Playing Curious George computer games

The other day your cousin Rebekah was watching "Curious George" on PBS. That got me to thinking about how much you loved the show and the "Curious George" games we'd play on the computer when together.

One of those that we played was "Present Time". It was less a game than an activity. First you got to pick out who you were going to get a present for and then you selected their gift. Finally, you got to create the wrapping paper for them by coloring it and picking out the pattern!

Another game you really liked was "Mix and Paint". You could mix four different colors together and then brush it on a line drawing of one of the characters from the cartoon.

There were other games we tried as well, but "Present Time" and "Mix and Paint" seemed to be your favorites!

Recall reading Curious George books?

We've read literally hundreds of books together before you started school, and among the most popular of them were the Curious George stories. One that you were particularly fond of that we got at the library was “Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory” (by Margret and H.A. Rey).

In the book, Curuous George discovers how chocolate candies are made while visiting the factory. He decides to help out, though, and of course chaos breaks out! Chocolate candies of all sorts start coming out of the machine superfast!

Ultimately, though, he saves the day because he can use both his hands and feet to catch the chocolates and put them in the box. I don't know if I would want to eat a chocolate touched by a monkey's feet - would you?

Would are some of the Curious George books that you recall reading?

'Curious George Learns to Count...'

Remember this fun book, "Curious George Learns to Count from 1 to 100"? You used to look at it all the time. Curious George discovers all kinds of things that are needed for the city's big festival, and each time he finds something, he counts them. You then would count all of the things that George found - nine yellow ties and 24 blueberry pancakes and so on. There also was a neat two-page spread that showed the village Curious George lived in, and you used to marvel over all of the buildings and help George retrace his steps home. Thanks to all of the great pictures and counting opportunities, I always kept it in the car for you to look at on our long drives. I still have your book - it's in fairly good shape - for you to fondly look back on one day (And maybe even to read to your own children!).

Your favorite TV shows as a little boy



Curious George

As you know, Kieran, I raised you during most of your toddler and preschooler years. During that time, I kept track of just about everything I could about you: your height, weight, favorite songs, favorite books to read, etc. etc. I thought one day you might want to look at such lists, to jog your memory as you recalled childhood, a period that dims over time as we find ourselves preoccupied with schoolwork, careers, lovers and eventually children of our own. Today I've included a list of your favorite TV shows - those programs you loved to watch when a toddler and preschooler.

My own favorite shows when your age included "The Flinstones," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," and "Star Trek," all of which were shown back-to-back every afternoon beginning about 3:30 p.m. when I was five or so. In the morning, I'd usually watch with my mom "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeannie" or "My Three Sons." I also liked "Daniel Boone" and "The Wonderful World of Disney" during primetime and "Dark Shadows" during the early afternoon. "Casey Jones' Roundhouse" and "Captain Kangaroo" were early morning favorites (They didn't have a lot of children's shows like they do now; "Sesame Street" first went on the air when I was four!).

Anyway, here were your favorites.

Age 1
Elmo’s World (Sesame Street)
Curious George
Sid the Science Kid
Calliou

Age 2
Curious George
Super Why
Calliou
Fireman Sam
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Kipper
Franny’s Feet

Age 3
Curious George
Calliou
Star Trek (TOS, TAS)
Batman (Brave and the Bold, The Batman)
Justice League
Scooby Doo
Fireman Sam
Star Wars movies/The Clone Wars
The Six Million Dollar Man (late)
The Bionic Woman (late)
Samarai Jack
Ben 10 (late)
Beatles cartoons (late)

Age 4
Callious (early)
Phineas and Ferb
Ningago
Scooby Doo
Transformers