That's So Silly!*

Our Hero is hilarious these days. Tonight, on the way home, we were stopped at the intersection nearest our neighborhood. This particular intersection has bus stops on both sides on the east-west street. While we were stopped, two "city buses" were also stopped, one in each direction, looking identical, right down to the advertisement displayed on the side. Julie remarked that they were twins. This conversational sally was met with silence. After several beats had passed, Joe burst out from the back seat, "THAT'S SO SILLY!" His sally was met with laughter.

Joe's affection from this phrase probably stems from its use on one of the days he was home with strep throat. Julie and Joe were off on an adventure to points no longer remembered, and they passed upwards of 10 dump trucks in the span of five minutes, no joke. It was clear the trucks were picking up snow and carting it to the lot of this apartment or condo complex nearby, but so far as Joe was concerned, it was simply a fabulous dump truck sighting free for all, celebrated with great fanfare and excitement by Julie who was sort of taken with all the construction equipment activity herself, and glad of something to count and highlight in the car. Her ongoing refrain was "THAT'S SO SILLY!"

But wait! There's more! Tonight, while we were reading stories, in the midst of Where the Wild Things Are (it's back, baby!), Joe was suddenly taken with Julie's hair (it is sort of a glorious blond halo. . .) and lifted up two hanks, one in each hand. He giggled and announced to her, "You a wild thing!" Then, he told her she looked like Yoda. Presumably, he meant Yoda's ears jutting out, not his five scraggly stands of hair. But how fun! Our Hero is cracking jokes! AND MAKING STAR WARS REFERENCES!

THAT'S SO SILLY!

*This picture was taken earlier this month, when Joe and Clara were being silly upon waking from their afternoon nap.

Always True to You In My Fashion

Clara is a very easy going little lady, but when she gets upset, she lets you know. Friday's report from school said that Clara "was trying to build a tower with the large foam blocks and was VERY vocal when I did not want any friends (to help--presumably)." We have a clear picture of this in our minds, based on our own experiences. At home, she is most often VERY vocal, when she wants Julie and Julie moves out of Clara's view, or steps away from her.

Now, in the mornings, Joe wants Julie to sit on the bed, and Ted to pick up Clara. We have had to explain to him that he doesn't get to decide who picks up Clara, in part because he really doesn't get to decide who picks up Clara, and in part because one morning, Ted did pick up Clara, and she wailed and nearly flew out of his arms as she tried to get to Julie. Now Fans, in case you are thinking, "Poor Ted. . .", we hasten to remind you that the affections of the toddler set are fickle. In fact, Joe still prefers that Ted take him in and out of the car. Clearly Ted has gotten the short end of the stick for the moment, as an extra moment tucked up on a bed is infinitely preferable to hefting Our Hero in and out of his car seat, but so swings the pendulum today.

But it is true that Clara is all about Julie right now. Thursday's report from school said that Clara had pointed at our family picture on the family wall during snack time, and said "Mommy, Mommy!" (I know--we buried the lead, right?!) We haven't yet heard this with our own ears, but there is no doubt that Bird knows who her mama is. Just that morning, Ted had told Julie that he had been holding Clara and when they passed the picture of Julie sitting in some leaves that hangs in the hallway on the way to the nursery, Clara pointed at it frantically.

In case you're worried that Julie is going to let this all go to her head, fear not. She remembers only too well when Joe didn't allow her on the bed in the morning, to get him milk or water or anything else for that matter, to push his chair in, to get him scissors. . .In short, when the most common refrain in the house was, "DADDY WANT TO DO IT!" And after all, she's still can't lift Joe in and out of his car seat if Ted is around. Daddy want to do that.

I Want to Clean, Too!

Before we left for Target, we all had a cheese and cracker snack, which resulted in a lot of crumbs. Julie was sweeping them off the table with a sponge, and Joe said he wanted to clean, too. So he got a turn with the sponge. When he was done, he was still chirping that he wanted to help clean, so Julie asked if he could please stack up the books in the living room. She meant the books on the floor, but a few minutes later, this is how we found Our Hero. Joe had gone to town on the low shelf which he will often help Julie dust after stacking up the books that are on it. Ted said, "Wonder where he gets it."

