A few of our favorites... right now

One of the things I love about the boys is their passion for life. At times, their interests border on obsessive, but just as I'm about to wish we NEVER see another garage (Dexter's summer obsession), I find myself drawing the 50th police car on a magna-doodle and I realize the obsession has changed. The boys are like this with everything. When they love something, they LOVE IT. We repeat it over and over again, whether it's a song, a book or a game. So... knowing all-too-well that today's obsessions will be so last-season, before I know it, I thought I'd make a few of the boys' current "favorites"... more things I want to remember.

Favorite times of day:

- Car rides are HUGE. The boys still ask to go for a car ride at least once a day. Earlier this week, since both boys were feeling so yucky, I conceded and took them on a beloved car ride. I tried three times to come home, but each time I would park the car in the parking lot, they'd simultaneously shout, "More drive car!!" Since I knew they weren't feeling well and nothing inside the house had been helping that much, I continued our drive. We listened to music, I enjoyed a cup of coffee and was even able to return a few phone calls while we drove around. Not bad!

- Active playtime. Don't get me wrong, the boys do enjoy playdough and fingerpaint... but they ADORE a good wrestling match, a jump on the couch, or even better.... a wrestling match involving all the pillows on the couch. They LOVE climbing in and out of boxes, being pulled around on rides, building forts with Daddy and hiding in the entertainment center.

- Playing outside. Honestly, I think the boys would live outside, if they could. Frequently, the first thing they say to me upon waking is, "Shoes on? Outside?"... if it's not, "Shoes on? Drive car?" :) I'm hoping they don't object to bundling up, as I finally broke down and got them the warmest coats and snowpants I could find. I am determined to NOT go stir crazy this winter!! :)

- Snacktime is a huge hit with the boys. I try to vary the snacks I offer, but it's clear they have a few favorites.

Favorite snacks and foods:

- FRUIT. They are such fruit-a-holics! I find myself having to hide the fruit or it's all they would eat! Crazy, but true. Of course, it does make thinking of healthy snacks fairly easy.

- Cereal bars and juice boxes. We save these for special occasions, when we need a quick snack with minimal mess. As a result, the boys think they are about the coolest thing EVER.

- Hot dogs. Yes, I have become the mom that will serve my children hot dogs. Ick! I can't help it, they love them and I've managed to find a few really good gluten-free brands, which also happen to be all natural... so I don't mind, as much. Whenever the boys are pretending to cook or pretending to eat, the first thing on their pretend menu is almost always hot dogs. Too funny.

- Daddy's cereal and chocolate milk. Their idea of what "Daddy's cereal" is changes on a weekly basis, but rest assured, if it's "Daddy's," it's going to be good. They've never had true chocolate milk, but our version seems to keep them pretty happy. Sometimes, I can even convince them that rice milk is chocolate milk. Hee hee. :)

Favorite songs:

This is a list that continues to grow and change. I've never seen them stop liking a song, but their favorites change weekly. A few that have remained at the top of the list for a good month, now:

- Upside down- Jack Johnson
- Broken- Jack Johnson
- Suddenly I See- KT Tunstall
- Big Black Horse- KT Tunstall
- Over My Head- The Fray
- How to Save a Life- The Fray
- Mama She Bore Me- from Spring Awakening
- Read My Mind- The Killers
- Sam's Town- The Killers
- Teddy Bear's Picnic
- I'm a Little Teapot
- The Wheels on the Bus
- The Ants go Marching
- Do, Do, L'enfant do
- Moon, Moon, Moon- Laura Berkner
- ABCs... forwards and backwards
- Hickory, Dickory Dock
- Humpty Dumpty
- Go, go, go for G- They Might Be Giants
- Q-U- They Might Be Giants
- Flying V- They Might Be Giants
- Splish, Splash
- Sometimes, Especially- Latona's Thirst (hee hee)
- You Wonder- Latona's Thirst
- Yummy, yummy- The Wiggles
- Cars- Fear Factory
- Open your hands- Snowpatrol
- Anything Fiona Apple (they are amazingly good at identifying a Fiona Apple song... love it!)

I should just stop... the list could go on and on. I guess these are just the CDs that they've been requesting the most, lately.

Books:

Again, this is another area in which it's not hard to please the boys. They do have a few absolute favorites, though. The books that I often thing I cannot possibly read for the 200th time... but, then I do, and we're all just swimming in the loveliness of it all... :)

- My Car- Byron Barton
- Gone Fishing
- I Love You Through and Through
- Where's Spot- Eric Hill
- Down in the Woods at Sleepytime
- I Love You, Goodnight
- Trucks- Byron Barton
- Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Shoe Baby- Joyce Dunbar
- Freight Train- Donald Crews
- Shapes, Shapes, Shapes- Tana Hoban
- Bob's Bedtime

I think we've checked out My Car, Gone Fishing and Freight Train about a half-dozen times already. Maybe it's time I just bought these books!! :) I know I'm probably forgetting some... but that's what happens when you speed type a blog entry. Of course, if these are the things I could list off the top of my head, they must be the absolute favorites, right? I'll just go with that.

Other random obsessions:

- Garages (Dexter.. though, this was more a few months ago)
- Movies & CDx (Jaxon... who has begun memorizing the studio symbols on DVD cases and occasionally insists on holding one case in each hand. Very opinionated about which cases he should be holding, too. Hmm...)
- ABCs (Both boys.. though, I think they've moved on a bit, from this one)
- Cars (Dexter is a huge fan of cars- and is so particular about which car he has to be carrying around with him on any given day. Another hmmmm..... Jaxon thinks they're pretty cool, but is much less obsessive about them. I think cars are to Dexter what CDs/DVDs are to Jaxon. Oh, boys...)
- Songs (Jaxon wants a song about everything. Adorable? Yes. Challenging, especially when Mom is too tired to think up a fun, creative song about notebooks? Most definitely.)

Alright, the boys are waking up... time to start another day... definitely time for a cup of coffee!