Deklan B Rappin'

Deklan has always been a music lover. He was soothed by Nick's guitar from the day he was born and whenever he heard it, his attention was focused on it and hearing his dad sing to him. His dancing skills became evident as soon as he could stand up and spin around, bouncing and waving his arms to Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys. (That's the only way I got him to smile and pose for his Halloween picture as Dopey at 18 months.)

Baby Einstein was one of his best friends and he soon favored the video that taught all about orchestra and instruments. He knew more about which instruments were which than I did. He used his imagination and would come up with different household objects to use as trumpets, saxophones, clarinets, flutes, trombones, and especially drums....bass drums, snare drums, tympani drums...he knew them all and would find appropriate looking, and sounding items for each. Last Christmas his only desire from Santa was for a drum set- WITH A SYMBOL! It was hard not to urge Santa to forget about drums and deliver a much quieter toy. But this being the child's main, and almost only interest made the request of drums hard to deny. Santa pulled through. Deklan got a drum set. (Which of course went on sale as soon as Christmas was over...) He loves his drum set and quickly learned to play along to his favorite artist, Taylor "Swiffs".

There's his music background. Now for the present. This child is quite technilogically savy. (He gets that from his Mom.) He has been playing computer games for years, navigating his way around Nickelodeon's site and using the mouse and keyboard better than his Dad. (Not the toughest competition.) We were reluctant to allow him to use the iPod Touch when he was 3. But after giving him a practice run on Uncle Luke's Touch one day, we realized it was great for keeping his attention in long car trips, and he handled it with ease. (Thanks Luke ;o) He now has more apps downloaded for him (and his sister) on there than I do. But more important than the games to him, is all the music. He's never been one to love toddler songs and kids singing and much prefers the real thing; rock n'roll, hip-hop, country...the list goes on. He swipes his finger along and finds his favorite songs in seconds and knows all the words (he thinks.)

Here's the predicament....he currently LOVES Eminem, Britney Spears, and Taio Cruz to name a few. These artists obviously don't record their music with 4 year olds in mind. Even the "clean" version of Taio Cruz's "Sexy Bitch" is "Sexy Chic"....still not something he should be singing....but he does. In the last week, besides the usual conversations I usually have with him, most of the words I heard coming out of his mouth consisted of singing"...just gonna stand there and watch me burn, but it's alright because I like the way it hurts..." and "baby, baby have you seen Amy tonight...is she in the bathroom...is she smokin' up outside..." "boom boom pow" and "we gonna rock this club, we gonna go all night, we gonna light it up like it dyno-mite..." I explained how some of these songs say naughty words and he cannot repeat them, or even sing along, but he explains he really likes the beat of the song. The only time so far that I have heard anything naughty come out of his mouth, from these songs, is when he said "Mom, that guy says 'shit'. But don't worry, I won't say that, because that is shitty." You can blame Eminmen...or his mother for that one.

So....do I deprive the cute, little 4 year old from these "awesome" songs that he loves? Do I shut down the fist-pumping from the high-back booster seat in the back? He tells me he's going to be an astronaut or a rock star when he gets big. I think searching for his songs on the iPod is actually improving his reading skills...he can already pick out the words 'Eminem', and Sexy Chic (the "forbidden" one) in the play lists.

No matter what becomes of Deklan's love of music or his future potty-mouth, one thing is for sure: he is a tough critic. After looking at Britney's album cover picture on the iPod while listening to one of her songs, he stated "Mom she sure is beautiful......but her voice sounds like a bug."

Blakely and her favorite "glathith"

ready for the party, originally uploaded by eyenetgraphics.

Blakely's Prayers

I have sort of dropped the ball when it comes to teaching Blakely how to say her prayers, and saying them consistently every night. By the time Deklan was this age, I was recording his cute little voice rattling off the memorized prayers we said every night, blessing almost everyone we knew. Now, our nightly routine consists of supper, bath, Backyardigans, TWO books, whining, crying, scratching backs and playing with hair all crammed into about an hour, with the end goal being the kids sleeping (or at least not crying) by 8:30. Alas, something had to go, and unfortunately it ended up being our prayers. (They're hard to say over a crying child who isn't even paying attention. Yes, that is an excuse, and not a very good one I realize.)

Tonight began the rebirth of our nightly prayers. (Well not for Deklan, because he fell asleep before I had my epiphany.) So Blake and I sat on the couch at 10:30 p.m. (routine not so productive tonight) and said our prayers. Hands folded. Heads bowed. Me speaking, and Blakely repeating. Blakely's prayers were concluded as follows:

"...in Jesus' name we play, Almonds."

I cut her some slack, as she is still getting used to these words. And in her defense, she absolutely loves almonds.

Deklan

IMG_4078, originally uploaded by eyenetgraphics.

Just a picture of Deklan before Church one day. Lookin' like a big boy! Almost 4!

What in the Dump?

Deklan was drilling me with questions about God and Jesus this afternoon while we were in the kitchen. I had mentioned quickly before about the differences of Heaven and Hell and how we perceive them both. I told him God lived in Heaven and is good and the Devil lived in Hell and is bad. Deklan asked, "God sent him there? And God started him on FIRE!?" I told him that God did not set the Devil on fire, but that's just kind of the way we think of hell- a fiery place.

"Hell is just a place that is hot and yucky and a place we don't want to be." I said.
Deklan quickly responded, "So Hell is like the DUMP?"

I couldn't help but smile and laugh at his little brain's idea of what Hell must be like. Deklan had a traumatic experience at the city dump earlier this fall when he freaked out and threw up on himself in Papa Gari's pick-up because of the terrible garbage smell. So to him, the dump is probably the closest comparison to hell on earth.

Gonna Be a Pilot

Deklan spent most of yesterday afternoon playing with his airplanes and pretending to be Papa Barney. I helped him build a hangar, equipped with a door that raises and lowers, and he laid out DVD covers in a row for the runway. He would take off, spray a field (patch of carpet) and land again and put his plane in the hangar. He even went as far as using his two fingers to get out of the plane, and "walk" back to the house. I commented on that and said, "Oh, is Papa Barney your fingers?" to which he responded, "No, his LEGS!"

This morning, he resumed playing with his hangar. I asked him, "Are you going to fly planes when you grow up?" Deklan said, "Yeah, I'm gonna be a pilot when I get big!"

Mom: "Will you fly us to the moon?!"
Deklan: "NOOO!" He giggled. "I can't fly to the MOON!!"
Just when I thought his imagination was already limited at the ripe age of 3, he finished...
"Cuz I don't know how to start the airplane!!"

Dear Santa...

Deklan dictated a letter to Santa last night, and through me, we got it written down and ready to send to the North Pole. He was probed with questions of what he would want to say, and the rest is all Deklan.

"Dear Santa,

Very Christmas! I was...have been NICE! May I please have a drum set? I would like a blue one. I want a cymbol. Bring Blakely some undies. Blakely is my sister. She's been nice, Santa. I love my mom and dad. I want some big bowls for my kitchen. I guess Blakely should get a teddy bear, and I will get a drum set and my mom and dad can have a lantern. Why do you have a beard? I also want a sink for my kitchen, and a toilet for my kitchen and don't forget about soap. I will call you.

Good-bye Santa
For Deklan"