All Things Yellow

Tonight was one of those nights that just floated along perfectly. By this we mean that both children were satisfied and happy and all was right with their worlds and thus with ours in the pre-bed hours. Julie read some stories to Clara and as she finished the last one, Joe decided Clara should try on his Hoover Dam hard hat. And that she should eat some corn. Something with yellow things? Or does he just know that corn is in and Mommy and Daddy are having at dinner tonight?

Library

After the park, we were off to the library ("where the books live")! Julie had a book on hold to pick up and Joe has never been and it seemed high time. Joe held Julie's hand and they walked in and got Julie's book. Then, they walked to the other side of the library where they have the children's books in low bins with more lined up on shelves underneath the bins. At first, Julie thought they were in trouble because Joe began taking books out of the bins and pitching them on the floor. But then Joe saw one with an elephant on the cover and asked to have it read to him.* They collected that book and a few others (one was Corduroy Gets a Pocket**) and Joe put the first elephant book on the counter and handed Julie's card to the librarian. Then, they went outside and after dumping all but the first elephant book in the car, they walked all the way around the library parking lot, holding hands and the elephant book. It was pretty great.

*Joe is all about the elephants right now. They have trunks and--did you know?--they poop big poops! (So sayeth Everyone Poops.)

**Joe is also all about pockets right now.

Up High! (or, Julie Sings)

Julie and Joe also spent some time playing with the teeter totter at the Blue Playground. Julie thought she was oh-so-clever to incorporate the hi-low musical element into this activity!* (She practiced before she shot this video so that her high school choir musical training could be showcased to full effect.) She was pretty impressed when Joe had figured out in no time flat that when the teeter totter when "super high," he just had to walk toward the center to reach it to pull it back down low.

*Less clever: shooting pictures and video and letting the teeter totter get away from her and bonk Joe's head. Crap! This is when we learned the lesson about watching the head, though really it was a lesson for Mommy not to shoot pictures and video while manning her side of the teeter totter.

Watch the Head!

Fans, Fans, Fans. Our Hero was felled by the pink eye late Tuesday and so was home with Julie Wednesday. After dropping Clara off at school, Ted off at work, and the Boo and the Roo off at doggie daycare (our windows were being re-installed yesterday), we headed to the park. No doubt because we often go to the park with Graham, once Joe learned we were going to the park, he kept up a steady stream of "Go park with Graham?" and "Graham?" and "Graham house?" Julie kept saying that Graham would not be at the park, but that Joe and Mama would have fun together, but really wasn't sure how it would all go down once we arrived at the park. She is pleased to report that while clearly, she is no Graham, she must not be half bad because we whiled away almost two hours at the Blue Playground. In this video clip you can see the evidence of two lessons imparted:

1. The importance of watching the head as one ducks underneath things.

2. When one finds one's self with one's hand "all yucky" with sand, one can go ahead and just wipe that on one's shorts (or shirt for the short-armed set).

In the video, you can also see what we spent most of our time doing--i.e. dragging about trucks. There are three trucks that just live at the Blue Playgound and this truck is Joe's favorite. It's most drag-able.

Water Fun

This evening, Joe asked to play with the water and the hose - a typical request while outside. We tend to avoid this activity because he gets soaked quickly. But it was hot out and we needed a fun activity, so we hauled out the water table. Joe started slow, gently playing with his animals and cups in the water. But when Julie and Clara came out to visit, he decided to put on a show - starting by dumping a cup of water on his head and then asking, "Mommy do it?". Mommy did not do it, but Joe kept at it. After that, the dogs came to visit and showed Joe how to drink out of the table - which Joe quickly imitated to great delight. He should sleep well tonight!

A Date with Darby

This morning, Joe had his main squeeze, Darby from daycare over for a play date. They had a lot of fun in the tunnels, took turns with the coveted wheelbarrow, played in the sandbox, all while each holding there snack cup. The adults got to sit and enjoy the beautiful morning. After his date, Joe ate lunch and took a long nap!

Business Socks III

It's true. This is our third post about business socks. Julie was folding laundry this morning and Joe glommed onto a pair of Ted's black dress socks. You could say he knocked our socks off in this get up.

