The Dynamic Duo

This weekend found us at Graham and Connor's house where Joe and Graham quickly got busy with their favorite activity these days: putting out fires. Fans, the way you put out fires when you are two and a half or three, is you grab one of your blue, plastic, toy golf clubs, and you find a piece of furniture to beat with it. Graham's bed is on fire A LOT. By the time that well had run dry, Connor was up from his morning nap, and as the fires were all but ashes, Derek took the boys to the basement. Julie and Sara stayed upstairs. This is what they heard (and Fans, you'll want to turn the volume WAY up for this one):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz3JJ5nIg4M*

Derek had asked the boys to "do a duet." You may have guessed this bit.

*Special thanks to Derek for filming this moment.

Spring Cleaning

There may still be snow on the ground, but Julie and Joe were doing some spring cleaning. Joe chose to do it in the buff, I guess he didn't want to get his clothes dirty. With the weather still cold, we didn't venture out much except for a brief visit to the library on Saturday to pick out a couple "Olivia" books for Joe. We are hoping the snow finally melts by this weekend!

Birdie Busts a Move

Brigade, Our Birdie likes her a groove, and to bust a move. It's pretty fabulous. She likes to be-bop to the farm on the refrigerator that has six animals in two pieces and has songs for when a match has been made, and not.* She also likes to throw her hands up for her "La cocina! It's the kitchen!" mini-kitchen. All this week, the reports of her daily doings from school have been filled with commentary on her busting a move: "Today I showed teacher how I dance by swinging my arms back and forth and rocking too! :) "; "Today Clara had a good day playing music with her friends. She enjoyed making music and exploring new sounds." We can report that both of Clara's teachers are country music fans (her new teacher Ms. Shelby is also a native Texan!), so today, Clara reportedly enjoyed listening to some country music for kids. Here she is showing off her moves at dinner. (Joe shows off eating and talking at the same time.)

*e.g. "You've made a match! Look what you've found! You've made a match! Hear a cow sound! MOOOOO!"

"You put a cow in front you put a duck behind! Put them together and what do you find? A cow duck?! That's silly!"

Ted and Joe's Excellent Adventures Part 2

We were in the home stretch, it was 3 pm, and it was a sunny day with a warm spring sun slowly melting the 4 inches of snow from yesterday, so outside adventure it was! Ted started in on making a snow man - the Minnesota snow is usually so powdery that we only get snowman snow in the spring. Joe pattered around the yard after absconding with the grill brush, and watched Berenice run around in the snow with her toy. Joe occasionally helped pat the snow man but found many other things to play with - like his sandbox which was uncovered from snow for the first time in about 4 months. After the snowman was built Joe immediately asked if we would put a scarf on him and named him Frosty the Snowman. So we got a scarf form inside and Frosty was complete.

From there Ted decided to use the roof rake for hopefully the last time this season. Joe watched and kept asking why we were getting snow off the roof, which got us into explaining the effects of ice dams on a house (it's never to early to learn these lessons). After our roof raking we went to get our shovels, but in all the distractions, Ted left the gate open. When he realized it and saw Joe standing near the gate, Ted asked Joe where Berenice was, and Joe calmly pointed behind him. So Joe was told to "stay there" while Ted jogged out towards the street to see Berenice down the block barking at a school bus. Joe was again told to "stay there" while Ted walked down the street to Berenice, who when she saw Ted, immediately laid down to wait for him (impressive actually!). Joe was within eye sight the whole time and was mostly staying put, slowly walking down the front path. With Berenice back inside, Joe requested more shoveling. So we went to the driveway and shoveled away some snow. Ted told Joe that Mommy would be home soon, and so Joe requested that we sit and wait for her. So we hauled out a couple lawn chairs, put them in the sun, and enjoyed a few minutes of snow/sun bathing until Julie and Clara showed up. Clara inspected the snow man, approved, and soon we were all inside for our normal evening wrap up. It was an interesting day, but we had a lot of fun!

Ted and Joe's Excellent Adventures Part 1

If you read the previous post, then you know why Ted and Joe were home today. We pattered around for a while, Ted canceled some stuff at work, and then we went to the basement to change around the laundry (which included Joe's stuffed animals and blankets to rid them of any pink germs). Joe had his usual adventures pulling out toys from the dark corners of the basement, pretending he is going to "starfox" and commenting on Ted's every movement. Joe was coaxed upstairs with promises of fruit snacks and Ted prepared for the next adventure. Joe made a stop to the potty, and I won't share the details, but let's just say I missed a spot. From that lovely task, we departed the house for, what else, Target!

