Category Archives: Little Dude

Little Dude Turns Two!

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Aaapy Bertday!

Aaapy Bertday!

El Duderino pequeno es dos!

Aaapy bertday!

A few notes:

  • Boring to 99% of the population? Possibly. But he’s my Boy! I can’t think of a better way to spend 1:30 of my day.
  • You’ll have to suffer through some not-so-great singing, but the reaction of a two year old figuring out the birthday traditions is pretty classic.
  • I’m biased, but his “Aaapy bertday!” is pretty darn adorable.
  • I never expected him to be so excited about his birthday at two, but he dug it big time.
  • You won’t see the balance bike that we got him because his feet can’t touch the ground. It’s the thought that counts. Save it for next year! 🙂
  • Last but not least, four years of Spanish and all I can muster is misspelled Spanglish. Although, I still believe that Spanglish saved our lives on the honeymoon in Costa Rica. On the other hand, Mrs. Dude thinks I just told a woman her baby looked like a fish. We may both be right.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgQ0GBKFgNQ[/youtube]

Little Dude’s BMX Role Model

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We have officially found Little Dude’s BMX role model; Jackson Goldstone.

This little man is killing it on a bike. And he’s only in kindergarten!

Looks like the Little Dude needs a BMX and a helmet for birthday numero dos.

By the way, love the no peddles. We took the peddles off Princess’ bike when she learned, and it was such an amazing difference.

Keep killing it Jackson. We can’t wait to see your next video!

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/14568625[/vimeo]

Thanks to Mark’s Daily Apple for sharing the link.

Princess Tickles the Ivory…& Little Dude Copes

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The Dude family started the day by donning our Sunday best and heading out to a piano recital. Awesome.

In a recent post, I mentioned that I regret not learning to play music earlier in life. Luckily, The Princess will not shoulder this same regret. She has been jamming on the piano for almost a year now. And today was the day she got to show off.

Super proud moment.

We huddled in the living room of the piano instructor surrounded by about 30 proud parents and relatives. And we watched a small group of kiddos perform strokes on the piano that I assume the majority of us have no clue how to play. Very impressive.

It’s awesome to see people learning new skills and having enough confidence in their growing abilities to perform in front of others. Very cool.

The Princess tickled the ivory to perfection. And she showed a lot of confidence in herself. Nothing better for a parent to see.

And Little Dude? Well, he managed. He managed to remain relatively quiet, and somewhat still until The Princess completed her performance. Then we broke for the exits. I have a feeling this will be a habit at most formal engagements with the Little Dude.

Here’s a quick video of The Princess tickling the ivory…and Little Dude coping with his first recital.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDD0qeGZ7qg[/youtube]

 

It Will Bring a Tear to a Dude’s Eye…

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This time-lapse video of a young girl aging from zero to 12 has been shared quite a bit the past couple days – gone viral as the cool kids like to say.

It is very cool to watch how kids progress. But it brings a tear to the Dude’s eye. Kids grow up too fast.

I’ve been using an app on the IPhone called “Everyday” to take a picture of me and Little Dude…almost everyday. The idea is that the app will take the pictures and put it into a video. I’ve been doing it for over a year.

It’s amazing to see how much he’s changed in a year. And how much the Dude’s facial hair has changed. 🙂

I keep thinking that I’ll turn it into a video. But I always decide to wait for another deadline. The reality is that it’s kind of scary to see how fast the Little Man is growing.

But the beauty of watching a child grow is the next stage is at least as fun as the last. Although, we’re seeing hints of the terrible two’s, so I reserve the right to retract that last statement.

Zero to 12…

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/40448182[/vimeo]

He’s a Climber

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He's a Climber

He's a Climber

I’ve heard kids referred to as “climbers.” As in, “Keep an eye on him; he’s a climber.”

Now I know first hand what that is. Little Dude will claw his way up anything he can. It’s like watching a mountain climber scale a cliff as he tries to maneuver up the cabinets in search of a jellybean.

Clearly Little Dude needs a climbing wall like this little guy. The safety seems a bit questionable, but clearly he knows what he’s doing. As if by instinct. 🙂

Nature is amazing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58xVk48t4GI&feature=related[/youtube]

 

Little Dude Knows His Name! And he’s a thief…who can’t keep a secret.

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Little Dude...Dudin'

Little Dude...Dudin'

The Little Man picked himself out in a picture tonight and said his name. First time we’ve heard him say his name. Soooo cool.

Mrs. Dude was rolling through some pictures on the phone and asking who was in them. We’ve done this many times. But tonight was new. After pointing out Mama and Dada, he called out his own name. He understands who he is!

Such a small element of life. Yet, such a big element of life. Very rad to see a little mind grasping the concept of self.

Of course, life balances itself out. To keep the Dude and the Mrs. grounded, he also hijacked a matchbox car on a play date and told me it’s “Awstn’s” all night.

