Sleepless Outside Seattle

The Gremlin has grown very attached to "Lickey," the stuffed 101 Dalmatian's Lucky that has been re-named because the Gremlin's "comes alive at night and licks him." On his recent trip to Chicago, the Gremlin left Lickey back in Seattle. This was becoming so traumatic that the Mother of the Gremlin stopped off at the Disney store, just to see if there was one there.

Upon arriving at the store, the Gremlin found only one stuffed dalmatian left. He bolted up to it and shouted.

"Lickey, I can't believe it! You followed me here from Seattle! I have been missing you! I am so happy!" With the stuffed animal under his arm, the Gremlin headed for the door. The MOTG tried to stop him.

"Buddy, we have to pay for that." The Gremlin was perplexed at this idea.

"Are you kidding me?! This is MY dog.  I'm not paying for my own dog!" The Gremlin was herded into line with much protest. He continued to complain and grumble, so when they reached the front of the line, the cashier was curious what was going on. After the MOTG explained the situation, the cashier was nice enough to play along. She looked at the Gremlin and tried to help explain.

"Don't worry we are only charging you for his travel expenses." The Gremlin's eyes lit up with understanding.

"Oh, a plane ticket, I get it!"

Favorite Toy of the Week: Lego Bionicle

Still Playing Politics with the Easter Bunny

The Gremlin was at the doctor's office the other day when he saw another mother and child coming into the office. The mother and her newborn were bundled up for the chilly Seattle morning, and the Gremlin noticed something interesting.

"Momma, I think that baby is silly."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I think it's a silly hat." The Mother of the Gremlin looked over and saw the baby was wearing a bunny hat - white with floppy ears, pastel blue eyes and a pink nose. "I think it's silly to look like the Easter Bunny!"

"Well, it is an Easter hat, buddy," the MOTG informed him. The Gremlin stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly looked up at the mother of the newborn, who was sitting back enjoying this conversation.

"He must have gotten a lot of stuff for Easter!"

"Well, he did get three Easter baskets." The Gremlin, fully charged at this news, turned to the MOTG.

"MOMMA, WHERE DO I GET A HAT LIKE THAT?!"

"Buddy, it's a baby's hat." The Gremlin sighed, relieved.

"That's okay - we're getting a baby."


And a Chicago picture update of the Gremlin in Legoland

Favorite Toy of the Week: Lego Bionicles

Mean Streak

We've recently found that the Gremlin has gotten significantly better with sharing. He will now share willingly with his friends, and doesn't get upset about the Mother of the Gremlin asking him to share with strange kids (though we usually have to encourage him significantly).

He was being so nice that we were surprised when some rather disturbing imagery bubbled up. The MOTG took the Gremlin over to the doctor's office to get his final boosters. When the nurse entered the room with the needle he started.

"She had better not try to stick me with that or I will stab her in the face!" We were lucky enough to have a seasoned veteran who burst out laughing at the threats of the 4 year-old, however she still tried to talk to him about it.

"Oh, sweetie, it's not going to hurt! It will be really quick and you won't feel it at all."

The Gremlin looked at the MOTG.

"We'll see if it doesn't hurt when she gets stabbed in the face."


Favorite Toy of the Week: Darth Maul Lightsaber

Playing Politics with the Easter Bunny

So the Gremlin decided to go out on Saturday, and visit a few of the neighborhood easter bunnies.

We arrived at the local community center and he immediately insisted on having his picture taken with the easter bunny. he stood as far away as physically possible, and was not at all pleased about the picture.

He wasn't pleased about the hand on his back either

However once that was completed, he proceeded to continue and enjoy himself - searching for eggs, getting his face painted, and having a 'grand old time.'

Grand Old Time

On the way home, he saw another egg hunt and wanted to stop. There again, he proceeded directly to the easter bunny and demanded another picture - keeping as far away as possible while being able to ensure a photo would occur.

Again, notice the facial expression.

And immediately after, he jumped up and ran off to have fun.

Fun

On the way home, we asked him about the pictures he stated he, "wanted to make sure the easter bunny thinks we're good buddies so he'll bring me lots of stuff tomorrow." He's going to play office politics like a pro - and reap the rewards:

Favorite Toy of the Week: Lego Star Wars Rebel Trooper Battle Pack

Golden Locks of Danger

Being the incredibly responsible parents we are, the Gremlin visited Krispy Kreme yesterday, and proved once again that I'm going to need to stock up on weapons to defend myself once the Gremlin gets old enough to break hearts.

While the Mother of the Gremlin was getting a half-dozen original glazed, the Gremlin was again, not standing in line but up at the counter in the front. He had seen his kryptonite: chocolate glaze.

One of the younger female workers noticed the Curls of Cuteness and paused at the counter. The Gremlin, pointing and talking about the chocolate glazed donut, paused and looked up.

"Man I love chocolate donuts. You're really pretty!" And he bounced his curls for emphasis.

(emphasis)

We saw the Gremlin walk away from the counter and crawl up into a booth, but having his back to us, we didn't realize he'd manage to score his chocolate glaze until he turned around and we saw the mustache (see profile picture for an idea of what that looks like).

The kid really needs a haircut...


Favorite Toy of the Week: Big Brown Box (due to several unfortunate home repairs, the Gremlin now has a brand new water heater box to play in!)

Why Try?

"Mumma, what are we having for dinner?"

"Chicken nuggets."

"Oh Mumma, when yours look like dinosaurs, they'll taste like the ones from the store. Until then, don't even try."

Favorite Toy of the Week: Pirate Ship

Trying to Look Like Daddy

The other day the Gremlin decided he wanted to "look more like Daddy." This was during the course of a normal conversation (if you can have a normal conversation with a 4 year-old), and he didn't bring it up again so we thought it was not anything to think about.

Unfortunately, the mind of a child is still something we're trying to figure out, and a while later, he emerged from his room with pen marks all over his face. Each mark was a small dash, no more than a centimeter in length. All were horizontal and they were grouped mostly around his mouth, but some led back up his jaw to his ear.

The Gremlin had used a pen to draw himself facial hair.

After a short discussion where we encouraged the Gremlin to not write on himself, the Mother of the Gremlin was getting frustrated by the all-encompassing knowledge of the 4 year-old.

"But buddy, I don't even know if that will come off!" The Gremlin had already thought of this, though, and provided another classic view of the world.

"Sure it will, I just have to shave!"


Favorite Toy of the Week: General Grievous action figure