August 16, 2006

We joined the Milwaukee Public Museum yesterday. It seems like a good thing--one of those, go 2x and its all free after that. And they offer members only trcik or treating at Halloween. The kids foudn the museum incredibly spooky and scary. We never made it into the geology cave, with the crystals, muck less to the actual dinosaurs (like this). On the second floor, we didn't get to see if you can still make the rattlesnake rattle here. I think Halloween will be hair raising.

Camp is ending. 5 weeks down. It was fun.

I have remarked of late that nothing is funny. No funny stories. Nada. I should be able to make something funny out of my trip to get the car's 30,000 mile check up (only 7000 miles late). Because the service is excessively long, they offered me a rental car. I had to go to the rental car place instead of having a car brougt to me. The jokes about cramming car seats into the 2 door were funny, I guess. But a Pathfinder is a big thing. And it just feels whiny.

August 14, 2006

Happy Birthday P!

Today is Henry's half birthday. We didn't celebrate, but we should have. August is a hard month. Better than when I was young and there were no birthdays or special days to be found, just the inevitable trajectory toward SCHOOL.

Henry had a tiny baby cry. A bleat like a sheep. With Miranda, crying was so unfamiliar to our ears, that her baby sheeo cries seemed tortuous. With Henry we knew this was just his newborn voice. Henry still gets dirt right in that spot on his neck.

Hello young man.

No one is sleeping in this house! That's a total lie. Right now at 10;45 p.m CST, three of four family members are asleep. But not for long. No, it never lasts long.

August 13, 2006

Happy Birthday I! Get well soon.

First, a flashback to last weekend. Bay Beach!

Henry learned to smile and say cheese. Miranda was great at showing Henry the ropes on the rides. They dashed through six rides in about 20 minutes. No waiting.

And today we experienced the wonder that is Rainbow Day Camp. It was worth the drive. It was fun for all of us, from the 40 ft climbing wall to the beautiful outdoor pool. We paddled a canoe. We had a picnic and I generally hate picnics, so that was a feat. But a gigantic sandbox was genius. Lenny rocks.

August 9, 2006

Happy Birthday A!

Henry is 2.5 on Monday. (Happy Birthday P! You're birthday is Henry's half birthday. How cool. Miranda was 2.5 when Henry was born. I knew she wasn't a baby. And to be honest, she talked more than Henry does now. And yes, henrys going back to speech in fall. On the plus side, he can make all the sounds! I digress. I have been doing that a lot lately.

Henry is a boy, not a baby. (á la Rudyard Kipling a boy child :) He was always thin, so I can't say he's lost his babyfat, but his body has become child like and not baby like. He is aware of the world. He is clever. He can count to three. He sings the last word of the line of most of our CD of songs in the car. "Hey, hey we're the Monkees" "monkees" "People say we're messing around" "round" He an sing Twinle wtinle little star with just a little bit of help. He is shy. He has figured out how to pinch. And when he is angry, he sets his jaw just like Miranda sets her jaw when she is angry.

He knows that McDonald's has Hummer trucks right now and after he eats his chicken nugget, he asks for his twuck. He can turn up the water faucet outside, making the sprinkler spray higher. He can squirt the hose. He thinks this is funny. He is waiting to eat the tomatoes in the garden, at least not pulling the green orb off the vine and flinging them in the grass. I swear we lost half last year to Henry and Mac.

Henry has done well at his twice-weekly-for-3.5-hours camp. He walks in pretty well. He does the projects. He eats some of hs lunch. He is very happy to see me when I pick him up. I think funny car stories courtesy of Henry are just around the corner.

August 6. 2006

I am rushing August. We're only 1 week down and barely that.

We saw the Madison Mallards play on Friday night. That was cool. The concessions were reasonable priced. They had cool duck bill kazoo/qauck whistles. Only $2! It felt very intimate. And it wasn't eve a real game--it was the MLB all-stars and they played a game of little league proportions. But v cool to see the veteran players. I wonder if they were impressed. Or if they love basebill so much they play at home. Henry and I spent much of the night on the playset.

