DJElectricDaddy

Keep in The Sprite occupied

The Sprite passes the long hours of a winter day...

A couple of weeks ago, on A Saturday morning, The Sprite and I were trying to figure out what we would do for a couple of hours while ElectricMummy enjoyed her turn to sleep in. Our little Early Bird is up to get the Weekend Worm promptly at 6:30am every weekend like German clockwork. So we take turns to get up with him and find ways to keep him occupied while the other gets a couple of bonus hours of sleep. This usually entails sitting him in front of Playhouse Disney on TV whilst the unfortunate 'parent' sneaks some shut-eye on the couch. But on this particular weekend The Sprite had his mind made up that he wanted to step back in time and watch some of those Baby Einstein's. you know, those DVDs of toys and toddlers and primary colors. These were great when he was an infant, we'd set him up in his swing and he'd sit engrossed watching these mindless (to adult eyes) video's. We thought these DVD's were ready for the yard sale by now. He had grown and his tastes were more mature. We own every Pixar movie under the sun and they get played in steady rotation. Little did we know there was life in the puppet dog yet. We'll see if this weekend here was an anomaly or if Baby Einstein's once again become a fixture in The Sprightly Playlist.

The Very Very Very Lazy Lazy Ladybug as read by His Spriteness.One busy morning as I am rushing about the house deep in my morning ritual of putting on my cornflakes and pouring nice cold milk over a bowl of underwear, I heard a voice. It was talking, conversing, telling a story. I easily recognised the voice as that of my own child (now THAT'S parenting for ya) but it was different somehow.It wasn't whining, pleading for some sticky sugary food item he is not allowed. It wasn't crying because the house next door was painted the wrong color. It wasn't screaming, shrieking at the top of his lungs, just to see if it's true that Daddies eyeballs start to bleed from sound over 21,000hz frequency and 120db of amplitude. No, this sound was quite, peaceful, conversational.I stopped to listen for a moment, half expecting to hear a secret conversation with a new found imaginary friend, or worse. For him to be speaking in Aramaic, uttering strange ancient curses. But once I poked my head around his door, instead of picking an outfit for to wear today at school, I saw him sitting on the floor, book in hands, reading to himself.Of course this would make any parent proud. The fact he chose to pick a book, one we had been reading every night for a couple of weeks, and voluntarily entertain himself with words was a huge step in the right direction as far as I am concerned. Not to mention it was darn cute.Obviously he wasn't actually reading the words off the page. He's a way off from doing that. As I mentioned, we had been reading the book every night, and The Sprite Brain had clearly absorbed the story and memorised the words. This is almost more impressive, a trait he has displayed many times since, memorising words and books with ease. Matching the story to the pictures, and understanding the context, he is able to recount his most popular books. I told ElectricMommy he would make a great actor if he can memorise his lines that easily. She said if he can remember a birthday or wedding anniversary (something his Dad is incapable of) she'll be happy.

Time.Where does it go. The sands in the hourglass."Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day" as David Gilmour sang. Today, I rant about time and the management and keeping of it. it's been a recurring theme around these parts for some time now that we are always late. For everything. Since The Sprite was born it has only gotten worse. And now he is off to pre-school in the mornings, there are added complications and distractions to deal with.Subsequently I have been getting to work later and later. The little fella just loves to help out. In fact he insists. Whether it is making my tea or taking the trash out, The Helping Hand of Sprite is there slowing me down. Trying to get everything done and get out the door in time without tripping over Little Monster has revealed an epic weakness in our system. We are all lolligaggers.So it did not go unnoticed by the Power Behind The Door at work and I got a stiff talking to, well actually quite a limp talking to considering. ElectricMomy and I have tryed to work something out, some kind of system that works for everyone. With her off to full-time employment again it's tough getting a schedule where we can satisfy the needs of Corporate Amerika (which feeds and clothes us), yet allows us to deliver The Sprite to and from school safely and timely.I'm sure it is nothing new and families the world over have to deal with exactly the same problems. It is also someting Corporate Amerika is fully aware of, it being nothing new to them either, so one would expect some level of understanding on their part. But also, I know that when The Sprite starts 'real' education we will have to be much more disiplined. School starts earlier and the stakes are higher than simply missing sandbox time.I'm hoping these early years tune us to the fina art of getting up and out at a decent hour in the morning. And with that being said, I'll leave it to Mr. Gilmour to take us out."Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time. Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, Thought I'd something more to say."

