Election Day

As the Birds settled in for books before bed, Birdie spied Julie's "I Voted" sticker, slowly reached out, carefully removed it, and affixed it to her belly. Happy Election Day, Brigade!

Days Like This

This morning, as we headed into the bambini's room, Ted laid his hands on Julie's shoulders and sighed, "He's going to yell at us."

We were, admittedly, at a rather low ebb, given the events of Sunday, particularly the hours which followed nap and unspooled in much the same way that the events of last Saturday did. This would be when Our Hero heroically attempted to defend his self-proclaimed right to depart the house without a coat or hat in decidedly fall-like weather. This weekend found Our Hero simply being contrary: no, he did not want to go out for a snack adventure; yes, he did--now that it was no longer an option because of aforementioned contrariness.


Fans, it can be all rather exhausting and spirit-crushing.


As we begin most mornings with some sort of contrary caterwauling that we then have to ignore only to then endure wails and screams for varying lengths of time, imagine our delight when this morning unfurled with the barest of hiccups--namely, the briefest--but briefest!--moment of whining (about it being a school day and thus not a pancake or waffle day and, presumably, not a day when Joe can spend his day giving his parents a run for their money). When Julie was getting Clara dressed, she heard Joe climb down from his chair and issued her one call to get dressed to which Joe replied, "O-kay! But first I have to clear my plate." Then, he got dressed with a decidedly minimal amount of lollygagging. Then, he got himself into his shoes and coat again, with a decidedly minimal amount of lollygagging. Drop off was like a hot knife through butter! A revelation!


And then tonight! Pick-up! A breeze! We rolled our eyes at one another in good humor when upon Ted's remark that we had the rock star spot (as we have dubbed the spot just outside the door), Joe replied, "No, I don't want the rock star spot." He nevertheless trooped to the car anyway. He got in with minimal fanfare. Music was requested (by Clara, signing more) and no fuss was made regarding the selections (Write This Down from Kidz [sic, we think] Country and [Movin'] "Right Along" from the Muppet Green disc). Joe asked for his mother to get him out of the car! UNHEARD OF!!!!! We tromped into the house. Clara reached back for Julie's hand. Hearts may have melted in the moonlight. We came in. We shed coats and shoes in an orderly fashion. Fluffy was retrieved from the porch for Clara by Joe. Hands were washed with NO MULLYGRUBBING!!!!! The pre-bath time was whiled away in happy puttering and pattering.


Now, it is true that as Julie began typing up this glorious chain of events, that she heard things begin to breakdown in the bathroom as Joe's bath was being drawn. Still. Utter derailment was staved off, somehow.


Then, Julie and Joe read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and The Line-Up Book, and had rather a lovely chat about why Julie went to Iowa yesterday (all things in the past are yesterday to Joe), whether Joe liked the slide or swing best (swing), and what flavor of Cheerios we liked best (Julie: fruity; Joe: chocolate).


Julie believes Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was a bit too advanced for Joe, despite it's central message: Mama said there'd be days like this. Too true. But thank goodness there are days like today, too.

Birdie Finds Some New Hats

Now that it's November, we have been making ready for the inevitable onslaught of cold weather. We returned the cubbies we keep Ted and Julie's hats, gloves, and scarves to their wintertime spot on the porch, stage left of the door. Clara wasted no time exploring this new treasure trove.˚;˚˚;......................;;;;;;;///////////////////////////////////////.˚˚lk;kooo;olo;okpolp'pkkkkp

;* Longtime readers may recall that Joe also liked to go through these bins and don the various items contained within them.** Interestingly, Clara seemed to be fond of the three items of which Julie is also most fond: the red hat with ear flappers and a loose pom-pom on top, and a pale aqua scarf and glove duo, both of which date from Julie's law schools days.

*This interlude brought to you by Joe while Julie stepped away.

**http://joeekkers.blogspot.com/2010/03/hats-and-mitts.html

Birdie's 18-Month Well-Bird Exam

Birdie had her 18-month well-child exam on Friday, though she wasn't necessarily altogether all well. Her little nose still looked rather a state, and she's been valiantly fighting a bit of a cold all week. Also, she looked a little crestfallen, because she was: she'd no sooner made to sit down at the little table in the waiting room with all the books then her name was called. When Julie said it was time to head back, Clara immediately pitched herself on the floor and began sobbing at the unfairness of it all.

But she'd perked up by the weigh-in. Since the last official weigh in at 15 months, Birdie has gained three pounds and grown two inches. she is now 26 pounds 7 ounces (78%) and 33 inches (84%). She impressed by pointing to various body parts as they were discussed and putting the "hat" on Dr. Harrington's are-there-puppies-in-your-ears?-looky-scope.

At these well-child appointments, Dr. Harrington always leaves time for one to ask big, open-ended, meaning-of-parenting type questions. (One can always ask them of course, but at a sick visit, one isn't usually given the entree as one is at the well-child visits.) We didn't have any, really, but Julie sort of fumbled her way toward "You know, just, like, is she, doing everything she's supposed to do, or are we missing something important?" As you might suspect, Birdie Brigade, Birdie is doing all she is supposed to do.

Later, it occurred to Julie that really, she was asking "How do you not miss things?" Things fly by so fast, especially with the whirling dervish that is a three-year-old whirling in the background, of which you are also trying to catch a glimpse as he whirls. When Dr. Harington asked if Clara had any words, Julie said yes and rattled them off: moon, more, book, Mommy, Daddy, Joe, puppy. But then later, on the way to collect Joe, Clara saw a bus a crowed, "Bus!" and Julie realized she'd neglected to report all the other words Clara not only knows, but can say: bus, car, airplane, baby, ball, banana, apple, duck, help please, get down, all done. . .mine! So maybe we are not missing so much, except the moment to catch our breath and realize the moments as they are happening.

PJ for CJ

Tonight Clara got into her new fleece footed pajamas, and if she anything like her mother, she will appreciate the head to toe thermal goodness. We had a different pair earlier in the week, but when we went to put her in them, they were so tight we couldn't zip her up! So here she is in her new digs (along with the blue puppy and Mortimer the Moose that she grabbed on her way to read books). You can also see how her little nose got all scruffed up when she fell at school - it's a rough and tumble world out there fans.