Appreciation and classification

I've written before about the country-radio blocade provided by the children, especially the soft croony country ballads favored by Rip. Recently, though, it's begun to be almost synesthesia. Truck synesthesia. (Of course.) Rip will announce that a particular croony country ballad is "a dump truck song" or "a loader song" or "a grader song" or sometimes a "regular truck song"... and gets very offended when anyone gets it wrong. "Is this a dump truck song, too?" "NO. It's a GRADER song." "Uh, does that mean you want to listen to it?" "EH!!!" (which has not been entirely replaced by "Wes" = "Yes.")

We had a good run of carseats being switchable between Rip and Jolly without adjusting the harnesses, but that appears to be over now. When Jolly is put into Rip's carseat, we need to take in some slack. Rip is getting bigger, and sometimes it is a challenge cramming into his toddler bed-nee-crib him, three noisy trucks, a duplo construction, a water bottle, his twilight turtle, and a parent to provide a night-time-cuddle. However, Ikea craftsmanship is astounding, since the crib has managed to hold both me (6', 175 lbs) and him (38", 37 lbs)

***

Jolly: "What was my favorite song when I was little?"
Guinevere, to Ephiny: "I cannot tell a lie."
Guinevere, to Jolly: "Paper Planes by MIA."
Jolly: "Can I listen to it?"
Mummy and Mama: "No. It's too inappropriate."

And thus ends our case study in why you shouldn't play your kids inappropriate music, even when they're too little to know the difference.

***

Recently, Ephiny was folding laundry and discovered 12 shirts and 8 pants in the wash for Rip, compared to 1 of each for Jolly. This is probably because Jolly dresses for the day and only changes when he gets himself dirty. Rip, on the other hand, frequently feels the need to change his pants and shirt to better reflect his mood, or if he just happens to see a different shirt. He would really enjoy living in another time, when dressing for dinner (and breakfast, and lunch) was a thing.

Rip is quite possibly the world's most appreciative child, especially when it comes to food. He usually choruses, "Thank you for making [meal in question], Mummy." Recently, however, it was followed up by thanking Mama for the same thing. When we pointed out that this was sweet, but that Mama actually hadn't made dinner, he mulled it over for a few minutes while conversation moved on to other topics, and then burst out with, "Thank you for making baby [Tammy], Mama!" Cute. The overt appreciation is so cute that it's lavished with loads of attention when he does it, which is probably why he keeps doing it.

***

Jolly is such an explorer. "I want to go someplace I've NEVER GONE BEFORE." Within arriving on the playground, within 30 seconds he is standing on top of a playstructure in a way that makes other parents look at me and check "Is he allowed to do that?" (Answer: Yes, he's a good climber and knows to be careful. "What about THAT?" "Yeah, that's okay too.") Rip, on the other hand, has spent the last two visits to playgrounds largely ensconsed in the bottom of the stroller we bring for a napping Tammy. Does he wanna leave? Not if there's a dog anywhere within a several mile radius. Today, however, he made strides in holding the leash of a very very mellow dog and taking him for a walk (while in the stroller, naturally). The proclivity to stroller-sitting has made for a tantrum of "Nooooo! I want mummy to run a marathon RIIIIIGHT NOOOOOW." Which is hilarious, but not how it works. The marathon is going to have to wait until September.

Who else is really excited about sitting in a stroller is Jolly. We've been doing scavenger hunts, which he really enjoys. I sometimes take him in the evenings or when Rip is napping, and it's a really nice one-on-one time. Jolly today was asking whether we could run to mid-isle-friend's house, and I explained that I could, but it would take a while. He then asked about opposite-side-of-island friends, and I explained that would be a whole lot further, like more than a half marathon. Jolly enthused, "let's do that one, then! It will be too long for Rip and Tammy, so it will just have to be ME in the stroller, and mama will have to take them in the car to meet us!"

***

Jolly: "I'm an AMERICAN knight."
Mummy:"Oh?"
Jolly: "Yeah, that means I don't have a horse. I walk short distances. Otherwise, I drive a car."
Mummy: "Okay, sounds like you pegged that about right!"

***

And the last thing is that the older children had been using "Hi, piece of poo!" as a form of greeting and then just consistent banter thereafter. I finally snapped and told them that if they repeated this for the five hundredth time that meal, that they would be unceremoniously banished from the table. One of the boys started with, "HI, pieeeece ooooof..." and I cut him off and informed him that unless the words were "I love you so very very much!" they could get down right now. Ever since then, it's become a meme, and now there have been many weeks of "Hi, piece of I LOVE YOU!" and "Hi, piece of I love you VERY MUCH!" statements being uttered constantly. Well played, children. I love it.