The Aletheia Update

Before

2009-07-04T12:43:00.001-06:00

Moving Locations

2008-12-02T13:33:00.002-07:00

For a variety of reasons I am moving this blog to a new site: keepingupwiththekids.wordpress.com. Almost all of the old content has been imported there. Change your bookmarks! Come check out the new look! This one should carry us through the next kid or two, at least.

Exciting About the Food

2008-11-28T06:31:00.001-07:00

27 Months, 17 Days

Ready to Go

2008-11-28T06:30:00.001-07:00

27 Months 17 Days

Incoming

2008-11-25T07:10:00.001-07:00

I had a week long sabbatical and then everyone in our house got sick at once. It's been crazy. But blogging has been merely delayed, not forgotten. Right back at it.

Here's a smooch from Aletheia's San Antonio trip last month.

Taken: October 20
27 Months, 17 Days

Aletheia O'Lantern

2008-11-02T03:42:00.003-07:00

Apple Break

2008-11-02T03:42:00.001-07:00

Technically, she was supposed to bob for this, but Lillianna just handed her one.

Prowling

2008-11-02T03:41:00.001-07:00

The Papparazzi Shot

2008-11-02T03:40:00.005-07:00

Running

2008-11-02T03:40:00.003-07:00

in the Fire Truck

2008-11-02T03:40:00.001-07:00

Convincing her to let the other kids have a turn was a challenge.

First Jack O'Lantern

2008-10-29T22:55:00.001-06:00

Dandy Lion

2008-10-25T18:09:00.001-06:00

27 Months, 22 Days

Pumpkin Sitting

2008-10-24T06:27:00.001-06:00

So, here's a funny moment from yesterday. We gave Aletheia some grapes to snack on, but we had accidentally bought grapes with seeds instead of the seedless kind we usually get. Aletheia took one bite, spit it out, and in a surprised voice said: "That is NOT delicious!"

Apparently she doesn't know the word 'yucky.' But she made her point.

Great-Grandparent Time

2008-10-21T16:35:00.001-06:00

Aletheia's been in San Antonio this week and I've been in Nashville hob-knobbing with Walter Brueggemann and Bryan McLaren. Here's a shot that Grammy took.

On the Big Girl Swing

2008-10-13T06:03:00.001-06:00

26 Months, 17 Days

Instructions for the Babysitter

2008-10-09T15:15:00.003-06:00

We try to put Aletheia to bed between 8:30 and 9:00. The standard routine is something like this:

Snack at 7:30ish. Give her a banana or a yogurt tube out of the fridge, plus a cup of water. If she wants more, let her have it. We figure she knows if she’s hungry or not—within reason.

A bath around 7:45. Then we let her set on the counter with her feet in the right hand sink while we brush her teeth. We brush them first and then she gets to hold the toothbrush and brush them. Use the Elmo toothbrush. Then turn the water back on for her to rinse the brush, and hold the toothbrush holder up. She’ll object if you take the brush away from her, but she’ll put it up herself if you ask her to.

8:00ish—in her bedroom. Put on pajamas. She’ll probably want to listen to the Laurie Berkner “Buzz Buzz” CD. If she says “Pig on Her Head,” “Bumblebee” or “I’m a Mess” she’s referring to songs on that CD. She changes the tracks herself and finds the songs she wants to hear.

She’ll love you forever if you read stories to her. She’ll probably pick out what she wants. If she says “Margarita” (sometimes it comes out more like “Maria”) she means the book called “Hi!” For most of her books, she likes it if you stop before the last word of a sentence and let her say it.

8:30ish. Take out the Buzz Buzz CD and put in Mother Earth lullabies. She might object, but tell her it’s time for her “bedtime music.” (Buzz Buzz keeps her awake.) Tell her it’s time to turn out the light—if you hold her up, she’ll pull the chord herself. Then we hold her while we sing “Abide with Me.” If you don’t know it, "Jesus Loves Me" might be a good substitute. Then we pray the Lord’s Prayer and another little prayer for her. And then it’s bedtime.

She absolutely must have the ladybug pillow and blanket or Armageddon will commence. We also let her have books and toys in her bed.

Hopefully that will go well and you’ll be done with the hard work for the night. If she cries, I’d let her cry it out for a while. We don’t let her back out of bed. If she starts crying and just won’t stop, we sometimes turn on her ladybug lamp on the floor and tell her she can read but she has to stay in bed. If she asks for a snack, we give her more water (she can have a sippy cup in bed). If she really insists, half a banana is okay. But don’t pick her up or you are doomed. That’s only for if she seems seriously sick, is bleeding, or has a gun. If she does get a gun, pick her up, kiss her cheek, and start singing the alphabet. It’s your only hope.