Another Great Moment

The past two nights, Joe has helped to give Clara Jane her bath. By help he means taking his small soccer ball and putting it in, and taking it out of, Clara's tub. Tonight, Julie had just lifted Baby Bird out of the bath and into her lap and was wrapping her up in her hooded bath towel (Joe calls the hood a party hat!), Joe said "Joe give Clara hug," and he did.

A Great Moment

Julie left work early and was home when Joe woke up from his nap. It was great because lately, Julie has been missing Joe. She is so often nursing Clara and while Julie wouldn't trade this time with Clara, it limits her time right now with Joe, who is getting bigger every day. Just yesterday, as they walked out of daycare, when Julie asked if Joe wanted to hold her hand as they walked down the hall, Joe said "Do self?" (he would do it himself). It was simultaneously thrilling and heart breaking to see his independence.

So Julie was excited to be home when Joe woke up. When he started to stir, she crept into his bed the way Ted started to do in the morning when Julie was on leave and upstairs with Clara. Joe took his time waking up. He flipped on his back, pulled his shirt up, and lazily scratched himself all chimpanzee like. Ted said he looked like a rock star after too much partying, and he did (especially in the Chewbacca tee).

But this, Fans, was the best: the first thing Joe said when he finally spoke (as he carefully pointed to his left nostril) was: "There's a booger in there."*

*Please imagine booger in an Irish brogue, because that is what it sounds like when Joe says it.

Beach bum

While on our adventures today via bicycle, we stopped at the playground at Lake Calhoun. Joe wanted to go down to the water so down we went. He saw two ducks ("one, two, ducks") and lots of sailboats ("more sailboats"). We decided to kick off our shoes and venture into the water, which Joe loved. He splashed, picked up seaweed, and just gazed around like his father was doing. A beautiful summer morning!

Bottle Bungles

In our ongoing coverage of Baby Bird's transition to daycare, we can report that yesterday, again, she did not have all three bottles. Sigh. Again, she was frantic with hunger by the time we got home. Thankfully, Ted was home earlier than usual so the Birds flew right upstairs to nurse. The absence of the third bottles doesn't appear to be impacting Baby Bird's sleep at night (unless her new, filled-with-wall-to-wall stimulation days are serving to squelch any hunger-induced waking), but we are back to the more green poops that result from too much foremilk since for the past two nights, Julie has nursed Clara twice in less than two hours. But yesterday, Julie had the chance to talk to both of Clara's teachers and issued the directive: "Three bottles before 4pm." She refrained from adding "No exceptions," but only just.

Super Pooper Trooper Craps Out

So the word on the hall is that there is a tummy bug a-loose at Kinder "Hot Zone" Care. There is no fever associated with it, just dia-poo-poo for 12-24 hous in the best cases; a few days in the worst. It began in the Pre-Schools rooms and has escaped these confines and is no everywhere save the Infant rooms. Yesterday, Our Hero was felled. Caren* called Julie yesterday just before noon to give her a heads up that Joe had had two "loose BMs" and after the third, he would have to go home, and if he did, he would of course have to stay home tomorrow. As expected, Julie was called post-nap to come and collect Our Hero.

So the boys are home today and this morning, off on a bike ride to the post office, dry cleaners, and who knows where all. Stringer Reporter Ted sent in a text dispatch from the field indicating that the choo-choo train rumbled by on their way to the post office. Does it get much better? Fans, it does, because you know what they have at the post office? Stickers. Julie thought getting the post office trolls to crack a smile would be a tall order, but Ted texts, "Oh he is charming the whole town. Don't worry."

Super Pooper Trooper's spirits are high all things considered and we are hoping that the tummy bug will run its course quickly.**

*Who is Caren you might ask? Indeed, Dear Readers. She appears to be an Assistant Director because her name and hours are included on the dry erase board with those of Director Cassie and her other foot soliders, but who knows if she is permanent or temporary. Another shining example of Director Cassie's exemplary communication skills. Exhibit 89 might perhaps be the fact that Joe has been transitioning to his Twos room without our knowledge. Instead, we were turned on to it by not being able to find his daily report sheet in his old room. But we digress. To return to the issue of communication of staffing changes, this author would note that separately, she and another mother both had the idea of creating a wall of transparent sheet protectors into which one could slip a picture and standard information sheet on all center staff so that one could figure out just who was who. One could have "So long!" stickers for teachers departing and "Welcome!" for new faces. We'll let you know when hell freezes over.

