summer rocks

let's talk children's music.

i'm sure my mom had some children's music for us to listen to growing up--that seems like her kind of thing--but we just couldn't hear it over my dad blasting us with led zeppelin. and the beatles, and the stones, and heart, and everything between ABBA and zz top.

in the end, zeppelin's gang won out (how could anyone argue with jimmy page and robert plant?) and my mom's safety kids died a silent death. consequently, when i think of the soundtrack of my childhood, i think more "heard it through the grapevine" less "fruit salad, yummy, yummy."

so it's not surprising that now myself a parent, i'm a bit non-traditional in the tunes i share with summer. i know the wiggles and other such groups are popular staples in the homes of most toddlers. but honestly, i just can't wrap my mind around their music. i mean, maybe the lyrics are over my head or i find the beats too suggestive, but for whatever reason, they are on my list of banned media.

instead, summer's playlist includes the likes of beyoncé, cyndi lauper, dave matthews, counting crows, sugarland, our favorite angry chicks, avril and alanis, and of course, the bens (folds and lee).

but her favorite song? "all these things that i've done" by the killers. for this, we have yet again to thank my father for playing it over and over during our three week stay in alabama.

dear wiggles: you can take your fruit salad and EAT IT. love, baby summer.

the better to see you with

Hot or not?

 

Every so often, a product is so brilliant in its design, so encompassing in its usefulness, and so reasonable with respect to price that it would be a sin not to mention it to our readers. Therefore, I take the utmost pleasure in introducing you to the “Mastercool MSC52224A Infrared Thermometer in Case.”

For a mere $45, you can gain heat-sensing power rivaling even that of the Predator. Just point the Mastercool at the surface of any object and instantly get a temperature reading. Skeptics may wonder what purpose such a device has in everyday life. Here are a few I've found since receiving the Mastercool on Wednesday:

1. Breathe life into meetings - that's right, you too can jazz up any boring meeting by passing this guy around. If it's a meeting of engineers, it's even more effective than a puppy.
   
2. Take your chocolatiering to the next level - having a hard time figuring out when that pan of chocolate is between 88-90 degrees Fahrenheit? Fear no more... Mastercool will take the guess work out of your next chocolate covered masterpiece.
   
3. Answer nagging questions:

• Q: How cold is my freezer wall?
• A: –0.2 degrees F.
• Q: Will Summer chase a laser beam on the floor?
• A: Yes.
• Q: Should I buy a Snuggie?
• A: No.

Ouch. Turns out the stove is 827 degrees right before it turns red.

morning glory

this morning, for the first time ever in her little baby life, summer chose to sleep in an hour and a half later than usual.

i'm up, i'm showered, i'm presentable, the house is clean, the laundry is folded, the dishes are done, so what's a girl to do?

why, make muffins -- from scratch! -- of course.

and for a moment, i'm june cleaver and mommyhood is exactly as i'd always imagined.

*sigh*


(for the record, such moments are few and far between for me, as illustrated by my failing score on the 1930s marital scale. had june and i met in real life, i'd probably have kicked her in the shins.)

summer goes swimming

it's no secret that summer loves the tub. in fact, she tries to climb into every bathtub she comes across. and if bryan doesn't keep a close eye on her while i'm in the shower, i'll turn around and there will be summer, fully clothed, showering right along with me.

sensing how the agua draws her, bryan and i decided it was probably in summer's best interest to put her on the path toward water survival.

so we signed up for a parent-tot water acclimation class and hoped for the best. during our inaugural class, we discovered two things:

 

1) even more than the tub, summer loves the pool. loves splashing, loves jumping, loves playing, loves floating. loves. it.

2) not only does she love the pool, but she believes that she can already swim. in direct opposition to the little boy--twice summer's age--who spent the entire class sobbing and clutching his father's neck, summer utilized most of her energy desperately trying to free herself from my grasp and enjoy the water on her own terms.

we'll wait a few more classes before we give in to her demands and let go.

My Valentines

WARNING: GRATUITOUS USE OF CUTE BABY PHOTOS

Emily's most favorite holiday of all time? St. Valentine's Day. Let me come clean right away. Her love of the day has absolutely nothing to do with anything I've done for her in years past. Generally, her relationship with the holiday is highly asymmetric (see this post for more details). I have this creeping suspicion that focusing on making others feel good has a positive correlation with self fulfillment and happiness.

This year, in one fell swoop, Emily turned February 14th into Summer's favorite holiday as well. A scary amount of goodwill can be acquired through the gift of a giant chocolate heart. Behold exhibit A:

To be honest, we were unaware of how much chocolate and peanut butter a baby could consume, but Summer eclipsed all expectations in the first five minutes. Candy for breakfast?  Best parents ever.

 

summer love

paint the love.

press the love.

reveal the love.

repeat the love.

share the love.

achy breaky heart

february is american heart month.

to encourage our readers to better care for their atria and ventricles, here is baby wheeler's pulmonary debut:



have a happy heart!

Tết rồi

This post is a little late, but "Chúc mừng năm mới" everybody. For her second time in a lifespan of but 14 months, Summer has made the journey to the Seattle Center to celebrate New Year in true Viet style (see if you can recognize her in last year's post).


Midway through the festivities, Summer mistook Tết for Burning Man (in fact, Summer lives much of her life as if she were at a baby version of Burning Man), and started to invoke the principles of "Radical Inclusion" and "Gifting." The other babies seemed into it, but their parents seemed a little less comfortable with the idea. Witness the video below:




Careful observers will note two incidents from the clip:

1. An entire family does a 180 in response to Summer's aggressive friendliness. I guess they really didn't want to buy some spring rolls after all.
2. An overprotective father turns away his stroller to shield his child from a potential encounter with a "free spirit."