I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, that’s all. My hair is tangled and I can’t find a thing to fasten the end of my braid, so I can’t braid it and it is just going to keep getting tangled. And I started my work day by talking to my LEAST FAVORITE customer. On chat not on the phone, but still bad. And Albie Dog’s Adopt-a-versary gifts are delayed in shipping, so he won’t have any presents on the day itself. Oh, and worst of all, last night’s Columbo episode wasn’t very good. So, time to talk about babies and be happy!
My nephew! At age 19 months, he has a very distinctive personality complete with likes and dislikes.
Favorite thing to do: stand in the driveway and wave at cars. Or, as he calls them, “Guck!” My sister claims he is saying “caaa”, but I have heard him, and it still sounds like “guck” to me. But consistently “guck”, so he does understand the concept of words, he just likes to make up his own.
Least favorite thing to do: Eat ANYTHING. His dinner tends to be a single triscuit, and a bottle of milk. His breakfast is often air (plus a bottle of milk). He really likes milk. He does not like food. Although, he enjoys utensils. You give him a bowl of food and a spoon and he is very happy doing everything with them (playing music, throwing things on the floor, mushing it around on his tray) except, of course, eating.
Hobbies: He still is very fond of putting things into other things. The spice drawer for instance, he likes very slowly taking every spice bottle out and then very slowly putting them back and then very slowly taking each one out again.
Entertainment: The electric tea kettle is his favorite show. You go to the sink and put water in it, and then you put it on the holder and you press a button and it lights up, and then it beeps when it is done and you press another button and you pour out hot water. My sister has started just making cups of hot water for the pure activity when she doesn’t even want tea.
Music: His bedtime sleepy song is “He’s got the whole world in his hands” which is nice and happy and endlessly expandable (you just keep adding on people He has in his hands). But his naptime sleepy song is “Shenandoah”. Question: does he know the difference? Why is there a difference? Why does there need to be a different naptime sleepy song than a bedtime sleepy song?
Physical activity: He can now go down stairs on his bottom and climb up stairs by crawling. Most impressive, he has conquered the couch! In the classic “get one leg up and roll yourself the rest of the way” configuration. He has also figured out where the release button is located on the baby gate at the top of the stairs, but has not yet worked out the manual dexterity to release it. There is a lot of just pushing really hard on that spot and complaining.
Love: He loooooooooooooooooooooooves the cuckoo cooker. He wakes up in the morning saying “cuckoo cuckoo!”, you bring him down to the kitchen first thing so he can touch it and greet it of the morning. At this point, his parents have started spelling out “c-u-c-k-o-o” because he gets too excited if he hears the word and then cries if he can’t go visit his beloved cuckoo. Meanwhile, he occasionally remembers to miss his father when his father is out of sight. His mother seems to be considered a sort of multi-utility tool who can lift him on counters, read him books, and change diapers but has no purpose beyond that. He has a word for “father” and “uncle” and “dog”. His word for mother is “crying face and lifted arms”. It works well, she always answers to it.
So, that’s my nephew. Pretty much your standard issue toddler at this point. I think he’s gonna be a musician because of all the music he makes with eating utensils. There is a minority opinion that he will be an engineer because of the car fascination.
dontcallitbollywood 
Oh the spices! My oldest loved the spices as a toddler. We had a drawer he would pull out, and he loved tasting the spices. His favorite was paprika. But one day I was kinda tired so when he wanted to taste the paprika I accidentally pulled out the cayenne pepper (which looked JUST the same), and gave him a pinch. It was terrible. I’m surprised he still loves me. If by chance your nephew eats cayenne pepper, butter and milk help take away the pain.
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Oh, that is TERRIBLE!!!! And I have one small voice in my head saying “oooo, my sister should make him have cayenne pepper and then video it for us! that would be so funny!” But I guess that is what happens when you just see photos/videos and don’t actually have to deal with the living child.
Also, when my sister was about 2, my Grandma closed the door on her hand. Talk about betraying trust!
