An Interview with Brinkley – August 2012
The last post in the interview series, the one I’m sure everyone’s been waiting for: Brinkley!
I’ll admit we had to help Brinkley out a little bit, just like we did last year. Because he can’t, you know, talk. (Or maybe I should say he doesn’t talk? Perhaps he can.) And I can definitely say he’s grown and changed a lot since last year because all babies are growing and changing a lot at this point.
His favorite foods have changed, and not for the better. He’s turning into a mini-Jenny, preferring junk food, and hating vegetables. And yes, I understand that this is mostly our fault for giving him the junk food in the first place. His recent favorite treat is M&Ms. We gave some customized ones to Lee for Father’s Day, and he put them in his desk drawer. Brinky discovered them one day and decided he could go get a few whenever he wanted. That means he’s smart, right? The fact that he could remember where those M&Ms were?
Something that hasn’t changed since last year? His love for Dora. Except that it has intensified. Nothing makes him happier than watching his friend Dora, and his most favorite funny friend the Map. He focuses and laughs and just generally loves it. His favorite episode is Save the Puppies. Those dogs are hilarious.
One of his favorite things to do while watching Dora or just hanging out in general is to build with his blocks. Mega Bloks are pretty much the greatest thing ever. They can entertain him for the longest stretches of time, and he’s good at building with them. Sometimes we notice patterns – he chooses a particular block size or color and only uses them. That’s why we picked yellow as his favorite color – he loves his yellow blocks – and also why we said he should be an architect when he grows up.
His favorite place to go is to my car. He always wants to head outside and get in the car. He doesn’t generally like our destinations that much though, and he’s always happy to get back home. Just like his dad, except Lee doesn’t like going to the car at all.
Party Rock Anthem has been his clear favorite song for several months now. It’s one of the only songs (besides songs on Dora) that he even reacts to. He starts bouncing and jumping and smiling. Interesting fact: we discovered this love of Party Rock Anthem when Jenny did a science fair project on the effects of different genres of music on babies by playing different songs for Brinky.
I feel a little bad for making a joke about the fact that he can’t talk, and he used to. He said da-da and cat and dog at about 12 months. And then he quit. Now he never says anything. I try not to worry about it because the doctor says it’s fairly normal for boys to take longer than girls to start talking. But I do worry about it.
We think his one wish would be freedom – to go where he wants and do what he wants. He hates being restricted in any way. He’s getting more freedom than ever these days though because we clearly need to end our denial and accept that he knows how to open the gate in the family room since he walks out of there a couple times a day when we know it’s been closed. His OCD makes him stop and close the gate and we always hear the click, so at least we know he’s out.
That’s the end of this series! We’ve interviewed all of our children. But I’ll be back with updates at this time next year. And maybe Brinkley will be able to provide his own answers then.
An Interview with Jenny – August 2012
Last year, I saw a cute idea on Pinterest to interview your children each year, asking the same questions. It’s a great way to see how their interests change over time – and how they change. So when Timehop Abe told me that I posted my first of these interviews at this time last year, I decided it was time to ask my kids these questions again. To me, this is the perfect time of year for an update anyway. I’ve always felt more like the beginning of a new school year is more of a new year than the actual new year in January (school starts three weeks from today for us!). Like last year, I emailed the questions to my girls. Apparently it’s too difficult for me to find them and ask the questions myself, but I did seek them out to discuss their answers.
First up this week, Jenny.
She’s changed a bit since last year, but not too much.
Now she likes pepperoni on her pizza. She used to hate it.
She still says gymnastics is her favorite sport, even though she hasn’t taken a gymnastics class in over a year.
Her obsessions have changed from Harry Potter at this time last year to Pretty Little Liars and the Hunger Games.
She’s determined that she’s good at giving advice, and she is. She expanded a bit more on it. If you need to know if something’s cute or not, if a book’s good, if a TV show’s good, that kind of thing? She’s your girl.
Last year she was certain she wanted to go to Paris more than anything else. This year she’s chosen a more realistic option of going to New York City again. She’s actually going to New York this week, but what she has in mind for this one is a family trip to New York City because we all need to see the giant Toys R Us.