Snowy Saturday

Julie just realized that Baby Bird is 10 months old today! We began the day by finding Bird sitting upright in her crib, making not a peep, until she giggled when she seemed to realize Julie couldn't figure out where she was in that crib! Oh that Bird! Today, the snow sifted down all morning and into the afternoon. Clara Jane watched it from the couch, where she then sacked out with Ted and Julie for her afternoon nap after tearing it up from one end to the other amid all the books. She and Julie were both in their black lounge-y pants, and white tees. Birds of a feather. . .When she woke up, she played on the floor a bit, trying to pull herself up on the couch. She would let go, throw her hands up, and balance for a long moment before settling back down. Baby Bird is like a weeble wobble, only she doesn't even weeble or wobble so much. Bird's got balance!

This sort of thing would have never been possible with Raleigh about. The house is very calm, which is both lovely, and sad. Raleigh was always underfoot, in a face, up the stairs, down the stairs, in and out and all around, clattering here and there. . .It is an odd feeling--missing what you don't miss. He's probably still running in dog heaven. Berenice was always quicker, but Raleigh could always outlast her.

Dog Heaven

Fans. Earlier this week, we made the painful and difficult decision to put Raleigh down today. Increasingly of late, he had displayed a number of aggressive behaviors that made us feel we could no longer trust him in our home, or that it was safe with him in it, and these behaviors also, unfortunately, made him un-adoptable. Though we feel certain it could be no other way, our hearts are broken.

When Joe and Clara came home from school, we all sat down on the couch, and we told Joe that Raleigh had died today. We told him this meant that we wouldn't see Raleigh anymore, and Raleigh wouldn't be able to eat his food, or drink water, or bark (as Berenice let out a bark on the porch), or lay on the sofa or chair. We told him that Raleigh had gone to dog heaven which was way, way too far away* to ever see, but that it was filled with fields and lakes where dogs could run, forever if they wanted. We told him we had a book** all about it, that we could read if he wanted. And we told him that Mommy and Daddy and Berenice might be sad, because we would miss Raleigh, and that he might feel sad, too, and if he did and wanted to, he could come and ask us for a hug and to talk about it.

Joe asked if he could have some goldfish.

Ted got up to begin getting dinner together. Goldfish were promised with it. Then Joe said he wanted to read a book. Julie asked which book and he said, "The dog book," all like, "Duh." So we did, and that is how Joe came to know that besides fields and lakes, dog heaven is filled with dog biscuits shaped like squirrels and ice cream cones and ham sandwiches, and that all dogs, in heaven, are good dogs.

When we were driving Joe and Clara to school this morning, Julie saw a rainbow. Her breath so caught in her throat that she barely managed to tell Ted before we were out of sight of it. Ted said it was a good sign. We may see what we want to see in life, but Julie knows this was Raleigh's bridge to where he had to go.

*"Way, way too far away" is a Joe expression.

**Dog Heaven, by Cynthia Rylant. It's fabulous, and not just for kids.

Snow Day Naps

Sometimes Joe won't have fallen asleep by the time Clara is ready to go down for her afternoon nap. On those days, Clara ends up sleeping on top of Julie, usually on the bed upstairs. That's what happened today. Julie thought it was nice to be all tucked up with Clara while the snow blew around outside. She thought it was even nicer to wake up and learn that Ted had done the downstairs floors (which is what she'd planned to do during afternoon naps)! Clara woke up first and woke Julie up by pulling on Julie's hair. Then, she found Julie's hair clamper. She tried putting it in her own hair, and when that didn't work, she just waved it around and bonked Ted's nose with it. She also gnawed on it quite a bit; the surface is all roughed up from her two little chompers.

The DQ Band

Promised awhile ago, but today was a good day to do video editing as we watch a forecasted foot of snow fall outside. Joe on guitar and Clara on lead vocals - Joe really got into his solo...

Blast Off!

On Friday, we arrived home to find that Joe and Clara's Great-Great Aunt Nyla and Great-Great Uncle Louie had dropped off a few just-because presents for them. Joe got a Buzz Lightyear spaceship. He has no idea who Buzz Lightyear is (it's true, he may be a bit of a dork because of his parents who are decidedly beyond being just a bit dorky), but he knew what he had was a rocket ship. One shakes it, then pulls it back along the ground, and it shoots off--like a rocket! (As we mentioned: we are dorks.) Needless to say, the dogs (Raleigh in particular) were not quite as taken with the gift.

Now, it may interest out readers to know, that as Julie has been typing up these posts, Joe followed her upstairs, and informed her, breathlessly, that there is. . .A ROCKET SHIP! IN OUR BACKYARD! Fans! It's going to get coffee! Coffee for Joe's new baby sister.*

*For some time now, Joe has told us he is getting coffee when he is off on a journey to the store or some such. As many, if not all, of you know, neither Ted nor Julie drinks coffee. We think the fascination with coffee stems from school, where Ms. Marjorie often comes in with a cup of it from Starfoxes.

