Meredith has really become a little songwriter lately. I have three videos to share, but I'll spread them out so that you don't get overloaded with delight all at once.
This one is a good example of her "songwriting"...she tries some lines out, then repeats/rephrases them. She fills in some of the tune with gibberish to keep the rhythm how she wants it. Usually by the next day both the tune and the lyrics are more solid. She still remembers them several days later, too!
Before you listen, please accept my apologies for the badly out-of-tune ukelele. We try to get it to sound better in the "open" position (though you can see she is also experimenting with the idea of fingering some chords too -- not that she knows any!). She is still holding the uke backwards, but everyone we've asked has agreed that there's no reason to change it. For what it's worth, she also bats left, but eats and writes right. Just one more fascinating thing about our Meredith!
This song is called "You Take Away My Sins". It is pretty theologically correct and almost makes me wonder if she is getting part of it from elsewhere, but it's not any song I know. I've posted the lyrics (with "..." where I can't understand her mumbling) below the video.
you take away my sins
forgiving grace
I know Jesus up in heaven
I know that Jesus up in heaven right now
(...)
He comes alive again
you take away my sins
forgiving grace
Jesus is up in heaven
I know that Jesus up
you take away my sins
(...)
Jesus up in heaven
Taking away your sin
Coming back again
(...)
you take away my sins and you
you take away my sins
(...)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
"I'm a Lover, Not a Fighter"
This post is about the most affectionate person in our family: Lucas.
I decided that the best way to demonstrate this was to simply keep track of things that he kissed over the course of a week or so. Here's what we've got:
1) his medicine syringe
(he had his 3rd double-ear infection in 6 months - good thing he likes the medicine a lot)
2) a chicken drumstick (real)
3) a picture of a caterpillar that I drew on the Magna Doodle
4) a dirty spoon that he snagged from the dishwasher when I was loading it
5) the picture of a baby on the Huggie's diapers box (for what it's worth, he is much cuter than that baby, but you knew that...)
6) the top of a drinking glass (to be fair, it had Piglet on it from Winnie-the-Pooh)
7) the door of the kitchen cabinet in which he plays (he actually waved to it first, then kissed it, multiple times)
8) the china cabinet in the dining room (again coupled with a wave)
9) the maple leaf on the Canada shirt he was wearing today
You might wonder what these kisses look like -- well, you are in luck. Here is a video in which Lucas takes a look at a baby in a book and then gives a baby doll a nice kiss. He is sort of "set up" in the video (it's hard to catch it happening organically) but it's always the same open-mouthed kiss with a sort of dramatic "muah" even when it's spontaneous. Enjoy!
Before I go, let me just leave you with a trivia contest: if you know where I got the quote for the title of this entry, leave it in your comment!
Hint: It is from a song, but is spoken in the middle of it. Full credit requires the name of the speaker, the person being spoken to, and the song itself. First person to get it right gains the acclaim of all the others. (You know you got this, Anita!)
I decided that the best way to demonstrate this was to simply keep track of things that he kissed over the course of a week or so. Here's what we've got:
1) his medicine syringe
(he had his 3rd double-ear infection in 6 months - good thing he likes the medicine a lot)
2) a chicken drumstick (real)
3) a picture of a caterpillar that I drew on the Magna Doodle
4) a dirty spoon that he snagged from the dishwasher when I was loading it
5) the picture of a baby on the Huggie's diapers box (for what it's worth, he is much cuter than that baby, but you knew that...)
6) the top of a drinking glass (to be fair, it had Piglet on it from Winnie-the-Pooh)
7) the door of the kitchen cabinet in which he plays (he actually waved to it first, then kissed it, multiple times)
8) the china cabinet in the dining room (again coupled with a wave)
9) the maple leaf on the Canada shirt he was wearing today
You might wonder what these kisses look like -- well, you are in luck. Here is a video in which Lucas takes a look at a baby in a book and then gives a baby doll a nice kiss. He is sort of "set up" in the video (it's hard to catch it happening organically) but it's always the same open-mouthed kiss with a sort of dramatic "muah" even when it's spontaneous. Enjoy!
Before I go, let me just leave you with a trivia contest: if you know where I got the quote for the title of this entry, leave it in your comment!
Hint: It is from a song, but is spoken in the middle of it. Full credit requires the name of the speaker, the person being spoken to, and the song itself. First person to get it right gains the acclaim of all the others. (You know you got this, Anita!)
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Meredith's newest composition
Meredith likes books a lot, and has recently started asking about the punctuation marks. Rob told her what each mark was called and we've been working on helping her understand their functions -- seems a little intense, but she seems to be catching on to some things (ex. an exclamation point means you "say it really loud!"). There was some difficulty distinguishing apostrophes and commas at first, but now she knows which one is "at the top" and which is "at the bottom".
