Happy Birthday, Mommy!

We celebrated Julie's birthday today the only way we know how... with Happy Birthday Cake! Before the big reveal, Joe tested things out - he thought no one was watching! But Joe was nice enough to wait for Julie to blow out the candles with her. He also gave her lots of hugs and wishes for a happy birthday while Clara paid close attention to everything her mommy was doing. Astute readers will notice that we did not have the number 4 for the cake, so we had to improvise!

Visit from Rob

We had a special visit from cousin Rob Celic today. Joe and Clara got to meet him and show off all their skills - Clara with the finger sucking and Joe with the jumping. Of course Berenice and Raleigh also wanted to spend time with Rob, so he had his hands full!

Walking Pneumonia

Fans, as we have been suspecting, Our Hero has, in fact, been sick. After a fifth day of not fevers, but above normal temperatures; intermittent wet coughing; and Joe just seeming off; Julie got an appointment this afternoon and took him in. He took the examination entirely in stride, and did his best to take deep breaths. The diagnosis: walking pneumonia. So he is on zithromax (a Z-pack!--but in liquid, cherry-flavored form) for five days. Julie and Joe went off to Target to pick it up, where Our Hero walked. He does have walking pneumonia after all. He was not to be dissuaded. He pushed the cart for a while and then stopped dead at a corner of the outside track, if you will, and said, "I want to run." And oh, Fans, I (Julie) felt him. I really did. Those aisles looked ripe for a good tear down them. But we don't run in stores. Joe took it like a man. Instead, he put whatever struck his fancy in the cart, and we split a carton of goldfish from an end cap before we picked up the prescription, and walked on out.

Tie One On

In the mornings of late, Joe makes his way upstairs with Ted after his two-bowl-of-Cherrios-breakfast-of-champions* and patters around. Usual activities include application of (Julie's) deodorant (initially, he would put it on his face; we have since learned it goes under your arms), putting clothes in the hamper, tapping on the computer's keyboard, and bringing toys to Clara (who by that time is usually playing on the floor in front of the mirror). The other main activity is helping Ted pick out his tie. The choices are always seriously considered. . .and then the same tie is selected every day--the burgundy with dots Ted is holding up here in the second picture. We wait with bated breath to see if one of the other options is ever chosen.

*Ted filed a report from the field indicating that after a long stretch during which the "Honey Nut" and "Brown" [chocolate; but you know that Loyal Fans] were mixed together in the same bowl, Joe now prefers both, but in separate bowls. It was a fraught moment the other morning when Joe was trying to communicate both (as in both Honey Nut and Brown), but not both in the same bowl. Must teach Joe the word "separate."

Joe Meets the Retaining Wall

Also this weekend, our ever-intrepid Hero, scaled the retaining wall that runs along the side of Darby's yard while he was off on a journey with his shopping cart. Initially, he would walk only a few feet along the wall, and only while holding Julie's hand, but after a bit, he was off to the races! All the way down and no hands! The photographer on site thought she snapped and saved a picture of Joe looking all proud right about the middle of the wall, but though snapped it was, saved it was not. So instead we are posting the photo in which you can see that Joe was even taller than Mommy while on top of the wall! Julie was a little apprehensive about all of this, but figured they walk on balance beams and the like at Little Gym. Of course, they have mats underneath everything at Little Gym, too. . .

Joe Practices Riding His Bike

Sunday afternoon, after we got back from a spin around the neighborhood in the wagon, Joe requested a bike ride--on his bike. So off he went with Ted helping steer (peddling and steering: very tricky), all the way down the alley. To Julie back at the garage with Clara, it looked like there was some negotiating about whether to come back down the alley, or take the bike out on the open road and open 'er up, really see what she could do. Alas, the open road was saved for another day, but Joe still had a great smile on his face the whole way home.

Clara Practices Sitting Up

Clara Jane has been practicing sitting up. No one puts baby in a corner, unless she's practicing sitting up, in which case, they do because that's what they do at daycare with double-stacked Boppy pillows so the baby doing the practicing is less likely to slide down after flopping back. So Clara practiced sitting in the corner of the bathroom while Julie cleaned it Saturday morning. Tough to say what the bigger thrill was: the still-new perspective, or the entertainment.

It's more fun for everyone though when Clara Jane practices sitting up on top of Mommy or Daddy. Saturday afternoon, Clara was all smiles and coos (still no giggles) sitting up before she went down on her hands, then her belly, rolled off, and then pivoted around!

Joe: Unzipped

This is how Julie found Joe tonight when she went in to check on him and Clara before heading up to bed. A picture's worth a 1,000 words, right? (Panda Bear is shocked. Just shocked.)

