His first wedding

Wild Thing attended his first wedding today, a 2 p.m. affair with a casual reception afterwards. Though the ceremony was short and to the point, it was still too long for WT, who, after having a go at it for five minutes, spent most of the ceremony alternating between watching the proceedings through the window and climbing on the bike rack outside.

I did insist that he watch the exchange of rings and the kiss. After the couple embraced and kissed, WT turned to me and said, "That was sweet!" And indeed it was.

Friday Random Ten: Okie Dokie Edition

1. “A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day”—The Pogues, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash. Cait O’Riordan—Elvis Costello’s ex-wife—on vocals.

2. “St. Louis Blues”—Django Reinhardt, The Best of.

3. “Linctus House”—Robyn Hitchcock, Eye. A linctus is a medicine that is taken by licking. I had no idea such a thing existed until this song inspired me to look it up. I still don’t have any idea what the title means, though.

4. “Tecumpsah Valley”—Nanci Griffith, Other Voices, Other Rooms. With Arlo Guthrie. Songs written by men about pitiable prostitutes can be a little creepy, but Griffith does a nice job with this one.

5. "Okie Dokie Stomp"—Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, Real Life. I used to think that saying “okie dokie” was pretty nerdy, but if it’s good enough for Brown, I guess it’s good enough for me.

6. “Honikzaft (Honey Juice)”—The Klezmatics, Rhythm and Jews. Wild Thing is a fan of our town’s klezmer band, mostly because he’s kind of obsessed about tubas.

7. “Where the Hell’s My Money?”—Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, Frenzy. A question I’ve asked myself many times.

8. “I Want You”—The Arrogants, You’ve Always Known When Best To Say Goodbye. I seem to have run out of off-the-cuff comments now.

9. “Planes Crashing”—My Dad is Dead, The Taller You Are, The Shorter You Get.

10. “Sheep”—The Housemartins, London 0 Hull 4.

Scatology

Wild Thing, holding his squeaky Roo toy up floating in a measuring cup filled with water: "Oh! There's some gas under Roo!"

Me (indulging my scatalogical side): "Hmm ... How does it smell?"

WT: "It smells fine to Roo!"

Safety first

Wild Thing, plunging his toy duck to the bottom of the tub: "He's falling asleep under the water!"

Me: "That's not very safe, is it?"

WT: "No! A submarine might hit him!"

Transitions

Wild Thing had a bit of a rough spell earlier this week at his child care center. He paid some visits to the next classroom up from his, where most of the kids his age have moved. In most ways, he's more than ready to be there, and he was excited by the change ... for a while. But he had a spot of trouble coping with the new environment. That is, if "a spot of trouble" encompasses the behavior of sitting on the floor crying and singing the ABC song to comfort yourself between your sobs. For half an hour.

So, he's moved back in with the younger toddlers. He isn't among his peers there, which we're not happy about; on the other hand, it doesn't seem to matter much to him, since he has essentially no interest in most of his peers anyway. He doesn't care much for boisterous behavior in anyone other than himself, and the toddlers are quieter, so he can play by himself undisturbed and mooch snuggles from his favorite teachers. Such is his wont.

Friday Random Ten: Pro Forma Edition

On campus all day today, but here we are now:

1. All the Love I Ever Had--Hank Williams, Sr.
2. Over--Portishead
3. Convict 13--Bill Frisell/Dave Holland/Elvin Jones
4. Queen Bee--Taj Majal
5. Danko/Manuel--Drive-By Truckers
6. Ain't Got No Boss--Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper
7. Picture in a Frame--Tom Waits
8. I Can't Escape from You--Hank Williams, Sr., again
9. Rose--Maximillian Hecker
10. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On--Jerry Lee Lewis

More on the development thing

Overworked Spouse reminds me of another category:

Imaginative Play: WT's ability to narrate little dramas of his own devising has expanded tremendously over the last month or so. The addition of some new Fisher Price toys has facilitated this, but it's mostly him. Many of the stories involve some variation on the theme of a pilot taking off in an airplane, the door accidentally opening and someone falling out (well, the airplane is about 20 years old--maybe it's a DC-10?), and the plane landing on top of them. But there are many more complex stories to supplement these. And it's always very clear what's happening (if not always why) because it's narrated in the third person. Characters from books, TV, and elsewhere make frequent guest appearances.

