AND THEN BIRDIE WAS WALKING!

And then suddenly, she wasn't holding Julie's hands! She was just walking! For two steps! She was on the front walkway, before the steps in the middle, headed toward them and the house. Julie realized what was happening and didn't breathe or make a noise until Clara had gone "boom!" on her little bottom, and then she hollered to Joe that Clara had taken two steps, and started clapping like a mad woman, which set Joe off to clapping like a man man. Then Julie told Joe to run and tell Daddy that Clara had just taken two steps and he tore up to the door and bellowed the news. (He alerted Julie to the fact that he wasn't going to open the door; hence, the bellowing.) Ted came to the door and saw Clara take a third step, which might be what you see here in the second picture. (And then Birdie had to go see about a hose.)

Beautiful Night

Fans, once in a while, Minnesota gives you a good one. After a week, and weekend, of clouds, rain, and cooler weather, we had a breezy evening with billowy white clouds that was more warm than cool. So while Ted made the bambini's dinner, Julie, Joe, and Birdie fooled around outside. Joe got right after the hose, of course, and helped Julie fill up the watering can. He also chased Julie with the hose. He loved that. Birdie got right in on the watering can action.* She was all Standy McGoo and was walking around holding on to Julie's hands.

*This past weekend, Julie took Joe and Clara over to see Graham's "special house," as Joe calls it. The boys (Joe, Graham, and Connor) were all in the sandbox, and Clara hauled herself right on over and in between Joe and Graham all "Well hello, boys!" She gets right after life.

Jam!

We made four batches of strawberry jam today. We really means Ted since Julie only prepped two batches worth of strawberries and one batch worth of rhubarb before falling asleep on the couch, wrapped in the scent of strawberries (much like the year Joe was born*). When the bambini woke up from nap, Joe had a few tablespoons of warm jam as a snack before helping Ted with the last batch by smashing up some strawberries and dumping the sugar in the pot. Clara tried to get closer to the jars on the table. Tomorrow, we will have waffles with jam for breakfast!

*http://joeekkers.blogspot.com/2009/06/jam.html

Two Steps!

Today's biggest news comes to us from Ms. Melissa who reported at pick-up that Birdie took two steps at school today! Melissa said she was encouraging Clara by saying, "Come on!" and gesturing with her hand. Clara was imitating Melissa, but then made her move and busted the two steps before plopping down.

Birdie's Belly Button (Song)

We have been wanting to report for some time that Clara can find her belly button! We have delayed our reporting of the acquisition of this most important life skill because we were hoping to capture it better on film, but to date, Clara thinks the camera is more interesting than her belly button. The picture here is the best of our attempts. We often ask where her nose is. Currently, it is in the same place as her belly button.

In related news, we can report that we have made up a new song about Birdie to the tune of the Bely Button round off the Sandra Boynton Philadelphia Chickens album. True lyrics:
"Belly belly button you're oh so fine! Ooo belly button I'm so happy you're mine. A tummy without you just wouldn't be right. Ooo belly button you're a beautiful sight. Belly belly button!"

Our version:

"Birdie Birdie Birdie you're oh so fine! Ooo Birdie Birdie I'm so happy you're mine. A family without you just wouldn't be right. Ooo Birdie Birdie you're a beautiful sight. Birdie Birdie Birdie!"

Obviously, you may want to familiarize yourself with the tune. You can do so by visiting the official Sandra Boynton site at http://www.sandraboynton.com/sboynton/boyntonmusic.html, and scrolling down to listen links for the songs on the Philadelphia Chickens album.

We sing it a lot. Our Birdie is, after all, oh so fine, and we are so happy she's ours.

