Life is Full of Tough Decisions

Hump Day Humor: 5 Funniest Tweets of the Week So Far

5 Reasons Why I Don't Mind Watching Toddler Cartoons...Occasionally

Doc tells it like it is. No insurance needed.

1. Full story in 15 minutes or Less

Because toddlers obviously have tiny attention spans, their cartoons pack an entire plot run in minimal time. There's no useless filler...just straight to the point action and dialogue. Doc McStuffins doesn't beat around the bush, perform body scans or MRI's, have any "will she or won't she" love interests in the clinic...she just tells it like it is. She diagnosed Sir Kirby's Dark Willies and cured him in the time it takes me to microwave popcorn!

2. Miss Something? No Problem

You can look away from a toddler cartoon for a couple minutes, and when you come back, pick up the storyline pretty easily. Mickey may have used a Mousekatool to get out of a jam, but he'll give you notice in a few more seconds on how many tools he's got left. If you miss a couple minutes of Game of Thrones, it's likely your favorite character just got assassinated or someone got naked...you know, major plot moments and stuff.

3. Life Lessons

Nearly every episode of a toddler cartoon is meant to teach something. You got the academic shapes, numbers, colors but you also have the moral lessons like sharing, caring and forgiveness. Sometimes it's good for adults to see these as a reminder of how you should act. Yeah, Captain Hook is being a lazy douche, trying to hypnotize Jake into doing Hook's work of finding treasure and all. Maybe I need to help my wife around the house...

Are these mice or chipmunks?

4. It's Funny Every Now and Then

I'll admit it: I have a pretty dry and dark sense of humor. I don't enjoy widely popular shows like Two and Half Men, Modern Family or The Big Bang Theory. But I can't help myself but grin a little when those little singing mice or chipmunks (my wife and I argue over their species) pop up on Sheriff Callie to reiterate an obvious point in bluegrass twang. And that robot-bird Merc on the new show Miles from Tomorrowland deserves his own damn spin-off sitcom...he's hilarious.

5. Because My Daughter Likes Watching It

Plain and simple. I'll sacrifice the first quarter of the Cavs game or a rerun of Seinfeld if my daughter and I can share some leisure and enjoyment. Seeing her smile and dance when the Hot Dog song comes on makes my night.

Disclaimer: My barely one-year-old daughter is not addicted to TV or any toddler cartoons. Most of the time, she watches the intro song and then moves onto hard, physical play time in the living room. She couldn't care less if Doc McStuffins got cancelled...though my wife and I might write Disney a strongly worded letter. 

Hump Day Humor: 5 Funniest Tweets of the Week So Far

Baby's First Word? The Guessing Game

We've got a new contender for Anlee's first word! She just started doing this a couple days ago:

So in Anlee language, there are six phrases:
"ba-ba" = ball

"ma-ma-ma" = mom or general speak

"da-da-da" = dad or general speak

"pup-pup" = puppy

"na-na" = food, water or anything she wants to put in her mouth

"EEEEE" = things aren't going the way I want them to

So which one will be her actually first word? Your guess is as good as mine...but it would be really cool for this dad if his daughter's first word was "ball." But daddy or mommy would be nice, too. As long as it's not Mizzou or Cubs or any other curse word.

Please feel free to share in the comments below what your kid's first words were and/or maybe how you tried to coax it out of them.  

Hump Day Humor: 5 Funniest Tweets of the Week So Far

Anlee Doing Anlee Stuff: Turning On the Lights, Turning Off the Lights

Anlee's First Snow Day

There's a long list of things that Anlee has yet to do. It's not quite right to call it a baby bucket list, but there are some life experiences she's got to go through before she turns two.

- Say her first word
- Pet a goat
- Eat Taco Bell
- Play in the snow

She checked off the last one this past weekend. We've waited all winter for the chance to get her outside in the white stuff. Anlee got a fluffy new snowsuit for Christmas that's just been collecting dust. She's been working on her high step to climb over the drifts and practicing her graceful fall into a pile of imaginary snow in the living room...at least, I think that's what she's been doing. And yesterday, we finally we got more than a ogre's dandruff worth of frozen precipitation.

So we went outside to take a few family pictures. Anlee made it through about three snapshots before exploding into a rager. (Side note: Most people stock up on bread and milk before a snowstorm...not us. We got baby snacks. Nothing is more vital to our survival as parents.) To charm the snake, we put a snack in her hand and we got an extra 20 seconds of Kodak moments. After the snack was gone, she got desperate and tried to eat the snow. It was not yellow, so we let her have at it until her hands got cold.

After a messy lunch and a nap, we initiated launch sequence for playtime and got her snow suit assembled. It didn't allow much room for motion, comparable to a chubby penguin in skinny jeans, but at least she was warm.

We tried to get her to scoop some snow or maybe throw a snow ball, but she just sat there...comfortable in her snow sofa. I built a tiny snow man, thinking she might want to topple him when I was through (she loves tearing down block towers), but she still just wanted to sit and stare. So after five or so minutes of an adventure, we decided enough was enough and went back inside.

Maybe she'll have more fun checking off the Taco Bell...