ten in ten

1. I'm extra glad I managed to record Elliott naming the animals in Bear Snores On, because the week after I did he abruptly shifted loyalty. He now requires all three Beep Beep books at bedtime, also known as Little Blue Truck, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, and Little Blue Truck's Christmas (Elliott title: Beep Beep Trees). Luckily for me I kind of adore the Beep Beep books, for they are easy to read and have utterly charming illustrations. In fact, if you find yourself buying a gift for a child between birth and age three anytime soon, I would definitely recommend any or all of the set. The original tale is only $3.97 on Amazon right now, which is almost criminally cheap. It's such a great book! Amazon also informs me there's another Beep Beep installment due out in September (the #1 upcoming release in children's farm life books, apparently). I will now await its debut with nervous anticipation...will it live up to the other three? Will Elliott still love Beep Beep in the fall?

2. I discovered Beep Beep when Nico was a toddler. I had checked out another book from the library illustrated by Jill McElmurry, Hound from the Pound, and loved the pictures. A few weeks later I was at Barnes & Noble and the title Little Blue Truck caught my eye due to Nico's vehicular obsession. I recognized the illustrations immediately and bought the book that day. We have loved it ever since, so I guess sometimes it's safe to judge a book by its cover.

3. I'm disappointed that there aren't any reasonably-priced toy little blue trucks on the market. Nico has a larger-than-Matchbox diecast vintage pickup truck that could easily pass for Beep Beep, but it's black. I've scoured the internet and checked at the three stores where we typically buy toys, to no avail. So if anyone happens to come across an old-fashioned blue toy pickup truck, that doesn't cost one meelion dollars, please buy it and I will pay you back for cost plus shipping.

4. Nico has a nice secondhand jacket that he started wearing in the fall, seen here. Apparently he had no idea the coat had pockets, because yesterday we were at the credit union depositing tax return money into the kids' accounts when he discovered them. He was putting away the little prize he got for making a deposit (a tiny plastic butterfly finger puppet) and announced with obvious amazement that hey! This jacket has pockets! Then, with even greater amazement, he cried, "Mama, there's MONEY in my pocket!" I think the $4 he found must've come with the jacket. His mind was completely blown and it was the greatest. I can remember getting $5 for my birthday when I was around eight years old and thinking that was awesome. I can only imagine the majesty of $4 at age five. I told him, you could buy a Matchbox with that and he exclaimed "RIGHT NOW?" So we went to Target, where he carefully examined many options before settling on a $3.99 Monster Jam truck (I always pay his sales tax).

5. Elliott received a CD of platinum hits from Sesame Street for his birthday and it has been the biggest hit with both kids. They especially love C is for Cookie, Monster in the Mirror, and I Love Trash. Even though I never watched Sesame Street much as a kid, I'm a fan of this CD as well, and particularly like I Don't Want to Live on the Moon, though I thought it was Kermit singing rather than Ernie.

My plan to come up with ten things in ten minutes did not work - it ended up more like five in fifteen. I think I'm happy with this compromise.