We drove across the river, which means tunnels and bridges for which Joe clapped in delight, and went to the St. Paul Target. First stop was for Joe's cookie at the deli counter, and then to pick up a few items in short supply at the house, and to allow Ted to call into work while Joe was mesmerized by all the shiny and colorful things in the store. We burned up enough time so that we could drive to William Mitchell down the street and meet Julie for lunch.

Lunch was at the beloved Bread and Chocolate where we ordered our sandwiches, and as Ted was reaching the cash register he sees Julie and Joe conspiring at the cookie counter, Joe slapping the glass by the M&M cookies and Julie probably mentally joining him. So we sat down with our lunches and a big M&M cookie sitting in the middle. You are probably not surprised to know that Joe asked for his cookie about 57 times while we ate lunch, and he picked at his food while looking longingly at that cookie or at the other kids in the room who all had red balloons because the Mommy and Me reading session at the Red Balloon Bookstore had just let out. Well we finally shared that cookie, and it was good.

We made a visit into Julie's work where Joe sat down and colored some admissions handouts in Kendra's office matching the marker color to the paper color. He spied some colorful post-it notes as well and claimed them his own before saying goodbye to everyone and heading out the door. On the ride home, Joe fell asleep, so at home Ted scooped him up and got him to bed after a quick diaper change, and leaving his pants off for nap. With his animals in the wash Joe was allowed to keep his newly prized colorful post-it notes for nap time. Scene.

(open on Ted working upstairs) Because Joe had a cat nap in the car, he wasn't very sleepy anymore, so Ted heard him for the next hour babbling and banging. At one point, Joe called out for Ted, which is unusual, so he crept downstairs and opened the door to see Joe kneeling up on the bed facing away from the door babbling at post-it notes scattered all across the bed. Ted quietly closed the door and hoped for the best. A little more time went by, boy still babbling, father still working, and again Ted heard his name being called. Went into his room again, this time to find Joe with pants on, no shirt, diaper laying open faced on his stool at foot of the bed. Joe requested that his diaper be put back on. Ted calmly obliged, reminded Joe that he should keep his diaper on, told him it was still nap time and left the room. And another hour of work for Ted until again he heard his name as well as the curious sound of the door handle being jiggled. It was nearing the end of natural nap time so Ted went downstairs and just as he got to Joe's room, the door was opened and out came Joe happy as a clam and greeting Ted as if it was no big deal that Joe has never gotten out of his bed on his own in his 32 months of existence. To add to the scene, his upper teeth were bright pink because as it was soon realized, he had spent that last hour munching on all the post-it notes. Joe's bed sheets had pink stains, and there were wet wads of paper scattered in his bed and on the floor. After the mini-panic attack of thinking Joe's mouth was bloody, Ted and Joe got some yogurt for snack and planned the final adventure...

Code Pink

Well fans... it was quite a day... here is how it went down (and please don't judge us). It started out like any other day: everyone on Joe's bed discussing what's for breakfast, when Clara will get nursed, whether or not today is a "show and share" day, etc. After Julie and Clara departed, Ted noticed one of Joe's eyes was suspiciously pinkish, fortunately we have drops on hand and so they were administered before Joe settled in for his Honey Nut Cheerios and apple juice.

When Ted next saw Julie he mentioned the eye and the administered drops and we concurred that it was just slightly pink and didn't seem that bad, so we pushed to get out the door (sidebar: it also was a morning that got out of routine and required a lengthy unfruitful potty sitting break for Joe so we were delayed a good half hour as it was).

While driving to school Julie remembered that we needed to put more eye drops in, so we had to turn around and go back home (sidebar: it was at the same location that Ted turned around two weeks ago when he forgot his phone, so when we turned off the normal path Joe immediately asked from the back seat "you forgot your phone?"). When Julie got back into the car with the drops it was realized that what Ted had administered to Joe's eye were ear drops, not eye drops. Clearly the little white bottle labeled "oxysomethenorother" is for eyes and the little white bottle labeled "trisomthenorother" is for ears. So on top of hoping he didn't ruin his son's eye sight, Ted missed any chance of actually clearing up the eye before school. Regardless, Julie administered new eye drops hoping to salvage the day.