**Those are yogurt containers Joe is holding in the picture. The first time we went to the splash pad, cups were requested and Ted cleverly remembered we had some yogurt cups in the car that were bound for the Whole Foods number 5 plastic recycling bin. They never made it, as you can see.

Bird Flies to School

Fans, settle in because we got lots to report. Are you settled? Drink? Snack? O-kay. So we made it! Go team! It was Clara's first day of school and we all managed to get out the door all of us fed, properly groomed, bags and lunches packed. We even remembered Joe's swimsuit for water day. And--we did it all on time. Julie made it to work by 8am! But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Before we left, we took some pictures on the porch. Joe shared his water with Clara, and after Clara was buckled into her bucket, Joe was pointing out her feet, tummy, and so forth. (Julie had gone back into the house for a blanket and came back out to that sweet moment.) We arrived at school and dropped Joe off first. It was Wednesday so Miss Nicholle, the beloved,* was in the toddler/twos drop off room and he blew us like a popsicle stand. We then trudged off to the infant drop off room where we were greeted by cheers from the teachers who have been looking forward to the arrival of Joe's little sister. (As we have noted before, Joe is like Mr. Cool Kid on Campus; people we don't even know, know "Joe-Joe.") Clara was awake which meant she was looking at us as we walked out of the room. This was hard for Julie, but had Clara been asleep, it would have been worse because then Julie would have been worried about her waking up and wondering where she was and where her mama was. It was a beautiful day here and Julie missed The Bird and our birdie ways all day.

But soon enough it was four o'clock and Julie blew William Mitchell like a popsicle stand. She was at KinderCare by just after 4:30pm. It took 20 minutes to gather everyone and everything up. Clara was asleep in the swing when Julie arrived, but she woke up going into her bucket and just beamed! Julie's heart melted. We went to get Joe who, as it turns out, had spent the whole day in his new Twos room with Miss Maneesha. Miss Maneesha said he did great! Julie said she was relieved because she knew how attached he was to Miss Blue Eyes and Miss Maneesha nodded her head knowingly.

So off to home we were! Things were a little choppy once we got there because Clara had been given only two of her three bottles at daycare. It's true, she will sometimes pull a four hour stretch, but according to her report, she was awake at 9am and noon when she would have been due for a bottle, and she could have had the third at 4pm, putting us in pretty good position for a last nurse at 6:30pm or so. Instead, she had bottles at 9:50am, and 1:40pm. Miss Melissa wasn't there today, and Julie thinks that had she been, it might have been a different story. Clara was frantic by the time we were home and in with all the satchels and what all from the day (Julie's bag, the pump bag, Julie's lunch bag, daycare detritus, the bucket, Joe, Julie. . .). Who can blame her? She'd had only 8 ounces all day! She was starvin' Marvin! She held it together pretty well through Bonker Boo and Bonker Roo being bonkers to go out and bonkers to eat, and Joe's general milling about, and even a bath, until Ted got home and Julie could whisk her upstairs to nurse. We're curious to see what happens tonight, as she was also clearly exhausted from her day, bless her little bird heart! Will she wake up because she's hungry, or will she remain zonked from her big day? We shall report, Dear Readers.

So the evening portion of the day has some kinks to be worked out, and we would like to ultimately eat together with Joe. But we save that for another day. So far as this one goes, we're calling it good, and that, is good enough.

*Last week, one of Joe's reports said that he was looking so intently at Miss Nicholle that she thought she had something on her face. As she was wiping at her face self-consciously, Joe said, "Miss Nicholle has blue eyes." It was noted that her heart melted.