need notes

A few weeks ago, ElectricMummy had to go do some business things, which is nothing unusual, except on this occasion our little Sprite had a bit of a cough that kept him out of school. That left me on playground duty for a couple of hours. Which was actually quite nice, it got me out of the office and away from work for an extended period of time with a perfectly valid excuse.So, with time to kill, the boy and I hit the swings, slides and sand for a brief playtime. He had fun running around (of course) and I had fun chasing him (again, of course) stuffing my Flip into his face wherever he went.But like all good things, our relaxing afternoon came to and end when mummy returned and he had to go home for a nap, and I back to work.

A little while ago, we decided that The Sprite was ready for the next big test in his growth as a media consumer. He successfully graduated from Baby Einstein, to The Wiggles, to Sesame Street, to every Pixar DVD available. Now he was ready for the Big Screen. A semi-local movie theatre has $1 movies on Sunday mornings, so we figured we would test The Sprite's ability to sit through a feature length with little financial risk. The latest Pixar gem Ratatouille was screening, so this was a no brainer to get him into. And although this was least kid-friendly movie Pixar has made to date, G did very well, sitting still throughout the show. The story was more grown-up and the characters less cuddly than previous Pixar creations, but there was planty of slapstick to keep us all giggling. After the movie was over, The Sprite needed to burn off 2 hours of couped-up, coke-fueled energy. So we headed across the street to the park for a walk and some fun on the big slide at the playground.

This spring was one of the toughest for The Sprite and for the whole family. It felt like one bout of sickness after another. It started when the entire family was struck down with the super-flu that was doing the rounds. I was off work for 4 days, ElectricMommy out for an entire week. Both of us had never felt as bad as we had during that week, it was heinous. The fever that lasted forever sapped our very will to live. Fortunately The Sprite was only really badly hit for a day, he seemed to be on the mend quicker than either of us. Not so fortunately for us, he wasn't quite healthy enough to go back to school, and trying to manage a lively, semi-healthy toddler when oneself is not firing on all....not firing on ANY cylinders, is depressingly painful and exhausting. Not too long after we all recovered and were back in the work/school routine The Sprite woke up one fine Saturday morning with a gunky and swollen eye. It got progressively worse over the weekend until it look really ugly. It's a circus feat trying not to mix up towels and wash cloths in an effort to keep whatever disease this was somewhat quarantined. After a short-notice trip to the Doc on Monday, we had some prescription eyedrops for Conjunctivitis, better known as PinkEye. we were all still sporting coughs and chest congestion from the flu and we had to now take time off work to deal with this.A short time later, at bath time on a Sunday, I noticed The Sprite was red like a beetroot. Like a big toddling tomato. Like a radish. Thinking it was just heat rash, due maybe to hot bath water, i shipped him off to school the following Monday. He was there 3 hours until he was sent home with a fever of 103 , sick as a very sick parrot. He was now vomiting too. Worryingly concerned, we rushed him down to the Doc once more who determined he had Strep Throat, and also Scarlet Fever. Turns out this is fairly common, one leads to the other and though contagious, is easily treatable. Our initial thoughts were that surely Scarlet fever went out of fashion with Dickens and the Black Plague. Turns out not to be tha case, but after some antibiotics and more time off work the lad was up and running again. Mixed in with these trials and tribulations of ElectroFambly Health there was a bout of stomach flu that had The Sprite vomiting again, and another round of a stubborn and relentless head-cold. More time was taken off work, much to the extreme chagrin of our respective employers. After this Spring, the 2 months or so that spanned these illnesses, it felt like our own personal plague was pounding us over and over. But I'm glad to say as Summer arrives we appear to have gotten over the hump and are all maintaining health and well-being once again.I'm hoping we don't have to go through anything like that again. Ever.

On a chill but pleasent spring morning, our little Sprite finds many an amusement in the back garden wonderland of fallen leaves, puddles, dirt and all manner of things to get himself filthy dirty and soaking wet. Oh well, boys will be boys. Anyhow, it keeps him busy and occupied for a time. Even if it means we have to rake up the leaves again after the G-Express ploughed through them for the umpteenth time.