Because we were so late as it was, we brought Joe straight to his room instead of having him help in Clara's. Ted brought him in, put away his winter wear, waved a courtesy wave to the teachers and headed out. About 4 seconds later, he heard his name being called by the wonderful Miss Manisha who remarked that Joe's eye seemed really pink. So Ted played dumb, gathered Joe and said we would go have Julie look at it and discuss (which really meant he knew he was done for). So Julie came out of Clara's room to find her two boys with worried looks on their faces (but for different reasons). And that is how Joe and Ted's excellent adventures began...

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Today dawned cold, gray, and rainy here in Minneapolis and while this was sad in many ways, it was cause for celebration in at least one--the conditions provided an excuse to break out the umbrella. Keen-eyed observers will note that this particular umbrella has a J on it. Julie has had it for a long time and never used it, not being an umbrella sort of girl (they are always poking one in the head, not big enough or too entirely too big--and thus not big enough to share or too big for one, blowing this way and that. . .), but this morning, she raced upstairs at the final push out the door to get it to present to Our Intrepid Hero, who, upon seeing it unfurled said, "I want that." He took it, and held on to it, even though the wind (and Our Hero is not one for wind) all the way to car. Once in the car, we sang "It's Raining, It's Pouring"--a few times.

The Latest Crazes

When Julie arrived home with Our Hero and Bird on Thursday evening, Joe spied a helicopter from the driveway. He immediately began asking to see another one. Julie hadn't packed her Magical Make-Helicopters-Instantly-Appear Wand, but she sure wasn't excited about hanging out on the driveway in the still chilly air. So she suggested looking for more helicopters from the porch and the force was with her, because Our Hero happily agreed. Ever since, looking for helicopters has been a mini rage at Raleigh House. As our loyal readers know, there is really no activity that is not vastly improved by the inclusion of a stool, and helicopter scouting is no different. Saturday evening found us and the kitchen stool* on the porch looking for helicopters, as well as learning two new things:

1. When sharing chips and salsa or dip with others, we do not dip our chip in the salsa or dip after we have taken a bite. Our Hero was quite taken with the tortilla chips, and the green tomatillio salsa, we had set out. We will be working on another, individualized point of politeness--i.e. we do not remove chips from the bowls of others once we have eaten all of ours.

2. How to hold up two fingers, and say "Peace out." Joe is getting pretty good at getting his little fingers in the right position. He likes to do it with both hands. Tonight, he asked to call Aunt Kate so he could tell her peace out. He led with it, but it was still charming, especially to Julie who could see him making the sign for Aunt Kate, way, way too far away to see it in Paoli.

Peace out, Fans.

*As a reminder, we have three stools: the kitchen stool, the bathroom stool, and the bedroom stool. There used to be a porch stool, but before it could become as ensconced in Our Hero's heart as certainly kitchen and bathroom stool are, Julie removed it to the basement this winter. She would note that its absence was almost immediately noted by Our Hero earlier this week. Julie said she had no idea where that stool went. With so many stools, really? Who can keep track. . .

Bird At Rest

In the wake of the end of daylight savings time and the latest onslaught by the germs, Bird's sleep had gotten a little out of whack: the morning nap was going forever (like a continuation of nighttime sleep), and she was fighting her afternoon nap and bedtime. By afternoon nap time, she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from sleeping away the morning, and by bedtime, she was overtired because she'd not had a proper afternoon siesta. So we bumped her already early 6:45pm bedtime up to 6:15pm last night and tonight, and even after just last night, her naps were better. She went down easily for both, she woke from the morning nap on her own at two hours, and the afternoon nap was over an hour. She let's out a good SQUAWK! when she's first put down in her crib at 6:15pm, but she's tapped out and asleep within five minutes. In other words, she's ll squawk.

Well deserved nap

Julie and Clara are taking a well deserved nap after a long week. Clara seems to have broken her fever and is mostly back to her usual self, while Julie is pretty tired as you can see. Hopefully they both sleep for a while!

Ted Returns! (and Not a Moment Too Soon)

Fans! Brigade! No doubt you've all been waiting with bated breath to hear how this evening went down with only one hand on deck. The low point was probably when Julie found Clara eating dog food, shortly before Clara pitched herself down the two back steps, all within the same five minutes! Two birds may have been in tears (though Clara only cried over the dog food when it was fished out of her mouth). Julie has been assured by Sara that eating dog food is a rite of passage. And come to find out, Bird has eaten dog food on Ted's watch, too! And stair tumbles. . .They remain very, very near the top of Julie's list of Top Fears in Life, but if we had a nickel for every time Joe has tumbled down the stairs, we'd be able to get. . .Well, something anyway.

