Friday, June 25, 2010

Fire Men and Beer

Even though the Gremlin's favorite toys over the last few weeks have mostly (aside from packing) centered around the Mighty World Fire Brigade set he got, he hasn't actually been able to play with it yet as it's for the plane ride to Seattle (so the Mother of the Gremlin doesn't commit filicide).

In addition to packing and spending money (seriously, she kept the checkbook - how bad of an idea was that?!), the MOTG is also cleaning. It so happened she was cleaning on top of the refrigerator the other day, which happens to be where we keep the things we don't want the Gremlin to touch. While cleaning to attempt to lure tenants (you know you want to rent our place out) she moved the Mighty World Fire Brigade from the top of the fridge to the table, with the pizza stone, the Darth Vader Halloween bucket, and the random pieces of plastic.

I would never say my wife is scatterbrained (Heaven forbid she be compared to those of a lighter hair disposition), but upon receiving a phone call while cleaning, the Mighty World Fire Brigade was forgotten on top of the kitchen table. Once she had completed the phone call, she put everything back on top of the fridge. While doing so, she noticed that the Mighty World Fire Brigade now consisted of a wind-up pooping penguin, a McDonald's Lego Batman, and a Duplo Sir Toppham Hat.

So the MOTG called him back into the dining room and asked him what was going on.

"Excuse me, what is this?" The Gremlin was prepared for this, though, and looked intently at the package.
"Looks like fire men to me... Don't come in my room, though, okay mom?"



If that wasn't enough, the Gremlin was asked at our church small group what he did that day, and he told them. In detail. His memory is second to none, and he recounted all the steps he saw, and everything he helped with. The only slightly awkward part of this conversation was in that he had been helping me make beer.

Favorite toy of the week: Curious George sticker book

Friday, June 18, 2010

Sure I Will ... It's Just A Question of How Much

This was back when 'Uncle Zach' was in town - the Gremlin was getting used to being toted to his destinations. So it was a surprise when the Father of the Gremlin informed the Gremlin he was tired.

"Okay buddy, I'm tired. Can you walk for a bit?"
"Sure daddy."

So I put the Gremlin on the sidewalk and stretched my back and arm out, while the Gremlin promptly turned around and walked the three steps over to Uncle Zach and put his arms up. He was hoisted up without so much as a word of protest, and the Gremlin returned to his accustomed spot on high.

Favorite toy of the week: Fellowes Small SmoothMove Moving Box, 10 Pack, 12 x 12 x 16 Inches

The Gremlin has spent the last two days taking anything given to him - such as toys, clothing, dinner, etc...  - and 'packing' it in a box, stating he was 'ready to go to Seapple.'

Friday, June 11, 2010

'Good' Is Relative

The Gremlin was suspiciously quiet the other day, having vanished from sight for a good 20 minutes without any noise that usually follows his 'playing.' When the Mother of the Gremlin realized this, she started looking around the house. After figuring out he wasn't in his room, she walked through the house and realized he was in the bathroom with the door closed.

"Buddy, are you being good?"
"Yes momma. But don't come in here."

Of course, the MOTG felt it necessary to go in. The Gremlin had pushed the stopper down, filled the sink, and was busy submerging things in water. The Gremlin was attempting to determine the buoyancy of things like a roll of toilet paper, his Breakdown Train, his fire truck Legos, our contact lens cases, a box of Band-Aids, a pair of nail clippers, and a tape measure. The MOTG was taken aback.

"You are not being good!"
"Well, momma, neither are you. I told you not to come in here. I think you need a timeout for not listening."

The Gremlin marched out of the bathroom, around the corner and pointed to the time out corner. The MOTG stared at him, so the Gremlin pointed even more emphatically.

"Come on, momma, you need to go to time out now. Go."

Favorite toy of the week: Mighty World Fire Brigade

Friday, June 4, 2010

The Park Peep Watch

The Gremlin, displaying his grasp of the social mores instilled in him by his mother, has showed his peep to the entire park no less than three (3) times today.

The first attempt - a failed impromptu bathroom behind some bushes - actually involved the Gremlin hopping across the park from the only clump of bushes in the entire fenced-off kids section with his pants and underpants around his ankles shouting "It's cold on my peep! It's COLD!" I was just pleased that the rest of the parents at the park weren't judging us at all. You could tell from the way they kept looking at us with envy because I had Panda Express.

The second and third exposures both involved changing out of and into his Thomas the Tank Engine trunks, such as instead of toweling them dry he preferred to drop trou right in the middle of the sprinklers because he'd decided he was 'done.' It's funny, though. Even though I'd finished my orange chicken, the looks of envy actually increased after the Gremlin's peep came out agai- oh... nevermind.

Well, at least he's not afraid to be himself...

Favorite toy of the week:  Duplo Fire Truck