c'mon, c'mon

So, the other weekend, while driving back to Chicago from St. Louis, I grew tired of listening to Kenny's CDs, and decided to pop in one of my own. Kenny was fairly cool about this, and even got into one song in particular, when Overboard and I started harmonizing on the chorus.

The song in question is "C'mon, C'mon" by the Von Bondies. Some of you may know this as the theme song to a show Overboard and I like quite a bit, "Rescue Me".

Anyhoo, the thrust of this post is that the chorus consists of repeating the phrase, "C'mon, C'mon" about a zillion times. Kenny dug it, learned the words, and began singing along too. He then made us play it over and over again, as is the custom of the little man who loves to say, "More times!" Furthermore, he has since requested it both in the car and on the changing table.

Who knew the kid liked punkish bands from Detroit?

In an almost related note...

Aunt Carol told us an awesome story of how Kenny's cousin Adam sang some lyrics from the backseat as well.

Because Aunt Carol is a fan of the classics, the song in question was "Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails. Now, before you decry her parenting skills, this was the radio-friendly version, not the one you're thinking of (you sick, sick people, you). Adam, in a move reminiscent of his father, misunderstood the lyrics and only made them funnier.*

Instead of singing, "Bow down before the one you serve/You're going to get what you deserve", Adam sang: "Bow down before the one you serve/You're going to get lunch and dessert."

He may have just been hungry, but it sounds like a smash hit to me.


*Back in the olden days, say, around 1993, Pearl Jam released their album "Vs." which featured a song called "Glorified G". The chorus of the song is, "Glorified version of a pellet gun/Always keep it loaded," but Mike thought they were singing, "Glorified version of a pelican/Always keep him loaded!" 'Cause everyone knows you're supposed to keep pelicans drunk.

boom-boom

Lately, I've been mentioning Kenny's mimicry skills, as he's gotten quite good at parroting back words, phrases and even sarcasm. Well...

Even though Kenny can now climb into his car seat all by himself, it wasn't always this way. And for the longest time, I would (and often still) punctuate his placement into the seat by saying, "Ah-boom!" Inevitably, this was/is followed by singing a few lines of "She's So Hot (Boom)" by the Flight of the Conchords. Those lines would be, "I like the girls with the boom-boom. You like to boom. I like to boom. Enough small boom, let's boom de boom!" So, you can probably see where this is going.

The other day I plopped Kenny into his car seat with an "ah-boom" and was then serenaded with the above lyrics. Now, I'm sure this will come back to bite me in the proverbial ass when he sings, "I like the girls with the boom-boom" to some sweet grandma, or easily-angered feminist activist (probably from my alma-mater), but I can't help it, I convulsed with laughter.

I told Overboard what Kenny had sung and she was horrified. I, however, just kept laughing.

Boom de boom, people. Boom de boom.

snapshots from a day at daycare

The other night our daycare provider told Overboard some funny Kenny moments from that day.

They were:

During nap time, Mr. K totally ratted out his buddy/cohort/partner in daycare crime, Avik, who had gotten out of his cot to snag a toy (which is verbotten when they're supposed to be snoozing). From nowhere, a voice very clearly announced, "Avik, what are you doing?" Busted, red-handed, Avik got nabbed. Then Kenny slept like a champ.

Towards the end of the day, one of the older girls wanted to watch a movie. While the daycare lady tried to get the new AV Club setup going, Mr. K grew impatient and loudly demanded her to "HURRY UP!" No one likes an aggressive/rude theatergoer, Kenny.

Finally, we also learned Kenny's new nickname at daycare: Flaquito Lindo. This roughly translates to: Boy We Love Who Eats and Eats and Eats But Doesn't Seem to Gain Any Weight.

I have no idea where he gets that from. What? Why are you shaking your head like that?

i know

During diaper changes that aren't going smoothly, I often say to Kenny, "I know, I know," as in: "I know you'd rather be doing something else right now...so would I." Or sometimes it's, "I know this isn't very comfortable, but it'll be over soon." Or even, "I know that cleaning your butt isn't exactly what I pictured myself doing either."