Life Lessons

Fans, we must also ask: why is Joe's hand so often in his butt? Last night, after using the potty, he left his shorts and underwear off, which used to be fine with Julie. No longer. Our Hero cannot seem to be mindful of where he is placing his hand, and is treating his bum as a de facto pocket. Initially Julie thought that perhaps Joe needed to use the potty, or hadn't wiped well. No. Even having to wash his hands three times in rather quick succession after placing his hand between his little butt cheeks did not make Joe more mindful of where his hand was. So Julie has decreed, in her own mind anyway, that Joe may not run around in the buck. He must wear his underwear. It seems sadly obvious that his hand will still wander to his bum crack, but at least we won't have to prompt incessent hand washing. (Also, Julie fears if she continues to highlight it, he will begin doing it not unsciously as he is now, but on purpose. She had this realization last night when after he auto-asked why in response to the directive to remove his hand from inside his bottom, she found herself saying that in polite society, we simply do not put our hands in our bottoms. Certainly, Joe is very familiar with phrases like "polite society," especially given that the two-week theme currently running at school is "gross science," and yesterday found Joe and his classmates doing a quote boogey project endquote. When queried, Joe relayed that "there are a lot of boogies in there." Where remains a mystery.)

Not So Sweet Morning (or, A Wipe, a Wipe! My Kingdom For a Wipe. . .)

Well, Fans, this morning was less successful. Clara had finished up her breakfast and needed her diaper changed, so Julie left Joe to the remainder of his two bowls of Cheerios and took Clara to be changed. One needs some sort of rodeo clown to accomplish this task. Julie will sometimes leave a toy on the shelf near the changing table for this purpose, but just as often, she will hand Clara a wipe, a tube of diaper cream/petroleum jelly/antibiotic ointment, a bottle of saline drops, or whatever to keep Clara's attention off of flipping over and her hands away from her nether regions. Today, Julie handed Birdie the bottle of Tri-Vi-Sol--liquid vitamins recommended by pediatricans for breastfed babies (apparently, many mothers are vitamin D deficient, and they worry about rickets). Also, for the unexposed, we should relay that Tri-Vi-Sol is almost the same consistancy as syrup, and is a deep reddish brown color. It turns black on clothes and skin.

By now, Dear Readers, you have no doubt correctly picked up on the foreshadowing. (Indeed, we have left the fore in the dust and are in the shadow.) Somehow, the bottle of Tri-Vi-Sol opened. Tri-Vi-Sol cascaded down the left side of Clara's face, into her ear, her hair, down her neck, and on to her shirt, pooling on the changing table beneath her head and back. Naturally it is on her hands, which means it it also on the walls. The only mercy was that there were just enough wipes remaining in the container to clean up all of the mess so Julie didn't have to somehow get another package out of the closet while Clara was on the table--being fresh out of Tri-Vi-Sol bottle with which to distract.

Meanwhile, Our Hero, a potty rock star*, has made his own way into the bathroom. Julie hears the toilet flush and then, Our Hero is on the scene of the above disaster. He has pooped. Julie knows he has pooped, not because Our Hero has announced it, but because a small piece of poop remains between his little butt cheeks. Here, we pause to remind you that Julie has used all of the remaining wipes in the container, and Clara is still on the changing table in need of attention.

So it was that by the time Julie can address Joe and his poop, she finds him happily rolling about his bed. Now there is poop on his duvet cover. (The mercy here is that his entire bed does not have to be stripped.) Julie tells Joe to get down and shepherds him to the bathroom where we review what happens when we poop. Joe very, very confidently (and quite correctly) informs her that we wipe! Julie adds that we tell Mommy or Daddy so that we can ensure success on the wiping front. For added fun, once dressed, Joe balked at washing his hands. Julie vetoed sending that to the floor for debate and did it for him, on the inside trying very, very hard to focus on the silver linings in this whole sequence of events.

We pulled away from the curb at 7:28am. Thirteen minutes beyond goal time. All things considered, not so bad! Still, Julie is hoping for a smoother morning tomorrow.

*Still accident free!

Sweet Morning

Ted flew to Chicago this morning. From there, he continues on to Dallas. He returns on Friday at some completely awful time like 11:31pm.

As Julie types this as 9:01pm on Monday evening, Joe is kicking the wall next to his bed, but generally, she thinks things have gone pretty well without Raleigh House's undisputed emotional anchor keep things, well, anchored around here. This morning, she pulled out of the garage with everyone in Bronzie, pressed, dressed, spic and span, with all the items needed for the day at 7:16am--one minute shy of goal time!

