Otto at Four and Three Quarters

Otto is sneaking up on five. It seems to me that every time my kids get one day older I scream, "How did this happen?!" But then I look up and five is on the horizon. Five? I mean, how the eff did this happen?! Five magic years...

It's super important to Otto that you're crystal clear, he's four and three quarters.

He finally remembers that his birthday is January first, but can't always remember if he "had school today." Ha.

He's obsessed with growing his hair out, "like Mick Jagger." This is probably the first time I've ever had to eat my wants. Release control. Pick a battle, or however you want to say it. He looks mangy to me and I am just thankful that his straw straight hair is finally past the point where it's growing right into his eyes. But I also get a feeling that he craves a little more control of his destiny, lately. So if rock star hair is what he needs to feel like a badass, I guess that's an easy enough one to let him have. I asked him the other day, "When will you ever let us cut your hair again?"

"I will cut my hair the day before I die."

He plays Lego Batman on xbox with his dad. He plays turbo chess every night before bed. He loves Royals by Lorde and Squirrels in my Pants by Phineas and Ferb (a show that he isn't even allowed to watch, I think it's too sassy) and Satisfaction by the Stones. He asks to rock out in the car and when I peek back there he's playing air guitar and his cool guy hair is tossing all around as he jams out.

He makes me smile every single day. He also makes-a me crazy. He really can't get no satisfaction these days. He's always on the take. What else can he get out of any deal? And the moping around, omg haha. Have you seen Paul Rudd in Wet Hot American Summer?



It's like that. Ha.

He is my heart. He is my sunshine. He is so hilarious and so smart and so sweet hearted. I see him struggling with new emotions lately, like the yearning for fairness. Also with sadness, lately this has come up a few times when a buddy at school isn't cool to him. It breaks my heart. We're entering into harder years, here, with five. As a mom, it's scary business. I just want to protect him from everything that's out there. But I know that wouldn't really be doing him any favors. So instead, I will have the joy of watching him grow up a little more every day. Into an amazing guy. And I'll make it my business to help him learn to cope with all the unfairness and uncoolness that's out there, to be a great person with a moral compass and strong values. I can't wait to see who he becomes, because right now he is the coolest little guy in the world.

so funny

At bedtime last night Otto told the funniest joke in the world.

We've added don't laugh contests to our nighttime repertoire of discussing the day's best and worst events, reading, thumb wars, and no blinking contests. Last night we were having a don't laugh contest and we were both playing for keeps. No one was gonna give. I said, in a sad, serious voice of drama, "you should think of the saddest thing you could ever think of like a sad sad little fish swimming alone and crying and another mean big fish swims up next to it and farts and laughs and swims away." Otto laughed... I won!

sidenote: I know. I KNOW, but I wanted to win.

So we had another contest and we were making the most serious, meanest, saddest, squished up faces ever and Otto said in a very very sad, serious voice, "You know what I'm thinking about?"

"No, what?"

"I'm thinking about the saddest thing I can think of in the whole world... and it's an elephant pooping on a worm."

And then I died laughing.

He is the funniest person in the world. Bedtimes are my favorite favorite favorite. The end.

currently | talking crackers

Currently is a weekly feature with ♥ Randalin of Harvesting Kale ♥ and I am her happy co-host each week. I hope that you can participate by writing your own Currently post (using the provided themes or your own) and please join us by linking up. What have you been borrowing, dancing, building, throwing, buying this week? Over here, we have been...

Borrowing family time. My mom and dad are visiting this week and we are all just enjoying the heck out of having them here. Otto most of all, pure heart that he is, is in heaven spending buddy time with his Papa Mike. My heart will break when they have to leave tomorrow :(

Dancing in the kitchen. Etta loves music and will dance and smash her basket of child-safe dishes around on the floor to entertain herself while we cook. So that is a daily activity. She dances by holding both hands straight up in the air and slowly spinning in a circle. Her other signature move is "the Flashdance" where she stares you in the eye and jogs in place so fast her whole body shakes. Amazing.

Building a nice bedroom (squeeee!) for maybe the first time in my life for my project-per-month project. I am coming down to the wire getting it together but I couldn't be more excited to show you the results and it looks like I'm going to be about $97 under my $100 budget because I got just enough gift cards for my birthday and I've been so freaking frugal with them. Yay! And guys, I wired together a pendant light and hand-wrapped the cord in twine. It is so pretty! ::electric air guitar::

Throwing down mad vocabulary and it makes my heart sing. Loretta's best word, the one she pretty much only screams (while lunging and reaching) is, "CRACKERS!" Annie's cheddar bunnies are her jam. She says the word like she is a demon from hell named Crackers; it is awesome.

Buying Otto a haircut. I showed Otto this picture of the repulsively unhandsome David Beckham and asked him what he thought of the haircut. His face dropped into the biggest scowly frown and then he looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "Well, I don't really want to have a beard."

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

That was this week. Here are next week's themes: 

coveting, imagining, asking, saving or saving for, fearing


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currently link up | I'm Darth Maul

Currently is a weekly link-up with ♥ Randalin of Harvesting Kale ♥ and I am her happy co-host each week. I hope that you can participate by writing your own Currently post (using the provided themes or your own) and please join us by linking up. What have you been hoping, reading, wearing, making, playing this week? I hope you all had amazing Mother's Day weekends! Over here, we have been...

