Kids say the funniest things...

 

Kids say and do the cutest things. I try and make a point of writing the really "good" ones down.  I know I have forgotten quite a few, but here are some that did make it to paper (or rather to Google Docs!)

No Storks, Just go to Florida

In April we went to Florida to visit with Owen's grandparents. At the time I was five month pregnant. Two months later Owen was still talking about the trip and of course was anxious to go back to "visit Bobbe and Papa Gordon". I use quotations because I suspect in his head, going back to Florida meant going to Disney World to see Mickey Mouse.  This particular discussion was quite lengthy as Owen was trying to get me to agree to go to Florida ("on Saturday" - the only day of the week he knew at the time) and he was giving me the reasons we should go. One, he wanted to go on an airplane. A big airplane. To Florida to see Bobbe and Papa Gordon. And, we could see Mickey Mouse (he says all of this with great big head nods, and yups and hmm-hmms), and we could also pick up the baby from Florida. Yes, apparently our baby was coming to us - direct from Florida.

Where is God?

Every night Owen gets to pick three books. One night he picked Bible Stories off of the shelf and my husband began to read him the story of Noah.  In the story it says " And God said to Noah...", but on the picture there is just a image of Noah, his ark and a bunch of animals. Owen looks at his dad, points to the picture and says, "Daddy, where is God?"

Where is my mind?

Owen loves music. I listen to Z103.5 which plays Hip-Hop, Dance and Pop music and when Owen began to sing to Acon and Kardinal Offishall's Dangerous song it crossed my mind that perhaps I should be listening to Raffi in the car. But, it was terribly funny one day when he was with my husband in the car listening to the Edge (Rock/Alternative station) listening to a Pixies song. Well, he picked that song up quite quickly - singing "where is my mind, where is my mind" frequently and on cue.

 

Look mom, Look at my Poop!

A few weeks ago I was called urgently to the bathroom. I imagined a mess like the last time I was called to attend him immediately in the washroom. This time however, I was greeted with " Look mom!" (pointing in toilet) "My poop made an "O"!"

 

My husband has a new name...

My son thinks he is a comedian.  When he calls his dad up from the basement, or bellows for him to bring him something he will yell, " Hon!..."

One day, just to see what he would say, I asked him what his dad's name was. He got it right, didn't actually say "hon", but I also asked him where daddy lived and he said " at work".

 

Hair Expert

My mom has very curly hair. To my dismay, and my father's she spends hours straightening and flattening it. I have often suggested that I like it curly so I suspect when this incident happened she thought I put Owen up to it. But it was all pure Owen. We were talking on Skype one day, obviously before my mother got around to the flat-iron routine. Owen says "I like your hair, Bobbe!"

 

Magic Marker Feet

I went out to a nail salon with a few girlfriends the other night for a friends "goodbye to singledom".  I had a mani-pedi. When Owen saw my red toes, he said "You coloured your feet red mommy! It looks pretty"

 

There are of course things I would rather not here from my three year old:

Why?
No thank you! (emphasis on NO- said in a particular tone!)
Don't talk to me like that
I don't like that
Phew (tongue out)
Jesus! (only once and then he seemed to have forgotten this one)

Happy (?) Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to me.....

- Bear woke up at 6:15
- With a poop in his diaper...and down his leg
- Hubbie worked last night - so he is asleep now

Thank goodness my Bear is so worth it.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom...who is likely amused at my troubles.

Disney Magic

Technorati Tags: disney,vacation,florida,mickey mouse,branding

I have been away from blogging on both blogs for about two weeks now. One week due to a holiday to Florida, and the second week due to computer exhaustion as I had over 230 emails to read at work alone.

My first blog post after my break is going to be shared between Okbabybear and MEGO due to the subject being about our vacation with Bear and about the incredible Disney experience!

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When I was a child my family went to Florida almost every year, so by age 13 I had been to Disney 8 or 9 times. This year we decided to make the trip south with Bear and his grandparents. I was both excited and nervous about the trip. Excited to see my little boys face when the Disney magic touches him, and nervous in case what I remembered wasn't real.

I didn't have any reason to be worried. We arrived at the gates just after they opened and by 11 o'clock I had my money's worth! Disney is simply a brand that gets "it". From the ticket takers, to the cleaning crew and the photographers to the characters - each Imagineer at Disney is a representative of the brand.  Everything that is done, even the little things, are done to perpetuate the brand message. 

Park a stroller in "stroller parking" - chances are when you return from the ride that the "parking" lot will be arranged in straight lines making it easy for you to get your stroller out. Exit the Pirates of the Caribbean and you might just run into Jack Sparrow himself putting on a show.  Or as part of the "Year of a Million Dreams" you could meet an Imagineer who hands you a "Fast Pass" that gets you into the short line for the most popular rides.

The highlight of the day for my son, and therefore for the rest of us, was visiting Mickey's Toon Town where Bear met his favourite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters. We arrived at the area 10 minutes before they opened. Instead of a person coming out to open the gate - they sent Pluto and Donald.  In this area the kids can visit Mickey & Minnie at the Judge's Tent, and Donald, Pluto and Goofy in another building. We started with Mickey & Minnie, who were just arriving as we were.  My son screams out "Hi!" and Mickey turns and waves as all the adults laugh at my adorable little Bear. When we get our turn with Mickey & Minnie, my son, nervously leans over hands between his knees, and says to Mickey " I...I..have a suitcase!" Well actually he has a Mickey Mouse back-pack...but close enough. Magically, my son's favourite show comes to life. Disney photographers take pictures of the moment, but instead of not allowing you to take photos, forcing you to purchase over priced images in order to savour the moment - they let you take your own pictures. Of course, they give you a card with a PhotoPass number so that IF you want to purchase the images - YOU CAN.  And, I likely will...sucker that I am. But I feel rather warm and fuzzy about not HAVING TO...since I already have some cute shots of Mickey & Minnie with Bear. 

