The Comedian

Three-year-olds are the worst comedians - ever.  NorthernToddler has been on a "Knock-Knock" joke kick today, and he doesn't have a clue. He thinks that he's hilarious; apparently adults cannot understand toddler-style humor.

An example:

Toddler: Knock, knock.

Unsuspecting Adult: Who's there?

Toddler: Inzanit cobbler.

Confused Adult: Huh? Inzanit cobbler, who?

Toddler: Monkey

Adult: What? Do you have any idea what you're talking about?

Toddler: Monkey table. Bye!

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After telling some jokes, NorthernToddler wants to play Fireman. NorthernMommy and Daddy got him all suited up to be a proper fireman. He's got his red fire boots, his hockey stick "hose", a construction hat for safety, a fire mask (nicely crafted from a paper towel and string!), and his yellow and blue fire truck. The crowning touch is the moose backpack that is being utilized as his air tank - cute, isn't it?

Gag Me With a Spoon - Like Totally!

NorthernToddler and NorthernDaddy couldn't go outside and play today because of the rain, so a trip to Echo was suggested. Toddler instantly agreed - because the current exhibit is Grossology, and NorthernMommy won't go to see that with him.

Operation - Bigger than life-size. NorthernToddler still buzzes out on every item.

Stated so much more politely than one normally sees...

 This guy scared the...um...snot out of NorthernToddler. He's an animated faucet that explains what happens when you have a runny nose. He seemed harmless enough to NorthernDaddy, but any time that Daddy made a move towards the exhibit to get a closer look, Toddler screamed and cried like he was dying. (Loudly enough and long enough to cause concern among other museum patrons and the staff. Thanks, Buddy.) For a few moments there, it seemed as if Mr.FaucetHead was going to scare Toddler so much that we would have our own personal version of Grossology going on in Toddler's shorts....



Toddler cut short the tour through Grossology and headed upstairs to see his favorites - the turtles, frogs, and water table. He also made a few new friends: Newton, the mascot for the Echo Center and Monty the Moose, a mascot for the Vermont Childrens' Hospital.

Dancing with a newt!

Pleased to meet you, Mr. Moose, sir.

Apparently, these two were the hit of the day for Toddler - he spent the rest of the day talking about them. He's racking up quite the list of mascot friends: Champ (Lake Monsters), Rally (UVM), Newt (ECHO), and Monty (VT Childrens' Hospital). NorthernDaddy is thinking that Toddler needs to be introduced to Slapshot (Washington Capitals) - if Toddler is going to have mascots as friends, he ought to at least know the one from the best hockey team!

Dinner Celebration

A few posts back, faithful readers saw a photo essay of NorthernToddler protesting the *glop* that he was served for dinner. Today,we have the flip side of the coin.

The dinner being enjoyed? Pasta. Made at home by NorthernDaddy. The Northerns attempted to make pasta once before, with disastrous results. (NorthernMommy brought home gluten-free flour. Bad idea...) The Northerns did a basic web search and quickly learned that gluten is a necessity in making pasta - so they tried again. On the second attempt, NorthernDaddy got it right and the Northerns learned that home-made pasta is so much better than dried store-bought: it tastes better and has a better texture. For a few pennies in ingredients (eggs and flour) and a few minutes of work in the kitchen (maybe thirty total - ten for forming/kneading the dough and twenty for rolling out and cutting), the result is spectacular.

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(And it makes NorthernToddler happy!)

NorthernMommy Kicks Butt

NorthernMommy likes to run. Training for races keeps her happy. (It also keeps her young and looking great!) Recently, NorthernMommy raced the 2011 Leaf Peepers Half Marathon. She trained hard and set a new PR. (For runners, a 'PR' is Personal Record. It's how fast one has completed a given distance. Runners are always trying to beat their PRs - it shows that one is improving as they train and race.) NorthernMommy's new PR for the half-marathon is 2:14.33.

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That's a nine minute improvement over her last half-marathon (run in June).

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Congratulations, NorthernMommy!