Utter Disappointment

Poor Ethan!!! He has been so excited to see Wall-E ever since he saw a preview on the Playhouse Disney website. He has been asking to go see it for months, trying to save money, reminding us it was almost time, etc...

So, finally, the family loads in the car and drives to a local theatre. We fork out $30 for matinee tickets, a small popcorn and a drink. Of course the line is huge, but Ethan is so excited he can hardly sit still. We get seats and sit through some previews.

Next up, the short film. We laughed the whole way through, as it is one of the best short films I've seen from pixar. Ethan was laughing so hard we almost needed to shush him.

Then Wall-E starts. Ethan was a little confused by the setting, but got to see all of his favorite parts within the first 20 minutes of the movie. Then wham, the political message hit and continued through the rest of the show. Ethan was not very interested in the show anymore and asked repeatedly to go home.

I can't blame him one bit. Most of the humor is adult humor. Little kids don't pick up on the small nuances in love and attraction. While animated, it is not meant for small children, even less so than Ratatouille. But even Ethan couldn't miss that Earth was messed up, and wrong.

That brings me to the political statement. Okay, obviously I should have done a little more research about what the show was about. But I hate, repeat, hate being force fed a political message, whether or not I agree with it, especially after spending $30 of my own money to do so. We wanted to be entertained, not preached to.

We left with a bad taste in our mouths, and it wasn't from the popcorn. We all agreed that it was one pixar show that we would not be buying.

I feel especially bad for my poor four year old boy. This is one of the largest disappointments he has had to face and survived it with just a few minor meltdowns. Next time we will have to read all the reviews and spoilers to be sure that we don't waste our time, money or disappoint our little ones.

Power Outage Blues

Luckily, we live far enough east that we are not getting the full force of the vicious storms raging through the midwest. But, we do get some pretty big storms all the same. Our area has had 4 major power outages in the last 3 weeks.

One of these power outages lasted several days during 100 degree weather. Luckily we had a friend whose home did not lose power and they had an extra room. We got to escape the heat. Ethan enjoyed getting out of the heat but was a little more enthusiastic about the visit than I thought.

The latest of these power outages was earlier this week. The power had been out for over 20 hours and we left to run errands. When we returned, we were lucky enough to have power restored. I was excited to have air conditioning and a working refrigerator. Ethan was less than enthusiastic.

Ethan, aren't you glad that we have power again.

No, I wanted to go to Heather's house.

Lawyer in the making?

Ethan has been developing his negotion skills quite well. As most children do, he tries to manipulate the situation to his liking. His latest venture has been with items that we use as rewards and incentives.

Rather than just asking if he can play on the game cube or have a piece of candy, he's learned to phrase it in a way that sets him in the advantage.

"Mom, have I been good enough to get a peanut butter candy?"

"Mom, I helped you do laundry, can I play on the TV (game cube).

"Dad, I helped in the yard, can I play on the computer."

When he actually has been good, it is extremely difficult to tell him no.

Separation Anxiety

Maya has recently decided to let us know when she's not ready to take a nap. Not only does she sit up and move everything she can, but she has started to vocalize her discontent. After a few minutes of crying and shuffling you start to her this call get progressively louder throughout the house.

"The baby Maya." ........... "The baby Maya." ............ "The baby Maya."

As if we could actually forget that she's there.

She has also expanded this call to when we leave the room to do dishes, or laundry, or anytime she just can't see us.

The Stressful Life of an Infant

With the tears that accompany childhood, learning is obviously tough. My discovery the other day made me start to wonder though.

As I was at a park with the kids and some friends, I noticed that Maya had a funny, wiry piece of hair near the front of her head. As I looked closer, to my dismay, I found that it was a gray hair. I plucked it from her head, which didn't even make her flinch, and sought validation of my discovery.

Another mom confirmed that it was indeed a gray hair. I didn't know you could get gray hair before your first birthday, but apparently you can. Maybe a baby's life is harder than I thought.

More and More Teeth

Maya now has 6 teeth. Poor kid hasn't stopped teething in a month and a half. We're hoping for a small break for her poor little mouth. All that said, she has been remarkably good for a teething baby.

She is also now trying to say a few more words. More, Belle and Brother are among those. Obviously she only gets approximations of them, but her actions help make the meaning clear. We don't know why she won't call him Ethan, but brother works.

She is becoming very social. Having an affectionate family, she thinks she is supposed to kiss everybody. Other 11 month old babies don't quite know how to react when she kisses them, or tries to play directly with them. It is cute though.

Where does he learn these words?

When Ethan gets in trouble and is sent to his room, he has the choice of going himself or having help with increased consequences. Today was a day that he started bright and early with hitting and sassing, both of which are not tolerated, and was sent to his room. He refused to go so I began taking him.

"No, Mommy, I want to go in myself."

I set him down to give him the chance.

"Mommy, I don't need you to escort me in my room." He stood statue still just outside his door. As I finish helping him to his room, I am stunned at his vocabulary. Where on earth did he learn the word escort, let alone what it means and how to use it in a sentence?