This is possibly the funniest picture of Emmett ever taken! The facial expression is a killer and the hair was styled by dad in the bathtub. Great stuff.
On to the video for the week... We went to Qdoba last weekend and Emmett scarfed down some pinto beans and rice from our burrito bowls. The kid can do work on some Mexican food, let me tell you. We were hanging out, having a good time and Eric decided to start taping him because he kept dancing to the music. It was almost involuntary, as if the rhythm had truly gotten him, as Gloria Estefan predicted. So we watched as he danced and continued to stuff his face and just barely grabbed a priceless piece of footage in which he does not care too much for the bite of food he's just taken. I hope you get as good a laugh as we did!
Eric here...haven't blogged in ages, but I'm still lurking in the background.
One of Jenny and my favorite shows is Top Gear (UK...the US version is not nearly as good). I highly recommend it to anyone who likes either (1) cars, or (2) British humor. You need not like both...indeed, the show really only uses cars as a medium to deploy the antics of the three hosts.
One of their recurring bits is called Star in a Reasonably Price Car. A celebrity visits the set, gives a brief interview, and then they show video of the star doing a lap around the Top Gear test track in an inexpensive KIA. They keep a running list of the celebrity times around the track, and the celebs get VERY invested in posting a good time. Below is a clip of Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean, putting up an excellent time.
Jump to Christmas 2011, when I got a copy of a car-racing video game called Forza 4. This version of Forza has a tie-in with Top Gear, including the ability to replicate the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car challenge. I had been pushing Jenny to give it a go, but she generally demurred. But finally, a few weeks ago, she gave in and had a go around the track...and actually did really well! The controls are pretty twitchy, but she got the hang of it quite fast.
I wasn't able to upload the video of her lap, but here is a screen grab. In her attempt to set a furious time, several cones paid the ultimate price. I think her best time was somewhere around 1:48-1:50...which is about Jeff Goldblum-type speed.
Like a lot of other moms on Pinterest I like to check out children's crafts and play ideas. I've seen a bunch of playhouses and play kitchens that are super adorable with matching hand towels and washer/dryer hookups. They're nicer than places where I've actually lived. Looking at all of these playhouses and such I've never thought, "Oh I could do that!" I'm just not a builder-of-things. I'm OK with this.
But my child will still have a playhouse. It'll just be made out of a big, old box and covered with random stickers! And the stickers will be his favorite part of the house! A close second will be the mailbox. You can write to him at Emmett's House, 526 Central, Our Living Room, USA.
Seriously, making this house was the most enjoyable thing we've ever done together. I used big Sharpies to draw the house details and Em used crayons to color stuff. Then we put stickers on it. Do all kids love stickers this much? God, he loooooves them. He also likes hiding in the house while we knock on the door. It's a pretty fun time.
Initially I was just going to turn the box inside out and then tape it back together as a box he could climb in, but this was bigger and more house-like, so I just flipped the ends under and taped them together at an angle that could support itself. Anyone could do this. ANY-ONE. Save a big box and don't worry about it being a little wonky, because kids do not care about that. I think I could put stickers on a loaf of bread and Emmett would carry it around like a new doll. Hmmm...it might be time for a new craft.
This is video of Emmett working on his favorite lizard puzzle. While he may be pretty good at it now, just a week or two ago this gave him so much trouble. He'd get really frustrated and Eric or myself would just end up doing it for him because he liked watching it come together. It's amazing how simple things like that helped him learn how to do it on his own. Through a lot of trial and error he figured out how to slide the pieces together from the top instead of from the side and flip pieces over to the correct side he's working on. He acts as proud as you'll see in the video every time he finishes the puzzle. He works hard at it and he's getting better every time.
This was the scene on Tuesday at our house. All of our donation items gathered up on the porch waiting to be carried away. After lugging it all back up from the garage, Eric and I can tell you that there's a lot there. Lots of clothes, some home decor, a dog kennel (we have a bigger one for Sloane now), and a bike just to name a few things. They weren't able to take big items like my bike until March so it'll be staying with us. I was having a few pangs on sadness parting with my dear old friend, so maybe it's for the best. As you can tell from the Christmas wreath still on the front door there are still some things that I'm slow to part with. ;)
Yesterday Emmett did some finger painting. It was not his first time - he'd done it once before - but that looked more like us putting paint on his fingers and moving them on some paper until he got so fed up with being messy that he couldn't take it anymore.
Needless to say, we waited a long time before introducing finger paints again. It went much better this time. He did not have any problem getting messy, I'm happy to say. I was not too happy cleaning up his big mess, however, but the paints are washable so nothing was damaged. Don't know if the paints taste as good as they look though, you'd have to ask Emmett about that. ;) More pictures in the February photo album.
Maybe the paint was delicious?
Squeezing the paint on the paint brush. He loved this!
