Kiddobeans

A Few Things You May Have Forgotten about Curious George

My kids love Curious George.  He is the grade A number 1 choice for their TV viewing right now.  I just decorated Little Man's room with Curious George adhesive murals.  And, of course, we have a couple of the books.  We have two newer activity-style George books, and the classic original.  All are huge favorites.  Did you know that the original book was written in 1941?  That's a long time ago.  That's way pre-Dr. Seuss, and it shows in the cumbersome and wordy style of the story.  Of course, it's loveable, but it's really different from the way modern stories are written. 

The wording is not the most interesting thing about its age, though.  There are things in this book that would never, ever make it into a modern story.  It's just out of date--and I'm not talking about the rotary dial phone and the lack of seatbelts.  Here are a few examples:

1) We meet the Man with the Yellow hat on page 2.  In the illustration he is clearly seen carrying a long rifle.  Exactly what kind of safari is he on?

2) Did you know that the Man with the Yellow hat deliberately lures Curious George out of a tree by leaving his hat on the ground as bait, then quickly stuffs him into a bag and smuggles him on board a ship!  I'm not kidding.  It's all there on pages 11 and 12.  At this point, the narrator even admits that "George was sad, but he was still a little curious."

3) On page 15, the Man with the Yellow Hat is seen smoking a pipe.  Ok, so there is no actual smoke coming out of the pipe, but he is resting on his bunk with the pipe in his mouth.

4) On page 26, George has his first meal at the Man with the Yellow Hat's house.  According to the illustrations, a bottle of wine was on the menu.  Does that count as contributing to the delinquency of a monkey? 

5) Also on page 26, we learn that "After a good meal and a good pipe George felt very tired."  George smokes a pipe.  There are actual swirls of smoke coming out of the pipe.  Enough said.  My brother-in-law finds this particular situation so funny that he has set it as the background on his computer.

6) And then we come to the main action point of the story.  George, curious about how the phone works, accidentally dials the fire department.  When the firemen (not firefighters BTW, only men) realize that there is no fire, they haul George of to prison.  Prison!  For a prank phone call!  Then George escapes and (accidently) steals a large bunch of balloons which swoop him up into the sky, creating the Curious George iconic image.  But it all starts out with jail time for the monkey. 

7) In the end, George ends up in the zoo.  Apparently he and his fellow animals are delighted to be there.  Ok, the zoo is a fine place for a monkey, but how exactly is George going to "Visit the Hospital", "Fly a Kite", "Ride a Bike", etc if he is living in the zoo?  When does he leave the zoo and become the ward of the Man with the Yellow hat? Is that in a sequel somewhere that I have missed? 

Oblivious to these little flukes, the kiddobeans love this book no matter what.  But, I think Phil and I are the ones getting true entertainment value out of it.  We can't help chuckling every time we remember that George was very tired "after a good pipe."  Apparently, all the problems of being deliberately stuffed in a bag and taken against your will to a strange man's house will just float away if you have a nice smoke.  I guess that's the moral of the story.  That, and a gentle reminder that you'll do hard time if you accidentally call the fire department.

Let it Stop, Let it Stop, Let it Stop!

Was it just three months ago that I wrote a charming little post about taking the kids out into the snow?  It seemed fun then, but after the snowiest winter that I can remember, I am ready for it to stop!  We got another six inches last night, and I don't think I have seen the grass for the entire month of February.  Combine that with the nasty little cold that has been circulating through our family for the last three weeks, and we are all in desperate need of a little creative mid-winter pick-me-up.

Here's my plan.  I'll share my little tips for inside fun (which are beginning to wear thin for our little family) and I hope that a bunch of you will jump on the comments bandwagon with your ideas, too.  Together, we can get our families through 'til Spring!

Our favorite places to visit in the cold weather, other than our ever-amusing families, are the pet store and the mall.  The mall is great because there are other kids there and lots to see, although we almost never go into the stores!  We stick to the toddler-friendly playland, the central fountain, and the food court.  Even if we don't get lunch, I'll usually spring for a snack to make this is special day.  My special little tip--donuts are much cheaper than ice cream and are much easier for the kids to share and hold on their own.  As far as the pet store goes, the staff has definitely realized that I have no intention of buying, but am in fact using their store as a petting zoo.  So far, no problems.  We frequent Petland, which sells both small and large pets.  We look at the dogs and cats through the glass, but the open cages encourage petting of the rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters.  I always catch the eye of a sales clerk as I scoop up the animals for the kids to pet, and I always get a visual "ok" back.  Petland is great about encouraging interaction with their animals.  The staff usually offers to let us play with a puppy, but I know that would just freak out my impressionable Little Miss.  No problem, though, there's plenty to keep us busy for an hour or so looking at the birds and the fish, petting the rabbits, and hunting for the easily-camouflaged snakes in their tanks.