But besides these fraught five minutes, things went rather swimmingly, all things considered. We hung out on the porch. Clara double fisted Joe's socks she found on one of the chairs after getting a boost to a stand next to it. She also went after the paper in the shoe trays. Joe moved his rocks around (the rocks he collected on "the journey with you, Mommy"), dispensed coasters, and made like a prize fighter with his blankie. We ate a dinner of veggie burgers, sweet potato fries, and pears in companionable silence. Julie managed to nurse Clara with minimal distraction. Our Hero really did admirably for his age. He was cutting at the table, and stickering with abandon (and on the paper), for a very long time before asking, "Mommy, are you done nursing Clara?" about every. . .oh, say 10 seconds. (Again, no sense of time.) After we got Bird down, Joe and Julie did some dusting before bath. In the wake of Miss Che's evenings with us, the bath time routine now includes the elimination of residual bubble bath bubbles via the shower. (Julie is not a fan of this addition and can practically guarantee Ted will also be much aggrieved to learn of it.) All of this is to say that Our Hero was a mite later to bed than usual, but he didn't eat dog food, so all is not lost.

Bird in Profile

She's most fabulous, isn't she?

The Moon

As Julie was coming back in tonight after running out to the garage, she noticed the moon was really full and bright. She'd just put Joe down so she dashed back inside, went into the bambini's room and told Joe she had something to show him. He's seen a full moon before, but the theme at school this month is the sky, and they had just read a book all about the moon today (lessons gleaned: astronauts go there on space ships, no water and no oxygen, we could not live on moon). So he crawled into her arms and they went to the porch and looked at the moon. As they turned back to head for bed, Julie told Joe he could tell Neeky and the birds what he saw--and he did. After Julie had deposited him at the foot of his bed, he scampered to its top and said, "Neeky! We see a moon last week!" (See, no sense of time. But hopefully a sense of wonder.*)

*Here Julie was channeling A Private History of Awe, Scott Russell Sanders, and a Billy Collins poem called, appropriately enough, Moon. Good stuff.

Letters Joe Knows

Keen-eyed observers will note the presence of alphabet matching cards in the last picture of the last post. Joe is quite fond of them these days, loving, as he does, a match, and a letter. This morning on the way to school, he correctly identified all of the letters on the stop sign. He then promptly pointed out the next red octagon and crowed, "THAT'S SO SILLY!" Ever since the day of 12 thousand snow plows and its attendant "That's so silly!" refrain, anytime Joe spots more than two of anything is an occasion to bust out, "That's so silly!" Here are all the letters he knows, with their most commonly associated sort of mnemonic device, if present:

A

B

C

D*

E: J-O-E for Joe! Also: E for elephant.

J: J for Joe!

M: M for Mommy!

O: For Joe! (All the letters in Joe are for Joe.)

P

S: S for Sophie Stone. (A girl in his class. S is very much all the rage right now.)

T: T for Ted. Also: T for Teddy. (There is a Teddy in his room, and he knows Ted's name is Ted from having heard Julie call it out sometimes.)

W

*The alphabet is collectively referred to as ABCD (rather than ABCs).

The Porch Home Opener?

But how about the end of day circus, you ask? Fans, it's been o-kay, due in no small part to the fact that Julie engaged Miss Che to come over between 5pm and 7pm for the prime time fun. Fans, she does the dishes! She also makes sure the toys are put away before Joe decamps to the bath. So after Clara and Joe have been put to bed and she has left, there's no picking up to do! Awesome.* We have had but two small breakdowns, one each day, prior to her arrival:

1. Yesterday, Joe requested his mittens upon reaching the porch steps. No doubt you remember the inaugural mitten moment which has itself been repeated, as well as undergone permutations--mitten moment riffs, if you will. The mittens were shoved inside the sleeves of Joe's coat which he was holding (as instructed) high above his head (to avoid sloshing it in the puddles). There was no easy way to get them out and on, and in any case, it's spring (finally) and has been in the fifties by day's end the past two days. Julie explained that we do not often wear mittens in the spring, and certainly not when it's in the fifties. Joe begged to differ.

