today's soundtrack

So, today I turn on the news and hear that Steven Page, the front man for the Barenaked Ladies, is calling it quits, and going solo or something like that. And I'm kind of sad about that because I've become a particular fan of theirs in the past 6 months or so. It all started when we went shopping for a CD in August - Serge bought Bob Dylan's greatest hits, and since there was a 2 for something sale, I picked up this one:


I've really enjoyed my kids' music up to this point. They listen to a lot of our music, and I'm careful when picking music that's for them. You won't see me throwing in Barney's greatest hits or anything like that. Heaven forbid they decide they like it. I won't buy them any music unless I'm sure I can put up with it. I used to be embarrassed to say I enjoy it - but the more I hear it, the more it reminds me of my kids, and the more I know I'll look back on the times when we drove all over everywhere with music on blast in the van, and I'll remember those songs fondly. It started out with Baby Mozart when they were little, moved on to Carmen Campagne, the Wiggles, and Fred Penner. Even after hearing some of those songs one bazillion times - I still kind of like them. I can't not love Rockabye your bear. I can't not smile when I hear Quack-quack-quack-cock-a-doodle doo. But, time marches on and the big girls are too big for the Wiggles, for sure. Yet, I'm not ready to commit to High School Musical and Hannah Montana, either. We needed a new something we can all agree on. I've always liked the Barenaked Ladies, and I can see how their style and sound could appeal to kids - so I picked it up.

That was August, and its been a lot of months from then until now, and Snack Time continues to grow on me. Pollywog in a Bog is by far our favorite, and even when I was 8 months pregnant and waking up at 3 and 5 and 6 am to go pee, and in the early morning fog, my head was singing "Ribbit, ribbit, a tadpole exhibit, its a transformation no one can inhibit" - it was still okay. I didn't tire of it. I still didn't cringe when Annique yelled for "lil' pog" for the tenth time in a row.

I'm providing this video so that you, too can have "lil'pog" playing in your head at 3 am.
Don't thank me now.

Its good stuff for kids, lots of big, interesting words, great topics, fun sounds, and they're getting smart, learning about the life cycle of a frog, and all. Who cares that there are songs about deadly and unspeakably violent ninjas? If I cared about that, I'd probably care that the band is called Barenaked ladies (giggle, giggle - I told them that) and the lead singer is up on drug charges for cocaine possession or something (yikes! I didn't tell them that!) - and I don't, because this is good stuff for my kids. We like being the Partridge family with music blaring out of the van while it rolls down the highway.

Anyway, with today's announcement - there goes all hopes that I'll get to take the kids to see them live - we've seen the Wiggles, Fred Penner and Carmen Campagne. And also, any hopes for a follow up to their brilliant Snack-time album. I am sure 20 years ago they never thought they'd be writing children's music, and doing such a damned brilliant job of it. Because if they did, they probably wouldn't have called themselves the Barenaked Ladies. I wonder what my kids will think of "If I had $1,000,000?" - I guess there are still a lot of BNL songs out there that are old to me but will be new to them. We'll cope.

baby at 2 months

Dimensions:
I have no idea of his height/weight size, but he wears a size 1 diaper and has grown out of all his newborn clothes, of course you know that because I already whined about it a few posts ago. He's wearing 0-3 month clothes which don't have much extra room, and starting to fit into some 3-6 month stuff quite nicely. All I have to say about that is, when he's 5-6 months old, those things still better fit him.


Coordination:
Already more coordinated than his mother. Excellent. He can grasp things with his hands and his hands like to go in his mouth, of course. He hangs on to my clothes when I'm carrying him around the house - I keep forgetting when I try to put him down somewhere that he may still be attached with a fistful of my shirt or something.



Strength:
He's still very pushy - doesn't like to rest his head anywhere unless he's sleepy, otherwise he pushes as far back as he can to allow for the maximum view of the world around him. He still has three sisters to keep track of, and it's a lot of work.

Attitude:
What a smiley little guy we have - it doesn't take much to get him to smile, and he's making a few of those 'goo' noises that only little babies can make and still sound smart. That doesn't stop me from making 'goo' noises at him to see if he'll copy me - hopefully nobody's listening.

Sleeping:
All anyone really cares about is how well he's sleeping, right? Well, at night - not so bad. He dozes off at around 9-10 pm I guess, and I lay him down on the couch because he'll freak out on any truly flat surface, like his playpen - then I'd have to pick him up and rock him again and spend another half hour getting him to sleep. So I put him on the couch and wrap him up good and tight so he thinks he's still being held, and he usually sleeps until about 1:30 - then I bring him to bed and feed him and he'll sleep until 4:30 at best, sometimes right until 6:30. Not a bad stretch. Then he gets annoying, waking up at least every hour until the girls get up at 8:00. He will always wake up between 7:24 and 7:27 every. single. morning. just to make sure he gets fed one more time before the morning rush.

Special Talents:
-Burping. He's a champ. With the girls, I would start the first month or so pounding on their backs like moms do after every feeding, and usually - nothing. Now and then they'd give up a little burp or a huge one, or spit up all over the place. Evan will always have a huge, satisfying burp, and if you have a burp cloth handy, it will probably be dry. If you don't, he'll spit up all over the place. He's especially talented at spitting up on everyone and everything but himself. In a day, he can create a huge pile of laundry - blankets, my clothes, burp cloths, towels, etc. - but he'll still be in the same outfit.

-He's also quite good at throwing up into his ears.

-He has an altitude sensor, knows without opening an eye if he's being put down.

-Being cute. He's pretty good at that, too.