Julie got up not long after 5am when Ted left so that she could be entirely sorted and mis-en-placed for the day before the day really begins when the more benign, but no less unpredictable Pandora's box that is the bambini's room is opened. We have no less than six types of Cheerios in the Raleigh House pantry, five of which were on the table this morning. (The Raleigh House pantry is actually too small to contain all of the Cheerios we apparently require, and so Julie neglected to display the sixth box atop the fridge.) Joe requested "fru-tee" (initially without milk) in the big bowl, and "chocolate" (formerly, "brown"), with milk, and in the little bowl. (Yes, it's rather a bit of a production. Julie did chance--with suffering no ill-consequences--pre-pouring Our Hero's juice.) Clara had plain with bananas, and Julie, fru-tee, with milk from the start.

It was really all quite civilized and lovely. Clara began tamping her Cheerios and bananas down with her spoon into the milk after she saw Julie doing the same with her fru-tee. Near breakfast's end, Julie and Joe had this exchange while Clara was busy tamping mostly her milk down (down, milk, down!) and keeping a Cheerio stuck to her left cheek:

Julie (while gazing lovingly at Joe): "Sweet boy. . ."

Joe: "I'll eat you up!"

[beat]

Joe: "I love you so."

Fans of Where the Wild Things Are will recognize that Our Hero is parroting Max, the wild thing from that book. Julie could barely swallow her fru-tee between her sweet, wild thing to her left, and her sweet, and happily milk-sodden Birdie to her right.

(By the way, it is now 9:12pm, and all is quiet on the western front.)

The Ups, and the Downs (or, Life With the Almost-Three-Year-Old)

Fans, as you know, we here at Joe and Clara Jane are committed to bringing you reports of both the charming, and the not so charming; the ups, and the downs. For the not so charming, downer, bummer, really?! file, we can report that Sunday evening (yes, that was Father's Day), and Monday morning (that would everyone's favorite morning of the week), Our Hero was acting like a goon. We think a report of Sunday's shenanigans will be representative. Joe kicked them off by refusing to put on his diaper by saying "No!" with dramatic inflection: "NOOOOO-ahhhhh!" He then proceeded to take anything he could lay hands on and place it between his teeth and shake his head back and forth like a dog. Julie wordlessly took away anything that could have possibly hurt his teeth, which is how it came to be he was shaking his diaper in his teeth so close to her it was brushing her leg (figuring a diaper couldn't hurt his teeth, Julie decided he could shake that diaper for all he was worth as long as he wanted). But really, Fans. Difficult to know whether to laugh, or gently bang one's head against the closest wall.

In the charming, we're-so-lucky, melt-your-heart file though, in addition to Our Hero's bold striped Big Boy Underwear, we can report that last night, after helping Julie vacuum, Joe wanted to help mop, as Julie will sometimes allow him if he comes in while she is trying to do it when the house is empty of feet. The way mopping with Joe works is Julie takes her whole turn (read: mops what she really wants mopped), and then Joe takes his. When Joe takes his, he is permitted to dip the mop in the bucket himself. The, Julie helps wring it out, but Joe participates. Then Joe can mop any old where he wants. Last night, Ted actually did the mopping because Julie was putting Clara down. Joe slipped a tiny bit and stubbed his toe. We feared the good fellowship wrought by the mopping was too evaporate like water on a newly mopped floor, but no! When Julie suggested to Joe they sit on the couch and watch the water dry before Joe took his turn, he made right for the porch couch and curled up. Then he took his turn and did not, in fact, hop off to bath. Rather, he walked in, and emerged brushed and bathed and got into his diaper and pajamas with nary a snag, before books and bed.

Who can say why there are not so charming days? We suppose it is for the little people as it is for the big people--i.e. sometimes don't you wake up and think, "Today is just not going to be charming." The little people are maybe just more honest in their reaction to it.

Or, it could be that he is almost-but-not-quite-three and thus does not yet understand that we live in a society. Indeed, hopefully polite society, in which we do not make like a dog shaking things between our teeth for attention.

Clara Stands and Takes First Step?

It will, perhaps, be not so very long before Clara is walking without support. What you want to notice in this picture here, is that she is standing without holding on to anything!* All last week, Ms. Shelby reported that Clara was standing for about 10 to 15 seconds at a go several times a day. We'd seen her stand here at home, but for so brief a time that we were convinced she didn't realize she was doing it. Last week though, she seemed conscious of, if not of letting go, realizing that she had--once she had! Then, this weekend, while wrestling with Baby Doll's stroller (Who designed this thing so you can't push it from the front without falling into it?!), she stood getting her bearings in this whole stroller encounter and oh, there are some books here, she would like you to know!