Baby Needs a New Pair of Crocs

Joe and Julie's new wintertime Crocs arrived today! We weren't sure what size Joe would be so we got three different sizes. Julie explained Joe would have to try them on and he took right to it. After we found the winner, he tromped about for a little while, but then it was time for dinner an the Crocs were forgotten, for now.

I See You. . .

Clara is in that stage where she tracks Julie wherever Julie goes. So this morning, we were all trooping into daycare. Julie mans Joe on the way in. Joe mans the bottle bag (he put them in the refrigerator in Clara's room all by himself!). Ted carries Clara in. And Clara keeps tabs on Julie. This morning, Ted and Clara were just in front of Julie when Julie looked up and saw that Clara had her head poked around Ted's arm, head craned out to keep an eye on Julie. Julie said, "I see you. . ." and Clara's face broke out into a huge grin. It was a Kodak moment.

Pretend Pancakes Are the Toppy Top!

Fans, two items of note:

1. Ted just told me that tonight, Joe made pretend pancakes. (He knows you need a cup of flour!) He helps Ted make real ones on Sunday mornings, and sometimes Saturday, and sometimes, it will be revealed here for the first time, Julie will get all teary-eyed upstairs nursing Clara listening to Chef Ted and his Sous, Joe, imagining all the years to come when they will be making pancakes, and that maybe, Joe will make pancakes for his own kids one day.

Most mornings, Joe wakes up and asks for brown and Honey Nut Cheerios, but sometimes, he says pancakes, all drawn out so you can tell he knows it's not a pancake day. But you gotta really love a kid who wakes up smiling practically every morning like it is Pancake Day.

2. Toppy top is the phrase of the moment. It is, apparently, KC slang; certainly it is not Raleigh House vernacular. Toppy top was first uttered this weekend when Joe announced, as he climbed to the top of his high chair, that he was going toppy top of the high chair. His ambitions in this regard were quickly squelched. Tonight, several trucks were labelled toppy top. Are there trucks "the tops," if you will? Or does Joe just like saying toppy top? (It is kinda fun to say. Give it a whirl!)

Missed the landing

Joe took a nose dive down the front steps today. Wailing ensued, but after some hugs he was back at it. Here he is eating his apple at snack time (a new snack item for Joe!). Tonight after bath he was a bit startled when he looked in the mirror and saw himself. He will have to tell his friends at school all about it tomorrow.

Sunday Afternoon Backyard Fun

Both yesterday and today have started out sort of gray and chilly, but shaped up into beautiful fall days in the end. Here's Clara Jane, moments ago, out in the backyard on her play mat (Clara wanted to be just like Connor). Julie had been cutting the iris back, but it was much more fun to watch Baby Bird spin all the way around the mat, exploring all the new things she met along the way.

Catching Up With Connor

Sara and Julie have figured out that they can squeeze in a quick walk around the neighborhood while Graham and Joe are still napping, but after Connor and Clara have just woken up and eaten in the afternoon. It was a nice realization because, of course, Graham and Joe always played together when they were Connor and Clara's ages. So now, the littlest ones are mixing it up together. Sometimes though, we don't walk. Instead, we play at Connor's where, as I believe we've mentioned before, they have carpet, and a dog that is a bit more delicate in her approach to carpet and upholstery--and to little people. Though it's true Boo and Roo have never stepped on a wee one, they are big oafs. Besides, Connor has his play gym up all the time, too! Oh it's a wonderland over there! Clara had a really great time last weekend checking out all of Connor's toys. (That's Connor. Just over to the left where you can't see him. He was hanging out without a diaper, which he loves. Maybe Joe told him how fabulous that is because Joe used to really love that, too.)

Friday Night Fun

By Friday evening, Clara had been to the doctor and had gotten the news that she most likely had just a cold. There was some fluid behind her ears, but it wasn't infected (yet), and though her white blood cell count was high, it was still within the normal range, so Doc H thinks she just had back-to-back colds. The good news is, she's been fever-free for two days now, and her congestion is nearly gone. When the boys got home that evening, we tore up the living room. Super fun! Joe pretended Julie was a mountain, and a pony, and helped her do up a new do with her hair clamper. Clara took it all in, and shared her sneaky snake with her big brother.

Bird Up?

Fans, does this look like a sick face? When Baby Bird is under the weather, the tip off is usually that she is not her usual mover-and-shaker self and indeed, this morning, she was all about a snuggle before taking a pretty fitful morning nap. But she is currently tearing it up on the bed under the watchful eye of Berenice. She is rather fond of her sneaky snake, each segment of which holds a different delight. Even so, we have made an appointment with Dr. Harrington figuring can't be too cautious right before the weekend!

