{Embrace} the Camera

Hey everyone!! It's Embrace the Camera Thursday and, yet again, self timer and continuous shoot are my heroes!! (Sorry Superman, but the truth is the truth.)




Reading to Joseph is so much fun now that he is interested enough to pay attention. Ok... Interested enough to grab at the pages of the book.

We've been reading "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle the last few days. He also wrote, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," among other favorites. I really love how bright and colorful his art is (and so does Joseph!).

I am going to have some serious forehead wrinkles as an old woman. It will be SMOKIN' HOT!

Joseph likes to touch the pages while I read. He's even turned the pages a few times by accident. When we read smaller books, he grabs on where I'm holding the book. It makes it harder to turn the pages because he doesn't want to let go, but it's so cute!

Our current favorite book is "Barnyard Dance" by Sandra Boynton. I almost have the whole thing memorized.

"Clap your feet! Stomp your hands! Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!!" Whenever Stephen hears that line, he yells out that it doesn't actually rhyme. Silly husband. (Trix are for kids.)

Whatever. It's close enough. Besides, the rest of the book rhymes. "Bow to the horse. Bow to the cow. Twirl with the pig if you know how!" Do you know how to twirl with a pig? I think it would be rather difficult. Just think about it. Pigs are seriously cumbersome. And all of that mud has got to make them slippery. I really don't think pigs are twirl material.

Did you know that you can also find children's books online? My new favorite online books to read to Joseph are the bluebison.net stories by Hayes Roberts. I can't decide which I like more  - "The Wiener Dog Magnet" or "The Brave Monkey Pirate." His illustrations and storylines crack me up. You should DEFINITELY go read them. They are great for both adults and kids.

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(The site also includes fun printable coloring books here.)

Come on? How can you resist that illustration??

Another favorite activity of ours is to sit on the front porch and watch the cars and trucks drive by. As soon as Joseph hears one coming, he turns his head towards it and then follows it's movement until it's out of sight. He does this over and over. When he gets a little older, we'll start calling out colors and types of vehicles. Those chicken trucks should be very interesting...

Inspired by his striped pants, I decided to tell him a story today. (I do this often when I run out of things to talk to him about.)

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land called Vir-jinny, amidst the tall, dark mountains, there lived a scary baby monster named Joseph. The poor tigers in the land quaked in fear at the very mention of his terrible name. Whenever Joseph got tired, he would stomp throughout the land rubbing his eyes and letting out ferocious roars that would shake the very mountains. One day, a brave little tiger came up to Joseph and asked him to stop roaring. The little tiger just couldn't get to sleep above all the racket. The mean, grumpy Joseph ignored the little tiger's request and sat down on top of the tiger, squishing him flat. From that day forward, Joseph the baby monster stomped around the land with a squished tiger on his diapered butt.  Sometimes, Joseph's mommy made him wear a squished tiger bib to match his tiger-ed bottom (he was a hapless victim of baby fashion). Showing no mercy, the baby monster Joseph would drool all over the bib until it was soaking wet. After all, he was a baby drool monster and that's what baby drool monsters do. Outraged by the horrible actions of Joseph the baby drool monster, the tigers of the land had him arrested. They forced him to wear striped pajamas and put him in baby drool monster prison. There, finally behind bars, Joseph the baby drool monster was forced to serve his sentence sleeping. Peace finally returned to the land and Joseph was never allowed to squish or drool on a tiger again. The end."

Don't worry. Joseph isn't always the villain in our stories... Sometimes he's very heroic and goes about rescuing mommy damsels in distress. Then he gets rewarded with smooches.

And sometimes, we pretend we're living in a musical and we sing about everything we do throughout the day. "Oh, folding laundry is fun! Folding laundry is fun! Hi ho the merry-o, folding laundry is fun!" Poor kid has to listen to his mother sing... It's ok, little man. Between the smooches and the singing, I'd try to eat my face too.

Embrace the camera, people, and embrace the crazy!