Of Vacuums and Bicycle Pumps

We can report that Our Hero is no longer afraid of the vacuum cleaner. To the contrary, he is all about the vacuum. Joe's vacuum resides right next to "Mommy's vacuum" and the "little vacuum" (also Mommy's; the dyson handheld) in the hall closet these days. You can't put a thing past Our Hero though and he knows that it's Mommy's vacuum that's the real deal. Earlier this week, Julie allowed Joe to put his hand on the handle, too, while she was vacuuming up some insulation that fell from the porch ceiling after Ted removed a board to better survey the damage wrought by the winter and an ill-fitting window.* Shortly thereafter, he discovered that the cord unwinds. Whoa. I think it's safe to say that was a highlight of Our Hero's week. Now, getting out the vacuum is a go-to activity for Joe. We have agreed after some tense discussion, that the vacuum comes out only after Clara is in the bath and thus, on her way to bed because the loud noise might scare here, and she might hurt herself with the cord. We have also established that plugging in the vacuum is "Mommy-Daddy Only." Last night, we used the attachments. Whoa again.

Also making an appearance this weekend: the bicycle pump. The tires of the stroller needed to be pumped up and the pump was stashed on the porch once Ted had finished this task. Joe glommed on to it upon our return. Keen-eyed observers will note that the pump and Joe share something in common. Joe did not notice this, and is not likely to now as the pump is back in the garage after being dragged about on a toddler tour of the house.

*The porch ceiling will be replaced on Monday, April 18, which means demolition watching fun on April 17, and no porch that day!

Pee Pee Incident

Sunday night saw another momentous happening: Joe peed--not in the potty, but not in his diaper either. Fans, all hell may have broken loose for a minute or two. Joe was running about bare bottomed, and was in the midst of washing his hands when he started screaming so loudly and so intensely, Julie thought he'd accidentally turned the cold water off, leaving only the hot water running, and had scalded himself. It scared the pee pee out of us! But we soon figured out he'd peed and pee was running all down his legs and puddling on his stool under his feet, dripping onto the floor and rug, and down the base of the sink. We can only imagine how Joe felt: the pee was going but so was the water and his hands were soapy and the toilet's over there and you're up here on the stool and what do you do? Nothing that couldn't be cured though by a soapy-handed, slightly-damp-with-pee-pee hug, and a fresh, new diaper.

Saturday Afternoon

Today was an exciting day, no doubt. But we would be remiss if we did not report on the unremarkable, and thus all the sweeter, post-afternoon naps hours on Saturday. Bird, as usual, was up at 3:01pm! Julie swooped in and scooped her up before Our Hero awoke. (He had a bit of a cough all weekend so we endeavored to let him sleep.) After a snack, the Birds hit the road with Bird in the stroller for the first walk of the season! It was fabulous! Bird was decked out in her hoodie, and took Mortimer the Moose and Pierre Le Peacock along for the ride. They walked down to the Starfoxes and, fortified with a chai tea latte (iced, as befitting the spring sunshine), they wound their way home the long way. They bumped into Graham and Connor, both sporting their new kicks, out taking Sara and Derek for a walk. So the Birds walked a few blocks with them before turning for home.

When they got there, they were greeted by Ted and Joe on the porch; Joe, chillin' like a villain with his bowl of goldfish. Once the goldfish had been polished off, we were off again. This time to the driveway so Joe could ride his bike. There was a house a block away on the corner on the Remodeler's Showcase Tour that was going on this past weekend, so we motored over there and poked around. (This would bet he site of multiple mini loader sightings earlier this season.) Then, it was time to head home and mess around on the porch before dinner. Clara went under the furniture; Joe put on Julie's sunglasses.

Nothing to it, but sometimes, that feels like everything.

Cow Milk For Bird

It was a big day for Clara, too. Tonight, at dinner, she had milk--from a cow. We gave it to her with no fanfare whatsoever, and she slurped it down with gusto straight away! We have, over the past three weeks, dropped both the 3pm and noon bottles at daycare, in that order, leaving only the 9am bottle. As it did with Joe, Julie's milk supply has been diminishing as a result, and so, as with Joe, we decided to introduce whole milk slightly in advance of a year. We were encouraged even more when Clara's new teacher, Miss Shelby, reported today at pick-up, that Clara was not at all interested in the 9am bottle. Now, it could be that she's teething. Historically, she's not interested in nursing or her bottles when she's teething, but it could also be that she has sussed out that bottles are not what the big birds drink from, and she is getting to be an awfully big Bird. We shall see, but look at that gaze. That's a big bird gaze.

The Big Boy Room | The First Taste

Fans, as you know, today was the beginning of Joe's transition to "the Big Boy Room," aka Pre-C. As you have--no doubt--been waiting with bated breath all to learn how it went down ever since first hearing about it, let's get right to it. Our Hero (pictured here back at home in his Big Boy fishy tie and showing off his new kicks) spent the morning there, pre-lunch, and had a grand time and shed no tears going, or coming. Once he has fully transitioned, we will not receive written reports of his daily doings. But as he is still officially in the Twos room, we do, and today's included what was done in the Big Boy Room--i.e. talked about spiders and insects, discussed the difference. We have a book that is called something like Giant Pop-Up Bugs, featuring, close-up and--would you believe it?--giant, pop-up bugs, and thus, we have discussed the number of legs as a categorical feature for your arachnid family or your insect family. But when questioned on the way home, as to how many legs a spider has, Our Hero replied, "You tell me." The cadence of the delivery suggests this a phrase he hears at school a lot.

Interestingly, this was all just after we'd been waiting for the choo-choo train to roll past, a choo-choo train comprised mainly of hopper cars, to which Our Hero charmingly referred to as "grasshopper cars."