shoes for—walking a long way, kicking a ball. The narrative begins to break down on the page, “Shoes are for dancing the tango.” I have nothing against the tango or even wearing shoes while you’re dancing the tango, but I do have a problem with a monkey wearing ballet pointe shoes while dancing the tango because that’s what’s happening here, and that’s just wrong. When you’re dancing the tango, you’re supposed to wear something like this. When you wear pointe shoes, you are supposed to pirouette, which, incidentally, is what the monkey is doing in this illustration instead of the tango. It is true, I know, that this level of detail is certainly not going to be appreciated by the babies chewing on this book, but, still, this is a book that consists of exactly five page-spreads. There’s no reason not to get all five of them right.

And, okay, so I have a thing with shoes that is maybe impacting my evaluation of this particular board book. BUT STILL.

The rest of the book goes on just fine from there, with shoes helping the monkey dress like daddy and providing some chew-time fun for some puppies.

I feel kind of harsh and judgey about this book, but it’s the attitude behind it that bothers me more than the particularities, an attitude that’s something like, “Eh, it’s just for babies.” You see this a lot in board books, but it seems to me that babies are the ones you give the very best things to, and there are certainly better board books.

Posted by adrienne at 02:03 PM | Comments (5)