On their way home the other day, Rob heard Meredith singing about the punctuation in the book she was reading in her carseat. We thankfully got her to recreate the song for us at home. This is absolutely priceless! I've titled it: "I Love Dashes (You Can Believe It)" for reasons that will become obvious as you watch it. It proceeds in two movements (such as they are) so it's a little over 3 minutes, but the best parts are the beginning and then a rhythmic interlude just after the 2-minute mark.
Enjoy!
On their way home the other day, Rob heard Meredith singing about the punctuation in the book she was reading in her carseat. We thankfully got her to recreate the song for us at home. This is absolutely priceless! I've titled it: "I Love Dashes (You Can Believe It)" for reasons that will become obvious as you watch it. It proceeds in two movements (such as they are) so it's a little over 3 minutes, but the best parts are the beginning and then a rhythmic interlude just after the 2-minute mark.
Enjoy!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Lucas communication round-up!
At 13 months old, Lucas is well on his way to being a great communicator. Here's the list so far:
Ah, for the uncomplicated life :)
- please (the baby sign -- generally means "more Cheerios")
- all done (baby sign)
- sound of a cow ("bvvvvvvvv", which is what "mooo" sounds like when you don't open your mouth while doing it)
- sound of a sheep (very clear "ba ba ba ba")
- sound of an airplane (self-explanatory)
Ah, for the uncomplicated life :)
Monday, March 28, 2011
philosophers, irons, football, and dumpsters
I found another old scrap of paper with a Meredith story/quotes from last fall, or maybe even summer! Plus I've got the more recent ones to share.
***
We have 4 magnetic finger puppets on our fridge. They were a baby shower gift for Meredith long ago, and she learned their names soon after she started talking: "Kant" "Nietzsche" "Hegel" and "Plato". My friend clearly had education in mind with these odd little toys.
One day I heard Meredith groan, "Oh, Kant!".
I asked what he did wrong (it was clear he was at fault for something given her tone).
"He's puttin' crackers all over him." She then showed me Kant, with bits of Cheez-Its crumbs down his little vest. I laughed.
Not much later, I heard, "Oh, Nietzsche!"
What now?
"He dumped the crackers all over the floor!"
This one was clearly not our philosopher friend's fault, so I had to end the fun, but it was sure hilarious.
***
More recently, Meredith wondered aloud about irons.
Meredith: "What do irons do? They don't have mouths to sing or hands to play the guitar."
Mommy: "So what do they do?"
Meredith: "I don't know. I guess they just live in the closet."
She seems to know exactly what our iron does (and that is, indeed, ALL it does).
***
Yesterday Meredith was wearing her favorite Gator outfit. She told me she was Tebow -- I don't even know how she remembers his name, given how little she was when he played for us, not to mention how tangential football is to our lives. But there you have it. We decided to go play outside, and she shouted with great excitement:
"I'm gonna run and pretend that my hands are footballs!"
So THAT was Timmy's secret. Football hands.
***
Finally, Meredith is very interested in dumpsters right now (and terrified of garbage trucks - go figure). We were on a walk and, at the back of a church parking lot near our path, there was a small dumpster. She wanted to go see it (thankfully it was empty!). When we walked over to it, I'm quite sure that she put together a pair of sentences that no one has ever said before. Ever.
"Hi, dumpster! Would you like me to dance for you?"
She proceeded to rock out for the dumpster.
The next time we visited it, she had a song in her head that I was not familiar with. It involves the phrase "Alive again" over and over, and I could only guess that it was some Sunday School or preschool song she had learned about Jesus. However, that day, it was modified for the circumstances. It went (with a very definite tune and rhythm, repeated for the two "verses"):
"Alive again!
Alive again!
The dumpster is alive again!
The dumpster is
alive again!
The dumpster is alive again!"
And so on. At home, she sings it with the accompaniment of her ukelele.
The next week at Sunday School the teacher helpfully mentioned to me that this week they were talking about understanding the concept of "alive", because they were studying the little girl that Jesus raised from the dead. I could just picture them asking the kids to give examples of things that are alive and Meredith helpfully answering: "Dumpsters!"
***
We have 4 magnetic finger puppets on our fridge. They were a baby shower gift for Meredith long ago, and she learned their names soon after she started talking: "Kant" "Nietzsche" "Hegel" and "Plato". My friend clearly had education in mind with these odd little toys.
One day I heard Meredith groan, "Oh, Kant!".
I asked what he did wrong (it was clear he was at fault for something given her tone).
"He's puttin' crackers all over him." She then showed me Kant, with bits of Cheez-Its crumbs down his little vest. I laughed.
Not much later, I heard, "Oh, Nietzsche!"
What now?
"He dumped the crackers all over the floor!"
This one was clearly not our philosopher friend's fault, so I had to end the fun, but it was sure hilarious.
***
More recently, Meredith wondered aloud about irons.
Meredith: "What do irons do? They don't have mouths to sing or hands to play the guitar."
Mommy: "So what do they do?"
Meredith: "I don't know. I guess they just live in the closet."
