5 easy ways to win anth's heart

if you hadn't noticed, we are going in reverse chronological order of birth on these posts. 
yes, i am the eldest in the house. 
hence my love of online dating for the senior population. 
anyway. it's anth's turn. 
here is his list of his (current) favorite things


1. his Nintendo DS.
i don't think there is too much to explain here.
he has one.
he loves it.
if left unattended, he would utilize it until his fingers were a permanent part of the equipment.


2.  The ThunderCats

this was a recent addition to his cartoon arsenal. 
introduced by dad.
normally, it is hard to get the little guys' attention when one of their favorite cartoons is on. 
now it is hard to get all three guy's attention, because even Bern can't resist the appeal of the Thundercats. Ho!


3. Fruit Flavored Gum.

this can be of any variety really.
watermelon, green apple, etc. 
my favorite kind of gum is cinnamon. this is too spicy for anth. 
a thing i have learned recently?
there is no smell more repelling to me than hot breath mixed with sweet fruity gum.
anth finds this hilarious. 


4. The Claw.
anth has recently been obsessed with those electronic claw arcade game things. 
(i worked really hard on that description.)
you know what i mean? 
the ones with all of the nearly impossible to win stuffed animals inside?
they have a series of these kind of games at our local mall and anth begs to play them each time. 
bern patiently explains each time that they are more tricky than they are fun. 
this past weekend, we finally let him go ahead and give it a whirl. 
it was an Angry Birds themed version. 
it looked pretty much like this. . .

. . .except it didn't have a bird in it when he played. 
which, of course, crushed his eternally hopeful soul. 
for about 2.5 minutes, this was officially "the worst game ever." 
but now we are back to begging to play the next time we are at the mall. 


5. Swim Masks 
specifically, swim masks with the noses built in. 
like this: 

goggles simply aren't enough. 

anth tried on his first swim mask at his great aunt's house a few weeks ago. 

he is convinced that it helps him breath underwater. 

so far in his lessons, he hasn't really been under water long enough to prove this theory otherwise, so we are going with it. 

plus he looks pretty cute when they're all steamed up. 

and those, my friends, are the current way to my big boy's heart. 

tomorrow we'll wrap this up with our little benjamin.