When we stay in, I really rely on my tried-and-true singing voice and our growing kids' CD collection.  Since I've been sick, this has really taken a hit.  I just can't sing right now.  In general, though, the kiddobeans like it when I make up songs that feature their names and when we sing the action-packed Bible songs they learn at Sunday School.  Our go-to CDs right now include the recently reviewed musical A Year With Frog and Toad, and the Bob and Larry's Sing A-Long series from Veggietales (listen for the by-play from the characters on those.  They can be hilarious).  I like to put on oldies or Broadway tunes on my favorite on-line radio station accuradio.com.  It has hundreds of different musical styles to choose from, including peppy favorites to help urge us through another long winter's day.

So how are you getting through another dreary February?  Share your ideas on the comments section.  Please!

Another Adoption Update

We had our second (of three) adoption classes on Monday night.  This class had very interesting information on the history of adoption and a lot of information/discussion on openness and relationships with birthparents.  That was a really good review.  All  birthparents are not the same, and it was a good reminder to listen to the various suggestions and real-life examples as we prepare to meet another birthmom (or birthparents) within the next several months.

I'm now back to thinking we're looking at a few months at the very least before we will be referred to a birthmom, though I don't know this for sure.  At the very least, if we were going to be placed with a baby this February, I think we would have heard by now!  It's really all good.  I gave this whole family-building thing to God about 2 1/2 years ago, so I'm confident that He is controlling this whole thing.  That's great, because I have absolutely NO control.  So, I'd say we could still be placed this Spring, but since I haven't heard anything from my social worker lately I'm sure it could go into the Summer or even Fall. 

As soon as I pick up the kids' medical forms from their doctor, we will have our Homestudy Packet ready to role.  Phil and I had our well-visits and blood tests a couple of weeks ago, and got our forms back yesterday.  They were pretty pokey getting them signed!  I'm running into trouble with the kids' forms because the pediatrician they usually see is only in our office once a week.  That slows everything up.  I really want to hand the whole thing in this Monday at our last class, so I'm pushing them to get it all done by then.  At least I didn't have to get additional well-visits for the kids--their most recent appointments are within the last 11 months, so they're all good.  I do have to say that Phil and I were another story--we don't tend to go for well-visits until the adoption paperwork requires it!  That makes two visits each in the last three years.

So, what's next after we complete the classes?  Last time, we had a series of meetings with our social worker both one-on-one and as a couple.  This was to address any issues with our family background, our parenting plans, and our feelings about infertility.  Given that our social worker now knows us pretty well (and knows that we are so well-adjusted that its actually boring) I'm not sure if we'll have to do that again.  We might get to skip ahead to the Home Visit, where the social worker comes to our home and makes sure we have an appropriate living environment for a baby.  More on the particulars of that when the time comes.

Knut, Knut, He's a Little Polar Bear

A few weeks ago, CNN.com had a video of a new little baby polar bear sleeping, and the kiddobeans loved it.  That made me think...wasn't there some world-famous polar bear named Knut out there in Europe? I bet there are youtube videos of this baby polar bear just waiting to be viewed by obsessive toddlers.  And I was right!  There are about a hundred.  So just for fun I'm posting a link to the kids favorite Knut video.  They particularly like the song, and try desperately to sing along.  In German.  You don't know fun until you hear a two-year-old trying to sing about a polar bear in German.  Those are good times.  If anyone out there actually speaks German (little brother, this means you!), I'd love a rough translation in the "comment" section.  As of right now, I just teach the kids to sing "Knut, Knut, he's a little polar bear" over and over and over to the tune of the song.  With time, I bet I could do better.  Show this one to your toddlers, and enjoy!

Malapropisms

Thinking about a new baby has just reinforced that the kiddobeans are not babies any more.  They are walking, talking little two-year-olds.  Fortunately, the toddler stage provides a lot of amusement, and I don't really miss the babies that they were too much.  Since Little Man has joined Little Miss in narrating his day and putting together sentences, I find myself laughing to the point of tears at the things the two of them say.  Little Man's favorite phrase is "Wha' Happened?"  I don't know where he picked this up, but whenever he does something that doesn't go quite right he looks up with his big brown eyes and asks "Wha' Happened?"  It's like the catch phrase from some bad '80s sitcom. 

Last week Little Man announced that he needed a diaper change.  That's great!  He's never communicated that before--it means potty training is just around the corner.  His meaning was clear, though the wording was not.  He pointed to his pants and said "Pants, pants.  Diaper.  Puppies in pants."  Did you catch that?  He meant "poopies."  Somehow I think having "puppies in your pants" is going to be in the family lingo for a long, long time.

Little Miss has been talking for ages, saying her first word at just 8 1/2 months.  Now she is a seasoned professional, willing to attempt any word or phrase.  I love listening to her sing through complicated song lyrics, having absolutely no idea what she is saying.  The complex "Mary Poppins" ballad "Feed the Birds" is a perennial lullaby favorite, and today she was singing through the ambitious lyrics while rocking her dolly to sleep.  She sang, "all around the cathedral the saints and opossums look down as she sells her wares."  FYI, she meant "apostles."  As near as I can figure, there are no opossums featured in "Mary Poppins." 

