E'mo Take

So the littlest one just turned two, but in terms of cultural awareness is lightyears ahead of where the boys were at the same age.  Good Berkeley wannabes that we are, when the boys were two there was little household awareness of candy, nor television, nor any other corrupting influence that would lead them on the road to perdition.  But playdates that consist of two hours of nintendo are hard to battle, candy so omnipresent, and the power of kids whining so grating, that we've gradually succumbed, and our boys will now watch TV and consume things with the word "Froot" on the label.  And Aoife has learned.  She will now elbow her way past her brothers to get to the TV, and demand 'can'y' if she sees anything that seems even vaguely reminiscent of sweets (things prompting her to demand candy include, but are not limited to: novelty erasers, lego bricks, a brightly colored roll of duct tape, an orange vase, and a book about flower fairies).  She has learned about Sesame Street, and now she worships at the alter of Elmo (or E'mo, as he's called in these parts, who actually does some pretty good work on youtube - I highly recommend Elmo and Feist singing '1-2-3-4').  When it came time for her birthday, Aoife was not able to correctly answer her new age (two - she was still convinced she was one) or identify her gender (she will not acknowledge that girls exist - everyone, including her, is a boy), but she was quite clear that for her birthday, she wanted two things: puh-puh boons (trans: purple balloons) and E'mo take (Elmo cake).  Happy to divide the labor, I purchased a dozen purple balloons (with purple strings even) while Lisa performed the easier task and made an Elmo cake.  As you can see below, it's pretty good.  Shame I don't have a picture of the balloons - they were spectacular.