2. Today, when Julie pulled out into traffic after having been stopped next to the Trader Joe's for some time. This is a tricky intersection where cars are flying by from the left, and other cars are trying to make a left across them, as cars next to the Trader Joe's trying to make a left are playing chicken with both of these streams of traffic. The watchwords here when it comes to greeting the Trader Joe's and bidding it adieu are: "Time is of the essence." Sadly, toddlers have no sense of time (of which, more later) and so it has become many a day that Joe breaks down in wails as Trader Joe's fades into the distance because he did not say goodbye to it. And lest you think, "But remind him!", we hasten to point out that one must remind him to say hello and goodbye and sometimes, he will not dane to say hello until it is time to say goodbye and it's all too fast, but it's not a moment to linger as time is also of the essence when pulling out into traffic at this particular intersection. Good times, good times.

Today, when we got home, Julie thought the good times might keep on rolling when Joe spied a helicopter up in the sky after getting out of the car and demand to see another. Julie suggested going to the porch to helicopter watch, and thankfully, Our Hero was game. So, we headed for the porch, and as you can see, the gang was all there, with the door to the house and living room open. Hooray again! Joe and Clara tore it up. (Clara was thrilled to finally crawl underneath the furniture out there.)

*Sadly, she cannot come tomorrow, so Julie is already brainstorming what fantastical thing she can dream up for Joe to do so she can nurse Clara without him bounding about in a way that is charming, but distracting. She is searching for something novel, and that seems illicit and as though it might be forbidden, but that will leave the house and its contents intact and undamaged after it is done. The goal is not to resort to giving into the impulse to allow him to continue using the Sharpie marker, even on a really, really big piece of paper, to stave off a temper tantrum as she once did when she and Joe were both home sick (and Julie was very sick indeed), when he still managed to get some on the top of the dining room table. Julie's fault, Julie's fault. The Sharpie was taken from Our Hero, who promptly pitched a fit. And so. What did we learn? There is no paper big enough for a toddler with a Sharpie marker, and one must be ever vigilant when making up the rules like "Sharpie markers are Mommy Daddy only."

Something Stinky

When Baby Bird woke up from her nap, we were out the door practically immediately to collect Our Hero as Ms. Maneesha had called earlier in the day to report that Joe had had some diarrhea. (Julie really hung her head upon receiving this news.) Here's how it went down (pun intended!), apparently:

The scene: A toddler daycare room, shortly before nap. The children are on cots with blankets.

Our Hero: Miss Maneesha, something smells stinky!

Miss Maneesha: Joe, did you poop?

Our Hero: Yeah.

Scene.

But so far, that diaper hasn't been followed by another of its ilk, so Julie is cautiously optimistic that Joe and Clara will go to school tomorrow, and she will go to work, like an almost normal day, except that we are missing our anchor.

I Got Me a Lion!

Bird Brigade, when we woke up this morning, and Clara's temperature was again 101.4, Julie hung her head. Clara had been up three times in the night, so Julie wasn't terribly optimistic while waiting for the thermometer to spit out its reading, but hope springs eternal. Otherwise, the pre-game went well sans Ted. Clara was rocking the Moby at school for Joe's drop off, and since she was all snug and tucked up, after drop off, we walked down the block to the Starfoxes. Julie got a hot chocolate and then we strolled around for as long as it took to drink it. On the way home,we stopped in at the Target. (Really, is any day home with the sick wee ones complete without it?) By the time we got home, it was nap time and while Clara napped, Julie called the pediatrician for an appointment.

This picture was taken shortly after Clara woke up. She was all "Game on!" with Neeky. (Julie did not tell Joe, and has no intention of doing so.) In other words, she seemed vastly improved. She wanted nothing to do with lunch, however. So we kept the appointment, where it was confirmed that our Baby Bird is the picture of health. By the time we got there, her fever had broken. Her temperature was normal, and without the help of Motrin. Hooray!

Bird Sitting Pretty, and Not

Well, Bird Brigade, Bird's fever hasn't broken. She woke up with a temperature of 101.9, so she is home again today. Yesterday, the doctor told Ted that she had "the cold with flu-like symptoms that wasn't the flu" that's going around, apparently, so there's nothing to do but try and keep her comfortable and amused while it runs its course. So yesterday, Ted and Bird went and explored the Knollwood Mall, where there is a TJ Maxx Home Goods store that Ted has been wanting to check out now that he is working on projects to sell more sheets and the like. They had lunch at Panera and got the car washed. Tough act for Julie to follow today. It turned out to be fortuitous in one way that Ted and Bird were home yesterday: the sofa repair people called and said the sofa was ready, and so Ted said "Bring it!" So it's back, and it is pretty fabulous in every way. Look at how fluffy the pillows are! They look like. . .what? REAL sofa pillows! That's it! Here Bird is sitting pretty on it (and Boo--let's not forget Boo). Hopefully, she will be sitting pretty for real soon.

