Oh Man!

We've created a monster. While Doni was home with Ava yesterday (because she had President's Day off), Ava picked up one of her mom's phrases. You know how people say "Oh, man," if they drop something, come just short of 1st place, or have some other disappointment? The "Oh" is lower-pitched in contrast to the higher-pitched "man". I'm not talking about this kind of "Oh man". Disappointment, not excitement. Please note the difference.

Last night we're watching Unbeatable Banzuke, my new favorite show. (Kindra, no making fun of me in the comments like you did when I said I watched Ninja Warrior. That's quality television.) On this show contestants try to work their way through an obstacle course. That doesn't sound too bad right? The entertaining part is that they have to complete the course while walking on their hands, while on stilts, on a unicycle without touching the ground, on a bicycle without touching the ground, on top of a 6 foot tall ball without falling off, or other highly difficult means. I think my favorite part is the English translation of the Japanese announcer. He says things like, "Meet Nogatu Kawasaki! He prefers stilts to shoes!"

One of the obstacle courses has contestants walk to three different elevated platforms. Between each are blocks of foam that look like crib mattresses stood on end spaced 8 inches apart. To complete the course you have to walk across the tops of the foam blocks without falling. For the viewer's added enjoyment the foam blocks aren't secured to the ground and they break after slightly bending.

Probably 90% of the contestants can't successfully complete the course each show. 20% of those that don't make it are usually within arm's reach of the finish. This leads to a lot of, "Oh man," moments. I'm not sure if Doni and I started saying it first or if Ava did, but she was chiming in right along with us after the near finishes.

This morning, after my tossing and turning all night and Ava's coughing all night, Ava woke up at 4AM. I got up to give her a breathing treatment. She's really good about wearing the mask and will even put her nose back where it goes if you move the mask off of her face. So, we're watching Backyardigans at four in the morning and her mask falls off. Cue Ava: "Oh Man!" Classic.

I ended up staying home from school today because Ava isn't feeling well. When I took the mail out to the mailbox I noticed two guys digging up our front yard. Turns out the plumbers decided to come out and fix our leak today instead of tomorrow! Cha-Ching! After I came back inside, Ava and I went into her room in the front of the house. I pulled the blinds out of the way so she could see what was going on. As she walked up to the window one of the plumbers walked on the sidewalk directly in front of her window. She was playing it cool watching him go by when Sassy suddenly realized there was someone on the other side of the glass. Sassy went into ALL DOGS ALERT mode and scared the living daylights out of Ava! I have never seen her that frightened. She nearly fell trying to turn and run to me. Her face made grimaces I didn't even know were possible. I picked her up, soothed her, and yelled at Sassy to shut-up. Ava's crying began to let up as she let out a whimpery "oh man!"