balloons & lollipops

both of our dogs have nicknames. petey's is derived from his kevin-penned theme song, "balloons & lollipops, balloons & lollipops, the happiest dog in the world!" so long as the majority of humanity and caninity is kept away from him, petey is the most happy go lucky dog there is - a true dog's dog. if left to his own devices, he'd chase squirrels that he'll never catch until he dropped dead. he's all sunshine, head in the clouds, balloons & lollipops.

rudy, however, is at the other end of the spectrum. before his second birthday, the vet started calling him "rudy old man." at home, his nickname is even more indicative of the ugly-truth universe that he inhabits. he's known around the house as snaggletooth beefbeard rastapenis.

as it should be, the world of the baby blog is almost wholly balloons & lollipops; the snaggletooths and beefbeards and rastapenises either get omitted or transformed by humorous anecdote. but i don't want violet's history to be some glossy facebook fiction, so in honor of keeping it real, rudy-style, i just want to say that it's been a bumpy ride in the lynn house the last couple of weeks. everyone is hacking up ectoplasm, no one is sleeping in a crib for more than two hours at a good stretch, and high beams aren't enough to sight the end of this tunnel. the house is filthy, the menu is frozen, and there's a big snot smear on my second to last pair of work pants that isn't in the to-be-dry-cleaned pile.

but thank god, somewhere in between lollipops and rastapenises is a lot of laughing.

to wit, i just wanted to shoot an innocent little video of violet with her favorite new toy (okay, and perhaps catch a "mama" on camera, despite her stubborn resistance to provide the evidence), but kevin's (admittedly well compensated) 13-year-old comedic sensibilities have finally corrupted mine. things turn inappropriate around the 40-second mark. apparently she's been watching b&l and sbr "at play" a little too often.



*amending because just as i hit publish, kevin sent me an email about this book. (grandmas, close your eyes and repeat after me: "balloons & lollipops!")