Michael: Cute, Clever, and Five.

2008-12-11T11:21:00.001-08:00

Hi, Michael's Mom here.

Just want to jot down a couple more cute things as he's quickly growing up.

We were driving home from the temple a couple nights ago and he asked if we could go "Christmas Charoling." (That's not a typo :) )

And he was looking forward to eating some "Sloppy Jones" when we got home.

He really is a clear, articulate speaker, so when he makes these cute phonetic misinterpretations I just have to capture them. Another example is "Yew Nork." Ooh, don't you just want to give him a tight, squeezy hug?

2008-12-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

Preposterous + Apostrophe =

2008-04-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

"That's prepostrophe!"

A Springtime Observation

2008-04-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

"I know what it's called when animals travel from one place to another. It's called 'vibration'."

2008-03-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

"I'm reading the destructions to figure it out.

"Step 2: First, change the new camouflage on...you should take the camouflage and put it on this machine, then put it on something else.

"Those are your destructions."

Talking in my sleep

2008-02-26T01:06:00.000-08:00

"Oh, I didn't know. Sorry."

"Tiger...tiger spot. I guess Oscar painted it, heh."

"I want some more salad. Strawberries without stems."

2008-01-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

I want an apricot sliced in half with no coconut in the middle.

Funnies from today

2008-01-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Mommy reads to Michael, "Yoga Stress Relief Pose #7: Press your forearms against the floor..."

Michael interjects, "But we don't HAVE four arms!"

Now on a different topic, if you like Dan Fogelberg, let his tune "Longer" play in your mind.

For help, here's the second verse:

Stronger than any mountain cathedral

Truer than any tree ever grew

Deeper than any forest primeval

I am in love with you

Now here's Michael's lyrical contribution to the song:

"Stronger than Super Glue

Stronger than super man

Stronger than super mouse man

Stronger than super child

Stronger than super binky

Stronger than flying book

Stronger than super hat

Stronger than a violin,

Yay!"

Christmas

2007-12-27T23:54:00.000-08:00

Michael wanted to role play the Christmas story (it doesn't matter that Christmas was 2 days ago). He claimed the role of Joseph and told his dad to be Mary.

John stuffed a soccer ball up his shirt and followed Joseph around as he walked door to door looking for a place for them to stay the night, and for a place for Mary to have her baby. After he realized all the inns were full, he pointed off in the distance and said, "We need to find a manger scene."

Talking in Your Sleep

2007-12-15T22:19:00.000-08:00

"It's just pretend. It's not going to bite you. It's not."

(Laughing) "Silly, you use a ruler to measure, not a fork."

I'm a Dalmation

2007-12-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

2007-11-20T14:27:00.001-08:00

"5...4...3...2...1... Ugmition!"

2007-11-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

"It has a flying function....it has a crashing function."

More evidence that Michael's a reader-in-training

2007-10-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Mom, I want to go to kuhfk.

What's kuhfk?

You know, it's the place where I get a kid's meal in a cartoon box with chicken and a drink...

Ohhhh, kuhfk. I love you so much, Michael!

2007-10-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Dad's reading you Homer's Odyssey (the Mary Pope Osborne version). Today in the bathtub you pretended your Diego toy was Odysseus and he was on an adventure on his boat (it was really an empty applesauce cup). Then he turned back into Diego again.

Before The Odyssey Dad read you The Wind in the Willows. You named your toy frog, "Toad."

And before that you guys read, "Peter Pan." A couple weeks later we were at the grocery store and I asked you to grab a jar of peanut butter and put it in the basket. You grabbed what was at your arm level...and a few days later at home you noticed it had a picture of Peter Pan on it with pixie dust sparkling all around him. Then you wanted me to tell you the Peter Pan story.

I grabbed a fun biography of Benjamin Franklin off the shelf in the children's section. You weren't really interested in that one at first, probably because it was illustrated in brown and looked like it might be boring. I don't usually like boring-looking books either. But your interest was piqued on the page where Ben tried all kinds of new things like swimming (naked!) with his ankles tied together. Then he tried strapping boards to his feet to get more leverage in the water...by doing that he invented flippers! Well we all enjoyed that book so much that we checked out another Jean Fritz book, "Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?"

Books, books, books.

Oh, and before that Dad read you the Great Illustrated Classics versions of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, The Time Machine, Around the World in 80 Days...

