Tickle Me Emo

So I finally got my first visit from the Parents As Teachers lady. She was great, and I'm happy to have any ideas that take me away from incessant reruns of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. You can judge all you want, I don't care. I'm willing to admit that Declan watches way too much of this cartoon. So much so, that he can say Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Toodles. Plus, he can sing part of the Hot Dog song. It's the first thing he asks for in the morning and the last at night. But I think they only made like 15 episodes, so I can practically recite them. Just to clarify, we only allow three a day, but I know a lot of television purists who I'm sure would be, or more accurately are right now, appalled at that number.

Anyway, back to Parents As Teachers. I swear this kid had a meltdown just looking at her. Here I am, hoping she sees my smart, active kiddo, and all she can say is that he's obviously "sensitive", which I know means "big wussy". We call it Emo Baby. I didn't know aobut Emos until my seventh graders explained them. Back in my day (and I'm ancient to 12 year olds) we had goths and granolas. This Emo thing is new. Basically, Emos are goth-like kids who feel sorry for themselves even though they live in safe suburban neighborhoods and have no real troubles in life. Hence Declan the Emo Baby.

And Emo Baby was in effect. I mean just standing up was making him upset. But as soon as she walked out the door, happy baby. WTF? And the other day he bit me so hard that I now have a purple bruise on my arm. The offense? I was talking on the phone.

It's Karma. When I was little, my sister and I would sleep with my mom. One of us on each side. But I didn't really like my mom to look at my sister so I'd take her head and turn it toward me. Every time I woke up during the night, before bed during story time, as we were falling asleep, every single time. So now I'm paying for what I put on my mom, one whine at a time.

But Declan's not just whining. Occasionally he learns a new body part or word. He totally surprised us with the other day when some friends brought their newborn over. Declan pointed and said baby right away. I was pretty proud. Some words we have to work hard for. I've been trying to get him to say help for awhile now (I think it could be a way for him to escape Emo Baby) and nothing. He has yet to say anything close to help, but baby he got without even a prompt. Here are a few of his words, and one of his very favorite activities.




I often focus on Scooter's annoying qualities, but this is one of his best. He lets Declan mount him like a cowboy and just sits there. Occasionally, he'll stand up and knock Declan off, but D just thinks that's hilarious and starts again.

We've also been working on identifying body parts. As you can see, some parts Mommy emphasizes, and some Daddy....




And with that I say goodnight!

Lady Kelly

There are some things that Declan does that are completely from Rich. There's one eyebrow raise that is eerily identical to Dad. Plus there's that boy energy. But there's one way in which Declan is definitely just like mommy. He's become obsessed with my ipod. It all started when I would put my ipod on while folding laundry. Declan thought it was fun to play on my bed, so I thought of it as a win win. Then he started running into my room and pointing at my ipod until I put it on. And he has some favorite artists.




And most of you know he's on fast forward pretty much all the time. Except for when he's mesmerized by techno beats.



But as with all passionate people, he lets me know just exactly what is not tolerable.





So we find something he can accept.