19 months!
Written by whoorl · Filed Under whoorlito, happy happy joy joy, parentage, photos
Happy 19-months to Mr. Wito Whoorlito. He’s a catch.
This is how we spent the morning. So, um, maybe this photo would be a better example of Wito’s current age.
“BROWN! BROWN!” Yes, sweetie, it’s brown, but possibly petrified shit. Please refrain from placing in your mouth.
Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what those round, spiky balls that fall from trees are called. SAJ calls them “dingleberries”. Unfortunately, I grew up with an ENTIRELY different definition of a dingleberry, and can’t bring myself to yell, “Wito! Quit eating the that dingleberry!” at our local park.
amanda
March 4th, 2008 11:10 amThey are gumballs from a sweetgum tree. Those grow in CA??!! We had them in my yard in SC!
HollyT
March 4th, 2008 11:29 amYes, gumballs. We have TWO trees full of ‘em, and they are the bane of our existence. We’ve taken to calling them “tree urchins.”
bethany
March 4th, 2008 11:29 amHe’s so handsome, Whoorl:) And those look like thistles, to me….cept they fell from a tree, you say? Hmmm, dunno then.
bethany
March 4th, 2008 11:32 amHAha, i just read the last sentence. I need to stop doing that, i tend to be a skimmer. I dare you to yell that, very funny! And apparently I need to read the other comments before I, myself, comment. So they are gumballs, huh?
whoorl
March 4th, 2008 11:32 amGumballs? Really? That is a much more pleasant word than dingleberry.
Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah
March 4th, 2008 11:46 amHis eyes kill me!
slynnro
March 4th, 2008 12:05 pmI had a friend, last name Sedberry, whom I called Dingleberry. He was always so irritated by this. I could not figure out why- I thought I just made up the word. I didn’t realize until years later why he was so pissed.
Jeana
March 4th, 2008 12:07 pmWe call them sweet gumballs. Which is a bit confusing, if your child is in the practice of eating gumballs from the candy store, but yes, much more pleasant than…er, the other.
sarah
March 4th, 2008 12:18 pmhow 3rd grade am i? i read “dingleberry” and started giggling. haven’t heard that for years.
Janssen
March 4th, 2008 12:21 pmI agree that one ought not to be shouting about “dingleberries” in the park. Your child might be scarred for life, cute though he is.
Susan
March 4th, 2008 12:25 pmIn my neck of the woods, which is in at least regional proximity to yours in Oklahoma, I was taught they were sycamore balls. But, that makes no sense because they do indeed come from sweet gum trees, which I don’t think are the same thing as sycamore trees? Confusing, no?
Brad
March 4th, 2008 12:29 pmYeah, we had a sweetgum tree at our last house… and always just called them spikey balls.
Happy 19 months, little man!
LVGurl
March 4th, 2008 12:31 pmHe totally IS a catch!
Sarcomical
March 4th, 2008 12:44 pmgah, he really did get the very best of both you and D’s features. FUTURE LADYKILLER ALERT!!!
…nah, i bet momma’s gonna teach wito how to respect all the lovelies. ;)
Sizzle
March 4th, 2008 12:47 pmHe’s so handsome. Don’t eat the whateveryoucallit, Wito!
Heather Cook
March 4th, 2008 12:48 pmI’m not sure what those are called, but I do know they hurt when thrown at someone.
Angella
March 4th, 2008 12:53 pmIt will not be long before the girls are calling him day and night!
Nineteen months already? I remember waiting for the dude to enter the world!
Jen O.
March 4th, 2008 1:00 pmIf you lived in Canada, I’d say that was for sure an acorn in it’s spikey protective shell. But I don’t know if oak trees are common in your area.
Otherwise, it’s a dingleberry.
I’m going to start telling my dog he has an acorn on his butt when he comes in from doing his bid-ness.
Coincidentally, he choked and nearly died eating a dingleberry (a spikey-shelled acorn). This is getting confusing.
bethany actually
March 4th, 2008 1:02 pmThose are all over our part of Maryland. When we moved here I was told they’re called gumballs.
amanda
March 4th, 2008 1:02 pmhttp://www.wildwnc.org/education/trees/sweetgum-liquidambar-styraciflua-hamamelidaceae-witch-hazel-family
That site called them “beaklike capsules”, I like gumballs better! And boy do they ever hurt when you step on them barefoot after they turn brown.
SAJ
March 4th, 2008 2:03 pmSometimes we call them “prickle berries” or just plain “prickers”… which is especially good when you step on one with bare feet and can exclaim something along the lines of, “dad gum pricker!” or something else…
I’m so glad I’m getting famous on your blog for this.
lini
March 4th, 2008 2:06 pmI can’t believe Wito is already 19 months. Where has the time gone? He reminds me so of his Mom.
am'ti b
March 4th, 2008 2:11 pmoh my goodness, i can’t wait to see you wito. that is not what a dingleberry is to me either.
whitney
March 4th, 2008 4:16 pmoakballs!