Now, for the important thing. The Wii is on the “front” input of the TV. Dish Network is AV2. If she asks for Super Why, she can see another episode or two tonight. Turn on the Dish Network, set the TV channel to AV2 and press “DVR” twice on the remote to get to the saved programs. They are in alphabetical order. Start any Super Why show—it makes no difference to her. At some point in the show, one segment will focus on a cute little pig-tailed girl called Wonder Red, and Aletheia will start crying and saying “Super Why! Super Why!” Fast forward until the boy in the green jumpsuit and cape is back on the screen. I don’t know why Aletheia hates Red, but she does. It’s not a battle worth fighting.

On the Train

2008-10-06T23:56:00.001-06:00

On the Pedal Boat

2008-10-04T22:41:00.001-06:00

Not nearly as much fun as the little boats, apparently. She didn't like the vest.

"Aletheia Boat?"

2008-09-30T21:52:00.001-06:00

Aletheia keeps asking to watch the video of her first boat ride. When we're at the computer, she'll walk up and say "Aletheia boat? Aletheia boat?" On Saturday we were watching it again and she started asking "Go boats? Go boats?" So we went back. Maybe I'm an indulgent dad, but we only get 52 Saturdays every year. If there's nothing particularly going on and the kid wants to go boats, then we will go boats. It more fun than anything I had in mind.

Captain Aletheia

2008-09-29T23:27:00.001-06:00

26 Months, 10 Days

Tragic TV Moments

2008-09-21T17:50:00.007-06:00

So, here's the thing. Since Aletheia turned two, we've been letting her watch a little TV--about an hour a day. As far as she knows, there are only three programs in the world: Sesame Street, her Laurie Berkner Band DVD, and Super Why.

Now, some of you might not be familiar with Super Why. It's a show aimed at the preschool set that teaches kids how to read using a variety of techniques. The main characters all live in "Storybook Village" which is populated with characters from classic children's stories. The big four are Little Red Riding Hood, Pig (one of the Three Little, I think), Princess Pea, and the ringleader, Whyatt (the only non-story character). The episodes are incredibly formulaic, like Law and Order for the pull-ups crowd. Whyatt gets a picture message on his iPhone, finds out one of the gang has some kind of dilemma, and calls them all to the clubhouse where they fly into a book with a related situation to learn from the characters. "I lied to my mom and I don't know what to do--let's go talk to Pinocchio!" (Yeah, there's a whopping big inconsistency in the whole show. In theory, they already live with all the storybook characters, so they should be able to walk down the block, but inside they pull a book off the shelf and fly into some weird 2-D book environment.)

In order to enter the story, they turn into the "Super Readers" complete with costume and name change. They become "Wonder Red, with Word Power!"; "Alpha Pig, with Alphabet Power!"; "Princess Presto with Spelling Power" and "Super Why, with the Power to Read!" And, of course, there is "Super You with the Power to Help!"

Here's the gang, in their Super Readers pose:

Aletheia loves this show. Loves it, loves it, loves it. Like capital L-O-V-E with smooches and hugs. And she has a mad, deep, toddler crush on Whyatt. Probably five days out of seven we hear the "Super Why" chant from her. "SuperWhySuperWhySuperWhySuperWhy Pleeeeeeeease?" But what's weird is her love for Whyatt does not spread to the other characters. She is, at best, indifferent to Princess Presto and Alpha Pig. She'll watch when they are on, but you can tell she's just waiting for her beloved Super Why to get back on the screen. And then there is Wonder Red. Aletheia hates her. Take her crazy love for Whyatt, multiply it by five and throw a minus sign on it, and that's how she feels about Red. When there's a Wonder Red segment going, Allie bursts into tears and refuses to watch. The chant starts again. "SuperWhySuperWhySuperWhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" She almost acts scared, like Red took a machete to her teddy bear. It is seriously intense. I've tried to help her get over it. "Hey, that's Wonder Red! She's really nice. That's Super Why's best friend!" But it gets nowhere. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was jealous.

We've seen something similar with Sesame Street, where Aletheia is a huge Elmo fanatic and obviously perks up when he is on, but there's no real particular dislike of another muppet, just a special love for the little red guy. This thing with Wonder Red is just weird. It's a good thing that she's just a cartoon, because otherwise I think a restraining order would be called for. I wouldn't trust Aletheia not to hire a hit man. It's that bad.

Toddler brains. They are funny things.

Got to go. Wonder Red is on again, and I need to fast forward.

Update: Here she is, the object of my daughter's passionate rage.

Hat and Necklace

2008-09-18T17:46:00.001-06:00

We are very seldom without a hat these days.

26 Months, 15 Days

Enjoying the Final Product

2008-09-18T17:45:00.001-06:00

Okay, not the best possible picture of mommy, but making cookies is hard work!

26 Months, 3 Days

Video: Boat Ride

2008-09-13T16:33:00.000-06:00

This is what we did today.