BayDad

I just wanted to say that we went to go see Ponyo with Mr. Busy and Miss Otter this weekend, and it was absolutely awesome.  Great story, wonderful voice acting, beautiful images.

And, in addition, this is the first movie that Mr. Busy has sat through (in a theater) from beginning to end.  He started out in my lap (with his blankie) and about half way through the movie, decided he wanted to “sit by myself” so he sat next to me for the rest.

We’ve tried a couple other movies in the theater with him, and haven’t had much success.  Here’s the short rundown:

• Horton Hears a Who @ 1.5 years:  This one almost worked, but he was only about 18 months at the time, so still a bit young.  I think there was too much talking for him to really understand what was going on.
• Disney Earth @ 1.9 years:  Not enough plot to keep him interested, and lots of “what’s that animal’s name” and “what’s that bird doing” type of questions.  Also I think we went at a pretty bad time, with a 5pm showing, and that overlapped with dinnertime.
• Up @ 2.25yrs: Too scary.  Too much talking.
• Ponyo @ 2.25yrs: Perfect.  He had already watched “Totoro” (another great movie for kids) at home, beginning to end, so we were hopeful.  We went to a Saturday matinee (showing at 4pm) which was pretty good timing.  Bring his blankie was also key to success.

I’d recommend going to see Ponyo for pretty much everyone, with the added benefit that if you’ve got a toddler, he or she will likely enjoy it and sit through the whole thing, which is a huge win for the parents, because you’ll actually be able to see it uninterrupted as well!

I just want to give a quick “shout out” to the CSMA (Community School of Music & Art) in Palo Alto and their toddler-friendly art classes.

Mr. Busy has been going to the bilingual art class for the last month or so on Saturday mornings, and has a great time.  Last Saturday morning, I asked him what he wanted to do today, and he said “Art Class” and I said “What else?” and he said “Rocks”, which, I think, was a reference to the rock garden that they have in the front of the building.  He loves playing and climbing on the rocks!

A short list (somewhat tongue in cheek):

• Projects?  What projects?  Doing things around the house becomes very hard.
• Waking up at 7am or earlier seems normal.
• Going to sleep at 10pm seems normal.
• Video games?  Hah!  Wait until the kids can play with you.  ETA: 4 years from birth
• Blogging?  Only while at work!
• Music?  Your new favorites will be everything from Putumayo, or “100 toddler favorites”.    That’s about as hip as it gets.
• Your dinner time will now be 5pm.
• Touching poop won’t seem like that big of a deal anymore.
• All bodily functions will be discussed in some great detail.
• A fun way to spend Saturday afternoon will be going to play on the slides at the playground.
• Going for a bike ride now means riding for 10  minutes to the nearest playground.
• Thou shalt not leave the house without: Water, Goldfish crackers, juice, diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, 3 matchbox cars, 2 board books, 2 pacifiers, a hat and several jackets and coats.

Some last minute adds:

• You’ll likely not shave every day, through a combination of “oh my god he’s going to swallow that shampoo I better go get him” and “oh my god I’m so tired if I don’t shave I can sleep for 3 more minutes and still be on time”
• Putting in an 8-hour work day will become hard, and seem like somewhat of a chore.
• You’ll begin to “essentialize” everything.  Do you really need to wipe that up right now?  Do you really want to spend the next 20 minutes re-wiring the home theater?  Etc.
• Meals will be designed around how easy they are to eat using no utensils at all.
• You’ll start considering statements like “Ok. Day. Bye” as a genuine conversation.  (i.e. “Okay, I’m going to work now, Have a good day, bye bye!”)
• You’ll realize that nearly every surface of your house has been covered in either (sour) milk, (sour) formula or baby urine.
• You’ll think baby urine is clean and not really worry about how it kinda gets all over everything.

What’s on your list?

Mr. Busy doesn’t have time to take a bath, and would rather come into the shower with us.

Well, not quite, I’m sort of exaggerating, but in fact, he really does enjoy coming into the shower with us, and we enjoy taking a shower with him.  It’s one of those things that evolved from “we really need to give him a bath but I don’t have the time or energy for it right now” and has turned into somewhat of a morningtime routine.

The funny thing is that I never really thought that a 19-month old would enjoy showering!  Mostly he likes to play with the pool of water at the bottom, but sticking his hand in the stream of water from the shower head (as we’re holding him) is fun too.   I’m also amazed that he can take “full temperature” — we don’t really change anything when he’s in there with us.

He still takes baths every once in a while, and still really likes those too, which is great, but our day-to-day routine now usually involves a morning shower!