A Correction

Fans, we must issue a correction. Not long after we told you, Joe and Clara's legion fans, that Joe's trusty lion sidekick was named Leaky, Julie was informed, but Our Hero himself, in no uncertain terms that Leaky was Neaky. In viewing this short video, perhaps you will understand our initial misapprehension. Indeed, occasionally, Neaky is referred to as Necky. But whatever he is called, he is beloved, despite the trashing he is receiving in this clip.

Baby Bird: Improved, But Teething

We are pleased to report that Birdie is vastly improved. She spent Thursday at home with Julie where she tore it up. She tries valiantly to pull herself up on all kinds of things, including those that move on her like the toy lawn mower, and the toy grocery cart. (Once they've gotten away from her, she's pretty wary of them, but she showed the lawn mower who was boss by just crawling over and through it.) Her front top two teeth are still almost-but-not-quite through and Fans, let's just say that Baby Bird, is over it. She's not one much for nursing when the teeth are on the cusp of breaking through. She's is mollified only by yanking on Julie's hair (Julie is over this bit). Then, she flips around and arches her back until she hit the mattress where show rolls over to her tummy and tucks herself all up with her little bottom in the air. (Julie reportedly slept the same way.) Sometimes, once the blanket is settled over her, she reaches out with the hand that isn't in her mouth, and grabs an armful to pull under her all haughty, all like, "Finally."

Birdie Has a Sore Throat, Too

Yesterday, Bird woke up from her nap with a temperature of 102.4. When we arrived to collect her and Joe, she was pretty out of it. Unfortunately, there were no sick visit time slots to be had at our doctor's office, so we doped her up with Motrin and put her down at 6pm. She (and Joe) slept until 7am. By the time we went to the doctor, her temperature was 101.3. Dr. Harrington was sick, too, so we saw a different doctor who said that Clara's throat was really, really red. So she was surprised when the throat culture came back negative for strep. (It is apparently not common for children under two to get it, but Joe had it, and it is flying around daycare. Joe was patient 3 of a tally that now stands at eight.) Be that as it may, the doctor is calling it strep for now on the if-itwalks-like-a-duck-and-talks-like-a-duck theory. From the doctor's office, we headed to the Target to pick up Clara's prescription for Amoxicillin, where we snapped this picture.* We know?! She looks happy as a clam, right? It's taking it's toll on her though. She's one sleepy little Bird.

*Ted is the only one in the family NOT taking Amoxicillin!

Joe in a box....again

Long time fans might recall the first "Joe in a box" post (see link below). Well, this evening Joe said, "Daddy! Put me in the box!" and that is how Joe ended up in a box again. It was a tight fit but he got a kick out of it.

http://joeekkers.blogspot.com/2008/12/joe-in-box.html

Sweetheart Snack

At the start of this month, we got the month's calendar from Joe and Clara's school, and learned that today, in honor of Valentine's Day, parents were welcome to join their children for "sweetheart snack." Julie has been excited for this event for at least a week, if not longer. Having picked Joe and Clara up for a number of doctor's appointments at the tail end of snack time, she was curious to see how this would go down. As one might imagine, snack time in the infant room is sort of a messy affair of smashed Nilla wafers and the like with two infants in high chairs, older infants at the little table, others ambling about, all be-crumbed. In the toddler and "twos" rooms, it is not uncommon to walk in to snack time and find all of the children totally silent as they munch and sip away. So Julie wondered, should she have conversational gambits in her back pocket? (As it turns out, no.)

Julie thought that "sweetheart snack" might be best shared in a room where she wouldn't be more of a nuisance than anything else, so she told Miss Maneesha this morning at drop off that she'd be back to share snack with Joe. When Julie arrived at the appointed time, she found Joe and five of his companions waiting for "Joe's mom" and "Julie" to have cookies. Julie was THRILLED to see they were the frosting covered sugar cookies from Target.* Less thrilling was the fact that the milk was whole milk. (You can't have everything.)

