Colour me cheapskate

ThingOne won a colouring competition at the baby and toddler show that Anne and a friend organised yesterday.

ThingOne wasn't there when the results were results were announced, and the prize - a discontinued toddler learning aid, a My First Leappad - was more suitable for her little sister so we decided that that was ThingTwo's Christmas present sorted. The fact that the prize was for a three year old makes it sound like ThingOne's colouring was judged less harshly than it ought to have been, but I'm pretty sure her age was on the entry so it was all above board.

This morning we told ThingOne she'd won and gave her some helium balloons that were left over after the show. We felt a little bad about taking away her £10-£20 prize and replacing it with what was essentially litter, but we needn't have done. Having had no idea there were prizes up for grabs (colouring is of course a reward in itself for a four year old), and helium balloons being among the best things in the world at that age, she was very excited. That plus she was able to continually state that she was the best at colouring in (in the world, probably).

And so ThingTwo will be getting an unwanted prize as a Christmas present and will, we hope, be just as chuffed.

The kids are a little backwards

ThingOne was asking about some camera trickery today, so I had a think about what I could show her with the simple software I use. Once I'd started explaining how I could run a video backwards we quickly came up with some good things to try this out on.

Here's what we came up with.

Oh, and ThingOne's an entirely-CG creation in this video.

Strange bedfellows

In a few weeks we're having some work done on the house, and while the work's being done ThingOne and ThingTwo will be sharing a bedroom. Occasionally we put them in together to see how they get on, and we've done that tonight. They seem to enjoy it, and don't disturb each other too much. ThingOne's in a bed, and ThingTwo's across the room in a cot.

After I'd put them to bed tonight they were quiet, so I went downstairs. Later I heard chatting, and went upstairs, sat outside the bedroom door and listened as they talked in darkness.
ThingTwo: "Am I sitting down or standing up?"
ThingOne: "Sitting down?"
ThingTwo: "No."
ThingOne: "Standing up?"
ThingTwo: "Yes. Now am I sitting down or standing up?"
ThingOne: "Sitting down?"
ThingTwo: "Yes. Can you see me now?"
ThingOne: "No."
ThingTwo: "What am I doing now?"
ThingOne: "I don't know. I can't see you."
ThingTwo: "I'm doing this."
ThingOne: "What are you doing?"
ThingTwo: "This."
ThingOne: "I can't see you. You'll have to tell me."
ThingTwo: "I'm doing this."
ThingOne: "What? Wait a minute, I think I can see you. Are you standing up?"
ThingTwo: "No."
ThingOne: "Oh. I can't see you then."

Nice to hear they can entertain themselves.

Later still we heard shouting. Anne went in to find ThingTwo continually shouting "ThingOne - are you asleep? ThingOne?" ThingOne was fast asleep. When she saw Anne ThingTwo said "I ask ThingOne if she asleep but she not answer me." What a Benny.

Mash up

Hope this video doesn't disturb the kids too much...

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Shall we fight?

Last week I showed ThingOne the first hour of Star Wars (I mean Episode IV of course). Within minutes ThingOne was shocked and exclaimed "What? Why are the goodies dying?" She's used to only baddies dying in films (though come to think of it she didn't seem bothered when a goody died in The Princess and the Frog). Had I jumped the gun by showing it to her? She's quite savvy about what's real and what's not, and occasionally checks with me that the people fighting on-screen are friends in real life.

We watched the middle section today, where the goodies rescue the princess from the Death Star (after the baddies have blown up a planet). She's seen bits of this section before, and enjoyed seeing it all the way through a lot.

I figured she'd got through it with no ill effects and I was a star parent. Only the Battle of Yavin section to go!

Turns out ThingOne's dad isn't much better than Luke's. A couple of hours later ThingOne was asking if she and I could fight, one being the goody and one the baddy, and take it in turns to die. She made a weird guttural noise at me, which turned out to be the sound we should each make when we pretend to die.

ThingTwo watched on a little baffled as we fought to the death.

Let's hope this doesn't come up at the next school parent's evening.