Berenie's eye not so watchful as it turns out; she just bounded off the bed after some beep she heard outside.

Bird Down

The Bird is down for the count. We got the call from daycare that Clara had a fever, so Julie had to drop everything to go get our little girl and rescue her from the hot zone of infectious diseases. She was a very sleepy girl, had a runny nose, and was just overall sensitive. It must have been all those books she ate for breakfast.* Mama Bird and Baby Bird will be at home together Friday recuperating.

*That's her new Rainy Day book! She was given it on a rainy day!

I hug Eh-neese?

When it comes to the dogs, Joe typically stays out of their way or parrots our "commands" (i.e., "Stop it!", "No Barking!", "Stop Licking!", "That's Enough!"). Tonight he showed newfound love for Berenice aka "Eh-neese". During story time Joe asked "I hug Eh-neese?" and giggled in delight as she circled around him to get additional hugs. She is a very tolerant dog with all this toddler affection.

Rock Star Has a Groupie

Joe slept hard this afternoon in the wake of his slide triumph and second and longer off road journey, so we opened the door to the bambini's room shortly before four-thirty in an effort to wake him. Ted was headed in with Bird for a diaper change, but first he put her on the big boy bed where Joe was sacked out a la rock star again. He awoke to a groupie in his bed!

A Poop Note

Clara had a blow out at daycare this week. Miss Melissa told Julie that it was the biggest one she had changed in her 15 years of childcare. That's our girl!

Holding Hands

What Clara likes to do while she's nursing, or riding around in the Moby, is hold hands. She flails her little paw out until she catches a finger. Then she wraps all her little fingers around it, and hangs on tight. Seems like Baby Bird already knows, just like Audrey Hepburn said once, "The best thing to hold onto in life, is each other."

Solo Sliding*

This morning was a perfect fall morning. Julie and Joe went to the Blue Park with Elise, Charlotte, and Laura. Joe (who started his "Beasts" class at Little Gym this weekend) is still mercifully cautious, but increasingly confident climbing and sliding and the like. The Blue Park has a slide whose ladder Joe took a tumble off his first time out on it. When he took that tumble, he tried it again before leaving the park that day. Julie couldn't have been more proud. So intrepid! Today, he was a little apprehensive of the slide, but eventually, made his way to the ladder on his own and after holding Julie's hand the first few times he slid down, slid down about 50 times on his own. Whee!

*Alas, we did not have the good camera. The photography staff regrets the oversight.

Taking a Journey, Offroad Style

When Aunt Kate, Uncle Scott, and Cousin Nick were here, Joe was introduced to the idea of "taking a journey." When one takes a journey, one grabs his shopping cart, his wooden pull frog, or his wooden pull zoo parade and takes off about the house, often at an increasingly madcap clip, with fellow journeyers trailing behind. It is, in short, a ripsnorting* good time. And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, maybe it does. Fans, journeying has gone off roading, and it is off. The. Hook! Last night, while casting about for what to do to keep the good times rolling for Joe in the hour before dinner when Clara often takes a little snoozer, Julie asked Joe if he wanted to journey outside. Admittedly, she'd not really thought it through and fans familiar with our neighborhood will recall that we have no sidewalks on Raleigh Avenue. So before carefree journeying could commence, we had to journey down the street to Quentin one block over. Julie's heart was in her throat the whole way and she probably said 12 hundred times, "If in street, Mommy-Daddy MUST be next to you." She kept trying to tell herself all the orthodox Jewish families walking about in the neighborhood mean that there are as many people on our streets as cars most evenings, but it was still a nail biter.** But it was worth it. Once we made it to Quentin, it was awe-SOME! Joe careened down the sidewalks with shopping cart a-bouncing. This baby corners like she's on rails. Already, less than 24 hours later, we have since been on another offroad journey--the whole family. We don't know what we're going to do when there's snow on the ground.

*That's a real word. You can look it up.

**Funny sidebar:when the journeyers arrived back home, they found Ted holding Clara on the front walk. Ted said when he walked out, he saw Joe in his little green shirt smack dab in the middle of the intersection.

Happy Birthday Cake Daddy!

It's been a weekend of Big Events (which calls for random capitalization, of course), but it should go without saying, that the Biggest of Them All was Ted's (35th!) birthday Saturday. Birthdays mean "happy birthday cake," as Joe calls it. And Fans, Our Hero, he's no dummy: after the candles had been blown out (Clara helped) and the Birthday Daddy had sliced pieces for all three of us who could have it, Joe looked at his piece and at the cake that remained on the cake plate, pointed to the later and said, "I want that."

