Go Diego, Go!

I'm sure this will be the last year as a mother that I have my child's Halloween costume ready to go by October 1st (heck, it was ready 2 weeks ago!). Since Tommy's obsession of the season is Diego, we're going with that look for Halloween. No spoilers, but it's going to be awesome. Some have already seen some of the accessories as Tommy wants to bring them everywhere (and so taking a cue from Aunt Sarah, I shoved some diapers in his rescue pack!)

If you haven't watched Diego, it's quite good. No hallucinogenic animation or excessively annoying songs. Plus, the voice of Click the Camera is acted by Rosie Perez! We've become a bevy of information about rainforest animals and their friends around the world!

Poor G-ma already learned the hard way the difference between a parrot and a Scarlett Macaw! When Tommy's gearing up to watch Diego he requests the episode with the Spectacled Bears or Iggy the Iguana by name. His daycare got a new doormat a couple of weeks ago. When Tommy saw it he said "Look, red-eyed tree frogs!" (and has said that every morning since and entered daycare saying "ribbit ribbit.") Only Auntie Amy could match Tommy's knowledge when she watched and said, "Look, a tapir!" Quite a pair!

Diego often glosses over some of the big issues like deforestation and the food chain, choosing to leave it simply as "Armadillos are scared of pumas." At what point, I wonder, will Tommy ask why all the animals seem to be afraid of pumas? It seems, though, that some creatures are more valuable than others on Diego as we have counted (en Espanol!) how many jellyfish the Leatherback Sea Turtles can eat! Hmm... quite a double standard, Diego.

Nevertheless, Tommy can count to ten in Spanish, says gracias and di nada, knows that we wear seatbelts so we can be safe, and will be known to shout "ayudame" from his room when he needs assistance. He also thought it was pretty cool when I told him Uncle Tim was a real animal rescuer like Diego!

It's hilarious having conversations with this little guy when he busts out some of this knowledge already stored away and easily accessible from his brain in the right contexts. As long as we stop the DVR quick enough and he doesn't see all the toy commercials on Nickelodeon we're in good shape!