On Saturday, I took the kids to Bay Beach in Green Bay. They was pleased. It is appalling that a Saturday afternoon felt less busy and crazy than when we've gone during a summer weekday. The weekdays are inundated with day cares and school groups.

Saturday night was FAMILY NIGHT at LAMBEAU FIELD for the PACKER SCRIMMAGE. Miranda and I spent most of the scrimmage in the hallways of Lambeau. Would you believe you have to hike all the way to the Atrium for ice cream? I'm glad I asked brfore we walked all the way around the stadium. And I made a strange analogy--that the original parts of Lambeau Field (pre-luxury box), with its "all seats are good seats" mantra is like socialism. It is true that there are no bad seats. No obstructed views. No poles. And no roof over anyone's head. We did wonder if the luxury box seats were availabel fro $8 a seat as well. If only we had called in the first 3 minutes.

We're been lazy today. No more sporting events until the Brewers on the 19th. Woohoo.

And I found this site. And couldn't resist sticking up on some cool things.

August 2, 2006

Ahoy, my hearties!

Picture mania. And a little other mania.

Did no one tell me that 2006 is the year of the pirate? I think I should have been told.

Yes, I'm talking re-design. It's like deciding to redecorate your house after watching TLC for too many hours. But at least online redesign is just time-consuming. Not spill paint on your favorite shirt messy.

First, the actual home improvement pictures. We have cement. We have a deck railing.

And then camping! A preview:

July 2, 2006

Miranda's words of wisdom for today:

If you have pet monkey, don't let him drink coffee.

And my quest for an honest car dealer has hit a snag. Despite my delight at their fix of my intermittant lock problems, they failed on the CD player. Henry deposited $0.77 into the CD player over 2-3 weeks. Rob tried to install the new CD player we bought from EBay. It didn't work. But he took the change out of the old CD player and plugged it in. And wouldn't you know it played just like the good old days?

June 6, 2006

Beware 6-6-(0)6. I went ot the dentist today. Oooh.

No cavities.

June 3-4, the first weekend is June, is Free Fishing Weekend in Wisconsin. A few months ago, Miranda decided she wanted to fish, again. So I found a cottage on Green Lake for the weekend. It was a nice place. And if it were on the water, it would have been perfect. We were well pleased with our weekend and look forward tor returning to Green Lake.

Miranda did catch a fish. Overall the fishing was crappy. We barely got any nibbles. Even Grandma, who is a bellwether fishing person, didn't get any bites.

It was discouraging. Conversation with Miranda on Sunday, after getting no fish love on Saturday.

M: "I can't go fishing. My pole is broken."

S: (we had been having line tangles, so Iassumed her line was tangled, even thgouht we hadn;t fished for hours and hours before.) "I'll fix. Your pole will be fine."

R (joining conversation) "What's wrong with your fishing pole?"

M: "I can't catch any fish. It's broken."

Then lots of wimper-y crying.

On Saturday morning, we went to fish at County Park. And I saw the weirdest thing. Along the shore, there were these giant fish and they seemed to be traveling ina pack and fighting. My yells merely driove the fish away before anyone could see them. I finally thought ti take pictures. The results are less than perfect, but maybe 'teh internets' can help me figure out what this is.

Click on any picture for a full screen version.

NB These fish looked to me to be ~18 inches long. And 5 feet from shore.

The swarm moved up and down the shore maybe 5-6 times. The next day when we returned to the beach to see if they liked breadcrumbs, the fish were gone. There were a few larger fish and many more smaller fish. I didn't see any small fish on Saturday.

Another crop of the photo above.

We took a boat ride in the boat Grandma and Grandpa borrowed from Uncle Doug. Thanks! Mirand adidn;t like it when ti went fast. Henry got completely silent and looked freaked out, so we brought him back to shore before our "serious" fishing trip. He was so mad he didn't stop yelling until we were practically home.

