Nice Shoes!

Our son has a pair of the ubiquitous Crocs that everyone loves to hate - they are so ugly they're cute. Podiatrists love them or hate them, depending on their point of view (love that they bring in more patients with foot and ankle injuries caused by wearing them, hate that they cause foot and ankle injuries).

While we discourage them for activities that involve lots of walking and forbid them (or at least try to) for anything involving running, we do love them for anytime that Island Boy needs to get in and out of his shoes quickly. Island Boy, like every child, loves Crocs because he can get in and out of them quickly on his own.

We popped in to a restaurant this evening for dinner and when we came out Island Boy spotted another toddler. Before we even noticed what he was commenting on, with all of the admiration and irony appropriate to the situation, Island Boy placed his foot next to the toddler's Croc adorned foot and said,

"Nice shoes!!"

Island Boy's Daddy and I looked at each other. Those Crocs weren't even the same color as Island Boy's Crocs!

We were amazed that Island Boy grasped the irony of the situation and came up with the subtle humor that applied. We have no idea how he could possibly have learned such a thing but it was pretty darn adorable.

Family Festival

We attended a Family Festival a few weeks ago and Island Boy was in Heaven. Not only did it have tons of activities perfectly suited for persons of his size and age, it also had enough interesting things for Mommy and Daddy to do that Mommy and Daddy didn't get bored too easily. In that sense, it was brilliantly planned.

Upon arrival Island Boy immediately located the Treasure Hunt. Ok, not quite immediately. We had to work our way past the live music first. Fortunately, the live music took a break and we were able to investigate other activities. It wasn't long before we located the reptile show taking place as we walked by.

Island Boy was fascinated with the lizards and snakes and even with a frog (I don't think he was bothered at all that it technically was not a reptile, nor was the millipede) and was thrilled with the opportunity to touch each of these creatures.

It was sometime not long after that that we actually made our way over to the Treasure Hunt where Island Boy rapidly located treasures too numerous to count (ok, there were seven) beneath the sand. It was adorable to see how excited he got over the plastic slugs and brightly colored ceramic disks that served as "treasure".

Island Boy even enjoyed several crafts where he painted and glued to create some beautiful decorations for our home. The event had so many things going on it's difficult to mention them all, but I will say that the ultimate was drumming right along with the musicians on stage. Yes, the live music was meant to be a collaborative masterpiece and drums and other percussion instruments were placed in front of the stage for attendees to play along with the band. Those were some VERY happy children playing along and Island Boy was in his element.

As usual with events as fun as this one, the only complaint we had was that it was very, very difficult to leave and unlike other things we do together as a family, this is not something that comes along all the time, so we won't be able to do it again next week. With any luck though, we may be able to do it again next year.

Same

One of Island Boy's favorite activities these days is to pick out things that are the same.

It's fascinating to watch him as he drops what he's doing to show me that he understands that the color of his train matches the color of the chair (and the plate and the picture frame and the pillow case and the towel and the tag on the side of my pants and the flyer that came in the mail and the beak on the bird in the picture on page 5 of the book and...) or that the picture of the owl in the book is the same creature as the plastic owl statue that guards our apricot tree in the back yard or that the spider in the book is the same as the arachnid we saw on our walk or that...you get the picture!

While this game is fun, it's even more fun when Island Boy tests us to see if we're paying attention by showing us that something is the same when he knows it is not the same. He always does this with a watchful eye and bursts into laughter when we catch him at it. If we don't catch him at it, he will continue to test us until we finally realize that he's caught us and you cannot help but smile when that happens.

Greatest Holiday Ever

Yesterday our family celebrated not one, but two special days. In case you missed it, yesterday was National Doughnut Day, a day that could in fact be the greatest holiday ever invented.

What? You've never heard of it, you say?

If that is the case, I can only attribute that to the fact that this holiday is not what one would consider a traditional "Hallmark" holiday. No, unlike Sweetest Day, for example, you need not purchase a $5 card to celebrate. No, you can dispense with worrying about the proper way to say something sweet and with fretting over whether chocolates or flowers or both are required to convey the proper sentiment.

No, on National Doughnut Day it is very clear what you must do to celebrate!

Eat doughnuts!!

You gotta love that.

Future Librarian

Island Boy is a budding Librarian. Our evening book time is rapidly becoming "An Evening at the Library".

It began with Island Boy's surfboard stool. He pulled it up to his book shelf one night to select a book. He then shuffled it over in front of his "audience" (aka Daddy, Baby Sister and I), sat down, opened his book and held it open for us to see.

He didn't stop there. No, he held the book high and turned slowly from side to side, making sure that each member of the audience, including teddy bear, duckie, turtle and more, got a good look at it before turning to the next page and repeating the procedure.

Our Librarian is taking his self-assigned position very seriously. He does not stop with one book, nor did he stop when we moved his surfboard stool to another room. No, he simply found another lectern and kept right on going.

While it is adorable, it is a very effective method for delaying bedtime, so Mommy and Daddy are trying to have shift the Librarian's schedule accordingly.

Two Puppies

Picture this:

Island Boy approaches with a note card (held vertically) and a crayon.

"Two rice?", he asks, taking your order.

"Yes, please.", you say.

"Two rice.", says Island Boy, nodding and writing.

"And two puppies?", Island Boy adds.

Yes, that's right, folks. Island Boy has learned that the key to getting what you want is to be adorable when you request it. In this particular case, he had help from a friend we'll call "Uncle E". Thanks, Uncle E, for the help on this one.

As for the order for puppies?

Hmm...not sure we're ready for that just yet, but we'll take it under consideration!