The end is near -- sigh

It's the end of the month so I'm coming to the end of my reign as the featured author on the Polka Dot Banner site. If you haven't already, check out the site and read my interview. :) Soon, a new "king or queen" will be crowned.

Triolet du jour

Triolet -- I'll try it. :)

Triolet – Music -- Recorder

It goes in the mouth and sound comes out
The recorder could be the perfect toy
It plays louder than the boy can shout
It goes in the mouth and sound comes out
By blowing into its top like a spout
The music enthralls the little boy
It goes in the mouth and sound comes out
The recorder could be the perfect toy

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

I think this will be my last revised nursery rhyme for a while. Who knows what we'll do next. :)

Revised Nursery Rhyme
(London’s Burning)

Sophie’s cranky, Sophie’s cranky
Fetch her dog treat, Fetch her dog treat
Catch her, catch her
Shut her dog crate, shut her dog crate
Sophie’s cranky, Sophie’s cranky

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Here's today's poem -- the last verse is my favorite. :)

Revised Nursery Rhyme
(Row, row, row your boat)

Feed, feed, feed the boy
In his wooden chair
Hurriedly, hurriedly, hurriedly, hurriedly
He’s a hungry little bear

Hold, hold, hold the boy
While he tries to stand
Carefully, carefully, carefully, carefully
Hold him by the hand

Kiss, kiss, kiss the boy
Softly on his head
Tenderly, tenderly, tenderly, tenderly
Place him in his bed

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Here is today's poem:

Revised Nursery Rhyme
(Sing a song of sixpence)

Found a lucky one cent
On the road one day
Put it in the car and
In the door it stayed
Thomas in his car seat
Spied the shiny sight
He tried to test his new teeth out
By giving it a bite

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

We had "a day" yesterday, so I didn't have a chance to write or post anything. Here is the poem for yesterday, and if anyone has a cat, it will make perfect sense.


Revised Nursery Rhyme
(Baa, Baa, Black Sheep)

Black cat, black cat
Have you any food?

Oh, yes, grey cat
My servant here is good

She fills my bowl up daily
Before the food is gone
I like to drive her crazy
By meowing on and on

Black cat, black cat
Have you any food?

Oh, yes, grey cat
My servant here is good

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Revised Nursery Rhyme
(Itsy, Bitsy Spider)

The itsy, bitsy baby
Rolled across the mat
Over came the pup
And on the mat she sat
Over came the cat
And scared away the pup
And the itsy, bitsy baby
Could roll without a bump

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Here's the poem for today -- it's a little twee, so be forewarned. :)


Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song
(Hey, Diddle, Diddle)

Hey, Thomas, Thomas
I vow and I promise
To hug and hold you so tight
The cat’s on the rug
I’ll wrap you up snug
Then I’ll kiss you and wish you goodnight

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Our little boy didn't get to play in his pool today -- too stormy -- :( But he did play in his play yard

Revised Nursery Rhyme
(There was an old woman who lived in a shoe)

There once was a baby
Who played in his yard
The flooring was soft
The edges were hard
He rolled and he rolled
Until he reached the end
At the end he started
To roll back again

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

A little boy at the library was singing a nursery rhyme to my son today so, of course, I had to use it.



Revised Nursery Rhyme
(One, two, buckle your shoe)

One, two
Library’s a zoo
Three, four
They pour in the door
Five, six
Teens and babes mix
Seven, eight
It’s getting late
Nine, ten
Back home again

Picture poem

We wonder why we have so many tiny tears in our screens. Huhm.



Revised Nursery Rhyme

(Pussycat, Pussycat)



“Chloe cat, Chloe cat

Where have you been?”

“Out on the back porch

Way up the screen”



“Chloe cat, Chloe cat

Why were you climbing?”

