Me Too! by Mercer Mayer, read by bob at age 3

I've been meaning to post another Bob reading sample for a while {here are part one and part two} but normally Pupper doesn't like to read for the camera, and I don't have time for that crap anyway.

But one day recently I got lucky.  Full disclosure: we've read this book a hundred times and pup probably has most of it memorized.  But, we haven't read it much lately, and he totally could read this whole book even if he had never seen it before.  We're now more surprised when he can't read a word than when he can.  And of course his little reading voice is adorable to listen to, so here it is.

"Me Too!" by Mercer Mayer

read by "Pupper" -- age three

swim lessons for bob!

Right after Bob turned three I signed him up for swim lessons with his buddy Shane.  We like to show up early and play ball in the gym for a little while beforehand.

photos from his very first lesson

The lessons are pretty darn hilarious.  Tiny little people flailing their limbs about in the water.  Owen spends the entire 45 minutes trying to evade me and climb into the pool.  It's funny and all and I love his tenacity but it's exhausting and a little nerve racking and by the time class is over, I am ready for it to be over.  Bobby has great days and awful days.  Sometimes he's all smiles, chatting it up with his buds, jumping off the diving blocks... other times he claims he doesn't want to swim at all, or he gets hungry, or tired... Mom has given many a pep talk -- some nice, others a bit more stern.  We always come out happy in the end.  The warm shower afterwards is a favorite part of the whole ritual.  Now that Owen can really walk he gets in on it too.  I'll tell ya -- the whole thing is a hassle and I'll be glad for summertime when I can just take him swimming myself.  But in the meantime, it's good for him; a different experience with a little structure and another authority figure, new kids, practice in the water... It's worth it.  But still.  I'll be ready for a break come summer.  {And I'm ready for summer to come!}

tips on being a good wife

Some tricks I've picked up on being an awesome wife to your husband:

do his laundry for him so rarely that when you occasionally do, he thinks you're a superstar.

when he comes home from work and asks what's for supper, scowl at him and mutter a besmirching remark about having been up to your elbows in poop and smushed bananas all day... just to keep the menu a surprise for him, and to make it seem gourmet compared to... the aforementioned.

let your 13 month old sleep in bed with you.  husbands love having tiny humans between themselves and their wives in bed, baby donkey kicking them awake just an hour before they have to get up for work.

for your husband's birthday, buy him nothing.  husbands hate picking out gifts anyway, and this sets the standard really low for them.

when he texts you something really sweet in the middle of the day, respond accordingly with whichever loving phrase you can text behind your back {e.g. 'love ya'} so that the baby doesn't see and thereafter need your phone.  if he responds with another nice anything, shut him down immediately. {e.g. 'that's enough. we don't have unlimited texting, you know.'}  husbands don't want to be wasting their hard-earned money on texting overages; we owe it to them to keep those casios in line.

as soon as the kids are in bed, slip yourself into something a bit more comfortable... if you know what I mean.  best to choose something like his high school sweats and a sweater you bought for him that he didn't like -- just so he doesn't get the wrong idea or anything.

take your time alone with your husband to blog while he is in another room.  preferably something weird about him.

I love you, Benny.  Thanks for loving me back even though I might be the worst wife ever.

xoxo, a.