She seems to know exactly what our iron does (and that is, indeed, ALL it does).
***
Yesterday Meredith was wearing her favorite Gator outfit. She told me she was Tebow -- I don't even know how she remembers his name, given how little she was when he played for us, not to mention how tangential football is to our lives. But there you have it. We decided to go play outside, and she shouted with great excitement:
"I'm gonna run and pretend that my hands are footballs!"
So THAT was Timmy's secret. Football hands.
***
Finally, Meredith is very interested in dumpsters right now (and terrified of garbage trucks - go figure). We were on a walk and, at the back of a church parking lot near our path, there was a small dumpster. She wanted to go see it (thankfully it was empty!). When we walked over to it, I'm quite sure that she put together a pair of sentences that no one has ever said before. Ever.
"Hi, dumpster! Would you like me to dance for you?"
She proceeded to rock out for the dumpster.
The next time we visited it, she had a song in her head that I was not familiar with. It involves the phrase "Alive again" over and over, and I could only guess that it was some Sunday School or preschool song she had learned about Jesus. However, that day, it was modified for the circumstances. It went (with a very definite tune and rhythm, repeated for the two "verses"):
"Alive again!
Alive again!
The dumpster is alive again!
The dumpster is
alive again!
The dumpster is alive again!"
And so on. At home, she sings it with the accompaniment of her ukelele.
The next week at Sunday School the teacher helpfully mentioned to me that this week they were talking about understanding the concept of "alive", because they were studying the little girl that Jesus raised from the dead. I could just picture them asking the kids to give examples of things that are alive and Meredith helpfully answering: "Dumpsters!"
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Some old gems from Meredith
I have saved a few Meredith quotes on little scraps of paper...these are all from the fall. I'll have a spring set next time. Enjoy!
***
Meredith was saying that something was "dangerous" and I asked about it.
Mommy: What is dangerous?
Meredith: "The burning bush is coming to get us!" Moses said.
Later she told me more about the burning bush, which (if you aren't familiar with it) was a sign that God gave Moses to get his attention. It was burning but was not consumed. Meredith's version is just slightly modified:
"Did the burning bush burn up? NO!..."
I beam with pride, then...
"...It burned DOWN!"
***
Meredith had a sentiment I certainly shared back in September:
"I want to have some wintertime!"
***
The idea of cause and effect worked backward for a while for Meredith. If you asked her why someone wore a helmet, she said it was because they hurt their head. She also got germs on her hand because she washed them. I have since confirmed that she now understands how helmets work, and she is justly mortified when she sees someone on a motorcycle without one!
***
Last one for today...this is from November. I must have been blowing her nose on a day she was wearing a Gator shirt.
"Only Gator players have snotties in their nose! That's what Gator players DO!"
***
More later, but hope you got a giggle.
***
Meredith was saying that something was "dangerous" and I asked about it.
Mommy: What is dangerous?
Meredith: "The burning bush is coming to get us!" Moses said.
Later she told me more about the burning bush, which (if you aren't familiar with it) was a sign that God gave Moses to get his attention. It was burning but was not consumed. Meredith's version is just slightly modified:
"Did the burning bush burn up? NO!..."
I beam with pride, then...
"...It burned DOWN!"
***
Meredith had a sentiment I certainly shared back in September:
"I want to have some wintertime!"
***
The idea of cause and effect worked backward for a while for Meredith. If you asked her why someone wore a helmet, she said it was because they hurt their head. She also got germs on her hand because she washed them. I have since confirmed that she now understands how helmets work, and she is justly mortified when she sees someone on a motorcycle without one!
***
Last one for today...this is from November. I must have been blowing her nose on a day she was wearing a Gator shirt.
"Only Gator players have snotties in their nose! That's what Gator players DO!"
***
More later, but hope you got a giggle.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Happy Birthday, Lucas!
No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. It's just that I have these two small children who keep me VERY busy. I'm going to try to post short things, more often, instead of trying to compose longer updates.
Today's post will just be photos from today's very successful photo shoot at JCPenney, in honor of Lucas's birthday (which was on Tuesday). He is wearing my absolute favorite outfit. We had trouble getting big smiles, but as it is he still looks adorable -- even if a bit melancholy in some shots. Hard to believe he is already a year old! Hope you enjoy seeing what a big boy he is, and how much he and his sister love each other :)
(He stood for at least 7 or 8 seconds while she took his picture - a new record for him!)
This boy is going to be a heartbreaker. Look at those eyes!
Meredith patiently waited for her opportunity to join in the pictures, and we got a couple of cute shots of the two of them.
And since I was there with them, the photographer thought we might like one with all three of us. I didn't order this one (I'll wait for one when we have Rob there too) but I figured I could let you all see what I look like with my two kids hanging on me!
Hope you enjoy the pictures, and I will be posting some fun musings from Meredith in my next post. I've been saving them up and plan to deliver them in delectable bite-sized portions...
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