diamond kenny prima hits the snooze

Kenny woke up from his nap today and pleaded with me for five more minutes. I believe his exact words were, "Back to sleep. Want to go back to sleep." So I let him. Hey, he may have been coming off of a three and a half hour nap, but I have a great respect for the power of the snooze button. Even if that snooze button is me.

When Kenny re-awoke, about ten minutes later, he was in a slightly better mood. He asked where Mommy was, and I explained that she was downstairs getting his lunch/dinner ready. He was fairly okay with that, but when he heard her coming up the stairs he got a lot more excited. So excited, that when she entered the room, he instructed her to usher me out.

"Bye-bye, Daddy," he said, while shooing me away.

I tried my best not to be offended, and opted to stick around. Then, since my popularity was already at an apparent low, I offered up that we should hit the potty before heading downstairs.

"NO POTTY! NO POTTY! NO POTTY!" came the politely screamed reply.

His cries of "no potty" sounded a bit like "no body," so Overboard and I immediately began to serenade him with a slightly altered version of "I ain't got nobody":

"I ain't got nooooo-pootttttttyyyyy...no potty for me, no potty for me..." and so on.

He was not amused, but we were. Which was enough for us.

Oh yeah, in the end, I flipped him upside down and carried him into the bathroom.

Bop. Boozee, boozee, bop. Zidee bop.

ralph's world

Ralph rocks the Park West at what can only be assumed was an all ages show. Otherwise, that's some excellent fake ID action.

A few weekends ago (sorry for the delay in posting), Kenny went to his first rock concert. One of the kings of the kid's music circuit, Ralph's World, has become a stand-by in our house. Kenny usually picks between his Ralph's World CD or his dinosaurs CD each morning, so the songs are omnipresent around here. On the upside, Ralph was an aspiring rock star before he turned to the under eight set. What that means for us is that his songs are basically pop songs, with kid's lyrics. Catchy, melodic, and a lot more tolerable to repeated listenings. And by repeated, I mean around 16,552 plays and counting.

Kenny also loves watching the video for Ralph's song, "Abby's Alphabet Soup." It's popularity on the computer is only rivaled by Elmo's Potty Time song. So that's really saying something.

We had a good time at the show, but Kenny spent the majority of it just silently taking it all in. I think we expected more dancing and screaming, but he did have a good time nonetheless. Kenny even had me take him down to the dance floor for the final two or three songs. On the way home, he passed out with a smile on his face and Ralph's World songs ringing in his ears.


Kenny smiles about his first concert going experience.

Concerts still play second fiddle to playing with trains though.

Overboard laughs when Kenny asks where his backstage pass is.

Ralph invited the crowd onstage for the big finale. Kenny opted to watch from the floor. I don't think he wanted to share the spotlight.

mr. frumble

Kenny loves the Richard Scarry books I brought home from Atlanta. He's especially fond of the "Busiest People Ever" book, which has a section on the unfortunately clumsy Mr. Frumble - a pig with a penchant for getting into trouble.

We often hear Kenny clamor to read about "Mista Fwumble" and his precarious exploits. Kenny also enjoys toddling around the house crying out, "Oh, no, Mista Fwumble! You washing the wong pwane!"*


*Mr. Frumble had a shameful mix-up at the airport when he decided to wash one of the planes, but missed his intended target. He is also the bane of chefs who enjoy making bananas flambé. True story.

not pants

For a little boy living in the Chicago area in the middle of winter, well, a distaste for pantaloons isn't terribly practical. This bit of logic hasn't hindered our lil' semi-nudist from decrying his need for pants on more than one occasion.

More often than not, when Kenny goes potty, he completely removes his pants, liner and underwear. Thus, when he is done doing his business, he needs to put them all back on again. This often takes some cajoling, and for whatever reason, intense negotiating over the sticking point of pants.

"NO PANTS! NO PANTS! NO PANTS!" he screams in between crocodile tears.

Consequently, we have to try to reason and rationalize with our lil' hippie with both well-constructed, logical arguments, and more often than not, bribes.

what's my line?

A quick update of Kenny's current favorite catch phrases:

"What's happened?"
Picture this: A young boy. A toddler, if you will. Standing with a broken object in his hand. With a confused, and slightly perturbed yet innocent look, he gazes up at you and asks, "What happened?" It totally reminds me of this.

"Are you okay?"
Kenny is an empathetic soul and likes to make sure you're doing well. He'll often waddle up and ask, "Are you okay?" My favorite is when he does this to Sadie. I think he's bummed she never gives a satisfactory answer.

"Good to see you!"
Kenny is also very warm and welcoming. He cracks us up when we walk into the room and he looks up and shouts, "Daddy! It's good to see you!" I mean, honestly, who doesn't want that kind of welcome? Yesterday he did it to his buddy Jack and it was priceless. "Jack! Jack! Jack! It's good to see you!" I kept waiting for him to pause and then ask, "So? How's the wife and kids?"