Despite line-ups at rides and beverage carts, and crowds around characters and parade routes - not once did I hear an angry customer or a snide remark between park goers.  It seems that everyone was touched by the magic of Disney. 

Disney Countdown!

In a few weeks we take Owie-Bear to see Mickey Mouse! Since Play House Disney started broadcasting in Canada he has been hooked on Mickey Mouse's Playhouse.

Miska Mooshka Mickey Mouse!We made the mistake of telling Owen we were going to see Mickey - back in December or January and because of that his little two year old brain thinks that every day is THE DAY!

"Going to see Mickey Mouse today? Miska Mooska Mickey Mouse! With Bobbi and Papa G. And, Mommy and Daddy. Going on an airplane, on a big airplane. It's me by the window, see lots of airplanes. Daddy works on airplanes. Daddy go to work?"

This is the basic Mickey Mouse speech. It varies only slightly. Then of course we have to explain to him that we aren't going TODAY. That it is still quite some time until we see Mickey Mouse. I showed him a calendar, and told him it wasn't this week but many weeks from now.

Unfortunately it doesn't take much to remind him about the impending trip. A picture of an airplane, his Mickey Mouse back-pack, the television program. The other day I was on the phone with my parents (who we are going to Disney with) and we were talking about Hotels to stay at. We didn't mention any of the following words:

• Airplane
• Mickey
• Disney
• Florida

Yet, somehow, Owie-Bear knew. He pipes up with " Going to see Mickey Mouse. With Mommy and Daddy."
I say, "And, who else?"
He says "Papa G."
I say "And, who else?"
He says " Owen!"
Meanwhile, Bobbi says " What about Bobbi!"
He says, " And Papa G."
We laugh. "Who is going to Florida, Owen"
"Mommy, Daddy, Papa G. and Owen!" - he laughs and laughs...
Poor Bobbi!

Country Boy

Not sure how, but it seems that my three-year old son, likes country music. It can't come naturally because neither my husband or I are BIG country fans.

I have rather eclectic taste, thanks to my parents who seem rather schizophrenic in their music taste (my mom swung from 50s pop to country, to American Idol Pop to Bon Jovi in a matter of my lifetime; and my father has records (literally) from Chet Atkins to Dire Straits, and CDs from Roseanne Cash to Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young to Sheryl Crow). My iTunes catalogue includes Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop, so-called "alternative", acoustic, and dance music. When QueenofSpain tweeted looking for song suggestions I gave her a good variety of ideas: Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai, Buddy Holly by Weezer and Poison by Bel Biv Devoe. Notice no country. While I have a few "crossover" country on my iTunes (Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, Dixie Chicks) and a few "'cause the title is funny" ("Did I Shave My Legs For This" and "Here's a Quarter Call Someone Who Cares") - I have likely never played them for Owen. He is on a strict diet of rock, pop and Raffi.


This morning while I was getting ready for work Owen rudely changed the channel on the radio alarm from all news radio (where I can get my update on the TSX, politics and traffic!) to a random Hamilton country station. No idea what song was playing, but the kid went nuts wiggling his butt and doing something that can only be referred to as "head banging". Now do I have to encourage this musical interest? Or can I kick it?

Civilization: 1 km

This is what one amusing sign said in Ottawa. It was ironically placed near the Parliament building but of course it was just a a sign for the Museum of Civilization.

Anton and I met in Ottawa and we remember it fondly. We thought with a week off it would be a good place to take Owen. We broke the journey into two parts, first day travelling as far far as Anton's parents house for a short visit, and the second day on to Ottawa. On the first leg of the journey we stopped in Belleville to have lunch. We sipped a Happy Hour Daiquiri, and Owen tested the lemons from our water glasses:

We thought that by splitting the journey we would hear less whining from the backseat. Sadly, that wasn't the case. Half-way from Anton's parent's house Owen began his never ending tirade of "Get out Mommy!", "Too tight, Daddy", " Open the door" , "Get out, Get out!". So in Perth, we gave in and stopped for lunch where we got Owen his first Kid's Meal - complete with markers which he used to decorate napkins and the table at Harveys. On the way out of town his ex-ray eyes saw a Ice Cream shop and he began singing "Ice cream, Ice cream yum-yum-yum." We were not fooled by his cuteness. Later in the trip he reenacted this trick with " I love Bagels, yum yum yum".

In Ottawa, we went straight to the Museum of Nature, which for those of you who have never been, is an amazing looking building. Basically it looks like a huge castle. So much so, that after Owen has dirtied his diaper, he announces to us that he had "pooped in a castle". Owen was in his element counting caribou, pointing out baby Bison, roaring at Dinosaurs and flapping his wings in the bird area.


The following day we kept the museum theme ( obviously, I am going for the "Best Mom" award) and headed to the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau which has an amazing Children's Museum. So great, that we were there all day. Owen who loves to entertain took up the opportunity to dance on stage:


At the museum he banged on drums, drove a boat, an airplane, coloured a beautiful picture, drove a motorcycle and a car, operated a cash register, and served a dish of ice cream to another child in the Kid's Cafe. All in days work for Owen! After the museum we went for coffee with two old friends, and this is what they saw of Owen:

Walking in Papa Gordon's Shoes

Enjoy this video of the little entertainer: