L Is For Love, and Lucky

One of the best things Ted ever did was make a compilation of a lot of the songs there were played at our wedding.  Now and again, we play it from the top as we did tonight.  The first Hallmark moment was cued up when Clara grabbed a cow bell, and got Julie the rain stick, just as My Girl came on, positioning herself in the middle of the dance floor (also known as the living room) just like Julie, right next to Julie, oriented just the same way.  Some of our Fans will know this is the song to which Julie danced with her dad on her wedding day, and it will no doubt come as no surprise to any of our Fans that Julie was more than a little caught up dancing with her girl--our girl--to this song.  (It will no doubt also come as no surprise to you all to know that the cow bell added a lot to the song.  The Temptations missed the boat on that one.)  By the time we were setting down to dinner, we were up to the first song to which Julie and Ted danced, and then the last song of the night, which brought us another Hallmark moment.  As that song began, Joe said, "Oh!  I know!  I have heard this song before!  It's New York New York New York."  Fans, that was almost eight years ago now.  Can you believe it?  Eight years. Almost.  And now here we are, the two of us, plus two more (and the Boo), dancing at a dining room table in Minnesota on a Friday night pizza night.

Also tonight, on the way home, somehow, we got started on a round of the made-up, reoccurring game we play around here in which we try to think of words that begin with a particular letter.  Tonight's first letter was L.  We came up with lots (though not lots!): lake, lollipop, lemon, loop, look, laugh, leaf, love.  This last set Clara off saying, "I love you and love you and love you and love you," more of a free association spin on the game.  By the time we were pulling up to the alley, Joe said, "I know!  Let's do S!  I have a really good S word."  We won't keep you in suspense: it was steam.  The last L word had been locomotive, from Ted.  Joe!  Free associating within the confines of the new letter!  Sophisticated!

As we pulled into the garage, Ted said, "shovel," to which Clara replied, "bucket."  Joe told her we were doing S words.

L is for love, and love, and love, and love. . .and lucky, and lucky, and lucky, and lucky.

Not really a Hallmark moment.  Where was the luck?!  Seriously.  We take a lot of pictures to bring you what you usually see here.  This is a representative outtake, for your amusement.

He Is Also a Charming Conversationalist

Joe also continues to work on his conversation skills. He always has lots to say and so we have been teaching him to wait for lulls in the conversation to speak, instead of interrupting others.  One morning last week, when we were driving to school, Joe said something that Julie didn't catch, so she said, "What, Bud?"  Joe replied matter-of-factly that he was talking to Clara.  Julie replied that she realized that, but was trying to join in the conversation.  Joe paused there in the backseat and then said "Oh!  I didn't know that!"

Professor Joe Explains It All

Joe is full of questions these days, but very often, his questions are rhetorical and as such, rather revelatory.  For example, on the way to school the other morning, when we were discussing school generally with Joe, as well what color the traffic light was and just what that meant with Clara, Joe was suddenly roaring off on this train of thought: ". . .learn a lot of stuff in college.  Like what goes down the drain and what you don't know like that?"  Right.

This afternoon, he asked what happened in hospitals--probably because we passed an ambulance earlier  this week and Clara burst out with "An ambulance!" which prompted Joe to say it was going to a house and one of us to add that it might be going to the hospital, too.  So this afternoon, Julie said that all kinds of things happened in hospitals: women had babies; broken legs, and arms, and toes, and fingers got fixed; and sometimes things inside called organs got fixed. . .This is where Joe broke in to add, "If your eyebrow gets cut off, they can fix it at the hospital?"  Yup.

But there are other times where Our Hero believes he has already got it all tacked down.  Times like yesterday afternoon when the celebrity demi-goddess sitters came over to watch the bambini while we went to the Minnesota-Northwestern football game.  Joe gave the girls a complete rundown: "If you want to take a shower, it's over here.  This is the fan.  You only turn the fan on when you take a shower, not a bath."  Apparently, when Ted was showing the girls where the milk and butter were for making macaroni and cheese, Joe let them know that the "adult beverages" were on the lower shelf of the fridge.  The celebrity demi-goddesses are in high school, but now they know where to take a shower, after they've maybe had an adult beverage, and that's a load off.  Check.

Of Tantrums. . .Sigh

Brigade, as you know, it is our practice to snuggle a bit with the bambini before plunging into the day.   It is also our practice to change Clara out of her Pull-Up and into a pair of underwear.  Often Clara likes to toss the Pull-Up in the garbage by herself, and her scampering off to do so is one signal that snuggle time is over.  Tuesday morning, Clara padded down the hallway with the Pull-Up, tossed it, and then came tearing back down the hall. . .and promptly pitched herself on her bed and burst into tears.

Dearest Readers, we think we can all agree that a tantrum is always a drag, but none more so than the tantrum that occurs while one is trying to execute the morning routine that--and here, of course, comes the critical part--occurs in advance of leaving the house for school and work.  They are enough to make you want to pitch yourself on your bed and sob inconsolably, and with renewed vigor should anyone have the temerity to remind you that breakfast is occurring right now and not held for you until you work it out so you'd best pull it together if you are hungry.

