Category Archives: Little Dude

The Yin & Yang of Being Beaten by Your Kid

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I have three claims-to-fame in my 39 years on this lovely planet.

  1. I once placed 2nd in a BMX bike race. Seven years old. My first BMX bike. A brand new birthday helmet. A big dirt track with hills and jumps. Early 80’s when BMX was super cool. And I came in 2nd…in my very first race! There were only two riders. It was also my last BMX race. But I did hang my red 2nd place ribbon on my wall.
  2. In the 8th-grade yearbook, I was selected as “Best Dressed.” The climax of my life – and the height of my style – was only a short 25 years ago. Not too shabby.
  3. At six, I was the youngest green belt my YMCA Karate instructor had ever encountered. I stopped shortly thereafter. A local YMCA record seemed sufficient.

There are no BMX tracks near us.

8th grade is still a long way off.

But…

On Saturday, Little Dude captured his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. He’s only five.

My meaningless YMCA record has been crushed. By my prodigy.

Sort of.

There’s a bit of a technicality.

As “they” say, every great teacher wants their student to be better than them.

I love seeing Little Dude kicking ass and taking names. It literally warms my heart – yes, literally, as in my heart is physically warmer watching the awesomeness of my offspring.

But…

Dad’s don’t like to be beaten. Especially by their kids. At anything.

The technicality…

In the generic YMCA karate of my youth, the green belt followed the white belt. In Little Dude’s TKD class, green follows yellow.

In Little Dude’s mind, Dad is still in the lead. And I’m keeping it that way.

I have the green belt (thanks Mom), and I’ll pass it down when the time is right – IE when Little Dude is 7.

Long live the Dad champ!

Congrats Little Dude…

And for contrast…

Proud Dad Moment: Spontaneous Beastie Boys

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The teacher’s mouth was moving. I assume words were spoken.

All I heard was the sound of the adults in Charlie Brown…wont, wont…wont,wont, wont…wont wont.

Like Neal Armstrong driving the American flag into the surface of the moon (did he do that?), the rap culture was hoisting it’s flag triumphantly in the back of a 4th grade classroom in the (distant) suburbs of Boston, MA.

1986.

The Beastie Boys had (crash) landed.

My friends and I passed the Licensed to Ill cassette tape (!!!) around like it was contraband…Because it was!

Like a scene from an 80’s version of Wonder Years.

Hilarious.

The Beasties are forever misunderstood, but the musical legacy is undeniable.

Changed the face of rap with timeless flow, sick mixes, and a continuously evolving style.

Yesterday, in a proud dad moment, I heard Little Dude (4) spontaneously bust out “You gotta fight for your right to paaaarty!”

Awesome. And to celebrate, the Muppets killing it on So What’cha Want…

PS – Want more Beastie info? Check out this awesome Rick Rubin interview. Beasties and so much more.

PPS – Related Beastie Boys Posts:

  1. Sabotage for the Kids – RIP MCA
  2. Beasties + Sesame Street = Awesome
  3. She’s Crafty

Little Dude’s First Ninja Class

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We’ve reached the ninja stage at the Dude Casa.

Ninjago is all the rage with Little Dude, and Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles are enjoying a resurgence.

It’s a good stage.

Turns out the local Tae Kwan Do class is accepting little ninjas.

The little man is a bit under the age limit, but we tested the scene with good success.

The newest ninja at his first class…

Dude Nesting?

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We are days away from adding a new mouth to the Dude Clan. We will officially be out numbered any day!

Mrs. Dude has gone from, “we better make it passed Christmas,” to “this baby is coming soon!”

I’m not really sure what that means, but my guess is the baby will be coming soon.

We all prepare for life’s milestones differently. The Dude? He packs up Little Dude and hits Walmart to torture himself purchase a bunch of unnecessary crapola and organize under the bathroom sink.

Seems logical. Organization under the bathroom sink = ready for baby? Ok.

I guess the Dude has been bitten by a bit of pre-bambino nesting.

Seriously. I Googled it. Dudes nest too.

See you soon baby. 🙂

Dude Nesting - Part 1 #walmartisthedevil

Dude Nesting – Part 1 #walmartisthedevil

Dude Nesting - Part 2 #underbathroomsinkorganized=readyforbaby?

Dude Nesting – Part 2 #underbathroomsinkorganized=readyforbaby?

Little Dude’s First Haircut. What Were We Thinking?!

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We experienced Little Dude’s first “real” haircut today.

As you may recall, we’ve shaved that melon a couple times, but it has been almost exactly two years since we’ve touched that glorious coif.

As you can probably tell from my choice of adjectives, this has been a stressful day.

Mrs. Dude rolled out a fantastic blog post recapping Little Dude’s first haircut (yes, apparently we have blogging wars in our house. :)), so I won’t recreate the wheel. But I will make a few points and send you along to my lovely bride’s fantastic site.

  1. I need to start by saying how much we absolutely without a doubt whole-heartedly adored the Little Man’s hair. For real. Loved it! Look at that before shot…

    Little Dude - Before THE Haircut

    Little Dude – Before THE Haircut

  2. Little Dude hated every minute of this experience. Refer to Mrs. D’s post for photographic reference.
  3. The Dude’s dome is desolate when it comes to hair follicles.  Why would anyone let me sit in a barber’s chair (literally have not been in one in 10 years), hold my son while he screams and cries,  and then ask me for direction about my two year old’s mane?!
  4. I’ve given Mrs. Dude direction about this haircut for six months…”just an inch, no more, just an inch.” Why did I choke under pressure? Mrs. Dude reminds me that I uttered the words, “we’re not worried about the length, just make it look natural.” What?! Length is ALL we were worried about! Who am I, Vidal Sassoon?! Natural?! I shave my head with a bic razor that I sharpen on my jeans. What do I know about “natural?” Just trim that shit! How hard is that?!