“I was chasing a lizard

That sneaked up behind me"

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

My household can get pretty crazy at times. Here's my poem for the day:

Revised Nursery Rhyme
(Three Blind Mice)

Thomas, Buster, Chloe
Thomas, Buster, Chloe
Teasing our dog Sophie
Teasing our dog Sophie
The cats run into the kitty condo
The boy has her tail and he won’t let it go
Sophie’s confused and she runs to and fro
Thomas, Buster, Chloe

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Our little guy threw his car toy to the floor (as he often does when he is trying to chew on the mirror), but this time it hit the hard tile face first and something snapped. His daddy tried to fix it, but it just wasn't to be. :( Anyway, I did get a revised nursery rhyme out of it. :)

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song
(Little Bo Peep)

Our little boy
Has broke his car toy
And needs his daddy to mend it
Wires in a knot
Electronics shot
I think the toy’s life has ended

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Here is my poem for the day:

Revised Nursery Rhyme
(was Little Jack Horner)

Little Thomas Kirchel
Sat in the church and
Listened to the big choir
He thought it was fine
Each note was divine
But he knew that he could sing higher

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Thomas had so much fun in his pool today.


Revised Nursery Rhyme
(Hickory, dickory, dock)

Slippery, sloshity, splash!
The baby’s in the bath
Or in the pool
To keep him cool
Slippery, sloshity, splash!

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

I finished Thomas' picture poem book last night, so tonight I'm switching back to a revised nursery rhyme.

This one used to be Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:

Revised Nursery Rhyme/Song

Thomas, Thomas, little boy
How you’ve filled our lives with joy
We love you more with each new day
Every day we want to say
Thomas, Thomas, little boy
How you’ve filled our lives with joy!

Picture poem

Spinning Butterfly

Over the changing table
The butterfly looms
And spins
To a cheery tune
The baby reaches up
To grab the wings
Because he’s entranced
By moving things
He might be destructive
But we prefer
To think that he’s
A budding engineer

Picture poem

At last! The shuttle launched today. My poem for the day has nothing to do with the shuttle. I'm just relieved it launched. Every day it was scrubbed made my husband crankier and crankier. Yay! Happier household today.

Here is the poem for today:

Sunhat

It slipped down your head
And over your eyes
The sudden darkness
Caught you by surprise
That was the first time
You wore a sunhat
You decided then
It wasn’t a fun hat

Now you are bigger
The hat fits better
I put it on you
For sunny weather
Though in the sunhat
You are fully dressed
Four months have passed and
You still aren’t impressed

Picture poem

Train Basket

The soft, cushy train basket
Pulled into our house
One Saturday afternoon

When I took out the musical bear engineer
I saw that the train basket
Would be the perfect place
To put all your small toys
That were scattered around your play-yard

So I filled the train basket
With all your small toys
And set it in your play-yard
And then set you in your play-yard

You found the train basket right away
And began to empty the train basket
Of all your small toys
And scattered them around your play-yard
I gathered up the small toys
And put them back into the train basket
And once again you emptied the train basket
Of all your small toys
And scattered them around your play-yard

It became a game
Of your own invention
But only one of us
Was having fun

Picture poem

Sophie Giraffe

Rubber giraffe
Softly squeaking
Or do you think that
She’s really speaking?

This Sophie is
A teething toy
The boy chews on her
Not her on the boy!

Picture poem

He had to show up sooner or later -- it's The Pigeon!

OK, I did buy the toy because I was so vastly amused, but it turns out it is Thomas' favorite crib toy. When he falls asleep, his arm is crooked around the pigeon's neck. When he wake up in the small hours of the morning, we very often hear Mo Willems squealing "Let me drive the bus!"

Pigeon

Silly pigeon
Of body blue
Squeeze his belly
And he’ll talk to you

No other toy
Raises such a fuss
By squealing
“Let me drive the bus!”

Picture poem

My poor little baby has been cutting four teeth at once! He got his first top one yesterday, and his third bottom one today. The next two are visible but haven't broken the surface yet.

Of course, I had to draw it, so here's my poem:

There once was a baby from Mims
Who had two teeth in the head of him
Three and four broke through
And doubled the two
And now he no longer fits in

Picture poem

I'm planning to write a picture poem each day for the next week so that I'll have quite a few in Thomas' book. Here's my picture poem for today:

Sock Monkey

Soft and fuzzy
And always there
Some people think
This toy is a bear

But it’s not

Look at its tail
And outer ears’ rings
This is animal
That really swings

If his hand-stitched
Red pert mouth could talk
He’d say, “I’m a
Monkey made of socks.”

Picture poem

Today's poem is a cure for baby-longing. :)

The Diaper Pail

One piece of equipment
That never should fail –
Whatever the cost –
Is the diaper pail

Odors will linger
And even may lurk
If that diaper pail
Does not rightly work

No air freshener
Will ever prevail
Or mask the stenches
Of a stinky pail

Picture poem

Here is today's Picture Poem.

Flowerpot and seeds

One day
About two months before you were due
My mother gave me a hand-painted flowerpot
And a packet of seeds –
Baby blue flax seeds –
I did not plant the seeds right away
Instead, I decided to wait until after your birth
(And until after the puppy stopped digging up
Everything I planted)
So I set the flowerpot and seeds aside
And waited
You arrived on time
Healthy and with startling dark blue eyes
But that was not the time to plant the seeds
Instead, I watched you grow
And watched the puppy turn into a dog
And waited for her to stop digging up
Everything I planted
Until one day
Nine months after my mother gave me
The flowerpot and the packet of seeds
I decided that was the day
To plant the seeds
So I did
And one day
Just before you turned
Eight months old
The seeds sprouted
And the dog
Did not dig them up

Polka Dot Banner

Yay! I'm the featured author for the Polka Dot Banner site this month. Check out my banner and interview, and if you like, leave a comment. :)

Picture poem

Here's today's poem:

The Pram

I bought the system
For the pram
Because I know
That I am
The sort of woman
That would push a pram

But now you bigger
And a little older
I find that I
Prefer the stroller
And you prefer it
Now you are fuller

Picture poem

A little rubber duck wear dark glasses inspires a silly poem, so here it is.

Yellow Rubber Duck

Little yellow duck of rubber
Swimming in the baby’s blue tubber
He moves as slowly as molasses
Because he wears dark-tinted glasses
He thinks he looks a stylish duck
But the silly fowl is out of luck
The baby spies him, stalks him and
Grasps the duck in his chubby hand
The duck is clueless behind his shades
He doesn’t know about bathtub raids
If he could see, he’d be full of dread --
Now the baby’s gnawing on his head

Picture poem

Our poor baby got to sit in his new wading pool only just long enough to know he really liked it.

Baby Pool

This morning voices sang to you
As you stood and danced
On your Daddy’s lap

This afternoon in your new pool
You sat and danced
And learned to splash

Then the winds changed and howled
We picked you up
And ran you inside

The distant thunder galloped closer
Lightning crashed, rain slashed --
Wild summer storm

Picture poem

Happy Fourth of July! We set out some sparklers for our little guy. He really enjoyed. He also had some ice cream, which I think he enjoyed more.

Here is today's poem:

Toy Drums

Your Aunt Dianne
Bought you a toy twin drum set
If you press your hand
Against the hand on
Either of the drums
A drumming tune
Plays
It didn’t take you long
To learn to work the drums
To learn that hitting it twice
Will give you two different tunes
Today
When your belly was
As tight as a drum
From Fourth of July ice cream
You learned that pressing
The hand longer
Will change the tune Again

Picture poem

I've decided to take a break from nursery rhymes rewrites, so I'm going back to drawing an object and writing a poem about it. Today's object was a green footed cup.

Green Footed Cup

Today was the first day
You sat in your high chair
And drank from the snout
Of your bright green
Footed sippy cup

You seized one handle
Fiercely
With your right hand
And confidently
Raised the cup
To your open mouth

However
You did not tilt the cup
So you drank
Only air

I tried to help you
But you would
Relinquish no control
And instead
Held a handle
Tightly in each hand

At last
You raised
And tilted the cup
Grinning
As apple juice streamed down your chin
And trickled into your open mouth

New subject -- same style

I used Little Boy Blue for today's revised nursery rhyme/song poem. It is more about the baby than the animals, but I did work them in there. :)


Baby blue eyes
Where are your pets?
The cats on the back porch
The dog at the vet’s

Where is the baby
Who watches the fish
He sleeps in his playpen
And dreams up a wish

Will you wake him?
Oh, no, not I
For if I do
He will surely cry

New subject -- same style

Today's revised nursery rhyme/song parodies The Lion and the Unicorn. I just finished reading Alice Through the Looking-glass and it was in there, although the rhyme is centuries older than Alice.

Here is The Lion and the Unicorn (actual nursery rhyme)

The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn
All around the town.

Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake
and drummed them out of town

Here is The Puppy and Kitty Cat

The puppy and the kitty cat
Were fighting for the mouse
The puppy chased the kitty cat
All around the house

The kitty jumped up
And started to grouse
Until they were scolded
And put out of the house