Napping With Bird

Look at that big Little Bird. On weekends, we try to put Joe down at 12:30pm SHARP so that he has time to yak it up with Neeky and the gang and still fall asleep before the Bird goes down about an hour later. There have been a few Saturdays when Clara has fallen asleep while Joe is still deep in discussions with Neeky et. al. and on those Saturdays, Julie has let Clara nap it old school, tucked up on Julie's chest. Clara is getting awfully long, but you couldn't tell her that. She just keeps on snuggling in like it ain't no thing. So there have been some Saturdays when Clara napping in this manner has been required, but others where it has not been, and it happens anyway, because it's such a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Clara is up at 3pm (you can set your watch by it almost), and so the hour and a half or so between 1:30pm and 3pm is the only time during the day that there is to do anything that might be significantly impeded by the little people. Julie wouldn't have thought it would be easy to give up. Turns out, not so much.

It's funny. This is a relatively common occurrence (Clara sacked out like this on top of her mama), but we have few pictures of it because there isn't a pair of hands to snap the picture.

In other Bird news, we are sad to report that Baby Bird has a fever. 102.3! Ted is flying to Phoenix Wednesday morning so will stay home tomorrow in case Julie needs to stay home one of the other days this week. She went straight to the bird bath when we got home, and was down for the count by 6:45pm, which is her usual. We shall keep you, the Bird Brigade, informed of developments, as they develop.

Christo

Artistic genius or a toddler delaying hand washing?

Artistic Genius

This afternoon, post-nap, it was Joe's turn to go to Paint Your Plate with Julie. They met Marco and his mom Amanda there. It's true: Julie may have been just the tiniest bit apprehensive about how this outing was going to go down, but she figured if we could manage to get in and out without pulling down an entire shelf of ceramics awaiting painting, or otherwise breaking anything, it would be a success. Fans: SUCCESS! Julie had pre-ordained that Joe would paint a plate, a reasonably wide, and flat canvas upon which Our Hero could exercise his artistic will. Initially, she had thought that she would ask Joe to select three colors, but he merrily choose yellow, purple, blue (two shades), and pink, and Julie didn't have the heart to squelch his delight at the glaze container dispenser. He later went back for green, and also helped himself to Marco's brown, though he was making plenty of brown on his own by that point. As you can see, Our Hero created sort of a contemporary piece--and it could not be contained on the front of the plate alone (so avant-garde as well). About 45 minutes later, two little boys walked down the street (holding their mothers' hands!) screaming nonsense words, utterly non-pulsed that their masterpieces were not accompanying them home. Success.

Sit there and pet Berenice

As loyal readers know, our sofa is in the shop getting a tune up. That leaves us with one chair for the whole family to share (which occasionally happens all at once). After Joe's bath, our routine is to put his diaper and pjs on on the sofa, but of course we can't do that right now. So now we sometimes do all of this on the chair, or standing up. The odds that Ted has remembered to get the diaper and pjs in advance of Clara going down to sleep is 50:50, so a common refrain heard is, "sit there and pet Berenice" while Ted sneaks back into the kids' room to grab Joe's evening wear. Usually Joe will just sit there with one eye on Berenice, but recently he has actually sat there and petted Berenice which is very cute to see especially while wrapped up in his towel and crammed into the chair.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As Joe and Clara's legion fans know, we here at (Adventures With) Joe and Clara Jane, are committed to bringing you a slice of life verite (though not, apparently, the appropriate accents on our French words)--the good, the bad, and the ugly. Fans, it's been ugly.

It all began Monday evening at pick up. Joe flew into Clara's pick-up room as usual, but then announced he did not want to go home. Well! Nevertheless, home we headed. By the time we'd gotten to the street outside school, Our Hero added to his list of things he did not want to do holding hands on the way to the car.

Here, we pause to note to our readership, that we have very few Non-Negotiable Rules (sometimes also referenced with the following phrases: Not Up For Debate and Not Going to Committee). In fact, the list of Non-Negotiable Rules is but two items long:

1. We hold hands while we are by the street or in the parking garage.

2. We wash our hands before we eat, particularly when we are returning home from the germ-infested hot zone otherwise known as school.