The dam at the end of Green lake was very pretty.

And there is Miranda and Henry with Great-Grandma and Grandpa.

May 29, 2006

Happy Memorial Day!

The reign of Wonder Pets was short. After viewing all 8 episodes ina mini-marathon, Miranda wants nothing to do with the mini-operettas. Unless I can offer a new new episode, we're done. I think I even canceled the season apss on Tivo.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse had an auspcious debut. And I started to think the NYTimes was watching our house. But again, no new episodes. You're not Go Diego Go. We need more than 3 episodes to maintain enthusiasm. Henry still likes it. Miranda is frustrated that the Tivo/DirecTV guide is consistently wrong about the episode content. I like that small kids will again know Mickey and Minnie and the classic characters as more than commercials. The show...not too good. There is hope.

And then we found Baby First TV. I saw a commercial. Then DaddyTypes admitted a reluctant fondness. And so I found the channel. And we watched. And it is compelling. Without beginning or end, it can entertain for 5 minutes (or much much longer :) And it is easy to break off after each short segment. It seems more harmless than even other kids TV. the music os sopfter, less polished. It doesn't feel at all like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which is so plastic it almost makes the inevitable Toodle toy welcome.

Baby First TV is commercial free. I was hooked. It didn't require Tivo. Just watch at any time. No relentless requests for a "new" one. And now...the bad news. This was the free preview. It ends May 31. After that, for this delectable goodness, we would need to pay $9.99 a month. As I learned in ad classes....I guess that wasn't aimed at me. It should be, but there is an astronomically low chance I will consider paying for this channel. And an even lower chance that I will pay for it. So bye-bye Baby (and Toddler as Miranda calls it) channel. We'll miss you. Maybe on the next free-view we'll fall in love again.

And yes, I did also see the new Kaiser Family Foundation study on parents encouraging the their children to watch TV. Or another spin, parents just not thinking TV is all that bad. I don't think I could justify TV watching as a whole. I am much more wobbly in the indivudal shows. Just like when you discuss TV with parents. In the general sense, everyone says, TV...oh TV..we try not to do that too much. But nearly everyone has an opinion on Diego.

May 24, 2006

Best knock knock joke ever.

Courtesy of Miranda

"Knock-knock"

"Who's there?"

(and this is where the fun begins. Phonetically) "Panser"

"Panser who?"

"Panser yes, panser no, I'm going swimming."

We have two competing theories:

"answer yes, answer no, I'm going swimming."

or

" pants or no pants, I'm going swimming."

But I wish it were

Panther yes, panther knows I'm going swimming.

May 23, 2006

One day late--Happy Birthday Rob!!

It was the day of bad news. First, Miranda cries at school because her ear hurt. A trip to the doctor, and we are then off to Target for the antibiotics to cure her ear infection. The eardrum is about to burst from the pressure of all that icky stuff kind of earache.

The furnace has been producing no heat since Thursday. As it is not cold, we didn't figure this out until Friday night. It is not an emergency, so we don't get it looked at until Monday afternoon. It's time for a new furnace. What fun. Under $4K kind of fun.

On the plus side, 102.1 plays the Femmes a lot. Often. Probably the kind of repeats that the variety stations make fun of. But you know what? Someone in Milwaukee should play the Femmes until our ears bleed. And I'm glad I get to hear it. I have been listening tomore radio because Henry stuck something in the CD player in the van. I did not see it, but the evidence against him is one of his few three word phrases is "drive the car" and he did try to stick a penny in there while I watched. I stopped him. And why not NPR? Well, I do listen to NPR, but WUWM is doing some bad stuff. And so I am anoyed by the the local shows and withholding my annual support until something changes. (And 10am, when I am practically in the car the whole hour, is their premier (and worst) local show).

The van goes to the dealer to get back its music Wednesday. And they will try again to fix the crazy locks.

May 17, 2006

Before I forget and it's too late.