Christina
March 4th, 2008 6:07 pmIt’s a MONKEY BALL, from a Sweet Gum tree!! Well atleast that is what we call them here in Delaware. Dingleberry is a fun name too.
My yard is constantly covered in them, my kids were collecting them today in their grocery carts!
Happy 19 months!!
Leigh
March 4th, 2008 6:29 pmYep, those are the spiny balls of the lovely sweetgum tree. A tree with beautiful fall color and dangerous fruit. They also have their friends the Sycamore golf balls that when stepped on completely fall apart and the little feathery seeds fly everywhere. So glad I can put my landscape designer knowledge to some good use!
Molly says Happy 19 month birthday to her fellow Aug. 4th baby!
And I’m with you…dingleberry has a totally different meaning around here too. ewwww.
molly
March 4th, 2008 7:16 pmare you telling me those AREN’T prickely-pricks??? Because that is the only thing I am capable of calling them…they fall from the …prickely-prick trees. Duh.
brooke
March 4th, 2008 7:31 pmthey are called sweet gumballs. not just gumballs. i can’t imagine trying to chomp through one of those after they roll out of a gumball machine…
Crystal
March 4th, 2008 9:23 pmI can’t believe I am the first to say this!! But although sweetgum balls is close……here in Texas (where every other friggan tree is a sweetgum) we call them Gum BURRS…ya know, because of the burrs?
So…to recap: SweetGum tree…drops gum burrs. That way there is no confusion about gross things that hang on to, well, you know…….or with wonderful things like GumBalls that are tastey. GumBurrs, not tastey or disgusting…..just fun for kids!
MO
March 5th, 2008 6:31 amYes, I am going with Gumballs.
Mallory
March 5th, 2008 7:01 amWe called them stickerballs and they came from the stickerball tree in front of grandma’s house.
BeachMama
March 5th, 2008 8:13 amOh he is adorable, such a handsome little guy.
Not sure what they are, I always thought they were some kind of nut when you peeled them open.
Sally
March 5th, 2008 8:45 amThis has absoluetly nothing to do with dingleberries or your (freaking adorable) son.
but if you’re still looking for THE PERFECT grey bag:
http://www.barneys.com/b/browse/product.s?productId=751926&source=category&index=9&prodIndex=19&listSize=25&pageIndex=1&perPageElements=10&categoryId=463596
Marc Jacobs is doing a ton of grey right now and they’re all gorgeous. But, I think that this bag is built from perfect.
Amanda
March 5th, 2008 10:07 amMan, he is a cutie. And he’s so big. Mr. Grown-up all of a sudden.
Natalie 42
March 5th, 2008 11:38 amWell the boy definitely got your fantastic hair! He’s just adorable. I wish I could babysit the kid; he looks like a whole lot of fun =)
I hate those damn spikey ball things. When I was a kid growing up in good ol Oklahoma my neighbor had one and I was always stepping on them. (see: Live in OK, play barefoot a lot) Their yard obviously sucked.
Stv Mllr
March 5th, 2008 8:35 pmI believe that is Sputnik, the first satellite put in orbit by the former Soviet Union. Don’t ask me what it’s doing in the hands of a toddler at a park in Cali.
Lisa Ü
March 6th, 2008 12:05 amMonkeyballs.
And cuteness in a little boy package. You must love seeing that everyday, even when it needs a diaper change.
Sara
March 7th, 2008 4:12 pmUmm. I thought it was a Ferrero Rocher chocolate at first. Whoops! We don’t have them in PA, at least I have never seen them. But I vote for dingleberry!
kathleen
March 7th, 2008 7:26 pmThat there is a Monkey Ball. We used to giggle when we called them Monkey Balls. Now I feel a teeny bit of shame each time I tell my daughter to not step on that Monkey Ball…I’m a dork.
evie Curley
March 7th, 2008 9:21 pmI see some folks here called them Monkey Balls. We called them that as well or Monkey Tails because of the long stem that was attached to them. Thanks for the flashback on that one.
April
March 9th, 2008 5:51 pmI’m in California too, but in Sacramento. Those are the seed pods of Liquidambar trees. My parents have a bunch of them in their yard. I think we just called them burrs.
Mia
March 25th, 2008 2:06 pmI just had to weigh in on this discussion. We’ve always called them Monkey Balls.
Runr_Grl
April 1st, 2008 11:41 amWe call ‘em Monkey Balls, too - here in SE Penna. Also, GREAT to throw at your little brother while he’s wearing a bulky Irish Wool sweater … nature’s velcro.
They’re seed pods of the American Sweetgum tree… someone else also mentioned, too….