Some Kids' Stuff

1. Joey's vocalizations are now distinctly word-like. Several times this week I have asked him questions and gotten a distinct "no." ("Would you like this apple" [pointing to a older, mushy one] "No." "How about this one" [pointing to a fresh one ] "Ygdhhsht.") A couple of times he has said "no" simply after I had told him "no." I'm calling this language use.

2. Salon has a nice article up about all the great kids music that is being made these days, leading off with my personal hero, Dan Zanes. Also featured are Laurie Berkner, Justin Roberts and They Just Might Could Possibly Be Giants. Quoth John Flansburgh

"Writing for kids is uniquely liberating, it just invites you to be as adventurous as you can be," he says. "There's no downside to it in a way, except you can't talk about death and sex. We don't write that much about sex anyway, and we've probably written too much about death, so those were easy concessions to make."