No Flies On Clara

Alright, Fans. Now before you view this video, let me just say that The Bird rolled, stuck the landing, and maintained the landing far better than what you will see here. We were visiting Sara and Connor and Sara can attest to the truth of this assertion. Baby Bird just elected to do her rolling when the camera was not. It was almost comical how she would roll the instant Julie turned the camera off. She rolled a full four times today, and last night, flopped over on her belly in her crib again, and was found with her head pointed in the opposite direction from the one in which she had been put down. She is spin-y and roll-y.

Mama Books

Joe's new thing is to take "Mama books" (occasionally, "Mama and Dada" books) from the shelves. He began with a low shelf of rather heavy reference books. the Encyclopedia of Chicago was his favorite. He is pictured with it here so you can see this is a rather heavy book--thick, with lots of glossy pages. The kid is something else again, in many ways. He has since turned his attention to the most accessible bookcase housing Mama books, the bookcase that is comprised entirely of fiction.* There is one book with a purple spine (Anne Tyler's Ladder of Years) and this tome is a favorite. Most recently, he has begun to get his stool from the bathroom so that he can reach Mama books that are even higher. He takes them down and brings them to us ("Here go, Mama! Here go, Dada!"), or just dumps them in a heap on the club chair before heading back for more.

*We have sort of loose groupings among the shelves so we can find things somewhat easily.

Another Graspy McGoo

In other Clara news, in addition to the tail of Connor's toy monkey, Graspy McGoo reached out for the red picnic basket holding Julie's lunch on Thursday with Kendra. Kendra agreed it was most deliberate. Results have yet to be replicated with any toy marketed as eminently grasp-able: your rings, your toy keys, your classic rattle. Julie tried valiantly on Friday evening and all that happened was the Birds had a good time staring and smiling at each other.

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

Clara rolled! At 4:19am, Saturday morning, July 17,* Julie scampered downstairs to collect one a-wailing Bird and discovered that she had flipped over in her sleep. (Much fumbling about in the dark as Julie lifted Clara and figured this out, all the while trying to beat the hastiest retreat possible so as to take no chances and wake up Our Hero.) Since then, she has rolled three times. Always back to tummy. We will do our best to obtain the digital proof and post here as soon as possible.

*It may have been Friday. Things are hazy so early in the morning and in retrospect. Julie texted of the big event though so recipients of that text can correct her here if she is wrong on this point. But it was 4:19am. Curiously, early wake up times are not hazy.

Up and Away!

Fans, look at that face! That's a classic Clara little and sweet smile for you.* Today was our most perfect day here weather-wise yet this summer! Clear blue sky, warm, and breezy enough that the bugs were kept at bay. Julie took Clara outside when Ted went to pick up Joe and "flew" Clara up on her legs which she just loves. After we came in for a landing we looked at the green leaves, the blue sky, our yellow house, and all of Clara's pink flowers. After that, Our Bird was sleepy! Squawking ensued so she was whisked into the Moby where she remains nested.

*The money shot was the first one we took! The only other time Julie remembers this happening was when she took Joe in his "I'm Bringing Chubby Back" onesie in his Bumbo:

http://joeekkers.blogspot.com/2008/10/chubby.html

Tummy Time

Though Julie has not broken out the play mat baby jungle gym thing here at home, she has introduced Clara to the giraffe you see here, a toy which is apparently all the rage among the baby set. It's manufactured by some French company (we think?) so Julie has dubbed it Frenchie (she does not sing a medley of favorites from Grease, sadly, but she does squeak when squeezed). Clara has yet to really fall in love with Frenchie, and she will follow the rings with her eyes, but doesn't reach out to grab them. Mainly, she likes to push up (which she is very good at) and propel herself forward when Julie puts her thumbs on Clara's feet for Clara to push off of. Julie's planning to break out the mirror we used for Joe's physical therapy tomorrow or the next day.

Stormy Weather

It was another intermittently stormy day here and Fans, you know what that means: one cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs Ribbity Rooster. So Julie called Sara bright and early and offered to bring Starbucks. Sara fell for it hook, line, and sinker. We were in! Yes! Julie and Clara left just as the storm (really just a hard rain in St. Louis Park) was beginning. Julie managed to shake Raleigh by giving him and Berenice a treat in the kitchen and then running for the door, and even then, she barely made it.* Connor shared his play mat baby jungle gym thing with Clara who (look see!) grabbed hold of the monkey's tail and you know what, we're calling it on purpose. We are. She is going to roll from back to tummy just any day now, too.