A rare occasion when the whole family is up on time and ready to go early on a weekday. Being up and ready early made me ponder how I could maximize my productive time, without neglecting sleep, and still getting out of the door quick enough to get me to work on time.Sadly, on this particular morning, I spent too long videoblogging to get myself ready and out of the door early enough.

The Sprite enjoys another 15 minutes of fame with his PlayDoh kit. Listen along as he spells out the rules for everyone to understand. He is very specific, he is a lad who knows what he wants.

Sometimes it's just fun to step back and let the camera roll and watch The Sprite go off on one of his tangents. In this case, he seems to want to hide. It's hard to tell if he was expecting us all to hide together, or if he wanted me to just get lost and take the camera out of his face. Obviously we did neither. But the little lad did make a pretty good impression of a seal whilst climbiing and rolling over the furniture. So it wasn't a complete waste of time.

It was way back in the pleasant days of October that we held the auspicious celebration to mark the third birthday of our little Sprite. He jumped. He sprang. He danced and spun. But ultimately, he ate cake and opened a Royal Arseload of colorful wrapped goodies. Note: It is only now I am getting to edit and upload these clips. But I thought as most of my family never even saw this it still worthwhile putting it up here. It is 20mins long so save for when you have some time to kill and glass of Petite Syrah pleading to be drank.

It was a balmy night in western Arizona. The family headed out to the Mohave Valley Raceway near Bullhead City for a night of dirt track racing. Other than some speedway motorcycle racing back in England, I have never witnessed dirt track racing. My motor sports experiences have been purely tarmac-based. Until this night. The night was a series of heats and a final of lower class vehicles, and the showcase class Modifieds. If I remember correctly, my father-in-law was telling me these monsters run on alchohol, which makes them the bad-ass mo-fo's of the paddock. Watching these loud and ugly Mad Max machines round the 1/3 mile oval almost entirely sideways was a sight to behold. Amazing control, driving on the ragged edge. And did I mention they were loud. Music: Gasoline by Audioslave, I Am The Highway by Audioslave http://www.audioslave.com/

It was to my great joy, upon returning home from work some weeks ago, The Sprite had not only asked for some computer time, he had managed to power the iBook up, find his Nemo game in the Dock and start playing. Brought a tear to my eye, made me so proud. Unfortunately the radiation or something got to him after a while and caused a freak out of Sean Penn proportions.

aving been couped up most of the day in the car, or dragged around hot tourist traps, The Sprite was finally alowed to stretch and show his funky b-boy style. Once he got going there was no stopping him, to the amazement of all around, to all the local passerby who witnessed a crazed toddler spazzing out on the sidewalk.

aving been couped up most of the day in the car, or dragged around hot tourist traps, The Sprite was finally alowed to stretch and show his funky b-boy style. Once he got going there was no stopping him, to the amazement of all around, to all the local passerby who witnessed a crazed toddler spazzing out on the sidewalk.

After a Friday driving and exploring the wine country, we arrived back at Napa looking for a little coffee refreshement. Instead we found the Farmers Market in full swing. This was unlike in every way the Farmers Market in Fullerton we were used to visiting every Thursday. There were 2 bands, one at each end of the market. One playing old time classic rock faves, and the other ripping up some fine rockabilly surf twang variety. Also, there were several vendors offering beer and local wine, by the pint and glass, respectively. At first look Napa is a sleepy little town at the foot of the NoCal wine country, but upon further inspection it seems it has a large healthy local community. Everybody and his mother appeared to be out for the beautiful, warm summer evening.

While the ladies partook of the grapey goodness inside the winery, The Sprite and I kept ourselves out of the way out in the gardens. The 104? heat outside had the old man was gasping before too long, but bothered not the younger of us. He was right at home exploring the shady grove.

Heading north from Napa there is an abundance of wineries offering tours and tasting. With limited time available we picked one winery from our guide book that sounded particularly interesting and wound our way through the rolling, tree-lined lanes for a little imbibement. Cuvasion was the winery of choice and it did not disappoint.