Monday was Banking Day at Miranda's school.. for the unfamiliar, on Banking Day the kids have off, but the staff works. The teachers' bank their planning time for 5-6 weeks (all on a pre-arranged contracted schedule, but this is the theory) and then have a full day of planning and/or in-service.

Last week, Miranda said her speech teacher was talking about Penny day. We were in the car. I can barely keep up. (Miranda is an extravert. She basically does stream of consciousness chatter for 20 minutes straight. But Penny Day...um, not ringing any bells. And she is insistent I know this one.

"What is Penny Day?" I say.

"You know, the day you told me about?" she says.

"No, I have not told you about Penny Day. What is it? When is it?" I persist. Flummoxed. We get out that it is soon. Monday. Or maybe Sunday.

"Do you mean Banking Day?" I ask.

"Yes! That's it!" she exclaims.

And then we discuss how the teachers are banking time. I say, "every day, they put minutes in an imaginary bank." And she wants to know if her teacher brings the minutes there, if the bank or clock is in the basement. Or the office.

What a downer. No Penny Day.

May 15, 2006

What have we been up to?

We were almost tricked into believeing spring had come. But alas, the rain this past week has shown us once again that spring will never come.

First, we had Easter. McGruff apprehended the chocolate bunny ear eaters.

Henry and Miranda colored eggs with the addition of crayons. Not just the plain wax colored one that comes from Dudley, but bright colors. And the eggs were pretty. And I learned something impotant--that colored easter eggs smell funny. We eat hard boiled eggs early and often at our house. And I cheerfully peel them. (Rob folllows Joy of Cooking and you know their method rocks) But Easter eggs...they smell funny. And this year, I have developed a theory as to why. The vinegar used to brighten up the color. Next year, I will test my hypothesis by insisted I love pastel eggs, the no vinegar added kind. Either the eggs won't stink and vinegar will be the root casue. Or it will be the dye itself and I will just be unhappy.

After Easter, it was wedding time.

A quick flight to Alabama and we had a no kid weekend. Well, at least not our kids. We still ended up clamoring for the darling baby's attention.

Mom, Groom, Bride

They could have danced all night...did I mention we bought Season 1 of the Muppet Show. That show is really good. Even 30 years old and you realize how B-list the guest starts really were...it is funny, smart, appealing to young and old. Rob nor I rememebred the dance sequences, but funny stuff it is.

Today was Henry's first zoo class. That was more fun than I expected. And I really must learn my way around the zoo.

Less than 1 month until school is over.

Happy Birthday S!

April 12, 2006

Wow I had no idea today was April 12. Did you know FDR died on April 12?

Thanks to Suburban Bliss, I have figured out just a bit how to put the movies I keep taking with my digital camera on the web. Yay!!

Happy Birthday Henry (yes, the video is 2 months late)

First via, link

And now I am even trying to embed it. Click on the arrow.

April 11, 2006

The pacifier is gone. Henry is done. He took a nap without it Saturday and has gone without it since. And with little to no protest. Our window of opportunity struck. What's that line from the novel the Hotel New Hampshire, keep walking past the open windows? Off-topic, no doubt.

Bye-bye

Henry made a new friend, courtesy of my birthday party. For 30, I got a husband hat really listen. Doesn't talk back. And is the same height as Henry.

This photo is included because I found it while gathering for Shutterfly. It may be one of the funniest photos we have taken in a while. The cat could escape through a hole in the door, but it chose not to until later. The kids insisted the cat need a birthday hat.

March 28, 2006

The New York Times has gotten in on the Wonder Pets craze.

Rob is in Detroit, at a conference for work. What is it about Detroit that calls to him in winter? Perhaps a mystery better left unsolved. Henry hasn't really noticed he's gone, at least not to cry about it. Henry is quiet that way. Miranda has had a harder and louder time.

I had a kick-ass birthday! Yay 30!! Rob gathered some of the near and dear and we partied like middle-aged home-owners. At least some of the crowd made it to midnight. It was a great time. I love you all.