So "I don't want to hold hands," are what we might also call "fightin' words." Joe was asked again to please hold a hand. Again he refused. Julie handed Clara to Ted and asked him to take her to the car and it was at that point that all hell broke loose. Naturally, then, Our Hero desperately wanted to hold hands, but naturally, only Daddy's hand would do. When Julie reached for his hand, he broke away and ran! Not very far! But it was at that moment Julie was--all together, Readers!--OVER IT! Her heart was pounding because she and Joe were by the street. You know, where the cars rush by. Which is why we--wait for it!--HOLD HANDS! So Julie crouched down and softly told Joe he could hold her hand and walk to the car, or he could be carried. Joe said he did not want to hold hands, so Julie picked him up. Joe continued to wail for holding Daddy's hand but upped it several decibels and added bear cat thrashing to the mix. He thrashed so much that Julie could not buckle him into the car seat right away, and his shoe came off in the melee. ("I WANT TO PUT ON MY SHOE! I DON'T WANT TO PUT ON MY SHOE! I WANT TO PUT ON MY SHOE! I DON'T WANT TO PUT ON MY SHOE!" Clara is of course now crying. After all, this drama is unfolding on the first day she was denied the 3pm bottle and she's all "What gives? Let's go get the din-din, folks!"

Eventually, Joe was buckled in to his car seat over his vociferous objections, and his shoe was put back on, and off we went. He wailed intermittently the whole way home, but once we got home, he shuffled inside without much ado. The poor little guy even attempted to shuffle with his shoe not properly on for a few steps he was trying so hard to get this all right.

Once inside however, the uneasy peace dissolved because of course, it is once we were inside that Our Hero needed to wash his hands. But really, it was last night that the battle royale occurred over whether Joe would wash his hands.

Following Monday's fireworks, all went well at pick up Tuesday. But Our Hero was not to be persuaded on the hygiene front. By the time he dained to wash his hands, Clara had been bathed and was in her pajamas and ready to be nursed. Joe asked Julie if she would help him wash his hands, then told her he did not want her help, but then broke out in heartbroken sobs as soon as she left to nurse Clara. ("I WANT TO DO IT AGAIN! I WANT MOMMY! I WANT TO DO IT AGAIN!) So one inconsolable little boy wailed upstairs in one beleaguered father's arms, while one weary mommy sobbed quietly upstairs as one overtired baby girl tried to nurse.

Joe was wailing in his sleep last night. We woke up in the three o'clock hour to Joe sobbing, "I want to do it again. . .I want to do it again. . .I want to do it again" by which he meant he wanted to wash his hands again. Poor little guy. Still trying to wrestle this all out. As we've written before, it is as hard to be little and not in charge as it is to be big and in charge. Such is life sometimes.

Sometimes, however, life is thus: last night, on the way home, Joe was jabbering away in the backseat, and he noted to Julie that he got her pink flowers at Trader Joe's because pink is his favorite color because he used pink paper to make his valentines. He said it all just like that, just tripping from one thing to the next. Julie was tickled pink.

Flowers For Mommy

In addition to teaching Joe that we do not have to put our already-removed socks back on before bathing for the purposes of removing them to then remove sock fuzz, Ted is also teaching Our Hero how to treat the ladies. On Saturdays, when the boys return from the stores and Little Gym, Joe will often burst into the house, bursting with the news that he has gotten Julie flowers. It's quite a sight--this sweetheart of a little boy wielding (there is no other word for it) a bouquet of flowers that is nearly as big as he is. Bring your mother flowers. . .Joe is in good hands, because Ted really is the best at many things, but most especially living out lessons like these.

A Sock Moment

Our Hero's new thing is taking off his socks and picking the sock fuzz from between his toes. Note the intensity and determination he brings to this task. Now, you might be thinking, "Well, at least he's occupied!" And, Fans, you would be right, except that if, come bath time, he happens to have already removed his socks, he has to find them again, put them on, take them off, and check for any errant sock fuzz and remove it if any is found. It can really hold up bath time, and be very frustrating, which is one night, Julie heard Ted, behind the closed bathroom door, exasperatedly explaining to Joe that if our socks are off, they're off, and we just leave them off, and we do not always have to pick sock fuzz from our feet before we take a bath.* Some days, you know it's futile, but it's so hard to roll with the sock fuzz.

*See also January 17, 2011, A Mitten Moment, http://joeandclara.blogspot.com/2011/01/mitten-moment.html. Same thing.

This Just In! Clara Waving!

In going through the downloaded video from the weekend, Julie found that Ted managed to get Bird flapping her wing, so to speak. As you can see, a "Hi, Clara," gets you a series of waves. Wait for all of them!

The Beginning of the End of Bottles (and Pumping!)