Although, Austin is going to have to pry it from Little Dude’s sleeping hands if he wants it back.

A thief that can’t keep a secret, the worst kind. But, I guess that’s a good thing.

Stay focused on talking rather than thiefing L.D.

The Origin of Freestyle Skateboarding. Pay Attention Little Dude.

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Check out this amazing video from 1983 – ridiculous freestyle skateboarding…before most people knew what skateboarding was. (Tip o’ the hat to Kottke.org for another great link.)

The Dude has never really been a skateboarder. I adore surfing, and I’ve snowboarded for years, but skating alluded me. I was a bit too early for the super rad skate parks that have popped up in every town and I didn’t have a skate mentor…plus no internet (how did we survive?!), so skate was always just out of reach. I’ve owned skateboards and wanted to figure it out, but never got hooked.

I think Little Dude may have the skate bug. He can operate a scooter, we have skate parks in town, and he loves being dangerous. Seems like the perfect fit…when the waves are flat.

Beyond just an amazing retro video – anything 80’s is awesome – this early generation skating is amazing. But even better than just an awesome retro video, is the fact that we get to enjoy commentary by a couple amazing skaters to help us understand just how ridonkulus this skating actually is.

This also makes you appreciate how much amazing skating can be done on flat surfaces at low speed. Crazy.

Love the tiny boards. Love the short shorts. Love the whole 80’s feel. Great video.

Little Dude, pay attention.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkpzWKp7SqA[/youtube]

 

Verbal Storm

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Little Dude = Happy

Little Dude = Happy

It has been raining words at the Dude casa over the last week.

We had the pleasure of enjoying a visit from Grammie and Papa, and Little Dude chose a great time to open the flood gates on his vocab.

He started walking/running during their visit over the summer as well. I’m not sure if the Grandparents help to draw out these new skills, or if it’s just great timing, but either way, it’s awesome that they have the opportunity to enjoy the development first hand.

And enjoy it they did. Grammie and Papa both seemed quite surprised at the the quality, consistency, and quantity of the words pouring out of Little Dude’s mouth.

Putting two words together before two. Grammie was quite excited. Baby genius? Duh. 🙂

It’s pretty comical to hear what he’s putting together. A few examples…

  • “Hey guys.”
  • “Feesch” = Fish
  • “Wherzit?” = Where’s it?
    • Mostly used when Nemo is captured.
  • “Whereditgo” = Where’d it go?
    • Mainly used when hunting for the paci that we’ve hidden.
  • “Peese” = Please
  • “Ti ty” = Thank you
  • “Outside”
  • “Let’s go”
  • “Tada!”
  • “Moy” = More
  • “Bac” = Bacon
  • “Sawsig” = Sausage
    • The Boy loves some breakfast meats. Primal, like his Old Man. 🙂
  • “All done”
  • “Ud u” = Love you

But no question, my absolute favorite new Little Dude vocab word is “happy!”

I enjoy the nightly routine of putting LD to bed – one of the best moments of the day because we get some quiet hugs for a minute….that’s something special from a kid that sprints everywhere he goes.

As we hugged the other night, LD said “happy,” “Dada, happy.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was the first time I heard it from him, and he only said it a couple times. I wasn’t sure if I even heard it correctly. I left it at that, and decided not to read into it too much.

Then the next night the “happys” came on full steam. As we hugged, he must have said “Happy.” “Dada, happy.” about twenty times. It was clear as day.

Who knows why he said it, but I’m reading into it. I’m coming up with my own conclusion.

My boy is telling me he’s happy and/or I’m happy as we hug at the end of the day. How can I not read into that? How can I not assume what seems obvious?

He knows what happy means, and he knows that we’re happy. That’s a heart melting moment. And I loved every millisecond of it.

Indeed, Little Dude, “Dada, happy.” Thanks for being a bottomless pit of happiness for the Dude.

Little Dude…Being Little Dude

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The other day I mentioned that Little Dude has a determined streak in him.

What I failed to mention is that The Boy is also chock full of crazy.

I can remember my parents sending me out to run laps around the house to burn off energy…and I was happy to do it. But, I’m not sure that I had this kind of energy at this age.

This is 20 seconds of video distilled down from five minutes of this same routine. Laps in the living room at 7 PM. Lunatic.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcUNjwF4iXc&feature=BFa&list=UL1OnKXlIMhjk&lf=mfu_in_order[/youtube]

Jump School

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It is awesome to watch Little Dude figuring life out. He is one independent and determined little dude. Not only does he know what he wants, but he also knows that he wants to do it.

He is working sooo hard to do what he sees everyone else doing. What seems simple, is anything but, when you’re just learning.

Here’s a quick video of Little Dude trying super hard to get his feet off the ground. He’s been putting himself through Jump School for the past few days.

Go get ’em L.D.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWHY2ihNZfU[/youtube]