Doom

The kiddo scattered her peanuts all over the backseat of the car, so I was giving her a little scolding while I unbuckled her. She looked up at me with her halo of curly blond hair and her big blue eyes.

"But I'm cute."

Hoo boy.

Cuddly

The kiddo had a babysitter last night, so today she keeps coming to me, giving me a hug, and saying, "I'm so GWAD you're HEWE."

American foodways

A lot of the connection I have with my ethnic heritage is food-related, some of it near-term (the Minnesota-specific, Scandinavian-influenced, and Midwestern parts), some more remote (the Mennonite parts and the Danish aebleskiver, which I inherited from my mother, despite the Danish ancestors being in the paternal part of the tree). My in-laws also eat in a typically Midwestern way, with an overlay of traditional New Mexican flavors.

So I often think about the how the foods I feed my daughter differ from what I experienced growing up. Tonight, the kiddo was watching T.G. spoon beans and rice onto a tortilla, and I said to her, "Daddy is making a burrito."

"No way!" she said, "It's not a burrito; it's a tortilla."

At 23 months, I'm sure I had never even heard the words tortilla or burrito. Mexican food meant tacos. We didn't have tortillas, we had soft-shells for our tacos. I'm pretty sure the first burrito I encountered was a McDonald's breakfast burrito. Or maybe something more enchilada-like at Mrs. Lady's in Okoboji.

I feed my family a lot of Asian-influenced food, American-style Chinese, Thai, or Indian. Then there are the Turkish, Middle-Eastern, and Mediterranean flavors we like. Even in the realm of something as "normal" as Italian food, I first had fresh, soft mozzarella cheese on a ham sandwich in Italy when I was 15. Now even the supermarket in my small, rural hometown has two or three varieties. I make and freeze my own authentic-ish refritos, and I've done New Mexican chiles rellenos and posole from scratch.

On the other hand, roasted chicken, meat-and-potatoes meals, grilled cheese and tomato soup, and tuna salad are all in frequent rotation. Some of my family traditions that the kiddo has had include thin, crepe-like pancakes; ham-green bean soup; tweback; pfeffernusse; schnetke; cucumber salad; portzilke; and cherry moos. I still need to introduce her to verenike, canned/stewed beef (with the delightful Low German name dampfleisch), kringles, cheese buttons, rommegrot, lefse, aebleskiver, and borscht (which in our tradition is cabbage-and-tomato based, not beets). Maybe lutefisk, or not.

One's family heritage comes out in a lot of unexpected ways. My little Northern-European mutt says noodles; a quarter-Italian of the same age whom we know says pasta.

Impossible

We've been having this exchange regularly for the last month or so.

Me: How old are you?
Kiddo: Three months.
Me: No, sweetie. Say "Almost two."
Her: A'most... two?
Me: How old are you?
Her: Three months!

Fortunately, I think I finally got her trained into the right answer today.

Bossy

Kiddo was going to bed at Grandma's house.

Me, sappy: I love you.
Her: Turn the light off.

The next night—

Me: Goodnight!
Her: Close the door.

Are you sure?

We had to stay late at church, which means both lunch and naptime are delayed, so we got a quick lunch at Wendy's. I handed the kiddo a chicken nugget.

"Chicken nu'et. This is food?"

She remains skeptical of Arby's "roast beef," too, so I think we can conclude that she is much wiser than the rest of us.

It might be snacktime

Kiddo: "Dog say woof, bark bark. Goat say maaaaa. Sheep say... NO FOOD!"

Stealthy

Kiddo is pursuing a fly around the apartment with the flyswatter in a less-than useful way.

"Come back! Come back! Oh, fwyyyyyyyyy! Wake up!"

Pots'n'pans

The kiddo brought me her apron to put on this morning, and then she ran for the kitchen.

Her: C'mon, mama, mama, c'mon. DO DISHES!

Somebody call Mom Judy, I think I got a kitchen girl.

Color commentary

I walked into the living room, where Kiddo was watching the Steelers/Patriots game. She turned to me.

Her: Fa' down and BUMP!

She turned back to the screen and held out her arms for a hug.

Her: Aw right, foo'ba's. Hold you. Kisses a' better.

Stereotypes

Aunt Twin is in the backseat with the kiddo, on the way home from dinner. It's late (for a 1.5 year old), and Kiddo is pretty slap happy.

AT: What does a tiger say?
Kiddo: RAWR.
AT: What does a frog say?
Kiddo: Bib-bit!
AT: What does Mommy say?
Kiddo: [kissing noises]
AT: What does Daddy say?
Kiddo: Ah-choo!
Uproarious laughter from grown-ups
Kiddo, indignantly: I love you, too!

