Tales from the Crib: Ep11

Many an evening, my wife and I find ourselves pulling little Joe out of bookshelves, trash cans, and taking away the blunt objects which he enjoys bashing against walls and doors. Usually we'll read with him or try to organize a three-way game of catch. Inevitably Joe will slip away to a good board book while Em and I continue playing, unaware that the adults are now the only ones tossing the squishy, rubber ball while diaper man sits and catches up on vocabulary.

But why stop? We're having fun.

Tales from the Crib: Ep10

He makes a very important point.

This isn't a quote from little Joe, fortunately (or sadly), as he's not quite old enough to say these wonderfully embarrassing things. But I'm sure we'll be there soon. And you'll know when that time comes. You'll know.

Tune in next week...

Animation Rigs: Juicebox

Click image above to Download

Here's another rig of mine, made in Maya for my Animation 1 classes at Ex'pression College. I wanted to give the students an alternative to the Luxo Lamp rig they have used in the past for the inanimate object assignments.

It has the ability to rock back and forth on it's base, squash and stretch in the mid section, and an IK/FK switch for the straw. It's a fun character to animate with...kinda the 3d equivalent to the traditional flour sack idea. Enjoy!

Tales from the Crib: Ep09

When a child enters the world they see infinite possibilities. As he or she begins to interact with the world, limitations are discovered.

(My story remains that the couch was made of kryptonite.)

Tales from the Crib: Ep08

Remember when a lump of mixed vegetables was just about the worst thing in the known universe? Remember how rubbery those carrots tasted, and how every veggie in the mix tasted the same--like a bad combo of tire juice, dust bunnies, and old pants? Do you remember how justified you felt when you crammed every last one of those suckers into the hole in the table leg, hoping to God that next year they'd get you a dog?! Or was that last one just me.

I'm glad that life has gotten much easier since then. Mmmm veggies. Eat up, Little Joe, they're good for you.

Tales from the Crib: Ep07

True story. Every day.

Sorry, Em. If it's any consolation, he also calls the door "da da".

Also, in celebration of Father's Day, get your child some clean clothes! They won't stay that way for long, but hey, that's life. Click below to see the latest TftC shirt:

New Website

Every now and then I take a look at my website and notice how terribly designed it is, so I crumple it up, throw it in the trash and start over. It's kinda sparse right now, but the thing I like about the design is that it'll be easy to add more content as needed. Take a look and let me know what you think! Here's the updated JoesShorts.com

Tales from the Crib: Ep06.5

This one is hardly worth being the official episode for the week, but it popped into my head and I had to post it. File this one under: The confusions of childhood.

Tales from the Crib: Ep06

So we have a friend who tells our son that she is his actual mother. Strange. And with awkward implications. And even though little Joe is not old enough to understand what any of this means, I imagine it must be confusing to hear.

When I was a few years old, I remember having a very vivid dream that involved me discovering that one of my mom's friends was actually my real mom and that my mom was an imposter. I was pretty upset about this for a few days, enough that I remember the event more than twenty years later. But my mom convinced me that she had an even more vivid memory of giving birth to me so I've moved on. And I try not to think of it.

Tales from the Crib: Ep05

I'm late with this week's tale, computer troubles yesterday. This one says a lot to me, but I hope you enjoy it too!


Oh and just for fun, I enlarged a few and made them available to wear through zazzle. T-shirts, get your t-shirts! (ladies, toddlers, and infants)

"Omnomnom"
on zazzle.com




Head on over to my store. I have this one up currently, and will be adding a couple more very soon!




Update 6/7/09: Added two more shirts. And you can change the shirt color or style. Makes a great gift for friends or family with little ones!

Tales from the Crib: Ep04

It's Friday again and, as usual, I'm wondering where the week went. I'm also thinking about the left-over dim sum in our fridge...which brings me to this week's tale:

All men have a one track mind, no matter how big or how small the man.

Tales from the Crib: Ep03

They chew on everything. It's kinda their thing.

One morning my wife and I went into our son's room and found him in his crib with little white specks all over his face, around his mouth. It took us until the next morning to realize that the first thing he would upon waking up was to begin chewing the paint off the crib's rim. After a week of experimentation, we found that gluing strips of felt to the outer edges was the best way to protect the crib from his teething jaws. And now our little man is out there exploring the world, one bite at a time.

Tales from the Crib: Ep02

I think I'm going to start doing these as a weekly series. Here's this week's:

What? He likes it.

Another Doodle

Behold, the source of my back pain.

Trek

Yes. Yes. And yes. More to say later.