So Julie sidled up to the table and was instantly engaged in conversation. Of the five other kids, Julie knew three of their names. Sadly, for the purposes of this post, the opening sally came from Unknown Name Girl, who noted that Julie was wearing a heart! Unknown Name Girl also had a heart on her shirt. So did Suzy, and Nina. Sophie did not, but she was wearing penguins and had a bear on her butt (true) and was wearing underpants (also true, Sophie showed them to Julie).** Then, Julie learned that napkins are unfolded into big squares at snack time, and that we wait with our hands in our laps until all our friends have snacks and drinks before we begin. Very civilized. When we're done, we wash our hands and look at our faces in the mirror to make sure our faces are also clean. After snack, we play! Joe made Julie bacon, and got Sophie the coffee Sophie requested. Sophie wanted Julie to put a dress on her. Sophie could do the zipper herself though (Joe told her "You got it."). Julie also spied a choo-choo train on the floor with different colored cars, each an 8" x 10" piece of paper, with matching cars to place on top. So this is why Joe can often be found lining things up in a row on the floor, and making matches if he can! (For example, he recently got a hold of some pictures and was laying them down on the floor in a row and trying to match them up. He does this with all kinds of things not infrequently.) Fascinating.

It's safe to say that having this glimpse into Joe and Clara's mostly secret world was a total kick. Julie is already hoping there is a "shamrock snack" next month.

*They are almost as good at the Jewel-Osco version that she used to love getting in Chicago.

**Sophie called Julie by Julie's first name the entire time, in a charmingly precocious way.

Valentine's chili

Clara had some leftover chili and banana tonight, a traditional Valentine's dinner! She got a good scrubbing at bath tonight!

Staying out of the house

We are being vigilante about Clara's nap schedule right now, especially her morning nap because if it goes wrong the whole day goes wrong. On Saturdays Joe has Little Gym which keeps the house quiet, but Sunday we often need an activity. Often it's a play date of some sort, but today, Julie needed to catch up on a little work, too, so Ted made up things to do for about 3 hours outside the house with Joe. We went to three different grocery stores: Whole Foods for our produce, Trader Joe's for a few random items, and then Byerly's for one random item. While in Byerly's we swung by the bakery and Joe got to pick out a donut. You can see him eating it, straining forward to say cheese for the camera. After that, we drove over to Ridgedale Mall because we heard there was a little indoor playground for toddlers. As we walked in the entrance, the first thing Joe spied were some fire truck shaped carts for kids - and he wanted a ride! Ted convinced him to keep walking thinking he would be so amazed by the playground that he would forget the fire truck. Well that didn't happen, so he had playground for about 3 minutes and then back to get a fire truck and walk around both levels of the mall with all the mall walkers (no stores open yet). He wasn't too keen on the elevator, so he chose to abandon his fire truck on the second floor and walk down the steps where he then played on the playground for a good 20 minutes - all by himself! From there it was home to PBJ and a Mommy and a Clara Jane.

Sunshine!

We got through the bitter cold week (-10 on Thursday!) and we kept hearing our weathermen promise a warm weekend. Well, for once, they were right! Today it got up to a balmy 38! We reportedly had 2 hours of above freezing temperature in the past two months, so this is a welcome change! So after nap today we decided to take our first family walk of 2011. Clara got a double layer of clothes, put in the moby, and mostly covered with Julie's coat. Joe had his usual winter garb. Joe got right into his wagon where his faithful little plastic arctic animals were still waiting for him. We saw lots of people out, some removing packed snow from sidewalks and roofs, some going to the synagogue, and others like us just enjoying the sunny winter day. We hope we've turned the corner on the bitter cold and are able to take more family walks on weekend afternoons after nap*!

* We can also report that when we heard the familiar sounds of Clara Jane babbling towards the end of nap time, Julie went in to the kid's room thinking she would scoop Clara up in the first moments of awakening before Joe was woken. Instead she saw Clara up on her knees hanging on to the crib cooing at Joe who himself was up on his knees hanging onto his bed rail egging her on. TIme to lower the crib mattress!

Have we mentioned that Clara likes to crawl underneath things?????

Another Sick Day

As it turns out, Our Hero had strep! There had been two cases in his room at school; Joe was the third. He's taking "super yummies" (Amoxicillin) now, and is, frankly, in the highest of spirits. This morning, while Julie was getting him dressed, he said, "I SICK!" and then proceeded to whirl about in a circle making random noises. So no flies on him.

Of course, the fun continued unabated on Sick Day II. We all piled in Bronzie and while Julie got Clara settled in for the day, Ted and Joe headed down to "Starfoxes," where Julie met them for hot chocolate. There were some tears shed when, after Joe had said he was all done, and pitched his kiddie cup of hot chocolate in the trash, he announced on the way out that he wanted it. Time will tell if the lesson of when-it's-been-tossed-in-the-garbage-it's-gone was learned. By the time we had gotten downtown, Our Hero had rallied. When we got home, we had yogurt snack and then Joe did dishes while Julie cleaned the kitchen. After that, we changed the sheets on Our Hero's bed because Julie is a firm believer in fresh sheets often when sick as she firmly believes they lift the spirits (though as we have noted, Our Hero's spirits are quite high). Secretly, she also wondered if she might be able to snag Leaky. Yes! So we headed into the basement with linens and Leaky in tow. Joe helped load up the washer. He put Leaky in himself, and then the detergent, and then adjusted all of the knobs. What happened when the water gushed and it was the moment of truth? Our Hero looked through the window at Leaky and laughed! So all was well.

