Do you TV?

The new baby (W) has brought about a new era in our lives...the era of TV. And the begging for TV. And the quoting of TV. And the adoration of certain females (ahem, DORA) on TV.

Z has become obsessed with watching TV. It started right after I had W. With W needing to be fed all the time (seriously, bottomless pit over here!!!) and Z needing to be corralled and entertained while said feeding goes on, TV has become my friend. At first I balked at the idea of Z watching so much TV. I had done everything in my power to make sure he wasn't a TV-a-holic kid. But after he took to dumping entire boxes of cereal on the (only) carpeted floor in our house or running upstairs and emptying all his drawers and "hiding" clothes in the closets, all while I was feeding W, I knew that TV was going to become our best friend.

Believe me, if I can get him doing anything else during feeding times, I do. I set him up with toys or colouring or books- anything I can think of. And it does work sometimes. But often a need for a feed (see how I did that rhyme? poet, yes?) comes before I can fully engage Z in an activity. He's still quite young, just turned 27 months yesterday, and his attention span for entertaining himself just isn't quite there yet.

The one rule I have for TV watching is that it has to have some educational value. I won't let him watch mindless silliness just so he's entertained. I would rather have him dump a full box of cereal then watch Waybaloo or some other dribble. So "Dinosaur Train", "Dora", "Diego" and "Special Agent Oso" have become family favourites in the past 7 weeks. And yes, I know every single character name, can sing every single theme song (ahhhhhh, Rescue Pack, coming to the rescue) and guess every single answer (could Dora BE more demanding??) along with Z. And secretly thank Disney Jr. and Treehouse for saving my sanity during these first few trying months of W's life!!

Best part of the day?
Z running around nude after his bath, stopping in his tracks and asking, very seriously, "Mommy, I a nudey. You love nudies, right?" Um...yes??