"Oh my goodness."
This one, I'm pretty sure came from daycare. When he says it, it makes him seem about 80 years older than he actually is. It's such a grandparent-y thing to say. For instance: Kenny drops a toy, only to see it shatter on the ground. Slightly surprised, and a touch disappointed, he announces, "Oh my goodness."

"That's kind of funny."
I'm not really sure where he picked this one up, but it slays me. Especially when something goes totally wrong and he cocks his head and announces, "That's kind of funny." Yes it is, Son. Yes it is.

deal or no deal

At daycare, they instituted a negotiating tactic with Mr. K to help insure proper behavior and productive potty times. If Kenny doesn't want to do something right away (like, I dunno, go potty), then they make a "deal" with him. He gets to do X and in return he agrees to do Y. Simple and fairly effective. However, now that it's been going on for a little while now, Kenny has seemingly begun to take advantage of this easy way to quell any request or argument.

With a shrug, and a wave of his hand, Kenny placates his parents by agreeing to whatever they're offering. "Deal," he says.

"You don't need to go pee-pee? Okay, we'll watch a little more Diego, then you have to go potty."
"Deal."

"Okay, you can play with your cars for a few more minutes, then you need to put your pants on."
"Deal."

"Kenny, you need to..."
"Deal."

Of course, more often than not, he incredibly forgets the deal he has just agreed to, thus necessitating another round of intense negotiations; which invariably end with a shrug, wave and disinterested, "deal."

I'm beginning to wonder if he has a future as Secretary of State.

torah, torah, torah!

"Kenny wuz here."

I just got my hands on these shots from the professional photographer who was documenting the Torah signing in Atlanta during our October visit. Enjoy!


It takes a steady hand to play Operation...and write in a Torah.

Usually, GG makes sure to read the fine print, not write it.

In this instance, Grandpa's handwriting is forced to be about 1000 times more legible.

Grandma Jackie opted not to use her reading glasses. That's trust, people.

Aunt Carol is known for her expressive Hebrew handwriting.

Uncle Mike makes sure that his client is properly marketed and promoted in perpetuity.

Hannah was a big fan of the feather. The ink? Meh. But the feather, yes.

Adam wonders how he can cross his t's and dot his i's when he's only allowed to write one letter.

cold weather gear hazard #22

Getting lost inside your layers.


Taken while out and about this afternoon. When we peeled back the muffler, he grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

snow day

"Okay, so I'll put some in here, stick it in the freezer and bust it back out in July. Genius!"

Kenny and I went out in the backyard to play in the snow last weekend. The original idea was to build a snowman, but the snow was mostly powder, which doesn't pack very well. Consequently, Kenny went down the slide a few times, played with a few toys, and even tried sweeping up some snow, since no one likes a messy, snow-strewn driveway. Good times. But don't take my word for it...


Kenny loops back around so he can slide for the 536 time.

Kenny Construction. Moving snow around since 2007.

First Daddy shovels, then Kenny sweeps up. It's a system.

thanksgiving weekend - part 4

A Very Kenny Thanksgiving - Part 4: Deja-Adam


Kenny and his holiday Sunday posse.

A little pickle cutting before nap time.

On Sunday, Amy was busy teaching a music lesson, so Adam came over solo to hang out with us. We went out to lunch and then came back so Kenny could nap. During said nap, Adam and I reignited our long-standing Monopoly rivalry. You see, back in high school (and even college), Adam and I would partake in marathon matches of Monopoly, Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit. Unlike the games I played in my youth with my brother, these rarely involved fisticuffs, but there was usually plenty of swearing.


Is this the face of a boy ready for a nap? Yeah, he wasn't really buying it either. But he went to bed, so chalk one up for Team Parents.

This time around, we played my NHL Monopoly that Overboard generally refuses to touch. It's not that she has anything against NHL Monopoly, or board games in particular - actually, it's quite the opposite - it's more that she just doesn't want to play them with me. [insert editorial "sigh" here]. I have tried to point out that the gift is from her sister, but this has not generated any sympathy. Which makes me wonder if maybe there's more to this and I need to be asking someone about it. But I digress.


Adam wanted to take a lunch break, so we documented the status of the board to discourage "creative money/property management."

Unfortunately for the home team, Adam won both games, but I have vowed revenge for the next time he's in town. Worst comes to worst, I'll invoke my brother's notorious bank embezzlement techniques. Or maybe I'll just ask the feds for a couple billion in bailout money. Either way.


Evenkeel carries no grudges. Just a shiv in his left hand that has been conveniently cropped out of this photo.*

To see all of the pictures from the whole weekend, just click here.

So, until next Thanksgiving, Kenny wants all of you to keep your pants dry and your cooked poultry moist.


*I kid!

thanksgiving weekend - part 3

A Very Kenny Thanksgiving - Part 3: Birthday Madness

On Saturday of the long Thanksgiving weekend, we went out to Buffalo Grove to attend a birthday party/extravaganza for Kenny's buddy, Seth, who was turning one. The party was held at the local JUF, and featured plenty of food, games, stuff to climb and slide on, a live musician, and cake. Lots of sweet, delicious cake.


