Five Years Ago Today

Fans!  Today is a fun anniversary: five years ago today, we learned that Joe was on the inside.  In other words, Julie took a home pregnancy test and saw two pink lines.  She was in Texas--San Antonio--for work, and Ted was flying down to join her the next day in Austin.  So, no, it's true: she did not wait until the next day when Ted was with her to take the test.  As Ted said when Julie called him to tell him she was pregnant, "You couldn't have waited a day?"  After three years of marriage, didn't he know?!  Julie never met a surprise she wasn't trying to figure out as soon as possible.  October 30, 2007 was the first day she could know, and know she would.  But it's hard to be upset at your beloved when you realize that there's A BABY ON THE INSIDE!!!!!  OF HER!!!!!

Did we realize then that life would never be the same?  How can you, really?  You don't know what you don't know.  How much there is to look forward to, how much your heart can hold.

We had a great lunch here at the Hill Top Cafe, that would have been even better if the fried whatever it was that the folks next to us got hadn't made Julie a little queasy because JOE WAS ON THE INSIDE!

Halloween Brings Mail, Sealed With Tape

Halloween has brought a rash of Halloween cards and packages to the bambini.  Things have arrived from Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles; Aunt Kate, Uncle Scott, and Cousin Nick; Great Great Aunt Shirley; Great Great Aunt Susie; and Grandpa Tom and Lynn.  Today, Joe and Clara both got cards from Grandma Connie and Grandpa Charles.  These cards were the kind that play music (or spooky laughter) when they are opened.  The bambini love getting these kinds of cards from their Grandparents Trump.  Now, this kind of card is a little fatter than your usual card.  Julie chuckled to herself when Joe approached her with his card tonight and said he needed some help opening it because it had tape on it.  Julie shared with him that Grandma Connie was a huge fan of tape (and staples, but Julie saved that for a later day).  Joe said, "Oh!  I didn't know that!" and Julie said, "Well, she is.  It's her tell."  You know, Joe's a big fan of tape, too.  So now he knows there's another one out there.  And she's a relation!

Keen-eyed observers will note the presence of additional packing tape on the envelope Clara is holding. There's no telling who these were from. . .or is there?  ( ;) I love you,  Momsie!)

Bat-bini

Slower Than Molasses in January

One of the best things about living with a four-year-old and a two-year-old is getting to listen to their acquisition of language--hearing them try out new words in the wrong way, and then work around to the right way; listening to them string words together in way that make no sense and then, later, do; and, especially, listening to them try out slang.  Joe's latest fixation in this last category is "slower than molasses in January."  His seat belt's giving him trouble?  Must be because it's slower than molasses in January.  His concrete mixer truck pieces aren't coming together just so?  Well they're slower than molasses in January.  Joe hasn't quite got the context piece of this crazy fun expression worked out?  Probably won't take as long as molasses in January before he's got it.

"A Smart Dude"

Tonight, we had a parent-teacher conference with Joe's teacher, Mr. Mark.  Those who know Our Hero well will perhaps not be surprised to learn that he knows all his letters and the sounds that most of them make (H and Q are hard) and can recognize patterns, colors, shapes, and the numbers 1 to 10.  But did you know that Joe rocks a pair of scissors?  Well, he does.  Apparently, the powers that be at the KinderCare put smiley faces on top of the kids' thumbs and it's thumbs up time to see the smiley faces when the kids are cutting with scissors.

Fans, frankly, we didn't learn anything we didn't already know: Joe likes to learn, he's kind, and he's easily influenced.  So the bad news--for now--is that he doesn't always think for himself.  It's not so much that he sometimes makes bad choices, it's that he doesn't often make his own choices.  Fans, we have a follower!  This, we knew.  The good news is "he's a smart dude," and so hopefully, he'll come more and more to think for himself and not follow when someone else is climbing up the slide today and bashing in mailboxes with a bat tomorrow.  Joe is also, apparently, friendly with everyone.  He's got some really good buddies, but he plays with all the other kids, even those who don't necessarily have their own little pack.  And so, there's one choice right there that seems to be his own, and it's solid.

The Monkeys Visit the Monkeys

This morning, we took Joe and Clara in their monkey costumes to visit other animals at the zoo.  We had decided to visit the farm animals before the bambini decided to go in costume, and the farm animals were being much discussed.  Otherwise, we would have made a circuit of all the zoo's monkeys.  It had been a while since we'd visited the farm animals though.  The last time we did, Clara was on the inside, and made her appearance about a week later.  On our way to the farm this time, we saw the flock of turkeys that parade around there.  They beat a hasty retreat from our two monkeys.  Can you imagine, Fans?!  We learned that the farm animals are also not keen on being outside when it's below 40 degrees.  This, Fans, you probably can imagine.  Instead they like to snuggle or play in the barns.  We saw pigs snuggling and goats and chickens playing.  The bambini tamed the hay bale maze and climbed on the tractor, too, before we decided to head back and see the monkeys by the entrance before heading from home via Noodles for lunch, which is where we usually go after visiting the zoo.  That was where Joe, ever sociable, greeted some other diners who then complimented his and Clara's monkey costumes.  That's when he informed them that Clara was "a usual monkey"--as opposed to Curious George.  The Usual Monkey and her Curious Sidekick are up to their usual Sunday evening monkey business, by which we mean tearing about, giggling, and screeching.  In other words, it's a zoo.

The Monkeys prepare to take the zoo by storm.

The Curious Monkey.

On the turkeys' trail. . .

Hello, Goat.

The Usual Monkey by the Fake Pig.