Hoping for sunshine, day by day. We got spoiled by an early summer, but it really is usually chilly and rainy here until about July 4th... so now that the weather is back to "normal" we are all ::frown, grumble, scratch head, stamp foot, shake fist::

Reading the same book I've been reading since February and it is ALL ABOUT CORN! (Meg if you're reading this bwahaha! ps. See: Weezin the Juice, below, always makes me think of you!) The book is called The Omnivore's Dilemma and it's great, an exploration of the path from "farm" (or factory farm/science lab) to fork. Unfortunately my best friend and I who are book clubbing the book are incredibly bad at making our book club dates and so we are only 6 chapters in and so far it's been a LOT of corn talk. We joke that we are unwilling corn experts. Because. Dudes. For real. We know a lot about corn now. The book has already made a big impact in the way I eat and shop for my family though, mainly when it comes to organic meats. I realized that it is healthier and more ecologically responsible and less cruel to eat organic meat occasionally than it is to be a vegetarian who eats non-organic eggs or dairy every day. It's counter-intuitive, but true. My husband is that kind of vegetarian and I am working on getting him on the organic bandwagon -- I don't care if he ever does or doesn't eat meat but I do care about the things that are IN the food my family eats and I also care about what happened TO the animal during its life. Moderation, for sure, but when I have the option I'm choosing organic always now... and I feel really great about making that choice for me and my fam.

||end corn talk thank ya for your time|| ps. If you want to talk more about food stuff just let me know or if you have questions about it or the book, I'm happy to go on and on and on, clearly :)

Wearing closed toe shoes but I want to be wearing open toe ones! I need to deal with these half-painted, beat toes of mine, like yesterday. Otto is wearing tanks again, at least on the warm days, and I secretly love that they are his passion and that they are so tacky, vom vom vom! It's an area where I can smile and let him be independent while shaking my head because he looks like an early 90s slacker from Southern California. Like Encino Man. I just need to find him pint-sized flojos.

ps. Weezin the Juuuuuuice ::wiggles fingers at YOU:: ::makes cheek/air sound over and over and over::

Making banana bread in a few minutes. Yum! Loretta has been making strides in learning words and babbles the most sweet-sounding Lilliputian gobbledeegoo while pointing and nodding and waving her arms around. LOVE. Otto has been making insanely great jokes, like mind-blowing. Here, see:

Otto: Want to hear a joke?
Rob: Okay
Otto: Say 'macaroni'
Rob: Macaroni.
Otto: You said 'smack a pony' I'm calling the police.
Rob: Haha
Otto: [pretending to be on the phone] Hello police, my daddy is going to smack a pony.
Rob: Um
Otto: The police are coming.
Rob: Is this still part of the joke?
Otto: YOU'RE UNDER ARREST [karate chops his dad]
Rob: Ow, police don't just hit people!
Otto: I'm not the police, I'm Darth Maul.
Rob: Huh?
Otto: Can I have a popsicle?

Playing in the front and back yard every single day and hope to keep doing just that, every non-rainy day, til the end of time. This weekend we will be playing with Katherine's girls at Rylee's Angry Birds birthday and I'm excited about that and Otto, well he is ecstatic! I'm also freaked out that so many of Otto's buddies are turning 5 and 6 and entering grade school.

That was this week. Here are next week's themes: 

eating, loving, missing, moving, taking

ThriftSplosion! $20 and a Presidents' Day Sale...

Welcome to my insomnia post. I had to work tonight. Coffee happened. Now it's 2:00 am, egad! So something like 100 years ago earlier today I stumbled onto a 50% off sale at the thrift store, holla! President's Day Sale! Whootie toot toot! Even though the kids' section was sadly picked over, I totally thriftSploded all over the joint and for $20 got a total shopping spree out of the occasion. See...

New favorite sweater. New favorite skirt. Check out the little belt & pocket on the skirt - gah!

Shoes!

Little blue sweater. Pink a-line paisley skirt.

When Rob saw this next one he said, "well, they can't all be winners." Fact: he is super funny.

Plus 2 wine glasses (sorely needed, we were down to one in the house). Now we have three... time to host a dinner party where one other person comes over!

Not too shabby for $20 eh?

Question: Do you hate the grandpa sweater? I kind of don't hate it.

OH!! Otto told a joke at dinner tonight. We were all eating dinner together and suddenly Ot like furrowed his brow, scrunched down in his chair and was like concentrating. So as parents of a toddler of course we were like, "are you pooping?" and turns out he wasn't but this led us all to discuss where everyone goes poop (obvi). So we asked, "Where does Daddy go poop?" and Otto replies, "Daddy goes poop on the toilet. Mommy goes poop in the back yard!" Then he cracked UP! 

My favorite joke ever.

xoxo,
-Lindsey

Otto's Comedy Hour

A couple days ago I had to take Otto with me to the doctor's office. We were in the little exam room. He was sitting in the corner chair and I was up on the bed/table thingy and we were waiting for the doctor to come in and out of nowhere Otto says, "knock knock." I was so taken aback - no one in my house tells knock knock jokes. Where did this come from? Anyways, Otto proceeded to tell a very sensible knock knock joke (of his own creation) that like LIT UP my heart (and the lame day I was having). I think Rob and I were so enthusiastic about his knock knock success that he felt obligated to come up with some new material. He's since developed a whole knock knock routine with 3 jokes. And so, without further ado... Otto's Comedy Hour -->

That was the original from the doctor's office. Then at dinner that night he came up with... 

And following the success of the first two...

Haha. Maybe this is one of those moments where you have to be the parent but I am dying a thousand deaths of laughter from these jokes even though they are absolutely not funny in any way. He literally just tells you a clue and then who is at the door. I love it!

Ahahahah. Thanks for partaking in Otto's comedy hour with me!

xo,
Lindsey