Clara's biggest news of the weekend is that she has dropped the 3pm-ish nurse, and thus, the 3pm-ish bottle at daycare, beginning tomorrow (an endeavor otherwise known as the Beginning of the End of Bottles--and Pumping! Hooray!). Hence the determined merriment upon her waking up from her afternoon nap. Yesterday, the first day sans 3pm nurse, Baby Bird had a big snack of bananas and Cheerios. Here, we pause to note that B. Bird LOVES her a banana (one might say she is bananas for bananas!). She is a relatively precise and neat, and a rather quiet eater. Very dainty. Julie felt pretty confident that Bird was ready for this no 3pm nurse step, but to be on the safe side, she had the hours between the end of afternoon nap and bed all planned out. Post-banana and Cheerio snack, the Birds went to Paint Your Plate, one of these paint your own pottery places. This particular chain could probably be nosed out of the market in a heartbeat given its completely lackadaisical approach to service, but for now, it's the only game in town. Julie was glad she'd gone once before, with Joe, when he was about nine months old, as she'd learned the lay of the land enough to fly solo on this critical Merriment Mission. Julie put Clara in the Moby and they painted a plate, a platter, and pedestal bowl (with Clara's handprints made to look like birds) for a little over an hour. As you might expect, Julie did most of the painting. Clara was much more the muse, and spent most of the time considering objects from Julie's bag that were handed to her, but the Birds had fun, and Clara didn't seem to notice that she hadn't nursed, so Mission: Merriment was a resounding success.

Full of Sunshine

In other Clara news, we can report that she is both waving and clapping up a storm. Apparently, she and her little friend "John-John"* spend a fair portion of their day waving to passersby at the door to their room, and greeting all who enter with mad flapping of their arms. If Clara so much as hears "hi," or "bye-bye," she is waving. She will not, however, as of yet, wave for the camera, and so, Dear Readers, you will have to imagine this utterly charming site. Oh, she is full of sunshine! And it is not to be contained.

And clapping! Today, after Julie had nursed her, and the Birds were settling in for a nap on the big bed upstairs (Clara on top of Julie's chest all tucked up), Julie opened her eyes and happened to find Clara propped up on her elbows. Clara's face broke out in a huge smile and she clapped for all she was worth. Fans, it was darling, and Julie smiled, but snapped her eyes shut lest Nap Time turn into Clap Time, and soon enough Clara conked out.

As usual though, she popped up right at three, and was raring to go. She found Julie's nook, with its cover open and bent back, where she then discovered and pulled out the Little Gym summer schedule of classes that was folded in half and tucked inside the nook cover. She was HUGELY pleased with herself, and even more so when she unfolded it! She was very much all "Check. It. OUT! Check ME out--!!!!!" By this time, Ted had come on the bed, too, and the Bird was spinning all about in a valley of blankets and climbing up its sides, toting the Little Gym brochure as she went. We have no picture because one is loathe to break such spells, you know? Again, you will have to use your imagination to picture one B. Bird's delighted face as she clapped and cavorted.

But we do have video from Friday! We were actually trying to record her waving, but got some clapping instead! (We also got some great footage of Berenice.)

*Remember when Joe was Joe-Joe? Apparently doubling up on the boys' names that begin with J and are one syllable is a popular thing among the teachers at KinderCare.

Ms. Super Pooper Trooper

Here she is. One Ms. Super Pooper Trooper, on Friday evening, in another daycare stunner. True, this particular ensemble is not as terrible as some, as onsie and pant are at least from the same collection, but the collection is perhaps not the strongest we've seen from the fine folks at Carter's. Needless to say, perhaps, this outfit was not that in which Clara went to school, but she pooped her way through the week at a furious pace. Much laundry being done at Raleigh House. One day, she went through all her spare pants (three) and so was picked up in pants that were "borrowed" from a "friend." So that would have been her FIFTH pair of the day. Whoa. We are pleased to report, though, that her top, right tooth (hers) did finally break through this week, and she was a less prodigious pooper by weekend's end.

A Science Lesson From Joe

It's a new month, which means a new theme in Joe's room at KinderCare. This month's theme is. . .the sky! Today, Joe and his classmates discussed things that are found in the sky. When we asked him about things that are found in the sky on our way home, he told us clouds, and the moon, and the sun, at which point, he began expounding upon the sun and the moon: "The sun has light. The moon does not have light. The sun shares it's light with the moon." This last was repeated several times. As Ted noted, it's perhaps not scientifically accurate, but what a nice sun! And what a fun son.