So the other day, Kenny looks up at me from the changing pad right before a diaper swap and announces out of the blue, "I know, I know."

"You're f%$&*#@ with me, right?" I asked innocently.*

He just smiled, stared off into space and said, "I know, I know."


*Okay, I didn't cuss in front of the boy. I said "messing with me" (which isn't nearly as entertaining in blog/retelling form). Happy now?

grandma jackie's premium daycare service

Grandma Jackie temporarily takes over fighter jet duties from Prof. Evenkeel.

Because she's awesome like that, Grandma Jackie came to our rescue last week while Kenny's daycare was on vacation. Instead of hanging out at our backup daycare facility downtown, Kenny got to spend the week with Grandma, having all kinds of fun adventures and taking THREE HOUR NAPS every day.

Grandma had fun too, and proved the old adage about kids/grandkids keeping you young.


Kenny and Grandma test out the slide's "slidiness factor".

As for Grandpa Alan, well, he got stuck in Atlanta due to unforeseen project issues. However, we did check in with him via Skype from time to time. And to be honest, I think Grandma enjoyed having only one person to look after.*


Kenny properly communicates with Grandpa Toot-Toot.

How do we know that Kenny had fun? Well, he pretty much looked like this all week:

Is this the face of an unhappy toddler? We think not.

As a nice treat at the end of the week, I got to take Grandma out on the town for a lovely dinner at the Glen, followed by a screening of Wall•E (which was awesome).

Maybe we can lure our new babysitter service back up at the beginning of 2009 when daycare shuts down again...

Want to see more pictures? Of course you do. Click here to check out the full gallery. Videos coming soon.


*We kid because we love!

parenting kenny vs. sadie

So, last night I came home early so Overboard could stay late at work. This means that I got to pick up Kenny from daycare and get the highly coveted, "excited embrace" - which is when Kenny sees Mommy or Daddy from across the room at daycare and comes running full tilt into her/his arms. This small act of supreme excitement can make an entire day's frustration disappear.

While Kenny was having a lovely meltdown over Daddy's dinner menu, Overboard decided to call and check in. I tried to talk to her, but was distracted by the toddler who had decided to scream and throw food around the kitchen like a reality TV chef with anger management issues.

As I chastised Kenny for his rude behavior, Overboard snapped in my ear that I shouldn't "talk to Kenny like he's Sadie." But I disagree. I don't talk to Kenny like he's a dog, I've simply been talking to the dog like she's a child for 12 years now.

car wash protocol

As mentioned, Grandma Jackie came to visit for the week while Kenny's daycare was closed for vacation. We'll have lots of photos and videos online soon, but this post is in reference to something that happened right at the beginning of Grandma's visit.

See, since Grandma was coming, we felt it was finally time to wash and vacuum the car to make it more hygienic, er, presentable. We didn't actually get this accomplished before Grandma got to town, but we did manage to go the next morning.

Kenny loves a good visit to the car wash, since he can watch through the windows as the car moves through the process/machine.

Later in the day, back at home, Kenny asked Overboard if we could go back, by grabbing at her pant leg and asking, "Dar wash? Dar wash?"

She smiled at him and replied, "No, Honey, we just got the car washed. We're going to wait till the car gets dirty again...or the next time grandma comes to visit."

so good

The mimic has learned a new expression from his Mommy: "So good!"

This phrase is busted out while eating and enjoying something of flavorful proportions. For instance, Kenny will now snarf down a handful of raisins, look up and announce, "So good!" And if it's really outstanding, he may even get a little Jimmy Two-Times on you and say, "So good! So good!"

On a mimic-related note, this morning (after a week spent hanging out with Grandma Jackie), he bounced up and onto the couch and exclaimed, "My goodness!"