It's Thursday, so Lise the Dog Walker (or Berenice and Raleigh's True Love) arrived right at the post-laundry-and-basement-fun lull, so Julie decided to run the vacuum while they were out since it scares the bejeepers out of Raleigh. Joe took a seat on the steps with Panna Bear and Teddy Bear with his "cat cup" filled with water to enjoy the show. It wasn't too long before he was on his feet though following Julie around. After she finished, Joe requested his vacuum from the broom cupboard and mopped up after Julie, which gave her time to get the mop and mop bucket. Let is be noted that the mop and mop buckets are TOP tools for fooling about with in the basement so it was no surprise when Our Hero wanted to mop. Julie told him he could have a turn when she was done.* He waited most patiently for his turn. It's safe to say his turn at the mop was the highlight of Joe's morning. Julie did catch him before he dropped a sopping wet mop on the floor and wrung it out then and every time thereafter Joe went to the bucket (often). But he really got after it!

By the time we wrapped up mopping, it was time for burritos and nap! Joe asked for Leaky, but was o-kay when Julie said Leaky was drying after his bath.

*She has visions of the day when she can hoodwink Joe into moping a la Tom Sawyer getting the neighborhood kids to whitewash the fence, and loot to boot!

Reading With Bird, and, a Revelation

Fans, as you know, we are fond of a book in this family, so Julie has been quietly, but frantically, worrying that she was not reading to Clara as she had read to Joe. She has been worried also that Clara didn't like books. But, in the past few weeks, Julie has had a revelation. She realized she was judging what she did with Clara against what she'd done with Joe, and that wasn't fair to either of them. It is true that Julie does not read to Clara as she read to Joe, but Julie has decided not to worry about this anymore because she does read to Clara and Julie thinks they both have fun. Whereas Joe was read to before bed, and usually when we got home, Clara isn't read to at either of those times. She's done by the time bedtime has rolled around and seems to be thinking if you don't get that flipping moon and the great green room away from me, I will freak. OUT!!!!! And when we get home, all hands are needed to get dinner together before Clara's bath time. So instead, Julie and Clara read in the morning after Julie has nursed Clara. This seems to suit fine. Julie has also realized that Clara does like books (and she will admit that her secret heart is hugely relieved even though one is not supposed to have a secret heart), she just greets them differently from Joe. Joe would just sit back and take it all in when he was Clara's age, though he did enjoy a lift-the-flap book. Clara is all "let me at 'em!" She crawls on them, picks them up, turns pages. . .and she loves a touch-'n'-feel books (Joe never lifted a hand), especially pages with hair she can sink her little fingers into (e.g. the to hairy mane of the pony, the too tufty tail of the pony, and the soft nose of the pony--pony book is fabulous because of its abundance of hairy-tufty-soft nose pages--and the too shaggy ears of the puppy). Miss Che said Clara likes the puppy books at school, too. Apparently there is a puppy book with a puppy nose to press because more than once, the report of her daily doings have included that she busied herself giving that puppy's nose what for.

Sick Day | Weren't We Just Here?

Fans, there is a nasty cold going around. Clara had it. Julie has it, and now, Our Hero has it. Just in case it is something more, Julie and Joe are making a visit to Dr. Harrington post-nap. Joe is in good spirits, despite needing a Kleenex seemingly every five seconds, and horribly chapped lips and the skin beneath his nose. This morning, we carted Clara to school and came back home to drop Ted with Blue. (He was conducting researching a store today so drove himself.) The real kick-off to the day was, of course, as you might expect if you were paying attention the last time we did this, a breakfast-snack of cinnamon sugar toast. Then, we trundled down to the basement where Julie moved the laundry along and Joe moved various cleaning tools around (the mini shop-vac, a janitor-style broom, the mop and bucket). After that, we headed all the way upstairs where Julie gathered up some items to take to the consignment store. She had promised an adventure all morning, and the consignment store was it! Joe busied himself by procuring Kleenexes, bouncing Leaky on the big green ball, finding Ted's belt, helping himself to his favorite pink tie and attempting to tie it with narration and no help!, getting out some of Julie's shoes, requesting the drawing of sailboats, and generally tearing up the joint. The only wrinkle in the morning was when Julie requested that Joe relinquish the tie, lest the silk become be-snotted. Otherwise, Julie and Joe coughed and sniffled and pattered in happy company. Then, they were off to the consignment store. They were there at 11 bells, first out of the box, so they were back home and lunching on tortellini and peas within the hour. Our Hero is now napping of course. Leaky, too.