Practically every day this week has been marked by a terrific tantrum, and not just at home it would seem, as Thursday, we arrived to the bambini's school to this note explaining Birdie's swollen lip: "Clara  was throwing a tantrum, tipped over in the chair she was sitting in, and bit her upper lip, causing it to bleed."  (The upside here is that between the lip, and the bruise on her eyelid from when she clocked her head on a coffee table Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles'--while pitching a fit--she looks like a real tough.)

Second only to the tantrum that occurs during the getting-ready-to-leave-the-house fanfare are the tantrums that occur in advance of getting into the car.  What makes these tantrums especially sigh-inducing, is that it is our practice not to begin driving the car until Clara has packed it in and this, as you might expect Brigade, can take some time.  Such was the case yesterday evening.  We had made a trip to The Container Store where, as it happens, the establishment next door has a fire pit ringed with some chairs where we rested and warmed up before heading for home.  It was lovely, Brigade, on so chilly and soggy a day as we had here yesterday, but if you are thinking that Birdie pitched a fit because we were leaving, think again.  (Remember, you must toss logic to the wind!)

No, Birdie pitched a fit because she got called on the old no-I-don't-want-to-yes-I-do! trick.  Julie asked Clara to hold her hand as we headed to the parking lot.  Clara said no, and so Julie simply picked Clara up, at which point Clara began screaming that she wanted to walk.  She thrashed and kicked to underline her point.  Julie informed Clara that she could make a different choice next time, and underlined her point by carrying Clara to the car in what Julie thinks of as the lock down hold (child slung across chest with one arm pinning child's arms and the other arm pinning child's legs).  Clara was dumped into her car seat, wrestled into the straps, and buckled in, and then there we sat, chatting, pretending to care not at all--not at all!--that we weren't headed home to dinner and that our ears didn't hurt from Birdie wailing in such close quarters.  The old no-I-don't-want-to-yes-I-do! trick is one of the oldest tricks in the book and here, Brigade, can we pause to ask why?  We think we can all agree that this trick is the worst and should be retired.

And so we have made it to another Sunday.  We're off to change the Bird out of her Pull-Up.  We'll see how it goes.

To Chicago and Back Again

Travelers

Fans!  We have been on a mini fall vacation to Chicago to visit Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles, the former of whom has been retired now for a little over a week!  So, really, we were in Lake Forest, but who's splitting hairs?  Not us!  Not with Mr. 50 Thousand Questions busy nailing down all the subtleties of the world, like the difference between Chicago and its environs.

It was clear that Joe and Clara thought Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles' house was awesome for several reasons:

1. Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles live there.  You can pound up the steps like a heard of elephants in the morning and pounce on them in their bed if they weren't already awakened by the veritable stampede, and then Grandma Connie allows you to take one of her fancy pillows all the way downstairs to show your mom while chanting "I got the pillow!  I got the pillow!" in a sing song voice that suggested to Julie she should make like she was jealous.

2.  Joe and Clara got to sleep together on the pull-out couch with the giraffes, Pink Bear, and Teddy who had made the journey as well.

3.  The place is filled with a LOT of breakable things!  Specifically, pottery. Even more specifically, a fair number of ceramic bowls filled with ceramic fruit, that one can lift out of said bowls for closer examination.  Many, many things requiring further attention and examination.

4.  The place is also filled with containers of potpourri or, if you like, funfetti!  The only thing better than potpourri in a bowl is potpourri out of a bowl and on the floor, funfetti-like.  Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles may notice that a ceramic (naturally) tiger bowl migrated to the coffee table in the den and that while it was once empty, it is now filled with potpourri.  (You're welcome.)

5.  Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles have a large jacuzzi tub.  The jets were too much for the bambini, but bathing every night in what amounted to a sunken Roman bath to them was most decidedly not.

It is also true that Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles' house is near a children's museum and Lake Michigan, both of which are highly entertaining.  It is also near Lamb's Farm which is a non-profit community that serves adults with developmental disabilities.  One of its attractions is a farmyard with super friendly animals and a miniature train that runs alongside it.  Lamb's Farm was entertaining as well, and probably would have been even more so had we not happened to be there on a cloudy morning which made for a chilly time visiting the animals and riding the train.  It was the same story as the lake the first time we went, but frankly, Julie at least noticed the chill less because she's pretty much a sucker for that lake at which she made lots of happy memories.  (It was chilly though; Grandma Connie had to go back and sit in the car.)

But we know what you are all wondering Fans.  How were the drives?!  Ted was a rock star.  He drove the whole way, both ways, so Julie could read.  Oh you meant the bambini.  Fans, they were rock stars, too!  Rock stars!  The examined all the treasures they'd packed into their little backpacks, they napped, they sang, asked if we were in Illinois/Minnesota yet, asked if we were in Illinois/Minnesota yet, asked if we were in Illinois/Minnesota yet, and maintained that we were going to be in the car FOREVER.  We had lunch at McDonald's both ways, and got candy when we stopped for gas.  (Joe selected Sixlets--yeah, when was the last time you had those, Fans?--on the way down, and M&Ms on the way back, kind of a pattern; Clara selected Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme Bites on the way down and Snickers on the way back.)

And now we are back.  Back to school, back to work.  But Thanksgiving is already next month!  And we practiced telling each other things for which we were grateful at dinner one night this past weekend.  So we're set.

Bunkmates (Birdie sleeps in the Bird Sofa!)

Two heads are better than one

Little girl, big lake

O Captain, my captain