I remember before our first adoption during our required counselling sessions our social worker asked us, "Why do you want to have children?"  I had never really thought that one through...I suppose no one has a really deep answer to that without a few minutes thought.  Having repeatedly laughed at the antics of toddlers who were family friends, the first thing that popped into my head was "To provide hours of amusement."  Well, lately that has proven to be the truth.  They are giving me hours of amusement.

Update

I don't have a lot of time to write right now because Little Miss is recovering from the flu and demanding that I take care of her (yes, demanding is the right word--don't you just love two-year-olds?).  Still, I haven't posted in a while and thought I would let you know how the adoption situation is progressing.  Since our social worker requested our profile by Wednesday in order to start showing it to the many African American birthmoms currently considering adoption, I worked my little fingers to the bone typing and typing over the past week.  I completed a really nice profile by Monday night, complete with nine pages of photographs, and Phil took the whole thing out to make color copies.  I dropped it off Tuesday night.

The profile, in case you don't remember, is like the "Intro to Us".  Who we are, how we met, our personalities, our interests, our hobbies, our jobs, our parenting, etc.  It's the information that a birthmom would have to review, and from that she'll decide whether she wants to meet with us.  I wrote six pages single-spaced, and I felt it was thorough and readable.  I just really want the birthmoms to have a clear picture of who we are as a family, so in spite of the short time frame I really worked to make it as finished as it would be even if I had the month of writing I had expected.  I'm not really a crafty person, but I made cute backgrounds out of scrapbook paper to frame our nine pages of photographs (with 2-3 photos per page).  Phil and I ran into trouble choosing the photos.  We have literally hundreds of photos of the kids from the last few months, but one of us is always taking the pictures, so pictures of us, particularly us together, were hard to find!

I got a call from our social worker on Wednesday morning.  She loved the profile and encouraged us to get the legal side of stuff--the daunting Homestudy Packet described earlier--finished as soon as possible.  At least one of the birthmoms considering adoption (and considering us) is due by the end of February!  So we'll just keep plugging along and preparing for whatever baby God has planned for us.  We have a couple of catch-all rooms left over from the construction that need to be cleared out before our social worker's Home Visit, and we have some money to raise by selling our car (and buying a cheap mini-van) and from our first ever "Auction for Adoption".  I know I have local friends reading this, and if you have anything we could ebay in order to raise money for the adoption, let me know.  We're planning to start posting several of our items on Saturday.

I really thought I would get months of blog topics out of this adoption, but it's going like a whirlwind.  If you are considering adoption, remember that this frantic pace is not normal!  If you have any questions over things I'm rushing through or glossing over, please post a comment or send an email!

"A Little Bit of Brown"

Taking a break from adoption paperwork, I wanted to post on something else for a couple of days.  We're still working through the paperwork, and I'll let you know if anything changes.  In the meantime, it's time for me to self-publish again.  As a hobby, I have written a few children's books inspired by our parenting and adoption experience.  Publication is about a 1 in 100 chance, but at least I can put something out here for you all.  I really like the concept of this most recent little one that I put together, and I'd like to polish up and give it a try out there in the cruel world of publication submission. 

Little Miss is very interested in being "brown" right now, and this is exactly how she speaks about the color brown.  I would love your comments on this little story.  I'd particularly like to know if you think any of the stanzas are a little weak or in the rhythm is off.  Also, are "bro" and "goatee" to slangy to make it in a children's story?  Enjoy!

"A Little Bit of Brown"

Like a shiny penny,a chocolate kiss,
A sparrow in a tree,
I know that many beautiful things
Are pretty brown like me.

And people, too, have brownish skin,
Or tan, or pink, or white.
I wonder who else is brown like me?
For whom is brown just right?

Birthmom's brown, she loves me so,
She chose my family.
I see in her smiling photographs
That she looks just like me!

Who else do I know in the world
Who's skin is coppery brown?
My Uncle Bob, my teacher, too,
My friends who live down town.

But not my Mommy or my Dad,
And not my baby bro.
If I ask most people, "Are they brown?"
I'm sure they'd answer "No."

It's true they're mostly pink and white
But there's much more I see.
If you look closely, as I do
You'll see they're brown like me.

My Mommy's hair is soft and straight
And a long, long braid hangs down.
And in her hair I see that she
Is just a little brown.

My Daddy's hair is on his face!
In his dark brown goatee.
And when I look at his dark beard
I know he's brown like me.

In my little brother's rosy face
I see with some surprise
That he carries his little bit of brown
In his bright and shiny eyes!

Even in my own family
Brown is all around
Though I'm the one who has brown skin
There's so much brown I've found!

I know we don't quite look alike
And I guess I could be sad
That I'm the only one who's brown
Not white like Mom and Dad.

But none of us are made to be
One color all around
We all have bits of pink or white
Or black or blue or brown.

So why be sad that part of them
Doesn't look like part of me?
Colors matter in paints and crayons
But not in families.