Birdie Flaps Her Wing

Look at that face! What a face! What a face! That face lights up every day when Julie walks into the pick-up room to collect Clara. (Ted heads down the hall to round up Joe who then barrels in screeching "Mommy! Mommy!" Before you get all dewy-eyed, Fans, let us hasten to add that he is sometimes waylaid in his barreling by any old toy, which ensures that Julie's head will still fit through the door.) Clara has now added waving to her greeting repertoire. Today at pick-up, Julie found Clara behind the wheel of the toy driving console, and she looked up smiled, and waved, the very picture of a woman gadding about town in, say, her sporty blue roadster!

Our Bird is also, apparently, pulling herself up right and left at school. Miss Sophie commented on it today at pick-up. Birdie tries at home, but nothing is quite the right height, and she has a good sense of what isn't stable (pretty much everything given out hardwood floors).

A Boy and His Lion

Joe was given what we believe are called "puddle pals" (sort of an animal shaped blanket with a head) by his Grandparents Trump for Christmas. It is a lion, who has been christened Leaky, by reasons known only to Our Hero. Leaky has twice made the trip to KinderCare for Friday's Show 'N' Share, including this past Friday, when Miss Maneesha Fox noted in the daily doings report that Joe's very soft lion was showed, but not shared as Ms. Maneesha Fox did not want so soft and lovely an item to be contaminated by the other carrier monkeys. If only she knew how desperately Julie was hoping to lay hands on Leaky to toss him into the washer as he is for sure a petri dish of all sort of germs. But a boy and his lion are not to be separated. Lion is often called for when Joe is asked to do something by one parent, has refused, is being looked at disapprovingly by said parent, is looking for support from the other parent and found it wanting. It is at these moments that Lion is needed. Lion is always referred to as Lion in such moments, but is Leaky whenever Joe is joyfully bouncing Leaky about.

DQ | The Devolution

You know, there are times when things are clickin' and clackin' and all in the flow. And then there are times like when we were ready to leave the Dairy Queen. Joe was asked to put on his coat. He smiled, and said no. Joe was asked again to put on his coat. He again smiled, and said no, and then made like he was going to make a break for it. Julie scooped him up and walked straight out. Well. As you might imagine, Our Hero was having none of it. Wailing and flailing ensued, but Julie managed to wrestle him into the car seat by the time Ted had joined them with Baby Bird. Julie hadn't really thought her actions through further than the fact that she was just unwilling to send the bill on whether Joe would put on his coat to committee for debate and reconcilliation. She was over it.* We hadn't gone more than a block when Joe tearfully asked if he could please put on his coat. When you use your strong words and strong voice in this family, things happen--especially when two people are trying to teach another person that things do not happen when you cry. So Ted pulled over and Julie and Joe got out to put on Joe's coat. Some more tears were shed when Joe learned that he would have to get back in the car. Julie decided they both needed a hug so she scooped him up again and held him in the front seat. Our Hero stopped crying pretty quickly and consented to returning to the car seat and we headed home to turn on the Super Bowl.

It's tough--being little, and not in charge. You know what else is tough? Being big, and in charge.

*Julie is fond of noting when she's over it. The other day, Joe was overheard telling Berenice or Raleigh that he was "over it." We will never get over that.

DQ | Get Up and Do Your Thing

Sunday afternoon found us itching for excuses to take the car out for a spin, some time to fill, and Julie hankering for a hot fudge sundae, with peanuts. So we took ourselves to the Dairy Queen. Everyone had a treat, except Clara, who was happy with found treasure from Julie's bag (or, the nail file in handsome-and-super-nifty carrying case). An added bonus was the medley of lesser known songs from hitmakers of the 1980s playing, including Talk About the Passion from R.E.M. and Everybody from Madonna (from her first, eponymous album, whose cover features Madonna wearing an armful of black jelly bracelets*). So conditions were ripe for a seated dance party. Joe was on lead guitar; Clara, vocals; Julie, drums. Ted was our roadie and shot some as-yet-unedited video. Look for it to land at a blog near you soon.