Her favorite color was blue for several years, but it has recently changed to peachy orange – because that’s Peeta’s favorite color.
My girls have recently started really liking music that I either don’t like or don’t know. It’s strange. I like to think that we do a decent job of staying relatively current with music, but I’m starting to think either we’re getting old, or music’s getting worse. Or both. Anyway, I don’t like her current favorite song, and that just feels weird to me.
She continues to refuse to name one best friend, but I’m completely fine with that. It’s good to have several close friends.
I hope she shares that million dollars Josh Hutcherson gives her with her loving parents.
Her best memory is the same thing it was last year. I guess we haven’t done anything to excite her this year. I’m not sure if anything else will ever measure up to the Great Wolf Lodge. But it’s better than Reagan’s best memory answer (which you’ll see when I post her responses).
I’ll be posting Reagan’s interview tomorrow.
I’m linking up with the following to share this tip for saving memories of your children at different ages:
Questions and Answers
I’m such a procrastinator that I’m just now getting around to responding to the posts that were going around a couple weeks ago (or so) listing 11 questions and then tagging 11 other bloggers to respond. Since I’m late in responding and I think everyone’s pretty much over this tagging game, I’m not going to tag anyone since I think almost everyone I can think of was already tagged and responded to questions. Plus it’s hard to come up with 11 new questions. However, I still thought it would be fun to respond to the questions from bloggers who tagged me.
First up, Greta from Not Enough Patience tagged me. (Hi, Greta – I hope you had a great time at Blissdom.) Here are her questions, along with my responses:
- What kids’ show do you detest, and which one do you secretly watch when your kids aren’t around?I can’t handle Barney. Through all three kids, we’ve managed to avoid Barney, and we plan to continue. But Yo Gabba Gabba? Is awesome. We have been known to watch it as a family, while the baby’s taking a nap. And I know I would have enjoyed the live show even without the baby there, though it was better to have him there to hide my singing and dancing along. It looks strange without a kid.
- If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?If I weren’t going out in public, I would wear the outfit I sleep in every night: black American Apparel high waist leggings, an incredibly soft old Star Wars t-shirt, an old green fleece sweatshirt that’s too big, yet too short, and my Emu slippers (I’ve been considering linking up for Bloggers Worst Dressed in this excellent outfit actually). If I were going to leave the house, I certainly wouldn’t be fancy, but I’d upgrade to jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt, and my Emu boots.
- If you could start over completely with a brand new Facebook account and ditch the one you have, would you have the same number of friends, fewer friends, or more friends?Probably about the same number. I like being nosy and seeing what people are up to on Facebook, and I basically treat it like it’s public, so I don’t post anything I wouldn’t want to be read.
- If you could retire tomorrow (or if all of your kids were in school), what would you do with your days?I’d probably still work at something I like, something that seems terrible to anyone else like copy editing because I just enjoy that kind of thing. I’d be perfectly capable of wasting quite a bit of time enjoying some of my guilty pleasures, but then I’d be ready to do something again. If this were after my kids were grown up and out of the house and I had plenty of money, then maybe I’d feel differently and I’d want to spend time travelling to see them and my future grandkids. But if it were just today and I suddenly didn’t HAVE to work, I probably still would. I like working.
- What toy from your childhood do you secretly wish you could still play with? The only thing I really remember spending a lot of time playing with was my American Girl doll, and that doesn’t sound like much fun to me now. Does the Super Nintendo count? Because I could play Super Mario Bros. and Zelda all day long.
- What is your favorite movie of all time?The Sound of Music. No question. My girls ask favorite questions all the time, so I’ve thought about this one many times before.
- If you could spend a week with any celebrity and couldn’t leave his/her side the whole time, who would you want to spend it with?Now this is a tough one for me. I love celebrity gossip as much as (or maybe more than) anyone else, but I prefer to observe from afar, rather than actually hanging out with celebrities. But I’ll say Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck because as I’ve mentioned many times before, I think she seems like a real person, and pretty casual. And I think our daughters would get along.
- What is the first thing you would say to that celebrity?Um…hello?
- Do you have any major regrets in your life?No. Of course things have happened that I might wish hadn’t, but Lee and I have had this kind of discussion many times in life. If you went back and changed something, even something bad, would you still be where you are today? I like where I am today, so I wouldn’t change anything that led up to this point.