I’ll preface this by saying that he’s our son, he will ALWAYS be amazingly handsome to us. HOWEVER, who is that dude? And where did his hair go.

Little Dude - After

Little Dude – After

Can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.

How could a haircut be this stressful?

Geesh! Maybe bald is beautiful.

Check out Mrs. Dude’s post…she’s pretty great. 🙂

Inside a Toddler’s Brain: A Little Dude Update

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Inside a Toddler's Brain

Inside a Toddler’s Brain

Yep, this chart is spot on. Fits Little Dude to a T. Tip o’ the hat to SwissMiss for sharing.

While we’re in his head, let’s hit a quick update.

He’s growing like a weed. Mrs. Dude and I realized – separately – today that he looks taller and thin. That baby belly is gone! Although, that could have something to do with his diet of Play-Dough and Goldfish.

His hair is insanely long. It will be two years of growth at Thanksgiving! Awesome. We keep discussing when to cut, but we just can’t commit. A mohawk sounds great, but his hair is soooo rad.

Rad Hair Little Dude

Rad Hair Little Dude

He’s constantly learning and asking questions. He’s talking so much. Constantly throwing new words and phrases at us. I have no idea how or where the sponge is soaking it all up. And the pronunciation of words at two is about the cutest sound that will tickle your eardrums.

Somehow he knows where to put all the body parts on a drawing. Mrs. Dude drew the head, and he finished it off. Rad. Perhaps this is the norm, but I like to think of him as a baby genius. 🙂

Little Dude Knows Body Parts

Little Dude Knows Body Parts

He’s figuring out his body too. For example, he realized his chin moves side to side yesterday. Hilarious.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mppPe0JYRAA[/youtube]

His hugs, kisses, and “uve u’s” are priceless, and we are amazingly happy.

Hearts & Stars…and trucks…forever!

The Zen of “Sure”

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Sure

Sure

I’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. Mrs. Dude has me working a second job painting the sun room.

We should be able to drop the brushes soon and get back to life without painting.

In the meantime, ponder the Zen of “sure.”

It turns out the Dude and/or Mrs. Dude must use the word “sure” from time to time. Little Dude has adopted “sure” as his “yes,” and he uses is ALL the time.

Almost any affirmative statement has become “sure.” It’s hilarious.

  • Do you want a Popsicle? Sure.
  • Let’s get your shoes on. Sure
  • Get down from there. Sure.
  • Do you want to go outside? Sure.

I’ve realized that “sure” is  the perfect word. It fits almost any situation and the interpretation is left open-ended. Small inflections make big a difference.

Is that sarcastic? Is that enthusiastic? Is he just tolerating me? I guess that means “yes”?

I may adopt “sure” as my new way to navigate life. I’m just going to respond with “sure” to everything that comes my way.

The Zen of “Sure.”

It’s a lot like “Dude”…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMSSe7cOvA[/youtube]

Real Life Hot Wheels! Little Dude Is In Love

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Little Dude Car Love

Little Dude Car Love

Little Dude LOVES cars.

I had a plethora of Matchbox and/or Hot Wheels when the Dude was a youngin’, but I don’t think my love ran as deep as Little Dude’s.

Cars are a constant. The movie, the toys, clothes, tooth brush & tooth paste…he even digs NASCAR! He travels everywhere with a handful of cars. His current favorite is Light Queen (i.e. Lightning McQueen) and Monsta (i.e. a monster truck). But the favorites change by the hour.

It’s awesome to see his love of life taking shape. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, Little Dude knows what he loves – luckily, the Dude is still high on that love list.

So, when I saw these real life Hot Wheels doing loops, I knew I had to spread the car love…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6PQ49B5Gpw&feature=plcp[/youtube]

Say It Ain’t So: 2012 Ice Cream Crisis!

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i-deem-man

i-deem-man

I try not to have regrets. Life is too short to worry about what might have been. However, the Dude missed two career paths that have left trails of regret.

1. Zamboni driver. You know. That car-type thing that cleans the ice at hockey games. Always seemed like a great job. I should have earned some college money driving the school zamboni.

and

2. Ice cream man. Awesome high school summer job. It’s mindless. Outside, somewhat. And you’re driving a truckload of happiness. Perfect summer job.

I’ve pretty much moved on from these regrets, but now that summer is here, and Little Dude learned what the “i-deem-man” does, it’s all flooding back.

The ice cream man is a pretty hilarious concept.

$3 for one of what you can buy a box at the store. .But somehow it makes sense because a dude in a truck, that’s about to breakdown, is selling it out of his window.

Okay. Two please.

At the beginning of the summer it’s great. Once. Maybe twice. After a few weeks, it settles in that this dude is coming everyday. And the kids want ice cream. Everyday.

Kids and parents react instinctual. Consistently, the same reactions. Kids scream. Amazing, ridiculous screams. And may run around in circles.

Parents, hang their head and slouch their shoulders – like their favorite team just lost a big game – knowing they are about to get ripped off.

Little Dude now recognizes the “i-deem-man’s” music and knows that it leads to a truck with delicious snacks.

It’s pretty adorable.

Dada. I-deem-man. I-deem-man.

Awesome.

Which is why I’m dismayed to learn that the there is a 2012 Ice Cream Crisis. Don’t tell Little Dude. He’ll be heart broken.

Good Humor is short on the Toasted Almond, Chocolate Eclair, and Candy Center Crunch in the Northeast. They are blaming it on an unusually warm spring.

Is this a plot to get us to believe in climate change?

And why only the Northeast?

Those aren’t popular on the west coast.

No taste buds in Cali?