*It's true that Julie was a HUGE Madonna fan and had this album, as well as Like a Virgin, on tape. Now that she is herself a mother, she is both amused a horrified to think of her third grade self singing (at the top of her lungs) Like a Virgin at her friend, Dee Dee's birthday party, having not the slightest idea what it all meant.

Goodbye blue plastic bathtub!

On Saturday night Ted gave Clara her first big girl bath - no plastic tub anymore! It took Ted a little longer to make the switch with Clara than Joe, partly because she is his little girl and he is probably coddling her a bit, but also because she is quick to flop onto her belly and wants to crawl places - whereas Joe was content sitting and pawing at his toys. It went well though, Clara mostly stayed sitting and only went to her belly when she saw Julie enter the room and scrambled to get closer to her, but even then she kept her head up out of the water. Clara also had more room for toys and enjoyed chewing on the rings while Joe had fun tossing the toys into her. So we are all done with the blue plastic bathtub that was always getting in the way and past another little milestone!

A new addition

On Friday we welcomed a new addition to our family - a new car! Julie and Ted had been debating for a while about the need to have two cars in the family and that the beloved Honda CRV (aka "Blue") that has 130k miles, and non functioning locks would be best as the backup car. So we called Paul at the dealership where we bought Blue and told him we were coming in to look at the new CRV. Well, we made Paul's day because we took their last SE version for a quick ride and told him we would take it! The official color, a new one for Honda, is called "Urban Titanium" but in the sun it has a bit of a bronze luster to it - so it has been nicknamed "Bronzie." Julie took Blue to pick up Joe and Clara, and when Joe came home the first thing he said to Ted was "we got a new car!" Joe was a bit confused that we would keep both cars, but he got it eventually. Clara seems content with the whole arrangement. The car seats got switched Saturday during nap, and we took a family voyage....to Home Depot. The fun never stops around here! Blue is sitting at the curb with a dusting of snow on her, while Bronzie is shiny and dry in the garage, but we love them both.

Clown-y Clara

Here is what Clara came home in from daycare today. What do you think, Fans? You think she maybe had some messy diapers and messy mealtimes today? When Julie walked into the pick-up room and saw Clara barreling toward her from underneath the table, she laughed and said, "You look like a clown!" But a cute clown.

Imaginary Skates

The theme in Joe's Twos room this month is "In Your Imagination." Yesterday, the report of his day's activities included this sentence, " Joe used his imagination by using plates as skates." Apparently, he was told this was dangerous.

Little Miss Giggle

Until recently, Clara's bath has been pretty simple: quick wash of head, ears, and feet; rinse; grasp at the little cup for a bit and done. A couple nights ago, she discovered splashing, and now things have become a hoot! Tonight was particularly rich because Joe joined in and would screech and laugh when Clara splashed which only made her laugh and splash more. In this clip you will notice a few things:

1. Clara laughs so hard she ends up with hiccups.

2. Joe's various interjections such as, "Don't splash!", "Don't get all wet!", "Her [pronoun confusion!] wants another cup," "Silly goofball!", "Is Clara done?"

3. Joe's sign off for our Fans.

Where Are the Wild Things? Are

For at least two weeks now, Julie and Joe have been reading two books at night before Five Things: Where the Wild Things Are and Little Pea. We assume most our readers will be familiar with WTWTA, but perhaps not Little Pea. Little Pea concerns one Little Pea (go figure) who hates candy, and candy is what you have to eat when you are a pea. Julie has begun moving her finger along with the words sometimes, and always along the title of WTWTA. After Julie does it, Joe likes to do it, but what he says is "Where Are the Wild Things? Are". He ends strong on the are. Some readers may know that the final page of this book has only words: "[a]nd it was still hot." Tonight, Joe took his little finger and ran it underneath them as he repeated "and it was still hot." Oh it was so sweet. Julie is hoping that WTWTA's run continues. She would also add that given its long run, she is particularly glad that she had the foresight, when first reading it, and crying out, "Let the wild rumpus start!" which is followed by three pages of pictures of wild rumpus-ing, that she did not leap up off the couch to wild rumpus. Instead, she elected to make a series of sounds*. This decision was most deliberate--and one of her better ones (if she does say so herself).

*Picture spread 1: Dit-dit-dit-dit-di-di. (Repeat twice.)

Picture spread 2: WHEE!!!!!

Picture spread 3: BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! (In time with fist being brought down.)