Joe's New Car Seat

Given that we are raising a giant, we thought it was time to invest in a new car seat. We've been having an increasingly hard time getting Joe buckled into his cowmooflage car seat, so yesterday, Julie and Clara picked up a convertible and booster car seat combo that got good reviews online from the parents of other giants. It also has a cup holder which is pretty awesome as it means Joe will no longer have to wedge his straw cup next to him when snacking on the go, and when he wants water on the way home from daycare, Julie won't have to crane her arm back over the seat to hand it to him. Less awesome will be if his current straw cups do not fit in this cup holder (a point which will be tested tomorrow).

Joe's new friend pictured here is Pan-a Bear (sometimes Polar Bear), a gift from Grandpa Charles who went to the San Diego Zoo recently when he accompanied Grandma Connie on a business trip to San Diego. Pan-a Bear has been making the ride to school of late, but "no no toys at school."

Joe's Two-Year Well Child Appointment

Our Hero weighed in at 34 pounds and measured 35 1/2 inches, the 96th and 78th percentiles respectively. Doc Harrington said that at two years, one could use height as a relatively reliable predictor of future, final height. She said we could expect Joe to be above average, probably about six feet tall. So he'll be able to look Ted in the eye all man to man like one day. Joe was otherwise in perfect health. It must be said that last night, he had on his Super Pissy Pants so frankly, we were fully expecting to hear that one or both ears were infected (he's had a cold that has progressed to the super snotty stage and in the past, super snot has equalled ear infection). Nope, he was just wearing his Super Pissy Pants. Super fun. The ear tube in his left ear was starting to fall out (which is to be expected), but otherwise, all looked ducky so far as his ears were concerned (though no ducks, or puppies, were found in them).

In other news, while Joe was at his well-child appointment, Clara did a dry run in her new room at KinderCare. Julie thought it would be good to be distracted, and it would be a relatively brief period of time. Baby Bird did great! (Mama Bird did o-kay, too.) She had a bottle while she was there and slurped it all down, and reportedly didn't need to burp though almost always does when nursed by Julie. She played with both Miss Melissa and Miss Che (she was read My Many Colored Days, apparently) and was asleep in the swing when we arrived to collect her. Her first official day will be next Wednesday. Julie heard from Mitchell's HR department yesterday that she was expected back Wednesday not Tuesday as she's been told originally. Perhaps because of the July Fourth holiday in there? Whatever the reason, Julie is thrilled to have one more day at home with the Baby Bird.

The Last Week

Julie's leave is over a week from tomorrow and the mope-ies are setting in. Shortly before this picture was taken, Clara was asleep on Julie's chest which Julie loved as much as Clara seemed to. The Birds have some errands to take care of this week, and Julie has to take Clara into KinderCare to visit her new room so Clara isn't totally blindsided next Tuesday by the cacophony of new things, but she doesn't want to.* Mostly though, Julie plans to let Clara nap on her chest as much as she wants.

*When she did this with Joe, the first time, she couldn't bring herself to leave. The second time she just went outside and sat in the car and cried for half an hour before deciding that was enough.

The Final Birthday Report

The party, the party. Good times, Fans, good times. We love the Joe Birthday Party, we do. It was cloudy with a 20% threat of rain that did materialize for about two minutes late in the festivities, but otherwise, the clouds just served to cool things off a bit. Joe and his buddies played in the tent and tunnel contraption, and on the slide and swing, and with the big ball. Juice boxes were consumed with wild abandon. We can't wait 'til next year.

And so Our Hero is two. Who can believe it?! Who can believe it. . .

Closing out the party

We will soon post more about Joe's birthday party which was a lot of fun, but thought we would share this short video of Joe with his good buddy, Marco, toward the end of the party (after the sugar from the cake set in).

