The Snowman and The Snowdog: Our Review

For the month of November, we were sent The Snowman and The Snowdog based on the novel The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.  This is a sequel to the original.  

Aaron and I have never seen the The Snowman but turns out you don't really need to see the first one to enjoy this movie!  It's a very sweet story - without words - just lovely music.  A boy finds a box under the floorboard of his room that holds the Snowman's hat, scarf, nose and buttons and also a picture of a young boy and the Snowman.  So he gets the idea to build one for himself and now he's got all the parts!  And since he just lost his dog, he builds a Snowdog for the Snowman.  It's a wonderful story of love and strength, friendship and adventure.  

Aaron really enjoyed it and since there was only music, he felt free to ask questions during the show.  This would be a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!  It's a sweet story.  

You can buy The Snowman and The Snowdog at Amazon.com or directly from NCircle Entertainment.  It retails for $9.99.

Babies & Lyrics

This is my family.  Not perfect, but loved & loving.

With both my kids, I have associated some DMB lyrics for one reason or another.  With Aaron, the first lyrics I can remember that came to me with him are (ironically) from "Grace is Gone".

I could never love again
So much as I love you
Where you end, where I begin
Is like a river running through 

With Aaron, it was as if he was the Eve to my Adam.  As if someone had literally removed a limb or body part from me and from that, came Aaron.  He is a part of me as if he IS me.  

And I remember vividly the first time he kissed me on his own.....  I was sitting on the floor eating a PB&J and he was waddling around the living room with his toys.  He'd come over every once in awhile to get a bite of my sandwich and one of the times, he placed his lips on mine instead.  I thought it was so sweet of course, but figured it was sort of an accident.  I mean, babies don't know how to really kiss, right?  Then he did it a second time and he stayed there for quite awhile, just laying a big smooch on me.  At first I laughed and kissed back, and then my laughter turned into a giant sob-fest because I was so overwhelmed by the love he just gave me.....  Kissing him back through my salty tears of joy and peanut butter.  And for that I remember these lyrics from "Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back)":

Ride my bike down that old dirt hill 
First time without my trainin' wheels
First time I kissed you I lost my legs
Bring that beat back to me again  

With Elizabeth, DMB lyrics also came naturally.  For one, I actually had an iPod playlist for the labor & birth that was mostly DMB.  The first song on the playlist is "Baby Blue" and although all babies have blue eyes when they are first born, her blue just seemed so vivid.  They are still a steely, grey blue.  So from her and her blue eyes, I got: 

Read more: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND - BABY BLUE LYRICS

Into your blue, blue eyes
Your blue, blue world
You're my baby blue

But really, the lyrics that kept playing over and over again in my head the first few days I had her home was from "Alligator Pie".  Though the song is really about Stella, it has these lyrics:

Grace is all I'm asking
When will Grace return
Grace is all I'm asking

If you haven't figured this out yet about Elizabeth Grace, her middle name is a tribute to Dave (DMB).   Grace is all I'm asking.........  

into your blue, blue eyes, your blue, blue world, you're my baby blue.

Read more: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND - BABY BLUE LYRICS

I have a poster from Blue C Sushi in Seattle with Dave in it and as soon as I get it framed, it's going in Aaron's room.  And I'm hoping to put something in Elizabeth's room too.  So far, I'm liking this handmade wall piece from Etsy: Little Feet Little Hands, which are lyrics from "So Much To Say".  

Yes, I think about lyrics a lot.  Not always Dave lyrics, but music is always in our house, our minds and our hearts.  
  
My family & Dave = Happiness.  

into your blue, blue eyes, your blue, blue world, you're my baby blue.

Read more: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND - BABY BLUE LYRICS

  

It's been 3 months you say?!

It's been 3 months since my last post?!  Whaa????  Yeeeeah.... about that --


I'm kind of at a loss.  It's not that a lot hasn't happened.  It's just that I guess I'm not feeling very inspired to write lately.  And I certainly don't want my posts to be boring.  But I think you'll have to settle for boring at this point.  Except for that picture.  It's pretty adorable, isn't it?  That was his St. Patrick's Day shirt.  He said that it had a "flower" and a bow on it.  


Aaron I think is on rapid speed right now.  He's developing faster than I can blink.  He's talking in full sentences sometimes, knows tons of new words and I'm sure learns new ones everyday since he repeats just about everything we say now.  Sometimes he'll come back from his grandparents' house with words I don't even use!  So for example, the other day I was changing is diaper and he pointed to his nose, sniffed in and said "mocos".  YEAH.  Chalk that one up to Grandma Yvette and her allergies.  


He loves to sing and loves music.  He drums on the trash cans in the kitchen, plays his mini piano (a hand-me-down from yours truly) and sings the full Itsy-Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  He also requests Fly Me To The Moon from his dad, because that's what Josh sings to him to go to bed.  He dances to the intro to Curious George and to Yo Gabba Gabba sometimes.  It's not really a surprise though because both Josh and I are really into music.  I'm thinking of starting "Music Mondays" for him!  Introducing new music to him on a weekly basis.  And my new music I mean a new Dave song every week.  Haha - just kidding.  (Sort of, not really).


Usually during the weekdays we'll wake up and I'll fix him some breakfast, sit him at his little table in front of the tv and we'll have "school time".  Aaron's great-grandparents, Henry & Jo, sent Aaron the So Your Baby Can Read dvds and so I've been playing those for him in the morning and we call that "school time".  He'll usually watch a dvd and a half before he loses interest, but he IS paying attention and knows some of the words now.  He even asks for school time sometimes!  


Aaron has also been wanting a play buddy lately and so he's always dragging Josh, my mom or me to play cars, or blocks or something else he's really into at the moment.  "C'mon momma, let's go play cars!".  It's totally endearing.  I might have to join a mommy play group or something so he can play with other kids!  

I really do wish I could just give him a sibling, but we're trying to be smart about it and not emotional.  So hopefully I'll find a job soon so we can lift ourselves out of this small hole and maybe next year...... 


Right now he's got us, his grandparents and his tia Eva to play with almost everyday.  And of course, his "buddy" Ulrich.  Haha!  Sure, Ulrich is usually running in the other direction and hiding under the bed, but Aaron doesn't notice!

Some other things that amaze me about Aaron -- we read him books often and so there are a few he knows well.  And he'll literally sit down with the book and "read" it to us!  He tells us the whole story!  It's so adorable.

He also knows the way to grandma's house!  LOL!  Seriously -- if we're driving to my parents he knows we're going to grandpa & grandma's house.  And if we're on our way to Eva's he'll say "Tia Eba's house?  Tia Eba's house?".  He knows we go over a freeway bridge when we're going to her house so he says "up the hill!" before we even get there and "down the hill!" when we're at the top.  He's so smart!!  That's totally from me.  LOL.  ;)


Yes, Aaron is doing well.  And is well loved.  He's always the best part of my day.  


So since I haven't been updating the blog often enough, please feel free to check out my Flickr page and my YouTube page.  The YouTube page has some new stuff for sure.