Yes and no

Kiddo and I were hanging out in an exam room, waiting for the nurse to come back with a long shiny needle. To pass the time, we were practicing our twirling and jumping, and then I thought we could try out a new skill.

"Can you stand on one foot?"

She came and stood on my foot.

Misapprehension

Kiddo was combing her hair this morning, saying, "Ouch, ouch, ouch." I asked if she had found some tangles, a word we hadn't discussed before.

She thought about that for a few seconds, felt all over her head, and then said, "TANGLES! WEAH AAARE YUH?!"

Review: The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I really wish I could rate all of the stories separately. Some are one-star, others are five-star. I think it's probably hard to tell a famous author "This is terrible, try again" when you've invited them to write for a collection like this, and it shows. Overall, it's a lot of fun to see what the authors do with Mr. Van Allsburg's intriguing illustrations.

Some of the better ones are "The Harp" (Linda Sue Park), "The Third-Floor Bedroom" (Kate DiCamillo), and "Just Desert" (M.T. Anderson). Lois Lowry's "The Seven Chairs" is good until the last paragraph when she takes out her moralizing two-by-four. Louis Sachar's "Captain Tory" is sweet. The very best is Stephen King's "The House on Maple Street."



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Pursuit

Kiddo is in a love-hate relationship with the neighborhood rabbit. She loves it. It hates her. If we see it on our way to the playground in the morning, she runs after it with a chorus of "I catch 'im! I run! I go! I get you! I find it! I coming!" and occasionally my favorite: "BUNNY! BUNNY! I WUV OO!"

Fantasy draft

I'm thinking I might start a new fantasy sport based on the kiddo's day-to-day book preferences. I'll make a list of her most-read books and then assign points every day according to what we actually read.

1 point per reading
1 point bonus per consecutive re-reading
Additional 1 point bonus per consecutive re-reading past the fifth time
2 point bonus when a book is read at more than one sitting in a single day
-1 point for a book rejection ("How about x?" "No.")
-2 points for rejection by throwing

Geraldine's Blanket scored 15 today.

Review: The Three Snow Bears

The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A beautifully illustrated Eskimo-themed retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I've been asked to read this one over and over and over and over and over this week. The text has some tweaks to make it incorporate sled dogs, igloos, and polar bears, but the kiddo definitely recognizes the story. The pictures are detailed and gorgeous. I especially like the inclusion of a medallion on each page showing what the other characters are doing; for example, while Aloo-ki (the Goldilocks character) is trying on the bears' boots, there's a little inset picture of the bears going for a swim.

We borrowed this from the library as a board book, but it's too small to get the full effect of the pictures.



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Review: What Is That?

What Is That? by Tana Hoban

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Another good title from Tana Hoban. This hits a lot of different baby stages--it's designed for tiny infants, but my 20-month-old likes to flip through and name all of the objects.



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Review: Llama Llama Wakey-Wake

Llama Llama Wakey-Wake by Anna Dewdney

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is your standard morning routine board book. I think the llama is adorable, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.



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Review: The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!

The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! by Mo Willems

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



It seems like a crazy thing to say about a board book, but the humor is too sophisticated for the target audience.



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Review: Are You a Cow?

Are You a Cow? by Sandra Boynton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



My almost-two-year-old loves this one because she can answer all the questions anticipate the ending. A charming and entertaining board book from Sandra Boynton (as usual).



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Review: Polite Elephant

Polite Elephant by Richard Scarry

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Cute, nice illustrations, but too heavy-handed. I just don't think any child would WANT to read this kind of instruction-book-disguised-as-picture-book. I also expected something better from Richard Scarry; I feel like he could have incorporated a portrayal of good manners into a real story.



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Wonderment

Scene: lunchtime

Kiddo makes noises and gestures expressive of a desire for more cheese.

"Look," I say, "you already have some in your hand."

She checks left hand. Nothing there. She fixes me with a suspicious look. Recalls existence of right hand. Checks right hand.

"Whoooooa."

No, thank YOU!

The kiddo has just moved on from "Kank oo" to "Thank your welcome!"

Eggcorn

We are reading Goodnight, Gorilla.

Me: That's a hyena.
Her: Hi, Eena!

Review: The Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat by Bill Manhoff

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



This is supposed to be a comedy?! Huh.

Mom picked this (and a number of other dramatic works) for me at a library sale. It's cliched and vulgar. Neither character is likeable. The resolution comes totally out of the blue and is completely unbelievable.

The title is pretty witty, though.



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Obsolete

This is the kiddo's T alphabet block.

This is a Duplo window.

The kiddo calls the window a "house," presumably because it opens and shuts like a door.  She also calls the picture on the alphabet block a house.