Birthday is all washed up

After dinner, the kids got on their birthday suits. First it was Clara in the bathtub where Joe was helpful getting the soap for Mommy. Afterward Joe had his "shower" (this standing up thing has been going on for weeks now; it's the new normal), and he got lots of stories with Mommy to round out a fun birthday. Little does he know there will be a big party tomorrow--so the fun will continue!

Birthday celebration continues

When Joe got home from school, the birthday festivities continued! He played with his bike outside first (Clara did not think that was exciting enough to wake up for). But the real excitement was after a quick dinner (again, Clara wasn't interested) when it was time to have the "happy birthday cake." This year he knew what was going on and couldn't wait, but he let us sing Happy Birthday, and then Julie helped him blow out the candle. He used his fork at first, but switched to his mitts eventually. Surprisingly though, he quit about two thirds of the way through, pushing away his plate and declaring, "All Done!" He shows more restraint than his parents!

Happy Birthday Joe!

Joe turned two today! His birthday started off strong with Mom and Dad in his bed to wake him up and sing Happy Birthday. From there we went out to the living room where he had two fantastic presents waiting for him - a tricycle and a wheelbarrow with gardening tools. The wheelbarrow was sent from his buddy Elsa in Salt Lake City. He hopped on the bike first but quickly went to get the shovel and watering can to join on the trip. He really loved both his presents! He then sat down to his current preferred breakfast - a bowl of chocolate Cheerios ("browns") and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios ("nut eerios") side by side. Then it was off to school to play with his friends and teachers!

A New Roost For Bird

Big happenings around Raleigh House, Fans. Clara and Joe are now sleeping together in the same room. Straight to the burning questions: "How did it all go down?" Clara is nursed and story-ed while Joe is bathed and pajama-ed, and then Clara is put down while Joe is story-ed. Clara makes not a peep while going down, and then drifts off after a time. Joe blabbles about for anywhere from five minutes to over half an hour before conking out. So there Clara was, quiet and looking about. There Joe was, looking over at her and quiet. And then, he began. Clara started to cry after a while. We weren't sure what to do. We have discovered there isn't much out there in the way of advice on children sleeping in the same room. It's like we live in a nation where everyone is co-sleeping or sleeping in the same room as their child, and everyone else lives in a seven-room palace. Maybe the people like us whose children share a room come at from where we've landed--i.e. this ends with Our Hero and The Bird in the same room so we'll just have to figure it out together. So, we knew no one was hungry and no one's ear was being ripped off even though that's how it sounded, so we let the babbling and crying flow. After 45 minutes or so, all was quiet on the western front. Bird woke up shortly after 4am. No diaper change was attempted downstairs, she was nursed and put back down with nary a sound. Joe slept through it all. Last night, there was babbling from Our Hero but no tears from The Bird. She woke up at 5am and a diaper change was attempted in the room. Joe woke up toward the end and drowsily said, "It's o-kay Clara," and Julie raced from the room. But he was up and babbling and then crying by 5:45am. We won't sleep train Clara for another few weeks so early morning diaper changes will be done upstairs until then. All in all, not too bad.

Feet Out

We're fixing to move Clara down to the crib in the nursery so seized the opportunity to take a picture of her with flash when we came upstairs last night in what is her signature sleeping style--feet out. Always, always, always she will work those feet free.

A New Way to N/Moby

So Julie always put Joe in the N/Moby in the "infant hug hold," long past the time he was a newborn. From there, they just segued into a hold where Joe was forward-facing. This past weekend, Clara screamed bloody murder when Julie went to put her in the N/Moby the usual way so we broke out the book and have discovered the joys of the cradle hold. Julie creates two pockets with either side of the fabric in front and Clara's torso gets tucked up in one, and her feet can stretch out in the other. It's like a hammock!

Independence Day (Observed)

Joe had his friends Marco and Darby over to celebrate Independence Day Observed. Darby is in Joe's room at school. Her parents told us that at their conference with Miss Nicholle on Friday, she told them that Darby was doing just great and that the only time she had to be disciplined was when others got too close to her Joe. Apparently, Joe is her main squeeze. So Marco and Darby came over and much fun was had running around the yard screaming, watching a butterfly, banging on the garden fences with snack cups, and banging on the picnic table with said snack cups. In this picture, you can see Marco and Joe getting ready to commence banging.

Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them

Graham invited Joe over for the Fourth! We had some more bubble fun, some trike fun, some chalk fun, and some marker and stamp fun with a small roll of craft paper attached to a board mounted to a wall in the garage. This poster is describing it in such laborious detail because she thought it was sort of cool; Ted agreed but thought the coolest part about it was that it was mounted in the garage. He is perhaps correct as you can see what became of Joe's hands. These pictures were taken when Joe was asked to hold his hands up--as in for the camera. Joe made like the cops were after him for contraband fireworks or something ("Hands! Hands! Let me see the hands!").

Home Ec Lessons

Tomorrow, Baby Bird will be 10 weeks old. Who can believe it? Julie has just two more weeks of leave which makes her blue when she thinks about it so for now, she's not! But she figured she should at least see what work-appropriate clothes she had that fit so this morning, while the Boys were at Whole Foods, the Birds evaluated Julie's wardrobe. We unpacked some skirts that Julie had tucked away in the wake of nursing Joe. Here, Julie is explaining to Clara how everything looks better once it's been ironed. Doesn't she look like she's taking it all in and thinking, "Pearls. You're givin' me pearls, Mama Bird."? They also had a lengthy discussion about a skirt that Julie purchased when the peasant look was all the rage (a rage of which Julie was not such a fan) and the extent to which it was maybe too peasant-y after all? Or no? They decided no, and that it might look nice with namesake Grandma Jane's turquoise earrings. Lest our loyal readers think that Clara is the only one to get such lessons, you should all know that while Julie did not ask Joe's opinion on the peasant-iness of a skirt when he was Clara's age, he was instructed in the finer points of ironing and all about sorting laundry (Julie has done a lot of laundry with Joe or Clara in the Moby). Life skills or, pearls.

Bird Sleeps Until 6:06am!

Look at her! Now it must be admitted that Baby Bird is a champion sleeper and has, for a while now, been waking up only once at night and it's so early in the morning, you can't even call it night--like 4 or 5 am! Usually it's because she has to poop, and then she's up so you know, might as well eat. She's been going down around 7:30pm, and sometimes, she drifts right off, and other times, she just sort of lays there and presumably sorts through her copious thoughts until 8pm or so and then she drifts off. So we're pretty lucky. Still, we get up at 6am in the Ekkers household and 4am isn't 6am. But this morning! This morning, Baby Bird woke up, and was making her I-have-to-poop! squawks, which Julie has learned to not ignore, but you know, listen to for a bit. So there we were, squawking and listening when the next thing you knew, it was 6:06am! Wow. She fell back asleep. Sleep training is but weeks away and this only makes us more confident of that timeline.

Super Bubble Saturday

And then it was Saturday! Marco was having a party! Whee! We got all dressed up! The boys were in festive yet subtle Fourth of July-ish wear and the Birds were in complimentary navy blue and pink outfits. Off we went. Rang the doorbell. No answer. Checked around back. No Marco about. Fans, the party is two weeks from today. Crap. When we arrived back at Yellow House, Joe said, "No Yellow House." What to do to lift flagging spirits? Bubble fun, as Miss Tammy of Joe's infant room at KinderCare used to say. We'd broken out the bubble gun this morning and dubbed bubbles stuck together "super bubbles." The super bubble well was not yet dry. Super bubbles are the best. By this evening, Ted had taught Joe how to operate the bubble gun and Joe shot bubbles until we ran out of bubble juice. Then we had broom fun (because we--the mean parents--didn't want to have hose and water everywhere fun).

Friday Night Fun

The weather was just perfect on Friday so the evening found us all outside in the backyard. Ted and Joe had been weeding and watering, and Julie and Clara joined them with a blanket in tow once Clara was done nursing. Joe and Julie had fun wrestling, though Julie was later pretty wiped out by Joe's thrashing. After defeating her in every bout, Joe held Clara's hand and then her foot. He likes to take Clara's hand and say "Walking, walking, walking." Right about now, Fans, is when all of you are thinking, "Oh that is too sweet!" As you think that, you should know Joe has a death grip on that little hand. Toddlers. . .