Then, today, her report said that Clara took a step! Then sat down because her teachers got excited. We will, of course, report all developments in this developing story, as they develop. We can report that while Julie was making dinner tonight, Clara cruised from the musical table (temporarily moved to the kitchen) to the refrigerator, down all along the cabinets. She was hanging on, but not tightly!

*Also, that she is making the sign for book. (Joe used to make this sign but put his hands together, open. Clara puts them together, closed.)

The Baby Doll Stroller

Elise and Charlotte gave Clara a stroller for her birthday. We finally broke it out over the weekend. We'd been some time in doing so because Clara was walking well with support--but really using the support. The toy baby doll stroller is long on style, but short on the sturdiness demanded by your beginning walker. We were also worried that Clara might try to settle herself into the stroller the way she does pretty much every bouncy seat with which she comes into contact at KinderCare despite the fact that she can hardly tuck up into them anymore. Our Birdie never met a would-be nest she didn't love, and, as you know Dear Readers, she is not to be deterred. So it was that after saying how do you do to Baby Doll by putting Baby Doll's toes in her mouth, Clara gave her a look that said, "Baby Doll, you're in my seat," and promptly made herself at home in the stroller that has about 10 stickers on it saying it is not for use with real children. Julie told her no and Birdie would plop down on the floor, screw up her face, cry, and then try again.

Our Hero had spied the Baby Doll Stroller in the basement where it had been awaiting its big reveal. That big reveal ended up occurring while he was napping. Once he was up, he was all over that Baby Doll and her stroller. Baby Doll, he will have you know, goes sans clothes. Baby Doll accompanied us to Bachman's. She rode there in her stroller in the cargo compartment. We picked up some mulch (or "milch" as Joe says) which filled the cargo compartment on the return journey. Our Hero was undaunted. You see here his solution. Safety first!

Farmers Market

This morning we got an early start and headed for the Farmers Market. Joe pointed out the skyscrapers from the car so we took a quick detour to point out where Ted works. When we got to the market we surveyed all the goods, got a free sample of kettle corn, and bought bacon, flowers, strawberries, and peas! Then Ted got a bratwurst, a lemonade to share, and Joe scored a free lollipop from the bratwurst guy - breakfast of champions! It was a fun morning outing, now we have planted and hung flowers at home, read books, and had lunch and everyone is ready for a nap!

When the cat's away

Early this morning Julie left for the airport on a work trip. She will return Saturday night, so its 36 hours with Ted in charge! Because Julie left at 5:30am, the house activity began early. So when the kids got up Ted was ready to make pancakes, which confused Joe a bit as it was both a "school day" and a "pancake day." Breakfast went fine and we were out the door early - so early that Clara was the first infant at school and we had to find a teacher to give her too! It's a mystery as to their actual activities during the day, though Clara's report said she stood without support many times for up to 10 seconds at a time! At pickup, Ted finally found Joe in the Kindergarten room in the bathroom, shorts around his ankles, and about to get on the potty (wow, what a difference a week makes!). Ted decided to go for Father of the year (from a kids perspective) and took the kids to McDonald's for dinner. This was not planned in advance so Clara had no sippy cup or bib. Both kids got hamburger happy meals - Clara eating a fry looked like a dog with a stick in her mouth, and you can see how she handled the burger! Joe gobbled up fries and dipped them in ketchup (and once in his milk) - he also sneaked a sip of Ted's soda when he wasn't looking and exclaimed "I like that!" to which Ted and Joe had a good laugh about. At the end of the meal, Joe said he had to go potty, so Ted escorted him into the bathroom (holding Clara), and somehow managed to lift him onto said potty while also holding Clara (one of those feats of superhuman strength and balance only parents can summon). After about one second he said he was done and eased his way off. We all washed grubby ketchup soaked fingers, gathered up our tray and made our exit (not before requiring the assistance from a woman to throw out our garbage and get out the doors). And as a kicker, as we got to our car a huge McDonald's semi pulled through the parking lot a few feet from us which had both kids with mouths agape.

