Llama Llama Red Pajama

Joe took Julie out on a date this afternoon! They went to see a children's theater production of Llama Llama Red Pajama in Hopkins, one town over or, as Joe put it, he went "to see Llama Llama Red Pajama, with Mama." In honor of the occasion, Joe dressed up in a "party shirt," and Julie wore a red sweater. On the way there, in keeping with the afternoon's theme, Our Hero requested Red Solo Cup, approved stopping for a car wash, tagged along while Julie picked up a movie at the Red Box at McDonald's, and scored a strawberry shake. Ostensibly, the shake was the share, but as Our Hero was allowed to keep it in the backseat with him, he had pretty much sucked the whole thing down by the time they arrived at the theater. (He left a bit in the cup for the way home, and then decided to save the very last sip for Ted. Lucky Ted. There's nothing quite like the dregs of an hours old strawberry shake.)

The tickets were for the balcony level, but the first row, so Joe had a pretty solid view of things once he had Julie's coat, and his coat, folded up underneath him. It was touch and go for a bit though as Joe tried out various seats, clearly searching for a better view, and not understanding this whole concept of "assigned seating." "Assigned seating!" Who needs it?! Once Joe was settled, they passed the pre-show time by making paper airplanes out of the pages of the playbill (and thankfully, they didn't sail down to the orchestra level).

The production was about an hour long, with lots of singing and dancing. Joe was pretty mesmerized--except during the moments of pure dialogue. Then, he turned to Julie and asked if it was time to leave. Or to use the potty. Fortunately, this is solid community children's theater, and they kept the straight up talking to a minimum. So even though Our Hero probably didn't follow an hour's worth of story (and one with which he is somewhat familiar), he liked watching everything that was going on. He also, apparently, enjoyed the clapping. After it was over, Julie asked what Joe thought. He said he liked the clapping. Walking out, he said he had fun on our date. But he didn't want to see Llama Llama Red Pajama again.

Clara Does the Coat Flip Trick

A few posts ago, we mentioned that Clara can do "the coat-flip trick" to put her coat on all by herself. Look out World! Here she is. Put your hands together! Yea!

Winter Gala 2012

Fans! The wait is over. Winter Gala 2012 is in the bag. Longtime Fans will recall that this is the third Gala in which Our Hero has participated. He was there at its inception, in 2010, when even the Toddler Room tots participated, and the kids were taken into a green room before the performance. But we know we don't need to remind you of all of this. Who can forget Our Hero's breakout performance in Little Red Caboose?* By 2011, Winter Gala performers were pulled from the ranks of tots in the Twos Rooms and beyond. Our Hero was an old hand, but the excitement of the night got the better of him.**

In this year's Gala, Joe performed two numbers with the Preschool A classroom. A ditty called Bundle Up sung to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It, and The Lion Sleeps Tonight. (In the run up to this year's event, Joe informed us that instead of "wimoweh," he liked to say "wimoWAP!") Given the second song selection, jungle animal costumes were de rigueur. Joe was in a monkey suit (over monkey pajamas). He is third from the right (or stage left). (WE were sitting in the first row, stage left, and he pegged us--Joe Fans!--right away. Waved with both hands when he came out.) You can spot him in The Lion Sleeps Tonight as the start of the group that isn't doing the wiggle at the wimowehs. You can see his wheels turning, trying to remember all the motions with the words. He had the words; the motions were perhaps a little lost in the moment. But watch for the tucking of his head to his hands on "the lion sleeps tonight" line, and especially, the little hip waggle which he added at the second chorus of wimowehs. Also, look for the enthusiastic hopping that follows the celebratory Preschool A huddle at the end of its performance. He was so proud, and we were, too. (Clara would have been, too, but she stayed home with Sara, who came over to put her to bed. Birdie will perform at next year's Gala, so yes, you will want to start counting the days now.)

*http://joeekkers.blogspot.com/2010/01/winter-gala-movie.html

**http://joeandclara.blogspot.com/2011/01/second-annual-winter-gala-movie.html

Uno Moo

Note: no socks.

Also: backwards shirt.

So as we just mentioned, but posts ago, the bambini spend a lot of their time playing together, chasing each other. Most often, they run from their room, to the corner of the kitchen where the refrigerator meets the junk drawer that will not open all the way, and back again. The door to their bedroom is open and shut repeatedly. When they happened to end up, momentarily, on opposite sides of the door, when the door is then flung open and they are reunited, they SCREAM in delight. AHHHHH!!!!! Another favorite "game" of the moment, is to take any matching card game, and dump all the cards out (Candyland cards are often in the mix, too) onto the floor, or into a bin. If the cards are dumped into a bin, Joe likes to stir them up and chant, "Milk in the batter! Milk in the batter! Stir it! Scrape it! Make it! Bake it!" from In the Night Kitchen.

This morning though, Joe wanted to play Uno Moo. He asked Julie to play, but as she was in the midst of setting her hair and the only one in the family not yet dressed, she had to decline. That's when Joe said, "Maybe Clara will play with me." Clara is most often found hot on Joe's heels so she was game. Before things went off the rails, Julie suggested that perhaps Joe could tell Clara what the colors of all the pieces were. Thereafter, one could here him saying, just like Mommy or Daddy," See, Clara? This is yellow." (We may have mentioned that Joe thought it was funny for a time to tell Clara all manner of non-yellow things were yellow, so Julie did peak around the corner to see if Joe was leading Clara astray again. He was not.)

Clara Tries to Say CHEESE!!!!!

So cute, figure 1