Where are the nuns?

Wild Thing had his first formal theatrical experience tonight. I say "formal" since for him in many ways life is really just one long dramatic production of which he is, to be sure, the star.

A nearby university is putting on a production of The Sound of Music, so, since tickets weren't too bad, Overworked Spouse decided we should give WT a taste of the musical comedies which apparently formed the soundtrack of her childhood. WT is now 33 months old, give or take, so it seemed plausible that he might respond well, perhaps even enthusiastically. He loves music and will sit through quite a bit of an outdoor concert; he'll watch Elmo nattering on for what seems like hours; so we started chatting up Maria and Captain von Trapp and singing "Do Re Mi" and so forth last week. We executed the plan tonight.

Overall verdict: a mixed success. But it was touch and go between the moment we entered the theater and the time the lights went down. "It's an airplane?" he guessed on entry, and I'm pretty sure he was worried that the whole theater would be taking off at any moment. Lots of scared whining: "I want to get out of heeeeerrrreeee ..." Accompanied by anxious looks from those in nearby seats. But then the lights went down, and both eyes were riveted to the stage. We made it up to the beginning of "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" before he got too wiggly to stay, which is about as long as I'd expected. And he was very quiet during the performance, though he kept whispering questions to us. "Where are the nuns?" he asked when the scene shifted to the von Trapp home. "Where is Captain von Trapp?" when he left the stage. And suchlike.

We now return to our very own homegrown theatrical productions. Starring ... well, you know who.

Developmental Update

Part of an ongoing series ...

Wild Thing's development is rather uneven (which is creating some minor child care problems). Here's a rough tally of where we stand circa 32 months.

Cognitive/linguistic: WT uses extremely long and complex sentences. He identifies number through ten, and can count at least six objects; he counts to twenty with mixed success, usually forgetting a couple of numbers in the teens. He spells his name, and isolates consonant sounds at the beginnings of words with a pretty high success rate. He knows the names of shapes and colors, including some more obscure ones (turquoise, semicircle).

Social: He's quite friendly with adults and older children. He's not especially interested in kids his age, perhaps because they don't talk as well as he does yet. Kids six months older than he is are preferred, but even then he still prefers adults.

Emotional: Here's the big hitch. He's quite independent, but he doesn't seem able to translate this independence into a desire to do things for himself (washing hands, toilet training, etc.). His independence expresses itself mostly in efforts to resist our directives and desires. Anything that involves the routine of getting ready to get out of the house is likely to produce particular resistence. Ditto naptime. (For some reason, the nighttime routine works fine, and he rarely puts up a fight about it once the toothbrushing/pj donning is over with.) This creates problems for him at his child care center, too, where he strongly resists conforming to schedules.

That's all for now.

Friday Random Ten: Pithy Commentary Edition

1. Lord Franklin--Pentangle.

2. Fountain of Sorry--Jackson Browne. This song starts off strong, but good lord it's long...

3. Goodbye, Everybody--Lots of folk musicians rounded up by Alan Lomax, including John Davis, Willis Proctor, Bessie Jones, and Jerome Davis, among others. Short and sweet.

4. Mourning Air--Portishead.

5. Lullaby--Tom Waits. In honor of his current "let's just skip the West Coast" tour. No, I'm not bitter, thanks for asking.

6. Rebellion (Lies)--Arcade Fire. "Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is." A parent's/grad student's anthem.

7. Boppin' the Blues--Carl Perkins. Must be goin' round.

8. Submarine Bells--The Chills. I think I first bought this album after reading a review of it in my college newspaper by the now-Hugo-nominated John Scalzi. I'm on about my fourth copy now. People keep stealing it. Yes, it's that good.

9. The Bristol Bridegroom--Diane Dugaw.

10. Coffaro's Theme--Bill Frisell (with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones). Jimi Hendrix meets John Coltrane. The results? Cool fusion.

No longer AWOL

The trip to the sauna East Coast is over. Wild Thing got to spend time with his maternal grandmother, to take a ride on a steam train, and to get a trombone lesson, so I think it's a trip he'll remember for a long time.

Posting will now be back to whatever passes for normal around here.

Oh, my aching

So, did you know that it takes a quarter-ton of sand to fill a plastic 4x4 sandbox?

If you did, maybe you could have warned me?