When we got home, Clara went straight to bath, but as he did last night, Joe asked to take a bath with Clara. So both kids got teeth brushed and plopped into the bathtub. Clara thinks it's hilarious when Joe has the soap on his head, which means she starts pawing at him, which annoys Joe, which requires mediation from Ted. Otherwise we got through the bath, got Clara a couple stories and off to bed, and then Joe a story and off to bed as well.

We all miss Julie. Joe said he wants to show Mommy his toy from McDonald's (a Pokemon doll he thinks is a bunny rabbit), and Clara keeps searching for someone with hair to twirl through her fingers.

We will see what tomorrow brings!

Big Girl Breakfast

Here's Clara eating her third Big Girl Breakfast (Cheerios with bananas). What do you think? She's ready for her first state dinner, right?

Bedtime Stories*

Now that Clara is weaned, the Birds read stories on the porch, or the club chair in the living room. (For readers familiar with the lay of the land at Raleigh House, Julie moved the bulk of the upstairs children's books to the porch, and the lowermost shelf of the bookcase just to the right of the club chair.) Sometimes, Joe joins the Birds for Clara's bedtime stories. First up tonight was Down By the Cool of the Pool. The theme in Clara's room this month is water, and earlier this week, they apparently read a book about a frog in which Clara pointed to the frog on every page. So we have a frog theme going at home. Clara also likes books with a beat, so Julie thought she might like be-bopping along to this one, and indeed, she did!

*The swarthy look of Joe's face in the picture is due to the catsup and mustard on his face from dinner (chicken nuggets).

Birdie Takes the Stairs

Birdie can climb the entire flight of stairs between the first and second floor of Raleigh House. She took off the other morning ago, with Ted hot on her heels, and she didn't stop until she reached the summit. Brigade, Birdie books it up the stairs. She is unstoppable. Really. Removal and attempts at distraction if one is unable to supervise her summit attempts are unsuccessful. She will plant her flag.

Here she is this morning (sporting a nautical-esque) outfit, climbing and pleased as all get out with her triumph. And my but isn't she yar?

A Visit To Eloise's Garden

Sunday's sunny, mild, and altogether beautiful afternoon found us at the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. Longtime readers may recall that we have tromped around here before, and may recall that Joe, charmingly, used to refer to the fallen trees as alligators. Sadly, there were a few more alligators about at the EBWG as it is in the larger Theodore Wirth Park, which is where the tornados that struck the Twin Cities last month touched down. One of the pathways was closed due to felled trees and standing water.

There are caterpillars all about our yard and gardens so we told Joe we would look for some at the EBWG. We didn't see any, but we did see lots of bees, and butterflies, including a swallowtail* of which we managed to get a good snap!

Joe was most intrepid, especially when Ted outfitted him with the Off! bug-be-gone contraption that Ted usually wears on his waistband while on such adventures or mowing (lawning, as Joe would say these days). Before being trusted with so weighty a responsibility as the wearing of the bug-be-gone contraption, he announced he would need Mommy's sunglasses as the sun was in his eyes.

Shortly after donning the glasses, we headed up a hill. Ted said "Up Spook Hill!", a reference to The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree in which several bears hear "Whooooo," and get out of bed to investigate. Their investigation leads them up Spook Hill, at whose top they find an owl, who calls, "WHOOOOO!!!!!" just as the reader turns the page! Shrieks of delight ensue--while reading the book, and when one's almost-three-year-old son turns and screams "WHOOOOO!!!!!" at you in his aviator shades.*

*We know this because Ted was present. Had it been just Julie, the above sentence would have ended at butterflies.

**He's pretty much as cool as Tom Cruise in Top Gun in them. One day, he'll sport them, and know what a swallowtail is and then, ladies, look out!

Onward

It was a big weekend in still other ways. Clara has been weaned. She has been weaned from bottles for some time, but Julie had still been nursing her in the morning and the evening. A trip for work to Washington, DC in the offing provided a ready break, and a ready break of some other making was probably needed. As Ted commented to Julie, she'd nurse until they were 18 without one. He exaggerates, but it is true that Joe and Clara took this change at their respective times much more in stride than Julie did. What Julie said in response to Ted, through sobs, was, "But she can't even hold a spoon yet!" So you see, Dear Readers, the variety of perspectives--or, perhaps, that one person has it, and one does not.

Nursing Clara was different from nursing Joe. It's not that Julie thought it would be the same, she just didn't think it would be so different. Still, she loved it just as much, for different reasons. She read so many books nursing Joe on the porch, and then in the corner of the sofa when the weather turned. She couldn't read as much nursing Baby Bird. For one thing, she had to nurse Baby Bird lying down if she could, and for another, Baby Bird flapped around too much. But this means Julie has so many memories of being tucked up with Clara in the blankets while the rain came down on the roof, the sun was rising, or evening was falling. The Birds napped a lot together. Julie never would have done this with Joe. For one thing, he probably would have spit up. For another, she wouldn't have thought she was wrecking his sleep habits forever to let him fall asleep on top of her chest. She knew better by Birdie's time. Lately, the Birds had been playing peek-a-boo in the mornings with the blankets. It's that little pocket of time in the morning, just Birds, that Julie is going to miss.

So a week or two ago, Julie and Clara dropped the nighttime feeding. Julie did what she always does when she's gloomy: she headed straight for the bookstore and picked up a whole raft of new board books to read to Birdie before bed. When the Birds read before Baby Bird goes down for the night, Julie holds Clara in her lap, facing out. Clara puts her first two fingers on her left hand in her mouth, and tosses her right hand up to find some of Julie's hair to twirl.

And then this morning, Clara sat down to breakfast at the table for the first time. Joe pulled a fast one--wanted cereal instead of waffles! Julie told Clara weekend breakfast was usually better than cold cereal, but Birdie's feathers seemed unruffled.

One of the books Julie bought in her effort to lighten her heavy heart a few weeks ago is called You Are My I Love You. How she missed this book until now, she will never know. It begins, "I am your parent; you are my child. I am your quiet place; you are my wild." It continues on in this vein for some pages. Julie finds this is just the sort of book that she and probably all bookworm-type parents love--and leave their children sighing and squirming. Birdie, especially, has no patience for the things she has no patience for and so Julie had sort of low expectations for this book. But Birdie settled right in for it the first time Julie read it, and she has every time since.

Somewhere toward the middle of the book are these lines, "I am your way home; you are my new path." Julie thinks it's the best description of parenting she's seen, and she keeps thinking about as she rounds this bend in the path.

It's Show Week, Sweetie

In other news (it's true, other things have happened while Joe has been peeing and pooping on the potty), it was Show Week at Little Gym. Thus, Saturday was synonymous in Joe's mind with Medal Day. Sara came over to keep watching over the sleeping Bird, and Julie went with the boys to Little Gym where she got to see all of the barely controlled chaos and its various players on which Ted usually reports over lunch live and in person. For sure Julie's favorite part of the whole class was the very beginning when she heard the "How Do You Do Super Beasts? How Do You Do?" song, just after Teacher Kayla asked each child to say his or her name and whom he or she had brought to class. Joe said his name loud and clear, and told the group he'd brought Mommy and Daddy. Teacher Kayla had been asking all of the kids if they could tell everyone their Mommy's or Daddy's (or Grandma's, or what have you's) name. When Teacher Kayla asked what Joe's Mommy's name was, Joe replied, "Sweetie." (Daddy was Ted.) For sure the highlight for Joe was the acquisition of another medal. So Joe collected his medal, five stamps (all paws and his belly), and then he and Sweetie and Ted headed for home.

JOE POOPED ON A POTTY!

Actually, Fans, he has now pooped on TWO potties. (Do you need to change your underwear?!)

When we arrived to pick the bambini up on Friday, we were told that Joe had had a few accidents.* After a round of "Well, we didn't expect perfection on the first day," we were told he'd pooped on the potty in the morning. !!!!! Talk about burying the lead! On the way home, we stopped again for celebratory cupcakes, this time at Target, where Mr. Super Pooper Trooper asked if we could eat at the cafe.**

When we got home, Joe peed on OUR potty! As previously, he'd only "performed" at school, we had been wondering how the weekend at home was going to go down. Whoops of joy probably could have been heard at Graham's new house, let alone his old one two blocks away.

But Fans, there is still MORE! Joe peed on the potty at Little Gym! And then at home! And then, tonight, he peed AND POOPED ON OUR POTTY!

We are not all systems go in that often, a success is preceded by several false alarms if you will, and he had an accident during nap. We expected this given how hard Our Hero sleeps, and how long he sleeps at home on weekends in comparison to the regular length of a nap at school.

Oh but Fans, what a thing. In his Big Boy Underwear, and on the potty, he looks so big, and so small, both, at the same time.

*A few accidents resulted in his sporting snow boots, of two different sizes, and both right foot shoes. This is how we learned that spare underwear and shorts are not enough. And so we will be purchasing a second pair of shoes for Joe to wear in the event of accidents. (At least he was put in the spare long pants that were in his cubby with the snow boots, instead of shorts. So he didn't look completely ridiculous.)

**He is rather taken with the cafe, especially after having had lemonade with Ted in it last weekend. Julie understands. She has many, many fond memories of dining at the Target cafe with her grandparents when she was younger.

It is also worth mentioning that when Julie referred to Joe as a Super Pooper Trooper, he told her that he was only a Pooper. Indeed. (But super, too.)

JOE PEED ON A POTTY!

Fans. It happened. Our Hero wore Big Boy Underwear to school and peed in the potty like a big boy. It happened at school, after nap. Mr. Adam reported that Joe had an accident this morning, and then didn't pee before nap, woke up dry, and then let it fly! (He must have really had to go.) Apparently, it was all the talk in the halls. It was pretty thrilling to arrive for pick up and have him fly toward us as he yelled, "I peed on the potty!" We'd seen Ms. Marjorie in the hall on the way in and she had said she'd heard he'd peed on the potty, but we didn't quite believe it until we saw our very proud son. We got cupcakes at Yum! to celebrate.

Now, Joe did not pee on the potty at home (despite his announcement at pick-up that he would and several self-initiated trips to the potty), and he has not pooped all day, and we are not sure what all of that might mean (if anything), but we are keeping the faith in Our Hero.

Big Boy Underwear

Well, Fans, clearly, our timeline for the advent of Big Boy Underwear has shifted. We have been feeling pretty confident in Our Hero's readiness, and yesterday, Ted overheard the dad of Joe's good buddy, Jonathan, telling Mr. Adam they wanted to send Jonathan to school in underwear, which set us to thinking.

Today, at pick-up, Julie told Mr. Adam that we were beginning Big Boy Underwear this weekend. Mr. Adam said he was a huge fan of the cold turkey approach. He added that Marco hadn't had an accident all week, and that Jonathan had come in Big Boy Underwear (the capital letters were implied) today. Julie raised her eyebrows and said, "Oh! Should we send him in Big Boy Underwear tomorrow do you think?" Mr. Adam said he was game.

So tonight, we told Joe that he was going to wear Big Boy Underwear. We discussed all the people we know who wear Big Boy Underwear: Daddy, Mommy, Marco, Graham, Jonathan, Teddy (a Joe addition), Aunt Kate, Uncle Scott, Cousin Nick, Grandpa Charles, Grandma Connie, Grandpa Tom, and Lynn. (It's not an exhaustive list so Fans, don't be sad if you didn't make it. We anticipate discussing this for a few more days and your time may come.) We reviewed that wearing Big Boy Underwear means that Joe will pee and poop in the potty, and that hey! All of the aforementioned do, too! Aunt Kate was singled out by Joe for clarification on this point. We affirmed that Aunt Kate did her business in the potty and suggested that we call Aunt Kate to tell her about Big Boy Underwear, which we did and Joe excitedly shared the news.

And then, we revealed the Big Boy Underwear. It was love at first sight. He shimmied into a pair and then shimmied all around the living room.

The first pair of Big Boy Underwear has already been christened! The Big Moment was clouded by the fact that he was already about to launch into another Big Moment over not having time to do the fire truck puzzle before bath.

We told him that one can't pee in Big Boy Underwear; one must pee on the potty and took him off for the demonstrative, after the fact college try before taking his bath, which sort of took the wind out of the Big Moment.

We will, of course, update you on this developing story, as it develops.

Indian Food

Last night we had Indian Food, specifically Paneer Tikka Masala. We have been looking for new dinners to try with the kids and Indian seems to appeal to both of them. You can see Clara really got into it!

Butterfly

It's a look only the Bird can pull off.

Bird Bonnet

We believe we have mentioned Julie's excessive affection for the sight of Our Birdie in her sun bonnet. Really, can you blame her?

Clara thought she was pretty hot stuff, making it up (with a small assist) to sit in the big girl plastic Adirondack chair. Hence the delighted smile seen here.

The Boys of Summer

Sunday afternoon, Graham came back to his old hood to visit Joe and the fire hydrants, or "hire fydrants," as Joe says about 75% of the time. We are in the midst of a mini-heat wave and though it was pretty much lovely Sunday afternoon, the mercury was scooting on up the thermometer. So we cut our survey of the hire fydrants short to head back to Raleigh House for water, and applesauce as it turns out.

Later that night, shortly after putting Joe down for the night, Julie saw that she had a message on her phone. Graham had asked his people (Sara) to call Joe's people (Julie) so that he could leave this message: "I love you." Julie did what any self-respecting assistant would do: dried her could-life-and old-friends-and-little-boys-get-any-sweeter? tears and marched herself into Joe's room so he could listen, too. He seemed to think that was pretty cool: he smiled, buried his face in Neeky, and flopped back down.

Lake Calhoun Walk

We had spectacular weather this weekend here in the Twin Cities and we made the most of it. Saturday, late afternoon, found us at Lake Calhoun around which we decided to walk all the way. Fans, it's three miles, and Our Hero walked at least two miles of this trek. Sometimes, he ran! We did not anticipate the extent of Our Hero's stamina and fortitude (Joe refused to get into the stroller until we were almost there, despite the fact that by that time, he was clearly wilting), and so it took an awfully long time to reach the promised playground and beach where the younger set rules. Apparently, riding in the stroller was not so bad, as post-playground and beach, Joe clambered back in for the final leg of the journey.

By that time, he'd made a new friend at one of the playground's sandbox. New Friend remains nameless, but asked Joe his name, and offered a shovel as a token of his goodwill. Joe told New Friend his name was Joe and took that shovel right off his hands. But, he gave it back and said thank you when it was time to go. So civilized! Also by the time we headed for home, Joe had waded in Lake Calhoun, deciding pretty much straight off that he needed to strip down for this activity.

Birdie, for her part, rode about the lake in her sporty red roadster and white sun bonnet. (She felt it prudent since the top was down and it was such a sunny day.) Foot on the dash often. Upon spying her birdie and moose dangling from the stroller, she pointed and cried out and that is how she came to have two things dangling from the rearview as it were. She did get out to ride on the swings for a bit, dip her toes in the lake, and slap the water with her hand. She loved it. (Sort of like a great big Berenice's water bowl, for which Clara loves to make a beeline.)

So it was that we did not make it back to the car until nearly 6pm. Birdie is pretty much done by 6:30pm, and really, really done by 6:45pm. We decided to risk a dinner for the bambini and a snack for us at the Chipotle, where we just beat the dinner rush (a rush exacerbated by the fact that the C team was working the line) and thus made it home, just in time to collapse.

Snuggle In

When Julie was pumping, she was getting up at 5:15am in order to pump and then get herself mostly ready for the day so that we could be assured of making our goal leave-the-house time of 7:15am. Then, after Clara was weaned form bottles and pumping didn't demand she get up then, she tried to sustain it because she rather hates rushing about in the morning. But a 5:15am wake up time proved hard to sustain. By Thursday, she was zonkered. So it fell off and she was getting up at 6am. But lately, mornings have begun to seemed to be making for frazzled nerves again and so this week, she's been getting up at 5:15am again. To entice herself, she allows herself to tuck in under Jane's blanket with her book while her curlers heat up, and then while they are setting, which is when she eats a cup of yogurt, too. This is all very nice.

It also inspired her to break the blanket out when she reads with Joe before he goes to bed. It's pretty muggy out tonight, and was getting there last night when these were taken, but inside the air conditioning, books, and Joe are at least three reasons to snuggle in under Grandma Jane's blanket. It also gave Joe cause to say Grandma Jane, and it did make Julie's breath catch a bit because she can't recall that's she's ever heard him say it.