Rockying and Meatloafing

In the past couple of days, we've made casual comments about our children in comparison to famous people/characters, and we got a picture and a movie to back them up, so I figured I would share.

The first one is pretty mild. Gabe got a hooded robe for Christmas and has been wearing it around the house after his baths. It is a little weird, because he's naked underneath, but insists on wearing it until he gets too cold to stand it, but he hasn't learned the finer points of keeping his robe closed while sitting on the floor while he plays with his legos. Translation: there's too much little boy junk being exposed around our house. But he does look a little like he's preparing for his bout against Apollo Creed, so we took a picture (junk carefully concealed beforehand).


The next reference, however, is not so kind. Future Norah, if you're reading these, please go ahead and skip ahead to the next post. Go on. Trust me. You don't want to see what I have to show here.

At some point this last week, Norah began to play a "game" where she would run around the living room and dining room yelling "Run, run, run, run!" over and over again. Obviously, this is a game that I'm encouraging because, frankly, the girl needs more exercise. We never have (or had) to worry about Gabe getting enough activity because he can't sit still for five minutes most of the time. But Norah is a different animal entirely. She is, let's say, a bit on the sedentary side. I can totally relate. Physical activity is for stevedores and professional wrestlers, I always say. But, being of the . . . we'll call it "introverted" personality type (because "lazy" is such an ugly word) myself, I know from personal experience that a future of weight battles lie ahead for her if she doesn't stay on top of her exercise regime and she doesn't force her personality to be "other."

The thing is, right now, she's built like a linebacker. And, while she doesn't have QUITE so much of that shuffling/slinging her feet forward because her own girth doesn't let her walk normally going on now as she did last summer, she's still pretty, er, stocky.

So her running is pretty hilarious, actually. She kind of bounces up and down and really doesn't look at all like running is something that comes naturally to her.

But back to the celebrity reference. While she was running around the other night--the first time she was really doing it--Libby said, "She looks like a miniature Meatloaf from the back" (the singer, not the foodstuff--as the foodstuff isn't known for moving around all that much). And she did. So I tried to recreate the moment, but she wasn't terribly cooperative (as usual). Still, the video is worth a watch. Just hum "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" while you watch it and you'll see what I mean, I'm sure.