- If you could choose any (other) profession, what would it be?I’d be a copy editor, like I mentioned in the earlier question. But I actually like accounting (not in a weird way where I read about it in my spare time, but in the way that I enjoy my work), so I don’t really have a desire to change my profession.
- What song do you crank up the loudest in your car and sing along to?I love to listen to my music really loud. My favorite ones that I always turn up a little bit more would be: Rilo Kiley, “A Better Son/Daughter,” Thao, “Bag of Hammers” and Liz Phair, “Mayqueen.” Or Party Rock Anthem.
My friend Rach from Life Ever Since also tagged me. (You may know her as the host of my regular Friday Life’s Lessons posts.) Here are her 11 questions, and my responses.
- If you had to leave the U.S. and move to another country, where would you move to and why? I don’t know! I’ve never been anywhere else. Just for fun, I’ll sayItaly because I’m part Italian and I think I’d love the food. But it’s hard for me to imagine living in another state, much less another country. (I guess I’m just not very imaginative.)
- Are you an adventurous eater? Do you like trying new foods? I don’t think anyone would call me an adventurous eater. I’m a bit picky. But I will say that I’ve expanded my horizons quite a bit since my younger days. I never used to eat salads. Or green beans. Or feta cheese. I do enjoy trying new recipes and flavors – if I’m confident they’re flavors I’ll like. But I still wouldn’t ever eat gross pickles, strawberry, watermelon, nuts besides peanuts, coconut, mustard…the list goes on.
- What’s your favorite animal? A dog. A Corgi specifically. I’m not the biggest animal lover in the world though.
- What was your first job? I’m not 100% certain if it was doing some work filing for a local doctor’s office or turning pillows at the warehouse where my mom worked. But it was one of those two. My first “real” (post-college) job was as an auditor for a large CPA firm.
- Would you renew your vows complete with another wedding? Nah. Neither of us would ever feel a need to do that. And we already have three family weddings to attend this year – that should be plenty of weddings for us for awhile.
- What one talent do you wish you had? Generally speaking, creativity. I can’t draw or sing or plan an instrument or write. I feel like most of my talents are very practical.
- Do you let your kids jump on the bed? Sometimes. Definitely in a hotel. I’m not opposed to them jumping on a bed, as long as I know it won’t break.
- What’s your favorite salad dressing? Homemade ranch dressing is the best. From the store, I love Newman’s Own Family Recipe Italian dressing.
- Do you recycle? Yes. I’ll admit it’s much easier now that the city picks up our recycling than it was a few years ago when we had to take it somewhere ourselves.
- What do you like on your ice cream? If I’m keeping it simple, just some hot fudge. But sometimes I’m in the mood to throw on some caramel and crushed up cookies and nuts and M&M’s.
- Are you left or right handed? Right handed.
That’s it. Now I don’t have to feel guilty because I hadn’t responded to these tags. But I still feel a little guilty for not following all the rules and tagging 11 more people and asking 11 more questions. I’ll get over it though.
An Interview with Jenny – August 2011
Next in the Interview with My Kids series…Jenny. Finally. Since I wouldn’t let her go out and play tonight until she answered the questions.
Here are the questions along with Jenny’s answers and my comments in parentheses:
My favorite food is: Doritos
(Jenny’s on a junk food only diet, but we’re trying to change that.)
My favorite sport to play is: Gymnastics
(Hopefully this is going to change soon, since she quit. I’d hate to think she quit her favorite sport. Soccer starts in a couple weeks!)
The best show on television is: H2O
(I don’t like it because it’s a little too Australian for me. Jenny was really into an episode earlier that was so sad it made her cry. I understand.)
The coolest person on Earth is: My parents because you guys have to learn how to deal with me.
(I’m not sure how dealing with her makes us cool. It does make us old. I’m sure she thinks we wouldn’t be cool if it weren’t for her.)
My favorite thing to learn about in school is: Math
(By far her favorite subject.)
The thing I do most awesomely is: Gymnastics
(Again, she’s making me think she shouldn’t have quit.)
If I could go anywhere in the world, I’d go to: Paris
(I’m not sure why.)
