Yo Gabba Gabba LAND

I began writing this last night when I posted Jax's Wordless Wednesday post with the title "Hugs ARE fun!", which is a Yo Gabba Gabba quote, but I got too tired to finish and went to bed. Then coincidentally, this evening as I finished this post, I saw my friend Kate had posted a similar post about her son Mason today who has just recently been exposed to the phenomenon at our friend's daughter's birthday party. It seems Mason has joined the fan club. Here is a glimpse into the toddler craziness that is Yo Gabba Gabba:

It seems like Yo Gabba Gabba has been a part of our life now forever but it has actually only been since this summer. It wasn't until recently, about a month or two ago, that Jaxon started asking to see them On Demand (appropriately titled I might add). We don't let Jaxon watch live TV (to avoid commercials) and in the beginning Yo Gabba Gabba was the only thing that would hold his attention when I needed to make dinner otherwise he was all over the place. So at the end of the day he would get to see one episode while mommy made dinner. Then he figured out he could watch them whenever by asking plus daddy really likes them and will watch them with him. The problem is that Comcast only puts 2-4 up a month so we watch those ones over and over until new ones replace them. The past two months have been YGG central in our house. In the past two weeks he has figured out the rewind feature and asks for certain segments to be rewound over and over. His favorites are any of the song cartoons, Cool Tricks, Dancey Dance Time, and Super Robot Martian Girl. Over and Over and Over.

I actually don't mind that he watches this show. I know all the research about television viewing and its relationship to intelligence, language skills, and violence. I would be nervous except we limit his time and there are no commercials. Honestly, he has learned a lot from the show and our interactions with him while watching it. Beyond the obvious like counting/letters, tolerance, and character building (which are awesome), there is a strong musical component that seems to really strike a chord with Jaxon. He loves to grab his guitar or drums when the bands come on, he dances with them when they do, and sings along to the songs. He mimics the fun stuff they do like putting spoons on your nose, break dancing, and cup stacking. Many of the funny things Jaxon does comes from this show like beat boxing, tap dancing, and all of his other dance moves. He is entering the "terrible twos" and has begun his "MINE" stage to which I reply in YGG song "I like to share. It's more fun share. Sharing with my friends is good." and he sings back to me while sharing with others. It makes communicating with him easier and we have less fits. It is a good show. They have designed it well from a teaching perspective. And they have awesome guest stars like Jack Black, Weird Al, and Sara Silverman that make it fun for adults to view too. My favorite show is the Jack Black episode.







Due to Jaxon's obvious preference for the show (his favorite shirt is his Brobee t-shirt that he likes to sleep in), we have inadvertently converted our family into Yo Gabba Gabba followers. Grandma Shirley now records the show for Jaxon at her house and has bought him a plethora of YGG toys that "live" at her house. For Jaxon's 2nd birthday we are planning a YGG party (yes already...easy to do when you know the theme 6 months in advance) and we are hoping to have Grandpa Steve dress up as DJ Lance Rock to make an appearance. My mom has volunteered to dress up as another character if we would like. There is a YGG evite, YGG personalized party kit, and a YGG Birthday Boogee DVD. Looks like Jaxon will have crazy YGG birthday party to look forward too. There is a YGG Live stage show traveling the U.S. and when they make it to the Northwest I am sure that the entire family will be going to that one. Along the way we will be listening to the YGG Music CD which is in our car stereo (and oh do the songs get stuck in your head). We are even signed up for the YGG news and updates emails. It is craziness I tell you.

Jaxon at Christmas with his new MP3 player full of YGG songs to dance to: