Tucson Trip

FANS! We missed you! We have so much on which to report. First, as some of our readers may know, we have been silent here because we were in Tucson visiting Grandpa Tom and Lynn. You can see pictures with color commentary provided by Clara, here.

Our trip was bookended by two flights, of course. Our flight to Tucson departed at the start of Clara's nap time, so she nodded off to sleep shortly after take off, awoke to pound some fruit snacks, look at the People celebrating Whitney Houston's life and legacy, and affix some stickers to some paper. After we'd landed, she stood up in her seat, turned around, and crowed, "AIR-PANE!" Oh, she made some new Fans. She was at her most darling.

Not so the flight home. That flight took off at 2:30pm (3:30pm Minneapolis time), which put us in the car, and then at the airport, needing to roll through security, at her nap time (in either Minneapolis or Tucson). Birdie caught about a half hour of sleep in the car, and of course, then, that was called a nap. Thus, she was a bearcat on the flight back. No new Fans were made. Poor Birdie. She was very tired indeed.

What of Our Hero? On both flights, he watched a few things on Ted's iPad, had some snacks, did a little coloring, did a little Aquadoodling, did a little napping. He was perhaps not as overtly charming as Ms. AIR-PANE!, but he made a fine, fine travel companion.

Plates Were Painted, Fun Was Had

Now, Fans, you might think that taking your three-and-a-half-year-old young man to a paint your own pottery place would be a recipe for disaster, but not with our gentle giant. Also--and after three and a half years, Julie has come to feel this is the secret--if you don't so much care what the piece you give your kid free reign over looks like, a lot of stress is alleviated and a lot more fun is had. Julie has Joe hooked on plates. They're big and flat, essentially a big piece of paper. She does one with his hand print in the middle (and he likes having the glaze painted on his hand to do the print), and Joe does one with whatever. Longtime readers may recall that the first piece over which he had creative control was covered in so many colors that it was pretty much brown. Today, he did a dinosaur (brown--T-Rexes are brown), with a (blue) rim, a (green) tree, and a (yellow) sun. The circle for his sun was the interior circumference of the plate, not some rinky dink sun the size of a quarter befitting the scale of the plate--oh no.

Mother's Day is coming up, so we also made a vase for Grandma Connie. She's a tough one to shop for, but she's a sucker for a homemade gewgaw and ceramics in particular. Aunt Kate had the completely brilliant idea of covering the vase in dots made with our fingerprints! Joe picked all the colors (blue, green, and orange) and we dotted away! Julie will take Clara in a few weeks to make a companion vase, and a plate for us to keep. We'll be half way to service for 12!

Joe made two other items. First, a square dish with his Aunt Kate that was blue and yellow (so it will go nicely in Aunt Kate's kitchen, its intended home); a yellow sun with a smiley face being the focal point. Second and last, a cupcake plate. Julie rather abhors these superlative exemplars of the gewgaw, but she refers you all, Dear Readers, to the spirit of her "rule" that makes this outing fun: care not too much what your wee one wants to paint--or paint upon. (Joe actually wanted to paint the cupcake-shaped cookie jar he spied way up on the tippy top shelf. This treasure was $120. Seriously. Here's another "rule": there's an exception to every rule.)

Aunt Kate Is Here!

Aunt Kate is here! (That's how we were able to get this nice picture of the four Raleigh House Ekkers!) As our loyal readers know, it's like living with fairies when Aunt Kate is here. She arrived yesterday, late morning, but there was still time to make it feel like she'd been here since the 6am kickoff. She went to lunch and the library with the boys after they picked her up. Then, she walked to the park with Julie and Joe, who rode his bike, all the way there and back (though Our Hero was pretty tired on the way back). She also had a tea party with Joe and Clara.

This morning, Clara woke up feverish--101.5! She threw up a little bit, and just wanted to flop on top of Julie, where Birdie promptly fell back asleep. Julie eventually tried to transfer Birdie back to her crib, but Birdie said no to that, and yes to pancakes, and by breakfast's end, she'd rallied enough that we thought we'd venture out to get Joe his very own knife (which which to cut his waffles and pancakes), and to the park. You can see our adventures at the park here.

Now Birdie is asleep (she was pretty tuckered out); Ted and Kate are napping; Joe is cutting up some paper with scissors; and Julie is about to go tell Kate and Joe it's time to go on their next surprise (to Joe) adventure--to a paint your own pottery place.

Valentine's Day 2012

Fans, before we get too far away from Valentine's Day 2012, we should tell you that it was much anticipated, and much enjoyed, here at Raleigh House. Joe was awake when we went into the bambini's room and the first thing he said was, "Happy Valentine's Day!" Both bambini had a party in their respective rooms at school, but only Joe, of course, really knew what was being celebrated--though it is true that what he thought was being celebrated might have been candy. Of course--of course!--Valentine's Day was also a Cupcake Day, and so we had "happy birthday cupcakes" after dinner, and sang Happy Birthday to Julie as well.

We give you perhaps more pictures than the day demands, but these are all sort of awful in their way, which oddly makes them sort of wonderful.

Joe with loot

Cupcakes!

CHEEEEESE!!!!!

A lady always eats her frosting delicately with one finger, and sports a pony--straight up.

Biride on the Steps | Video

Here is Birdie, on the steps, attempting the long descent with some stop-and-go, with encouragement from Joe. Snack time was in the offing so what to have was also a topic of discussion--but not really. Joe likes fruit snacks for his snack, and only fruit snacks. Unless he could have a cupcake or a cookie.

Cooked Up Stuff

During the week, breakfast is cereal or yogurt, but on the weekends, it's usually pancakes or waffles with the occasional eggs or French toast diversion. Here's how Joe put the options to Clara Sunday morning: "You can have yogurt, cereal, or cooked up stuff." Someone elected cooked up stuff, and as we'd had pancakes on Saturday, we had waffles on Sunday. Clara is usually pretty hungry in the mornings and looks for any cue that breakfast is actually being put on the table where she can eat it. Sunday morning, when she heard the tweet of the waffle iron , she dashed into the kitchen chirping, "Eat? Eat?" And still she had to wait! The waffle iron was only telling us it was ready for the first ladle of batter. Poor Pavlov's Birdie!

Guns

Fans, it was bound to happen, and here is how it happened for us. The other night, when we were eating dinner, which included bread, Joe announced to us that his crust, was a gun. We've talked about gun play before, but seemingly ages ago, when Joe moved, at three years old, to the preschool rooms, and only with each other. Neither of us said a word. We just shot a quick glance at the other across the table, and later, Julie dug out the really good article Sara had gotten from a friend and passed along about boys and gun play. We were relieved to be reminded that not making a big deal out of Joe's pronouncement at dinner was probably the right way to go, unless our goal is to make guns the only thing with which he wants to play. An outright ban on guns and gun play, we have learned, is impossible to achieve because, of course, one can make a gun with one's hand. Today, a yardstick was labelled a gun, and Joe informed us he was a "bad guy," which gave us a chance to ask him if all people with guns are bad (no, as police officers are not bad guys) and to establish some of the gun play parameters: guns cannot be pointed at people or animals. Other rules will include that guns have to be put away if anyone gets hurt or feels unsafe, and no guns at the dinner table.

At this point, we can tell that Our Hero is parroting words he is hearing at school (we are told there is a sizable superhero hero-obsessed contingent in hie room), without making all the appropriate connections, because, for example, he at first often referred to Superman and Batman as bad guys. Still, despite knowing this, and understanding that some gun play can be a healthy way of exploring imagination and feeling powerful and in control (or so we read), one's heart breaks a bit to hear one's not-yet-even-four-years-old boy announce that his crust of bread is a gun.

Holy bonkers, Batman. Holy bonkers.

Valentine's Day Cookie Decorating

The other weekend, Julie and the bambini were at the Johnson's house, and Sara had made sugar cookies in holiday shapes for all the kids to decorate, which they did, with gusto. Well, Joe did. Clara ate the first one she was handed, and never looked back. It was a lot of fun, and in the car, on the way over there last weekend, Joe announced that he would be decorating cookies upon arrival. Julie was pretty sure that this would be news to Sara, and in redirecting the culinary impulse, she thought it would be fun to do for Valentine's Day. Sadly, the Johnson boys couldn't make it for cookie decorating redux, so Joe and Birdie decorated for four. Upon seeing the trays (that were intended to keep down the sprinkle mess), Joe said, "Whoa! That's! So! Cool!" (We should also note that he got the point of the tray, stating to all that it was to keep our house from getting messy, and telling Clara to keep her things on the tray.) You can see how things went down, and also, probably, why only Joe was allowed the tube of red frosting.

You Look Good!

As we have mentioned in passing here, we will soon be traveling to Arizona. We have been gathering supplies for things that they have there that we do not here in Minnesota--like temperatures in excess of 50 degrees. Joe and Clara will both be sporting new shades on this trip. Clara was introduced to hers this morning when a ready distraction was needed from some other found distraction that was left carelessly about. Clara was told, "You look good!" Clara parroted, "You look good!"

Also Always Cool

This one, who has her pants on backwards. Not everyone can pull this look off. The list of those who can, really, numbers just three: Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Mac Daddy" Smith of Kris Kross fame, and Birdie. It's so dope, right?! It's totally krossed out! Not only does Birdie wear her pants backwards when she feels like it, she also now can motor down the stairs backwards. She did it for the first time last weekend at the Johnson boys' pad. There, she was a little intimidated once she got to the slight curve in the staircase leading down to the basement, and was staring down a number of steps. But, she did it, to clapping and cheering. Here, she is also intimidated by the longer of the two flights of Raleigh House's main staircase, and actually hasn't fully tamed them--yet.

Always Cool

Quiet time, at some point, usually finds the boys on the big bed upstairs with their respective electronic books. Ted reads for a bit on his Nook, while Joe tinkers round with one of the few ebooks Ted has downloaded for Joe onto the iPad.

Here we pause to note that Julie is probably more conflicted than she need be about these electronic books, but that she is, nevertheless, conflicted, albeit less than when they first arrived on the scene. She has a difficult time discerning with what level of technology she is comfortable for our young man in the making, and so she tends to just go for Luddite levels, and then frets about her children being the only two freaks who don't know how to use a mouse in kindergarten or being made fun of because they don't know who Mater is. It's unfair of her, she knows, to assume all technology is bad. After all, she has fond, fond memories of playing the Number Munchers game (in which one makes a monster munch, say, multiples of a number) in four grade, and spent hours and hours watching the sitcoms of the eighties to say nothing of the Dukes of Hazzard, Love Boat, The Price Is Right, and All My Kids (as her grandfather called it) when she was even younger, and she is, still, a certified book worm. So, the conflict is unfair, but it is there, nevertheless.

Anyway. These electronic books are not the same as paper books as Joe more watches them or interacts with them, rather than reads them (or supposedly learns to read them), and the nature of his experience with these books seems much the same whether a parent is heavily involved, or he is manning all the bells and whistles himself. During quiet time, he manipulates the books himself. Recently, Ted got Joe some headphones, as we plan to bring the iPad with us to Arizona as part of the parade of in-flight entertainment for Joe, and they will allow him to enjoy the adventures of Thomas et. al. without subjecting his fellow travelers to them. Joe has been trying them out during quiet time.

So here he is, in all his preteen boy glory. His shirt, Fans, reads, "Always cool." Indeed.

[Editor's note: This was the tamest shot from the photo shoot.]

Dear Santa

Valentine's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, the Fourth, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving--not to mention Birdie's birthday, and not to mention Our Hero's birthday!--are but preludes to what clearly reigns as Joe's favorite holiday: Christmas. It is a good one. Yesterday, during quiet time (the time formerly known as nap time), Joe wanted to write a letter to Santa. And why not? It's 11 months away, and it's best to be prepared. Joe dictated his heart's deepest desires to Ted who wrote them down:

Dog

Snowplow

Legos

Guitar

Reindeer

It may interest you to know, Fans, that three of the items of this list have already been mentioned in the past few weeks: snowplow, guitar, and reindeer.

Joe asked Ted if he wanted to make a list, too. Ted's list follows. (See if you can spot his heart's true deepest desire.)

Flying airplanes

Delicate bowl

Reindeer

Boots

New paper

Guitar

Snowman

Nap

Bicycle

Clearly, we need to get busy building a stable for the reindeer.

The Cupcake Kitchen

We have been meaning to report that the cupcake kitchen, which Clara was given for Christmas by her Grandparents Trump, has become a favorite thing with which to play. Clara likes to remove the pan of cupcakes from the oven, and place each one into a tea cup. One can often find her squatting in front of the cupcake kitchen busying herself in this way. She also likes to offer cupcakes to others. Joe likes to don a oven mitt, and busy himself with various pans. The other day, he offered Julie some tea in a stock pot, and then all manner of containers save a cup, a gag he made up all by himself and thought was hilarious.

Birdie's Favorite Books Right Now

Reading books with Birdie is lots of fun these days, too. She is a huge fan of the If You Give a. . .series, and in particular, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and If You Give a Dog a Donut. She calls If You Give a Mouse a Cookie "Coo Coo," which is her way of saying cookie. She has favorite pages in all of them, and motions that she does when she hears words she knows well: washing, bubbles, duck, dancing (appears in Pig a Pancake and Dog a Donut), stamp (postage stamp, but Birdie hears stamp like stamp your feet), drink, apple, and ball (a bit part in Moose a Muffin, part of story in Dog a Donut). Birdie's other favorite books are the Berenstain Bears Old Hat New Hat, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, and Little Blue Truck. Birdie will attempt to say all of these titles in her way, but she also signals what she wants with motions. A hand to the head means Old Hat New Hat. Furiously flapping arms means Pigeon because that's what Julie does when she reaches the page when Pigeon loves it over not being allowed to drive the bus ("LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!"). Clara's shorthand for Little Blue Truck is to say "Beep, beep!" Sometimes she wants to read Chicka Chicka ABC, which she calls "Boom Boom." She also still likes Go, Dog, Go! (which Joe liked at this very same age; it was all we read just before Clara was born). Most of these are bigger girl titles, so Julie recently swapped more of them in for the board books that had been on Birdie's go-to shelves, and Birdie looks so dear as she considers them each night.

Joe Reads Worm Watches!

Joe received some new books from Aunt Kate as well. Two four-packs of pre-readers: Wow, It's Worm and Piggy and Dad Play. They are fabulous because the only bit about teaching someone to read is the drivel one has to endure in the books that comprise the bulk of the schlock-filled pre-reader catalog. WIW and PDP are fabulous because they are stories that are simple and short, and told with few words, many of which repeat, but they are still stories that don't feel as contrived as much of what we've seen in the rest of the pre-readers we've read. Plus, they come in little boxes and Fans, Joe loves him a little boxed set which he can dump the volumes out of and then gather back up in a big-small pile. Joe took a shine to these books right away, and now, we read one or two of them every night.

On Wednesday night, Ted joined Julie and Joe on the couch for books because Julie was feeling sort of flattened by a cold (Ted had it, too, but was less flattened). That's how it came to be that we were both there when Joe FULL OUT READ THE WORD WORM!!!!! TWICE!!!!! And maybe "watches," as in "Worm watches." He was reading Worm Watches, a story "about what Worm does when he watches different kinds of movies," so says the helpful introduction that one reads before to get the lay of the land. Joe was leaning against Julie, who had her arm around him, and the first time he did it, there were cheers all around and Julie gave him a big one-armed squeeze. The second time he did it, more cheers of course, and Joe turned to Julie and said "Hug-y!" He was so excited, and so proud!

Fans, it was glorious. Hug-y!

Telling Time

Earlier that same evening, Joe was flitting around with his camera. He kept saying that it wasn't time for books yet; that it would be time for books when "the wrench was pointing to the brush." On his camera, the new clock.

One-Pal-o Canoe

The other week, Julie got some new books for Joe, one of which is called One-Dog Canoe. ODC concerns a young girl setting off on a canoe ride with her dog who encounters all kinds of animals who leap into the one-dog canoe, despite her protests that she and her pal and their canoe cannot possibly fit one more passenger. Eventually, the canoe capsizes with a great splash, and the girl and the animals lll have fun swimming until she and her dog set off again in their one-dog canoe. Joe loves ODC. The first night it was read, he quickly pretended that Julie was a canoe, which of course meant Julie had to wobble and shake about, which Joe also loved. (When taking these pictures, Ted commented that the Mama Canoe didn't look very yar. Can you believe that, Fans?!) Now, Joe will sometimes take the Mama Canoe to bed (for a very long time, the Daddy Bus was the only way to travel, and even if it was only taken to the train station, it was always called and boarded). It is a one-Pal-o canoe. When Joe takes the Mama Canoe, he takes his paddle, of course, and sometimes his fishing pole. The night of the Mama Canoe's inaugural voyage, after Julie had Joe tucked in, she, as usual, told him she loved him, and Joe said "I love you my little canoe-y!"

All By Her Birdie Self | Additional Notes

Two of the activities Birdie insists on doing all by her Birdie self demand additional notes: getting in and out of the car and her car seat, and putting on her socks and shoes.

This morning, our crack photography stringer was able to shoot this video of Clara making the ascent into the car and her car seat. Birdie Nation, please note that it takes her a little over three minutes. This is why you might think that this whole all-by-myself bit is uber frustrating because it can really slow things up. But Birdie would quickly teach you the lesson that it is better to figure out how to set her up to achieve what success she can all by herself, because if she even remotely senses that it's possible, if conditions were only just so, she will let you have it which slows up the show even more and is thus, more frustrating, to say nothing of the fact that Birdie is then wailing.

Sometimes, when the going gets rough, Julie thinks of the advice of one of her dear friends, who says that when she's faced with some parenting-related question, and she's not sure what to do, she thinks back to the values she's trying to instill in them, and sets her course by them. Before Joe was born, Julie and Ted talked about the values they most hoped to teach him. By the time Clara was born, those values hadn't changed: kindness and confidence.

So besides the fact that it is plain as day that Birdie has a mind of her own, it helps to remember that a mind of one's own is, in fact, one of the things we're after here! Which means that frustrating though it may be in some moments, to slow down, and figure out how to make things such that Birdie can do it all by her Birdie self, it's worth it in the end.

But we said there was another note, and there is. Joe and Clara have a stuffed animal friend known as Kitty. In truth, there are many kitties, but at the same time, there is only one Kitty. Kitty is purple, and is one of those doll's whose clothes have multiple fasteners with which children can practice their getting-dressed skills. Kitty sports a pair of awesome neon green, thick, terry cloth socks, and rad iridescent pink kicks. (In other words, Kitty is as fashion forward as the bambini.)

Kitty

Clara has taken a shine to Kitty's socks, and can manage to put them on her own feet most of the time (Kitty's paws are another story). Clara would desperately like to complete her look as Kitty does, with the iridescent pink sneakers, but alas, they are too small, much to Birdie's chagrin. Where there's a Birdie's will, there's a way, except when it comes to Kitty's shoes.

The Socks, (One of) the Shoes

All By Herself (Blue Painters Tape)

As we recently reported, Birdie is getting rather good at getting her point across. Very often, her point is that she would like to do something all by her Birdie self. Things she has expressed a preference to do all by her Birdie self in just this past week include, in no particular order: getting in and out of the car seat, putting on her socks and shoes, picking out her clothes, getting dressed, getting in and out of the bathtub, getting in and out of her crib, and getting in and out of her high chair. No doubt, Birdie Brigade, you have noticed a theme--i.e. these are all tasks that are rather difficult for your 21-month-old-young-lady to accomplish with absolutely no assistance, because although ours in large in spirit, she is small in stature.

So it is that things have run off the rails quite a bit in recent days. The train goes off the track typically at one of two junctures: the dopes Clara lives with intervene before she has ascertained for herself that she will, after all, need some assistance; or, too much assistance is proffered, albeit at the proper juncture. In either case, Birdie will fall to pieces and want what amounts to a do-over, or will simply fall to pieces and make it no further than ruing these dopes she lives with who cannot understand that she just wants to do it herself!

So it was that the night before last, Birdie went to bed in a diaper secured with a lengthy strip of blue painter's tape (a roll of which is kept handy in the kitchen for labelling frozen foods and show 'n' share items). Birdie wanted to put on her pajamas herself. Intervention happened too quickly, and then there was too much intervening, and by the time all was said and (not) done, Birdie was beside herself and wanted nothing to do with pajamas she wasn't donning herself, in toto, and it was past the time she should have been ensconced in Julie's lap reading books. So the daft dopes that Clara lives with thought, "Whatever. You want to roll to bed in a diaper only, so be it."

Except, she kept undoing one of the tabs. That was when Julie remembered reading somewhere about duct taping down the diaper tabs of a diaper-stripper-offer, and also that Ted spent some of his tender youth in backwards pajamas, the better to foil his efforts to unzipper and shed them. So Julie went to the kitchen and got the roll of painter's tape, and wrapped it around a confused Clara's midsection three times, over the diaper's tab, with the tape's end at Clara's back.*

Not such dopes after all, these people Clara lives with!

*The photography staff regrets that it was unable to document the scene, but Birdie was fit to be tied, and it was past time for books.

Bubber Birdie

So Birdie is getting very good at getting her point across. In the morning, she will let us know if she wants yogurt or cereal. She is better at saying cereal, so if she wants yogurt, and you are a big dum-dum and don't catch that, she'll let you know by bellowing "No!" and pushing the cereal away as it heads toward her.

Tonight, we had minestrone soup and bread with butter for dinner. Before we'd all sat down, we found Clara at the table, where she'd scaled her high chair, helping herself to the butter--with Julie's butter knife.

Once we sat down, Birdie spent the entire meal merrily chirping "bub-ber," by which she, of course, meant butter. She was eager to secure more bubber, on bread, before she'd even finished whatever piece happened to be in her mouth, so as you conjure this scene in your head, you have to picture the bubber chirps periodically rising in pitch and increasing in frequency as they issued from Bubber Birdie. (When made to say please, she would say "peeeeeeeeeeas.")

Birdie, Sentences, Socks, and Sentences About Socks

A few months ago, Clara surprised Julie while they were down in the basement by saying, "I see you!"--twice, and in contexts that made sense! Julie was folding laundry while Clara was popping in and out of the house tent from the larger tent and tunnel system that comes out in the summer, and once Clara looked through the window to say "I see you!" and another time, she popped out one of the doors. "I see you!" is now one of Clara's standard conversational sallies. But, avid listeners among Birdie's Brigade would discover, were you here, Dear Readers, that Birdie not infrequently strings together sentences that are a few words long. Examples from this weekend included, "I go to Target," "Where the sock go?", and "I need socks."

Here, we pause to note that Birdie is very taken with socks. So much so that last night, she requested socks from Ted when he was putting on her--footed, mind you--pajamas, which he put on Birdie, underneath her pajamas, and another pair from Julie, which she put on Birdie, over the pajamas, not realizing there were socks under the pajamas. That would be three layers on a night so warm, Julie didn't need a coat when Ted took her out on their date.

Clara has a baby doll in her crib that wears booties (socks) and a headband, and you know, Fans, when this particular baby doll came into our lives, Julie at least thought, "I should really remove these smaller accessories, or we will be forever putting them back on." Julie had done this with Clara's other baby doll which came shod in booties as well, and sporting a frankly rather unflattering bonnet, and a pacifier, all of which reside in a bowl on top of the bookcases. But for whatever reason, Julie let Baby Doll II have her ridiculous headband and the booties (which really don't compliment her jeans), and lately, every night, when we are putting Joe to bed, Birdie pops up to sleepily ask, "Where the sock go? Where the sock go?", with the "What?" hand motion. We aren't sure when it will get old, but we can report that it is still funny after two weeks.

Zippy

Joe now routinely zips his own coat zippity zip. Saturday morning, he was felling so confident that he wanted to help Clara with her zipper, which he did, with only a small assist, as Clara's coat is reversible and so the "pull tab" on the "slider"* flips about in a way that is a little confusing for your confident, yet still beginning, zipper zipper.

[Clara! Stop wiggling! The pull tab keeps flipping around the the back!]

[Doh! You didn't zip your zipper up to your chin. I do it. Nice new kicks, by the way.**]

*"Definitions you should know to assist you in determining your zipper needs," per the "zippersource" website.

**Keen-eyed readers will note that Our Hero is rockin' some pretty sweet new kicks. They are chocolate brown Pumas, with lime green details and soles. He was told he can run fast like a Puma in them, but outside. Not inside.

Founded!

In other news, Joe has realized that he can leave the bambini's room, on his own. For a very long time, when the topics of toddlers and sleeping would come up, sometimes the question of whether Joe would get out of bed on his own would come up and we would say, "No, he does not seem to know he can get out of his own bed. He might as well believe alligators surround it until we come in." Whomever we were talking to would say, "Really?!" Really. We wondered if it would actually be Clara who introduced Joe to the concept of leaving his bed: "Um, duh, Doe. You can GET OUT OF THE BED--!!!!! And like, LEAVE THE ROOM. Oh my God. Let's go. COME ON!!!!!"

But earlier this week, one morning, Julie came out of the bathroom, and nearly stepped on Joe, who had exited the bambini's room on all fours (as he was pretending to be a puppy dog). Julie, primed not to make a big deal out of this lest it become today's screaming and running about like a wild thing, tomorrow, said, "Well, hello, Puppy! Shall we go and wake up Clara?" And that was that.

Then, this morning, at 7:09am, Julie heard the pitter patter of little feet. Berenice was already padding about upstairs so Julie knew it had to be Joe. Moments later, Berenice went downstairs, and then the light in the stairwell came on. And then, there was Our Hero before us.

He said, "I founded you!"

We were nonchalant, though we had been founded. Joe heaved himself on to the big bed (which was lovely), but it was only a moment before he said something along the lines of, "This is SUPER boring. Get up! Don't you want pancakes?" He had also let us know that Clara was up so you know, we did need to go and rescue her, though she was, by the sound of it, quite content.

It was all so very sweet, Fans. (It was, of course, past seven. It would not have been--will not be?--so very sweet if it happens before 6am.)

How Friday Went

Fans, we know you have been following the unfolding of Screamgate with bated breath, and so we did not want to leave you wondering how Our Hero fared in the wake of Thursday evening's encore rendition of the if-your-friends-jumped-off-the-Brooklyn-Bridge-would-you-do-it? lecture.

Ms. Vanessa reported that although spirits were high in Joe's room Friday, he did a much better job thinking for himself and doing the right thing. Hooray! Much was made of this behavior in the car on the way home. We gushed, we cheered, we hugged.

Joe does, however, have to keep us on our toes and so he did pitch a relatively brief fit over something to do with brushing his teeth. It lasted long enough that he missed the bath time window; news that was met with fresh dismay. But he rallied soon enough. He also dilly dallied getting dressed this morning, but the energy he brought to doing the wrong thing was much diminished relative to what was displayed earlier in the week.

And so while we do not think we can yet retire the old Brooklyn Bridge lecture, or forgo reminders about thinking for one's self and doing the right thing, we are pleased to be to be speaking of such things with less frequency, and we are so very proud of Our Hero.

A New Day?

When Julie arrived to pick up the bambini, Ms. Vanessa told Julie that Joe had had a great afternoon. Right. No doubt you all have also noticed what is missing from that sentence. Apparently, he had a rough morning. Ms. Vanessa said that he is never the one who starts anything, but he--and others--like to jump on the bandwagon. Our Hero has to learn to think for himself.

Yes.

Ms. Vanessa, we could not agree more. Easier said than done.

So Julie was apprehensive about how Joe would behave after dinner on the way to bed. In the car on the way home, she delivered (again) the three-and-a-half version of the the old if-you're-friends-were-jumping-off-the-Brooklyn-Bridge-would-you-do-it? lecture. Joe intimated that he would not jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. Wonderful. Julie was, nevertheless, still apprehensive.

Fans, Our Hero was heroic. He issued perhaps two screams, but sensed right off their frosty reception, and also sensed, perhaps, that his partner is crime was perhaps not as willing to go the distance. And so things settled, and then flowed on as they normally would!

So we shall see. We are cautiously optimistic--also, exhausted. Goodnight noises everywhere.

Snaps To That!

Fans, we need to say a bit more about Joe's snapping triumph.

As some of you may know, Julie became a sorority woman in college. For reasons she's never really paused to consider, but rather accepted in stereotypical "sorority girl" fashion, sorority women, apparently the nation over, are taught to snap to express appreciation or support for a sister or an idea in chapter meetings, instead of clapping. In addition to snapping, one might say aloud "Snaps to that!"

Joe's been trying to get the hang of snapping ever since Ted and Julie first mesmerized him with synchronized snapping (and bopping and singing) to the Glee cast's rendition of the King of Pop's Man in the Mirror. (He still wants to be as cool as that. It can't last, but right now, at least we have something going for us that matches putting noodles on our fingers.) Lately, he's really been giving it his all.

For a while, he was touching his index finger to his thumb, and if one tried to say it was his middle finger that he should bring together with his thumb, and pull---or snap--down, he would summarily dismiss you. (What did we know anyway?) But eventually, he came around.

Tonight, on the way home from Chipotle, we listened to Red Solo Cup, A-B-C, and then skipped to "the snappy song," aka Man in the Mirror, for which Julie broke out her snapping fingers as she belted it out, having warmed up with A-B-C. (Clara was really breakin' it down to A-B-C, and Joe is trying to memorize enough to really sing along. Picture Birdie pulling her hat off, and then whipping her head back and forth from left to right with a big goofy grin on her face.) We pulled into the garage and Julie, having steeled herself as much as possible for what might be next, reluctantly switched off the ignition. And that's when she heard the snap from the backseat.

Fans, it was AUDIBLE! And Joe said, "Mommy! I snapped it!" And Julie laughed and said, "Snaps to that Pal-o! Snaps to that," wishing so much that Ted was already home to hear it, too.

Same [Expletive Deleted], Different Day

Fans. There is an expression here in these United States. This is a family blog, so we cannot write it in full here, but perhaps you know it? Same [expletive deleted], different day--and today, it's our theme.

We kicked the day off with a good, old fashioned tantrum from Joe lasting for the entirety of the ride to school because Julie told Joe she would not help him zip up his coat; that she knew he could do it, and had faith in him. Yesterday, at pick-up, Mr. Mark asked Julie if she'd seen Joe zip up his coat. She said no, that she'd seen him try, but that he would then always ask for help. Mr. Mark said, "Oh! He does it here." Well now does he and don't that put a whole new wheel on the wagon, Fans. Bookend this.

We went to Chipotle for dinner where there was some tomfoolery, but mainly at the end of the meal (which, incidentally, is how Julie knew it was the end of the meal). We arrived at home at bath time, which the bambini kicked off with some screaming. Julie placidly walked away, thinking tonight's theme. When Joe took down the bin of Clara's diapering supplies, Julie wordlessly ferried it back to the top of the refrigerator (hot lease deals with an option to buy on top of the fridge). When Joe and Clara next attacked the basket in which their stuffed animals reside, Julie ferried the basket to the porch, left it there, closing and locking the door behind her, removing the key from the lock. Clara found her not long after in the kitchen. Julie asked if Clara wanted to take a bath, and Clara turned and walked to her room, sat down, and started taking off her socks. Smart Birdie!

Joe hurried to take off his clothes. By the time he had them off, the Birds were in the bathroom drawing the bath. Joe ran in, and screamed (note the verbs, Fans), and Julie placidly shut the door to the bathroom--with Joe on the other side. Fans, it was awful. Awful! Tears were shed on both sides of the door.

Joe figured out how to open the bathroom door just as Julie was lifting Clara out of the water. His tears had stopped but they began again when he realized that the bath water was draining, and really took off when Julie informed him that bath time was over, but he should put on his pajamas when he was ready.

Our Hero stayed in the bathroom the entire time it took to get Clara into her diaper, pajamas, and socks, and all of her various ointments applied. It sounded like he was body slamming the door. He was screaming, "I want my towel down!"

But by the time the Birds were in the living room reading, Joe was, too, on the couch, with his blue wash cloth that says "Joe" on it draped over himself loin cloth-style, and a book. Julie let him page through one book like that and then suggested he might exchange the loin cloth for his pajamas, and thankfully, Our Hero agreed.

After Julie put Birdie down, Julie called Joe to the couch and put it to him flatly. She said she didn't like the way he'd been acting, and she was tired of hearing about him being disrespectful to his teachers at school, and was tired of him being disrespectful to her and Daddy. She said she didn't have fun with him anymore, and she missed having fun with him. Joe took it all in, and said only "O-kay." Julie left it at that, read some books, and put Joe to bed. In between reading Joe the last book and putting him to bed, Joe leaned over on to Julie, like he dose when they're going to talk, but Julie thinks they were both tapped out.

Earlier, Fans, you were asked to bookend this bit about Joe zipping up his own coat. Besides Clara catching on so quickly to how she's supposed to be rolling, and all of what is described here lasting under half an hour (as opposed to upwards of an hour like last night), two things of note happened today: Joe zipped his own coat up before leaving Chipotle and, he snapped his fingers. The two are related only in that Our Hero was so proud of himself, his face was barely big enough to hold his smile.