Present continuous active indicative

The kiddo is in a present participle phase. She likes:
Runnin'
Walkin'
Jumpin'
Eatin'
Sippin'
Zippin'
Swimmin'
and
Dancin'

I love you, too.

Bedtime with a 1.5 year old:

Me: Goodnight.
Her: Night-night.
Me: Can I have a kiss?
Her, tearfully: No way.

Worst nightmare

The kiddo was playing with my last remaining film canister (I figure I need to keep one for history class, some day). She was in the living room, I was unloading the dishwasher, and then she came into the kitchen.

The film canister was full of water, and she was drinking out of it.

It had to have been toilet water.

Review: Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon: Gripping Accounts of All Known Fatal Mishaps in the Most Famous of the World's Seven Natural Wonders

Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon: Gripping Accounts of All Known Fatal Mishaps in the Most Famous of the World's Seven Natural Wonders by Michael P. Ghiglieri

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Fascinating, but poorly edited. I saw a copy of this book in a shop at Grand Canyon and thought it looked interesting. Indeed, it was. In addition to descriptions of deaths in the canyon, the authors have also included a few survival stories. I particularly enjoyed the odd tales in the chapter on freak accidents. Unfortunately, it is not that well organized and riddled with typos.

Would be an instructive read for those planning trips into Grand Canyon.



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Review: How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor's Guide

How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor's Guide by Howard Mohr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Is this book funny to non-Minnesotans? Probably not, but it is a heckuva book. You might think it's just a little different, but a guy could do a lot worse when selecting reading material. You bet.



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Review: How to Cook Everything: The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food -- With 1,000 Photos

How to Cook Everything: The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food -- With 1,000 Photos by Mark Bittman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The full-length How to Cook Everything is my go-to cookbook, but I really enjoyed browsing its shorter, illustrated sibling. Unlike the monster original, it would be possible (and very interesting) to cook through this version. Which I would love to do.

Some of these are the same recipes as the other; some are a little different. Mr. Bittman still seems to think you can make barbeque sauce without a sweetener (nope, not gonna work).

Great, illustrative photos. This would be a perfect learning-to-cook book.



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Review: House of Earth

House of Earth by Woody Guthrie

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I picked this up on the new acquisitions shelf at the library because it was by Woody Guthrie. I'd just been reminiscing about learning "This Land is Your Land" in elementary music class.

I don't feel like I wasted my time with this, but I wouldn't re-read it. It was Steinbeckian with a dash of beat poet (not my cup of tea), plus a really long, awkward sex scene in the first chapter (not even my cup of lukewarm water). I can totally see why the author never got it published during his lifetime.

In the pro column, the setting and characterizations were vivid and life-like. The wide-open, lonely Texas plain is beautifully drawn.

Bottom line: I can't recommend this book, but I will be checking out more of Woody Guthrie's writing.




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You might live with a classicist if...

The kiddo gets into something she shouldn't.

T.G.: Nope, sorry, babe. Here, you can play with the Eclogues.

Review: Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A beautiful stand-alone, illustrated edition of the Robert Frost poem. Very nice.



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Review: Together: Growing Appetites for God

Together: Growing Appetites for God by Carrie Ward

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm inspired. Like the author, I have always struggled with daily devotions, and I think her idea--to read the whole Bible with her very young children--is brilliant (probably inspired, in fact!). This book is half how-to, half memoir; and it was also quick and easy-to-read.

The kiddo and I are starting our journey tomorrow.



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Review: Faith Through Fire: Rwanda and Me

Faith Through Fire: Rwanda and Me by Randall Bennett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I couldn't put this book down and finished it three sittings. I picked it up because I know Gary Bennett (his brother Randall wrote the book, but it's Gary's story) and because, due to his experience, the Rwandan genocide looms large in my memory as a time that I - eight years old - began to understand that there was evil in the world. I have a vivid memory of Melanie telling my mother that she sometimes watched the news in the hope that she would see a friend still alive.

The book was funny, touching, terrifying, sad, and hopeful. I cried (a lot), but it never seemed emotionally manipulative or sentimental. It's a great testimony to God's faithfulness in good times and bad. The pacing is remarkable, and the "flashback" structure that the author choose was quite effective.

Four stars because it could have used one more copy-editing pass.



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Review: Faith Through Fire: Rwanda and Me

Faith Through Fire: Rwanda and Me by Randall Bennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'll be honest. When I heard that this book, written by a missionary to Rwanda who grew up in my home church, was being self-published, I kind of rolled my eyes. I thought a memoir of the Rwandan genocide would be interesting, but I was skeptical about the quality of the writing.

I was wrong. It's not Tolstoy, but I can't put it down. And (the reason I'm writing a review before I've finished the book), it's free at the Amazon Kindle store this weekend.



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