Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Wiggles & More

That's right, folks, we attended a "Wiggles" concert earlier this month at the Target Center. If you don't count the Toby Keith concert that Collin "attended" in-utero, this was his first concert and he enjoyed every minute of it! We have to admit we had fun too. Based on all the crazy characters for children to choose from these days, we find these guys pretty tolerable...and dare I say it...entertaining?!? Who says parents can't have an active social life!

Collin really enjoys the Wiggles at home. We have not gotten any of the videos or CD's, but we watch the TV show every morning when we wake up and he has the "Murray guitar" on which he "rocks it out". Literally, Collin tells us he is "rocking out" as he rolls on the floor rock star style...Captain Feathersword is his favorite character though, and thanks to the souvenir stand we now own a pirate hat, a doll and our very own "feathersword".

Anyway, we do have a few choice episodes of the Wiggles taped that we use as well...ok, we have 11 taped episodes.... which I guess qualifies as more than a few. I never really wanted Collin to watch a lot of TV as a child...he is probably cursed with the couch potato gene by having Doug and I as parents so why encourage it. However, when he came across the Wiggles he had SO much fun I could not resist allowing it. I honestly have to say that his investment in the songs and conversations on the show have actually helped his verbal skills along...so I am glad we gave it a chance. Seeing Collin enjoy the concert was just the icing on the cake.

To make our big "family date" complete, we went out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory to take advantage of Collin's love for all things pasta. After a brief wait to be seated, we went to our table and got out the crayons that they provide in a plastic cup as a means to manage toddler behavior. Collin accidentally dropped it (really an accident...this time) and it bounced loudly on the floor and rolled completely under the chair of a woman diner seated near us. I was quite embarrassed as I walked over to retrieve the cup, never looking her in the eye...but thankfully the woman was gracious about it. We then continued on with our dinner, where Collin enjoyed some of Dad's soup and I was a big enough proud mom to take a picture of Collin during our dinner out.
A yummy spoonful of minestrone soup


Dinner continued and suddenly it struck me...I had looked up and finally clearly saw the woman's face as she was seated next to us. It was Melissa Gilbert from Little House on the Prairie. My son had (accidentally) almost assaulted "Laura Ingalls Wilder" from the hit TV show with a plastic cup!

I bided my time, but had to be sure. Right as she and her companion were about to leave I walked up to her one more time and asked if indeed she was Melissa Gilbert, which she confirmed. I apologized for the cup again and explained that I had been so embarrassed that I never really "looked" at her when I gathered our crayon cup back. She told me not to worry...she has four children of her own and has seen plenty of things thrown across a room. After getting her autograph on a Spaghetti Factory place mat (yes, I'm a geek), she told me she was on dinner break before a performance and was also chaperoning her young teen son's first date..he was sitting a few tables away as well.

They left and I went back to my table. It then dawned on me that the innocent photo I took of Collin eating minestrone soup was a paparazzi shot...If you look closely I have cropped and lightened the background and that is Melissa Gilbert in the background.
Melissa Gilbert in the white tanktop


We knew we'd enjoy the Wiggles and our family date, but could not have predicted the rest of the day! Who says parents can't have an active social life??? We are mingling with stars!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

The last week has been all about BIRTHDAYS!
Our most recent post was all about our new niece, Danika's, "original" birthday...and it has not stopped there.
The 8th of August is actually shared by Collin's Grandma Jan who has her birthday that day as well. We celebrated a belated birthday with Grandma Jan this weekend and although Collin did not sing to her, he did wish her happy birthday, repeatedly....as well as announcing without prompting that he is going to be "two"... a skill we have been working on lately.

Grandma Jan and Collin enjoying some snuggle time together!


We also celebrated JJ Hammill's one year birthday. Curious George was the theme of the day and everyone enjoyed family, friends and food, appropriately featuring banana flavored Oreo's (surprisingly tasty!) and a fabulous George birthday cake handmade by JJ's grandma. This time Collin did participate in singing "Happy Birthday." He had a 1/3 chance of inserting JJ's name in the correct spot as he normally sings about JJ or his friend Bryce or himself (of course...) when we "practice" at home. Happily, JJ was his birthday boy of choice at the appropriate time!

Party! The Birthday Boy is the handsome young man in red.

All this birthday action has inspired us to do a countdown to Collin's second birthday, quickly approaching on September 27...as a result, a "ticker" has been added to the top of the Rosenau Review. I can't believe how quickly time flies...

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Welcome, Danika Lynn Rosenau

Yesterday (August 8, 2008) Doug's youngest brother Mike and his wife Cagney welcomed their first daughter, Danika Lynn Rosenau, into the world.
Danika Lynn Rosenau
8/8/08
10:04 am
8lbs, 6oz
21.5 inches

We went to Methodist Hospital to meet beautiful Danika that evening...she was kind enough to pose (and smile) for this picture. Our new neice, mother and daddy appeared to be happy, healthy and well. Danika is the sixth Rosenau cousin and kept the "boy-girl" cousin rotation going since she is the first new cousin born after Collin...below is the crowd she is joining:


Top to Bottom (taken this summer):
Grace
Kalie
Riley
Dylan

Not pictured in the pile is Collin's oldest Cousin, Sybil...She's a teen now, so what did ya expect!? She did pose for a pic (below) the day of Collin's Baptism....This picture is outdated....since this picture was taken, every time I see her I swear she is slowly turning into a teen Supermodel...boys around the world, watch out!
Sybil (November, 2006)
Again, welcome to Danika and congratulations to Mike and Cagney!