My mom got to experience extreme grandparenting. She watched a 4 kids under 4. The kids were good and only Henry actually fussed at bedtime.

March 21, 2006

Lessons Learned:

1. Trees are the single greatest danger to baby animals, at least according to the Wonder Pets episodes I have seen. The Wonder Pets have resuced a calf, a panda, a unicorn, and one of their own members, a duckling, from great peril in trees. I wonder if they will introduce tree huggers as villains in the future.

2. Never give a small boy a piece of chocolate, in the car, after picking up his sister. I expected him to eat the chocolate. He was vocally upset that said sister was getting a piece of candy. But the candy went into this hand and he fell asleep. Cleaning his hand while he slept was a bit challenging, but less so than carrying him in from the car without smearing chocolate all over me. (NB I did not wash the chocolate off before carrying him in. This is about lessons learned)

March 13, 2006

What's going to work? Teamwork!

Wonder Pets mania is here. I can't decide if this hamster, duckling and turtle are an ultimate evil or just annoying. But their theme song can keep me awake at night. My hats off to the creators.

Edaited to add: a review called this the first pre-school operetta series. And I can see that. But why????

March 8. 2006

It's raining. The March I like is finally here. And no fair throwing in a snow storm for my birthday. Wash away the dirty snow. Make me think there will be strong green buds pushing through the mud.

Miranda made Hamantashen cookies today in her cooking class. She loves that class. Chef Becca may finally rival Lenny in her heart. But this working out two days in a row, and then yoga on Thursdays...it makes me think Friday should be reserved for pajamas all day. This entry has no point beyond memory. Miranda is a busy girl and love s her classes so much. School is good. Henry is easy-going. Wednesdays kick me by having Miranda's school drop-off, waste 20 minutes, then Henry's speech, then pickup Miranda from school. Then lunch at home. And then to the J for cooking class for Miranda, workout for me and the playroom for Henry. And then its only 2:30 and there is still supper to make. At least a little Dragon Tales doesn't feel like a bad use of time at 3.

March 1, 2006

I'd say March came in like a lamb. I was sot of hoping for bad weather, so it might be Spring-like near my birthday. But now I am hoping for a big crashing thunderstorm to roar out March.

Costumes!

I think Miranda decided to be both the damsel in distress and the heroic train engineer in the first. I love these costumes. We have a vet set. And I am eyeing the pirate and the cowboy.

Congratulations to the B. family and their new baby. I know they are working on a web unveiling, so these should sufficiently hide his adorable-ness while showing off my children's awe. Baby O was quite sweet.

You don't even have to smirk. Yes, I do want one :)

And last but not least--what happens when 4 adults come over to our house and the kids are gone? We play of course:

February 20, 2006

Henry had his 2 year old checkup today. He passed with flying colors.
He is in the 90th precentile for height, at 36 inches.
He is in the 10th percentile for weight at 25.5 pounds.

And he used "want" in speech today, just like Julia wanted.

A banner day all around. But Ido wonder why I am so freaking happy.

February 14, 2006

Happy Birthday Henry! Happy Valentine's Day! I have been having the worst time wrapping my mind around hwo to best celebrate Henry's birthday and Valentine's Day. If I play up the heart theme, will he hate the Valentine thing forever? If I downplay the heart thing, will he wonder why I have a hangup?

This was Henry's birthday cake. The common consensus was dinosaur, but I was rooting for armadillo. Just at Jewel, not even a special order. And the cake inside, although pretty small, was very tasty.

Can't you tell? Henry likes cake. Yummy.

Happy Second Birthday. Henry is growing up. He's more boy, less baby. He calls small dolls and actual infants "baby." He can shoot a basketball into the hoop. He can take off his own coat, if the toggles are undone. And if the toggles are done, he clides the coat off of his arms and then slithers out. But it usually gets stuck on his feet. He find things funny. He likes trains and boks. He loves to run and slide. He is messy. He is sweet. He started speech at UWM last Monday. He is a riot in the group part. I get to watch everything behind a one-way mirror.