Seth, the birthday boy, controls his father's actions by manipulating his ears. Painful, but effective.

Shortly after arriving, Kenny made a beeline for the plastic jungle gyms so he could show off his climbing, crawling, sliding, and giggling skills. I am pleased to announce that his skills are most formidable.

Kenny grins about being out of Daddy's reach and ponders whether or not to taunt him about his weak wrist shot.

The performance element of the party (aside from Kenny's playground skills) was provided by a kid's musician, who we had just missed the day before at the Kohl kid's museum. So that was fortuitous. Kenny had fun singing and clapping, testing his hand at guitar strumming, and even pulled a "Charlie Brown" by hitting on a cute redheaded girl.

Not sure what Overboard was laughing about here, but I'm sure it was quite comical.

Kenny wishes he had grown his fingernails a bit longer to really pull off that bluegrass picking technique. Oh well.

Subtle, no?

After the music mayhem had died down, Kenny sang "Happy Birthday" to Seth and then planted himself in a seat to indulge in some serious cake eating.

"Can't talk. Eating."

Was the party a success? Well, let's just say that Kenny was asleep in the backseat before we had even left the JUF parking lot. So, to answer that question: Yes.

thanksgiving weekend - part 2

A Very Kenny Thanksgiving - Part 2: Return of the Pickle


Adam and Amy pose for the Mom & Poperazzi.

Dr. Prof. Silverman and his beautiful bride were in town for Thanksgiving, and graced us with an awesome extended visit. As you may remember, the last time they were in town we only got to see them for about 45 minutes or so. Not this time. Nope, they hung out for a few hours to play with Kenny and even take in a viewing of the Stephen Colbert Christmas Special. Good times.


Adam and Kenny mug for the camera. Let's just say neither one really needed much encouragement to do so.

Earlier in the morning, we had taken Kenny to the Kohl kid's museum for some romping, and left to meet Adam and Amy at the house. They had beat us there and were walking down the block towards the park when we drove up. Overboard leaned out the window and gave them a hearty, "WOOOOOOOOOO!" Which was then echoed by Kenny from the backseat.

When we got out of the car, Kenny showed he hadn't forgotten the "cut the pickle" people, by running towards them at full speed. Once inside, he quickly got them involved in lots of rough housing, book reading, car driving, rainbow stomping, singing, and, yes, pickle cutting.


Amy brings back the pickle.

And the ensuing upside-down tickle.

Then it was off to the kitchen to stomp on the rainbow patterns that the prism cast on the floor. This was highly popular.

Before having lunch and crashing out for a nap, Kenny showed Adam and Amy how to drive in Glenview: Put on a big smile, then lean into your horn. Easy!

Adam made a return visit later in the weekend, but we'll work our way up to that in Part 4. But before Part 4, we need to talk about Part 3...

thanksgiving weekend - part 1

Kenny is a big fan of holidays that involve binge eating, but decried the lack of Thanksgiving waffles.

Our Thanksgiving weekend was fairly eventful. So eventful, I'm breaking it up into four parts.

Now, may we present: A Very Kenny Thanksgiving - Part I: Dinner.

Since I'm not a big turkey fan, our normal Thanksgiving dinner involves Cornish game hens. Unfortunately, it was a lot tougher to find kosher CGHs this year. The lack of our preferred poultry meant we went with a simple chicken dinner instead. This was not so bad, since it meant less prep. cooking, and most importantly, cleanup. Also, Overboard managed to get everything cooked and off the grill before the propane tank ran dry. Which is a natural lead-in to Hanukkah, wouldn't you say?


Sadie was disappointed in the lack of Thanksgiving scraps.

Post-dinner Legos! Yeah, we get crazy out in the 'burbs.

another tooth brushing song

Kenny isn't a big fan of brushing his teeth. Don't get me wrong, he's a huge fan of sucking the tooth paste off of his tooth brush, but he's not a big fan of actually brushing. As such, we are constantly trying to find new ways to get him to cooperate with the whole process. Mostly, it involves singing various songs. However, since Kenny grows weary of these songs fairly rapidly, we're always looking to shake things up.

We started out with the "Tooth Brushing Song," courtesy of Dr. Prof. Silverman. We then moved on to the '60s Spider-Man theme song. When that grew old, we switched to the George of the Jungle theme song. One night, when Kenny was refusing to sing any of the above, I asked him what he wanted to hear.

"Superman."
"Superman?" I asked.
"SUPERMAN!" came the reply.

As far as I can recall, Superman didn't have a theme song with any actual words. So I went with the closest thing I could think of: R.E.M.'s cover tune, "I am Superman" from the "Life's Rich Pageant" album.

Luckily, this was a big hit. Especially when Overboard jumps in on the harmony. We'll see how long we can make it work, but for now, it's pretty funny to hear Kenny ask for "Superman" and then start singing, "I can do anything" to himself.