One night, Julie mixed it up on picture spread 3, and sang the chorus of the three little fish song her grandmother used to sing (Down in the meadow in an itty bitty pool, swam three little fishies and a mama fishy, too. "Swim," said the mama fishy, "swim if you can," and they swam and they swam all over the dam. Boop, boop, a-did-a-dad-em, whatem-CHOO! Boop, boop, a-did-a-dad-em, whatem-CHOO! Boop, boop, a-did-a-dad-em, whatem-CHOO! And they sawm and they swam all over the dam!" [insert obligatory "YEA!" here] Joe looked at Julie and said, "No."

A Birthday Cake for Kendra

Kendra's birthday was Saturday so over the course of Sunday, we baked her a carrot cake for Julie to take to work on Monday. Julie peeled carrots in the morning while Baby Bird supervised from the Moby; later, Ted mis-en-placed the rest of the ingredients; after his nap, Joe assisted Julie in putting it altogether. Ted had to supervise Julie as to how to let Joe help. Ted is very practiced at instructing Joe how to help in age-appropriate ways. For example, Joe informed Julie he would help with the eggs and Julie looked panic-stricken at Ted who murmured, "He puts his hand over yours." Julie also learned that Joe dumps all liquids measured out into the bowl, and it's best to break say a cup and a half of corn oil into three half cup increments. Joe takes the cup from you in a sort of swashbuckling fashion and you have this heart-clutching moment of fear that whatever it is will not make it into the bowl, but it does. Once we had everything in the mixing bowl, we put on our ear muffs for the actual mixing as "It's loud."

As this cake was meant for Kendra, we could not eat it Sunday. Our Hero took this news in stride, but seemed happy when a slice was saved for him and brought home Monday. He informed us that we needed a candle. Indeed. What is a slice of birthday cake without a candle? After Joe and Clara had eaten Monday night, we sang Happy Birthday to Kendra, blew out the candle*, and all had some carrot cake, even Bird.

*Joe almost had it. In the third picture, you can see him blowing on his hands after Ted told Joe to practice blowing on his hands to understand the sensation of blowing out through his mouth.

A Lesson Well Learned

This past Sunday morning, we were meant to play with Graham, but when we pulled up post-"Starfoxes" run, Derek ran out to tell us that Graham had just thrown up. So Julie and Joe beat a hasty retreat but what to do?! First, we gave Aunt Kate a call and Fans, Joe chatted her right up. He gave her the whole run down of the morning and then let Aunt Kate know that Halloween and heart stickers were going on the valentines. They talked so long that by the time Julie was given back the phone, they were almost to the Carter's which was, as anticipated, closed. (Julie has had something to be returned in the car for weeks now and hope spring eternal.)

By now, we were on an official Adventure. We next stopped in at the Old Navy by Southdale Mall.* Julie thought she might as well try and begin gathering up the spring clothes that must be weather-appropriate somewhere in the US, but certainly won't be here until they are no longer in stores and thus must be purchased well in advance of when needed.** We didn't stay there too long because the selection was sort of lackluster. But we still have some time to while away so we motored over to the Old Navy by our house. Bonus! It was under construction and thus had construction vehicles out front!

This particular Old Navy had more bins with balls scattered about the store, notably in the infant and toddler section. Julie relayed what you are about to read to Sara Monday and she instantly said, "I hate those ball bins." She knew where this was headed. Fans, Our Hero went a little wild in the Old Navy. In this picture, taken with Julie's cell phone (the only camera available), you see Our Intrepid Hero having bravely cast off his Crocs in favor of snowmen slippers which he then coasted all about the floor in. Several pairs were sampled. At the same time, multiple balls were taken out and tossed and chased down aisles. Did we mention the store was under construction so please picture Our Hero covered head to toe in dust from crawling all over the floor after assorted balls as you paint the mental picture of these events in your mind. Julie was sort of at a loss, but thankfully, the store was nearly deserted so Joe wasn't impeding anyone's shopping (save Julie's), and we managed to escape the Old Navy with a few shirts for the warmer days that will surely come sometimes, but without the snowman slippers, any balls, or the glasses that were plucked from a rack on the way to checkout.

Julie walked in the house with Joe for lunch and nap and little frazzled. She relayed the above to Ted who chuckled and commented simply that at Target and Whole Foods, Joe has two choices: 1. ride in the cart, or 2. walk, holding Ted's hand. Julie, having shopped less frequently with Joe solo now that he is a strapping two-and-a-half year old, thought, "A lesson well learned."

*This orients our local readers of course. For our non-local readers, we would tell you as an interesting sidebar, that Southdale Mall was the first enclosed shopping mall in America, and was anchored by a Target store.

**The joys of northern living, exhibit 89.