Henry loves Miranda sooo much. He wants to do what she does. He tries to color. He knocks down the block towers she builds. He pulls her pigtails. He steals her pancakes at breakfast. And she is amazingly tolerant of someone who is trying so hard to get her attention. Except when he pulls hair. Then all bets are off.

Henry and Miranda. Miranda in her Welch's grape juice girl inspired ponytails. It is a new thing.

And Miranda is quite the big sister. Here she is at S's birthday party. It has been such a hard month for her. Birthdays and parties and none of them are hers. S turned 3. A turned 5. Henry turned 2. E is turning 3. A and E's mom is celebrating too. It has been relentless and no presents for the little girl turning four and a half.

February 8, 2006

Enrique was on Dragon Tales today. It was his premiere episode, a rerun. That means that PBS has been replaying the old seasons and Enrique will be back most likely in future episodes. Miranda has been missing him. Worrying that he had a new show. Wondering where he went. I am glad he's been found.

Thanks to the Phantom Scribbler for the heads up that new episodes will begin on Presidents' Day.

February 4. 2006

At risk of turning this site into an actual blog. I have a news link.

There is a new study on speech and langauge and unexplained articulation problems and a genetic link to reading problems.

And Miranda and I had an amusing conversation about twins. Miranda likes Maya and Miguel. And I think identical twins makes more sense to young one than fraternal opposite sex twins...how is that any different from having a brother? Previously, she asked me if she and Henry were twins. And I explained that you had to born at the same time, be in Momma's tummy at the same time, to be twins. She wondered if they will be twins when they grow up.

And then we talked about babies and the potential third baby we discuss here at chez ratatat on occasion. And I said, that I have no choice whether I have twins or even what gender a baby will be. It could be a boy, it could be a girl. It could be one of each. I don't ge to choose.

She said, "then who gets to choose?"

Ah logic.

February 2, 2006

Happy Groundhogs Day. I cynically assume that when the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, it is a sign of a long winter yet to come. And if he sees it, we only have 6 more weeks of winter. But I am in Wisconsin. I root for the shadow. And this year the weather is nuts, so who knows.

Henry is awash in words. He is sticking to the nouns and hasn't really tried the verbs. He decided today to experiemnt a bit early with the Terribel Twos. He took out game and toy after game and toy. He dismantled puzzles. He never stayed still. But he spent most fo the day without a pacifier, so there is progress.

On the way home from Miranda's school today, Miranda and I saw a car stopped by 4 police cars. Hmm, I said. The trunk was open, but it appears to be full of things, not body parts so I doubt I will see ths one on the news.

Miranda asked, "what do the police do?"

I said, "They stop people who steal things. Or cars." I ramble on. "They stop drivers who aren't being safe. They stop people trying to hurt people." All age-appropriate, I hoped.

She asks, "what about people who want to kill us?"

Oh well, umm. But, she'd not being age-appropriate! That's not fair! I get out, "well, that too." Then she moves on to when we should call the police. Background: at her 4 year old checkup, her pediatrician wanted to know if she knew about 911, knew when to call, etc. We have been slowing talking about this. She and Grandma have played a game in which there is a monster and they called 911. And then talked about how you can't call as a joke or a game. Which is why 911 is such a hard thing to teach. I find it impossible to call 911. Not when I thought I head a shot outside our house. And I had to psyche myself up to do it when we say a car accident on the freeway, but it had already been reported.

So I explain you call the police when you need help. When something is seriously wrong. If there was a burglar in the house. Or if there was something missing when we came home. Or if we were in trouble.

Miranda asks, "like if we came home and the roof was missing?"

"Well no."

"What if my backpack is lost?"

"Well, no."

"What if there is a monster or a ghost?"

"No. "

"What if the lights were out? And we couldn't turn them on?"

"No, we call the power company. Or an electrician. Or Papa. Not the police."