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 10:39 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My kids went through a phase where the big one dared the little one to eat spicy foods. Wasabi was the funniest face (though he was probably 3 or 4 by then). The little one will still eat spicier foods than the big one.
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I still have not tried Wasabi! Probably because my big sister was less adventurous than your biggest. She just showed me how to eat french fries after mixing extra salt into the ketchup.
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 8:02 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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How is it possible to go through life without Wasabi? When you get less than great sushi with bland fish, how can you eat it without Wasabi? My mind is blown.
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Ginger! I just use ginger instead!
On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 11:38 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have been to Shenandoah! I live about an hour and a half from it and it is beautiful! But I had never heard the song, so I just listened to it and it made me sleepy!
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It’s such a sleepy song! I realized I only know the first verse, and I think it is because I always fall asleep before the rest.
Next time I am in the DC area, at some unknown future point, I will have to visit it. OH!!!! Mom, Auntie, Baby road trip!!!!! We could all three drive to Shanandoah together! It’s the perfect vacation.
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 10:54 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes!!! Also, come visit DC again!!!
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Now I’m looking at a map. If we leave my sister’s house, drive for 4 hours, stop at my cousin’s in Brooklyn for the night, then keep driving, we could totally do it in 2 days! Long car trips with toddlers are a good thing, right?
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 1:28 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Of course. They are known for their patience and ability to sit still for long periods of time! Just keep a bucket of spice bottles in the car and he should be all good to go. And he only eats triscuits, which is easy to carry and non-perishable.
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We totally went on a Shenandoah trip through YouTube today because my older kid saw Shenandoah on this post over my shoulder and recognized it from Bud Not Buddy, the book he’s reading for school. First we watched the Chanticleer version, I have a soft spot for the choral arrangement from my choir days. Then Tennessee Ernie Ford, then Bruce Springsteen. Anyway, such a pretty melody. Tennessee Ernie Ford is probably the ultimate rendition, his voice is perfect for this song.
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Such a pretty melody! And one of those melodies (I read this description of the Beatles once) that you hear for the first time and feel like you already know it. It’s just such a perfect simple tune, it feels like you were born knowing it.
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 8:24 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Things change. My eldest was terrified of matches, candles, etc. He’s a NYC firefighter. My youngest cut school and did poorly in every subject. Now he’s high school Principal.
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My sister loved loved loved cows from before she could talk. And now it is 38 years later and she still loves loves loves cows. Didn’t become a farmer or anything, just really really likes them for some reason. She was a little sad when they bought a house and it wasn’t zoned for cows, so she will never be able to buy one. Although I suppose they could just by a different house later.
I liked fairy tales, and now I write about Indian film 🙂
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 11:01 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My son was obsessed with traffic signs when he was your nephew’s age ( his 2nd birthday cake looked like speed limit sign with big 2 in center). And then one day he discovered cats and forget about traffic signs completely.
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This is what I am saying! My sister should get a DOG! And then he will forget about the Cuckoo and Cars and things and be all doggy, like a normal child.
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 2:06 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh A big black and white dog like a cow!
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YES! That is what we had when we were growing up! A border collie/husky mix (we think). Massive, fluffy, black and white. You are so right, that is exactly what she should get.
On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 2:19 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Our boy is part of the “move spices to and from the rack” fandom, too. They should start a fan club.
His most spicy experience so far happened courtesy of an order from an African restaurant, though. It included some kind of brown sauce that we allowed him to spoon into his mouth befire having tried it ourselves – big mistake! I think he ate almost a whole cup of creme fraiche before he was halfway restored.
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oooo! We should start a toy company! A toy version of spices and spice racks! But that probably wouldn’t work because they would know in their little hearts it wasn’t the REAL spices and therefore not as fun.
On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 10:02 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I remember those days, my husband put gates in to stop our children getting into the kitchen when they were tiny lol.
As for hair I make my own scrunchies so I never run out of hair ties.
Have you ever thought of making some yourself?
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I’m very picky about scrunchies! I’ve found the one style I like which stays in my hair and doesn’t get tangled and so on, and that’s all I want.
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