My favorite color is: Blue
(She’s loved blue for years, and I think she thinks it makes her special because she believes most girls prefer pink.)
When I grow up, I’m going to become a: Teacher
(I kind of think every elementary age girl thinks she’ll be a teacher when she grows up. Except Reagan.)
My current favorite song is: What the Hell by Avril Lavigne
(She just said, “What the” and let me fill in the rest in case she was going to get in trouble for saying it. She wasn’t going to be in trouble.)
The book I am loving right now is: Harry Potter (But right now reading Percy Jackson.)
(She’s moved on to reading something besides Harry Potter, but it’s still her true book love.)
Three words that describe me are: Flexible, coordinated, smart
(Okay. There is a shortage of coordination in our family, so that does make her special.)
When I was little, I used to: Put poop on walls
(All three kids responded to this question with something poop related. Huh. And Jenny did smear poop all over her bedroom walls once when she was little.)
My favorite season of the year is: Summer
(Her birthday, no school, warm weather – what’s not to like?)
The snack I like the best is: Fries with ranch dressing
(She’d like to eat this every day. At least once a day. I can’t say anything because I definitely started her on it and still love it.)
One food that I really dislike is: Tomatoes
(There are so many foods she dislikes really.)
My best friend is: Katelyn. Or Laurel.
(It’s Katelyn really.)
If I had one wish, it would be: That I had wavy hair so that I could straighten it or curl it or put it any way.
(Pretty deep, huh?)
My best memory is: Playing on the Howling Tornado at the Great Wolf Lodge.
(Even deeper.)
An Interview with Brinky – August 2011
Next in the Interview with My Kids series…Brinky! Lee has interpreted for me so that I can get Brinky’s answers down for all to see.
Here are the questions along with Brinky’s answers and my comments in parentheses:
Enjoying some book eating yesterday.
My favorite food is: yogurt or dog butt
(He’s really happy when eating yogurt, but has an unfortunate habit of plopping over and trying to eat Zondro’s fur, close to the butt area.)
My favorite sport to play is: dog smacking
(Brinky likes to smack things. Hard. Especially Zondro. Better than me.)
The best show on television is: Dora the Explorer
(His definite favorite.)
The coolest person on Earth is: Backpack or the Map from Dora
(Lee says these are his favorites because of their theme music. I say they’re not people.)
My favorite thing to learn about in school is: You have to say, “Swiper, no swiping” three times to stop Swiper.
(School for Brinky = the very educational Dora)
The thing I do most awesomely is: poopface
(His poopface is awesome and hilarious, but has not yet been captured on film.)
If I could go anywhere in the world, I’d go to: To get whatever it is you have right there
(He does want to get to all the things he sees that he wants to put in his mouth. But he can’t.)
My favorite color is: yellow
(His favorite little toy is yellow, so that’s how we picked this one.)
When I grow up, I’m going to become a: Sumo wrestler
(He’s got the legs already.)
My current favorite song is: Touch Me All Night Long by Cathy Dennis
(I think this is just Lee’s favorite, but he swears it’s Brinky’s.)
The book I am loving right now is: Fountainhead
(This is one of the books he was eating yesterday.)
Three words that describe me are: fat, mean, fat
(According to Lee, who spends all day with him. I thought we should at least add cute.)
When I was little, I used to: not poop
(As opposed to Reagan who says she pooped when she was little. Brinky really struggled with it his first month of life. If anyone was wondering.)
My favorite season of the year is: winter
(He already heats up quickly like Lee. And his birthday’s in winter. Maybe fall will be his favorite, but he hasn’t experienced that one yet.)
The snack I like the best is: Cheerios
(And he can finally pick up his Cheerios and put them in his mouth!)
One food that I really dislike is: peas
(The only jars of food he won’t eat (or Lee won’t feed him) are green veggies.)
My best friend is: Zondro
(Brinky seriously loves this dog the most. They’re going to be best friends forever.)
If I had one wish, it would be: Everything in the whole world in my mouth
(He often sits there with his mouth hanging open while he looks at things, clearly wanting them to be in his mouth.)
My best memory is: Whatever just happened. Or the time Zondro did something funny.
(He doesn’t have much of a memory yet.)
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