"What if the TV won't turn on?"

"Not even then."

January 22, 2006

We headed to Lake Geneva for the weekend. The kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and had a great time.

January 14, 2006

It's a good thing Miranda doesn't take the yellow bus to school, not only because she avoids the chaos, but because we have car conversations. She picks the car as the time to ask the strange questions or share her concerns. I have to remember to make car time the time I tell her not to use drugs. But that may be dangerous, as we have our worst miscommunications in the car. Like the other day, she told me she didn't like "sots." No, she doesn't know that words for drunks. She has been having issues with her socks, so I proceeded to reassure her that socks are just part of life. She complained that they hurt. I said, "well, not too bad, right?"

And she said "they prick."

And I started to wonder. Do you mean "shots?"

And she said yes. So then I could switch tactic and reassure her that "yes, shots are yucky. But you don't need more until your teenage boosters."

On Friday, Miranda asked me why she couldn't see Jesus, to know what he looked like. I decided to stick with the seeing issue and explained that there were no cameras when Jesus was alive, so no pictures. She asked why there weren't cameras. I tried to explain. She wanted to know if God made cameras. I explained that God did not, and tried to use gender-neutral language which only made the whole conversation going on behind my head while driving less clear. She wanted to know how old God was.

And as the conversation meandered, I did wonder if perhaps she was asking about recess in the beginning instead.

I expected more time to figure out how to explain religion and belief on age appropriate levels. I am uncomfortable with most of the kids' religion books I have seen. Too much creationism for my taste--I created the world for you. But Miranda is throwing curveballs at me left and right. If we ever discussed this outside of the car, we may do better.

I added Henry's word list, so I can easily keep track.

January 12, 2006 part 2

Henry is barreling toward age two. He is picking up new words. He doesn't use them often. He certainly isn't chatty. But I am keep count because we are heading to a speech eval to make sure he is on track. And my count is at about 30. We'll see how he does.

And Henry loves the potty. The window of opportunity seems to be pushing open. He sits on the potty. He takes off his diaper. He peed on his bed today. The theory is if we can catch the pee in the potty, he'll get the idea. And that he probably doesn't quite realize how it all works, having it locked in the dri-weave of the diaper. But I am not sure after he sees the pee in the potty that he is going to think anything other than, can I pour that on the floor?

January 12, 2006

Well, I did think of one story. I am a good liberal and strive to be the good liberal parent. When I look toward the future, I want to think of being accepting and loving toward Miranda and her choices. (And Henry too, but he talks much less, so it doesn't lead to the same thoughts). So if she wants to follow the Dalai Lama or realizes she's gay or pursue Art, I'm there. And I have come to grips with the idea that she might play team sports and will probably own a gaggle of dogs. And I'll be there, rooting for her and reaching for the Claritin. Supportive. Right? But it is pushing my limits (and buttons) to support her latest plans. She wants to hunt, with guns. And fish. Now fishing I am better with. We have rented several cottages and fished. But I didn't realize how much she liked it until she was asking about summer and wanted to be sure we went fishing. And the other day in the car she brought up hunting. How old did she have to be? Would it be hard? Could she go? I was confused but tried to maintain my support for her dreams. I don't have a problem with hunting, but I can't say I have ever wanted to do it. No appeal. And she is all set to head to the woods.

I wonder if that will seem appealing or gross to her when she is 12?

January 11, 2006

Hello! If you have found this page, I am so happy. Movable Type did not move all that well in the host transfer. The blog is still there, looking pretty. You can see it here, in its regular home. But the SQL tables did not , so I cannot logon. This means no updates. It has been long enough. The incredible and cute things the kids do must break free, like a salmon returning to its birth stream to spawn.

We went to California in December. That was great. Christmas was good too. In-between almost everyone got a cold and then a stomach bug. Miranda had winter break. Then she went back to school. It all sounded more interesting when I would think I want to write this on the website and I can't. Oh well, this will have to do until I can get back to the regular system.