Good-bye, Clifford & Berenstain Bears! (I hope.)

Let's Go!

2007-09-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

Let's Go! Turtles are waiting, caterpillars are waiting, fireflies are waiting, summer is waiting, streams are waiting, starfish are waiting, boogie boards are waiting. Life's waiting.

Let's Go! Chipmunks are waiting, sleeping bags are waiting, shopping is waiting, buried treasues are waiting, preschool is waiting, tide pools are waiting, rainbows are waiting. Life's waiting.

Let's Go! Adventures are waiting, discovery is waiting, playdates are waiting, snowmen are waiting, tire swings are waiting, first steps are waiting, jumps are waiting, frogs are waiting. Life's waiting.

Let's Go! T-ball is waiting, splashdowns are waiting, imaginary friends are waiting, hide and seek is waiting, toboggans are waiting, laughter is waiting. Life's waiting.

Let's Go! Games are waiting, first catches are waiting, snow forts are waiting, kittens are waiting. Life's waiting.

Let's go! Icicles are waiting and ice cream is waiting, bikes are waiting, piñatas are waiting, second place is waiting, third place is waiting, little leagues are waiting, great plays are waiting, puddles are waiting. Life's waiting.

Let's Go! Spring is waiting, trails are waiting, flowers are waiting, dance floors are waiting, wishes are waiting. Life's Waiting.

Let's Go! White gloves are waiting, snowballs are waiting, snorkels are waiting, suntans are waiting, sand castles are waiting. Life's waiting.

Let's Go! Framed photos are waiting, fallen logs are waiting, ribbons are waiting, trees are waiting. Life's waiting...

Wrecking Ball

2007-09-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

"Let's do that again!"

2007-09-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Reading (sort of)

2007-08-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Tantrum

2007-08-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

This is a brief clip of an especially outrageous I-don't-want-to-go-to-church tantrum.

Church really isn't that bad. He actually enjoys it. In fact, Michael's seems much happier after Primary than I ever see him any other time during the week. The hard part is just getting him there.

Thankfully his tantrums are becoming much fewer and farther between. He's down to about 2-3 per month nowadays.

As for how Michael's mom & dad dealt with the tantrum, well, when we're at our wits' end, we laugh.

Michael tells us about a dream he just had

2007-08-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Missing Link

2007-08-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

2007-08-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Mommy was reading a book to Michael when he interrupted, "There are two kinds of 'not'."

"Oh really? What are the two kinds of 'not'?"

"There's the 'not' that means, 'no'....and then there's the kind of knot that's a circle," he did his best to show what it looks like with his hand, "you tie with a string and it's a circle like this. See...? Knot."

2007-07-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Homemade Play Dough

2007-07-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

Who can resist a clean floor?

2007-07-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a Rock Start. I'm Meltin' John and this is my cross and my microphone.

2007-07-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

I'm a Grampire! Aaarrrr!

I'm a waiter

I'm a Grampire Waiter! Arrrrr!

2007-07-08T18:36:00.001-07:00

"Daddy, I have a message for you. It says, Daddy to college."

"Is that a picture of me going to college?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's really good."

"Uh-huh. And it says, 'Dear Daddy, if you have to go to Israel, just phone me.'"

"Dear Daddy, if you have to go to college, just talk on the phone."

"Dear Mommy, if you have to make a choice, just call on the phone."

"Dear Michael, if you're a grownup, just don't call on the phone."

2007-07-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

"I'm Mr. Goodplus!"

2007-07-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

I woke up today with my hand imprinted on my face.

I guess I slept really well.

2007-07-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

I'm Superman!

2007-06-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Mom, is today Sunday?

No, what makes you think today is Sunday?

Because you're brushing your hair.

Riding in the bike trailer...From my perspective

2007-06-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

2007-06-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

2007-06-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

It's ninety degrees outside, Michael. Are you sure you want to wear this monkey suit to the store?

3 Years Old Halloween 2006 North Dakota

2006-10-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

Halloween at Preschool

Halloween at the Zoo

Halloween Carnival

Waking up from an afternoon nap

2006-10-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

2005-12-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

"Baa baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes, sir, three bags four.
One for my master, one for my name,
One for the little boy who lives down the lake."

My first month on Earth

2003-07-09T10:30:00.000-07:00