The Bird Strikes Back

Later that afternoon, we began inculcating Clara Jane into the family love of Star Wars. That's The Empire Strikes Back on behind her as she's playing. Octopus was watching, too. Bird has requested Princess Leia braids when she has hair.

Labor Day Fun

Marco and his handlers came over yesterday morning for a playdate. The boys spent a lot of their time taking turns (really beautifully!) riding or being pushed on the dump truck. They also took turns picking out books for Marco's mom to read to them. Her name is Amanda, or Miss Amanda, just like the teacher in Marco's room at school. Sort of confusing for the tot set who felt that clearly, Miss Amanda (that Miss Amanda, the only Miss Amanda), was not present at the playdate. Clara was up and was passed from lap to lap, and played on her belly on the table above the fray, before going back down for a nap. (The dogs were upstairs. And they really, really, REALLY wanted to come down. Raleigh kept telling us.)

Goodbye Bouncy Seat, Hello Excersaucer

On Friday, Baby Bird's teachers asked if they could put her in the Excersaucer at school. They have been thinking she might be bored always on the floor and enjoy the different perspective. We had been thinking it was time to try it again at home as well, but had wanted to wait until after the baptism weekend since it takes up precious real estate in the kitchen. So we dragged it up again this weekend and Bird did just fine it! We can report that she loves her a dragon puppet to chew on. Joe is also enjoying being reacquainted with the Excersaucer. He likes to spin the spin-y things around super fast, and press the buttons that make animal noises or play music. In this picture, he's showing Clara Jane how to get it done. (The spin-y things are to the right of the dragon puppet, which is flopped over next to the star chew-y thing.) We packed up the bouncy seat. The end of another era.

The Bird Breaks Down

Fans. Whoa. We went over to Kendra's tonight for a Labor Day BBQ. Lovely night. Lovely company. Lovely Mexican dip. In short, all was lovely. And then Baby Bird started to cry. And she would not be deterred! A full scale revolt! The likes of which has never been mounted by Baby Bird. I mean really, Fans. If the Bird has a hallmark, it is her mellowness. A armistice was declared when nursed, but it proved to be temporary. Meanwhile, Joe was padding about chirping, "Go home? Go home?" Undoubtedly, we will be asked over again next weekend as a fabulous time was had by ALL!

In closing, we would not that Baby Bird did NOT--amazingly!--fall asleep in the car on the way home, and her temperature is a cool-a-cucumber 98.3. She is now dozing in her crib. Joe is being bathed and will shortly join her in Slumberland or, at least, he will be in the big boy bed to which he has, of late, been walking "on his own two little feet."

This is Mama Choo-Choo Train, signing off. Choo choo!

Nature Walk

This morning we all went to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary. We brought the stroller thinking Joe would tire, but he walked the whole way, even up the big hill. Clara stayed in the Moby peeking out at the nature while Joe strolled along the path pointing out all the trees that had fallen down, which he called alligators at first. We stopped for a snack on top of the hill and Joe splashed a stick in a little bird bath for a while. As you can tell, it turned chilly here this weekend. Fall clothes for everyone!

Bunny Man

The other day, Ted showed Joe how to put on the masks that Grandma brought him. He got right into character - with the lion masked he roared, with the elephant mask he trumpeted, and with the bunny he hopped. Even Raleigh got into the spirit - we all know he loves rabbits!

Bird's Four-Month Check-Up

Baby Bird had her four-month well-child check-up today. Bird was in her usual tummy-down position when Dr. Harrington walked in, impressing the doc straight off! Dr. Harrington was further wowed by tales of Baby Bird's rolling and pivoting about in circles, and when she saw Baby Bird bringing things up to her mouth. The stats: 15 pounds 5 ounces (80%), 25 inches (73%). Dr. Harrington noted that though the Bird had grown, her percentiles were down. She speculated this was because Baby Bird is such a mover and a shaker she was burning through more calories, and thought increasing the amount in her bottles was a good idea. So Julie is going to add a pump in early in the morning for the time being to try to get about 2 more ounces--enough for three 5 ounce bottles. Then the Bird got two more shots. She was a champion! Cried out as the last one was winding up but wound it up pretty quickly, and then fell fast asleep on the way to collect Joe from school.

I Eat Soft Books For Breakfast

This past week, Clara's teachers have noted to us that Baby Bird has been a little more fussy than usual. We are all wondering if it's that she's hungry so we are going to start bringing bigger bottles to daycare. In the meantime, Bird's teachers also noted that one thing that usually makes Clara happy is to be given a soft book that she can chomp on, and it is true, our Girl loves her a soft book for chewing.