Holiday Season

Both kids have been enjoying the holidays and family visits, and we are happy to see they are starting to play with each other now (though RR still spends plenty of time with her toy trains, as well.) Without any profound summing-up coming to mind, here in the last hour of 2011, I'll just report a few vignettes from RR.

When admiring some fall colors: "I like both seasons: Fall and Christmas!"

One of the kids' presents was a songbook. I realized my rendition of "Clementine" was more effective than expected, when I saw RR was in tears after a few verses. She said several times "I'm so sad! Why 'lost and gone forever'?" She wasn't satisfied with "it's just a story" and T eventually offered that Clementine later resurfaces and lives with the narrator happily ever after (and with some additional comments about swimming lessons.) This version was accepted I think with some suspicion.

We have a large rug in the living room which mysteriously, and incessantly, gets pulled sideways and forms wrinkles. Due to its size, and number of toy bins sitting around the edges, straightening the rug is a several step process. RR surveyed my efforts with a critical eye. "What do you think, is it flat?" I asked while lifting one corner of the sofa and tugging at the rug, expecting approval. "No, there is another bump over there!" she replied, pointing at the opposite corner. This was repeated several more times as I realized I was not going to get away with any half-hearted rug-straightening jobs. Finally I pulled a minor wrinkle flat and asked once more. RR surveyed the floor and pronounced her judgment. "It is a splendid rug, daddy."

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and we wish you a Splendid New Year!

Baby K: first steps

The big news here is that Baby K is graduating into Toddler K! She started making her first, very small steps this weekend. She isn't yet 1, so I think she is earlier than her sister. RR was excited to see the first steps too.

They grow up fast these days

I recently succumbed to the inevitable, and got a smartphone. This did not escape RR's eagle eyes, who of course wanted to play with the widget. I was curious to see what she would do, so I handed it over (remember, this girl is 3 years old). I don't know if this was by chance or on purpose, but within twenty seconds or so, she had (1) unlocked the phone, (2) opened the web browser, (3) searched for popular images, and pulled one up on the screen: "Daddy, is this you?" she asked, showing me the picture. (Note, this photo bears very little resemblance to me).

"Er, no sweetie, that isn't me. I think that is some actor."
She swiped her finger across the screen and studied a few more photos. She found another one to try and turned the phone to me again. "Daddy, is this you? (Note: this photo bears NO resemblance to me!) "Um, no that photo is not me. Maybe we should look at something else..."

"I don't know, I think he looks kind of... cute." said little RR. (I'm still not sure if this whole thing was some sort of setup on her part, or not.)

Another morning at breakfast, we had this conversation:

RR: Daddy, when you were a little girl, did you go to school?
Me: Yes, when I was a little boy I went to school just like you.
RR: (sigh) I said, when you were a little *girl*, daddy. I was making a *joke*.

Sliding through Summer

I don't know how it can be August yet, what happened to Summer? We've been busy with the daily routines, and time has been slipping by- as a lack of blog posts may witness. Baby K has been busy growing, and her smile now includes two front teeth. She seems happiest when bouncing up and down. She's not quite crawling yet, but can sometimes sort of wriggle backwards. She is definitely more alert and aware of things than just a month ago and she avidly watches her big sister's every move.



Big sister RR still enjoys watching trains (both real, and the cartoony Thomas the Tank Engine), and playing with an unending stream of stuffed animals which somehow keep showing up- the chicken, for example, was a loan wheedled out of a teacher at her daycare.


Memorable moment: RR edges over to my chair at the table, saying, "Daddy I can have a bite of your sandwich? Nibble nibble?"

And even more endearing- "Daddy can you show me how to cha-cha-cha?" (Which we've tried, as she stands on my feet, but I think she mostly enjoys me just moving her around, and hasn't yet paid attention to rhythm or steps.)

Spending Money

On the occasion of RR's recent birthday, she got a card from her great-grandma with a nice note, and some money. We had not made specific plans, but it happened that RR was due for a haircut, and she announced that she now had money and would like to pay herself! We parents were quite impressed, and this also seemed quite a switch given she had been reluctant on the whole idea of the haircut (despite needing to push the hair out of her eyes every other minute). T pointed out the bright side, that she might get a balloon after the haircut- we feel that's a better choice than the lollipops they also have.

RR proudly tucked the bill into her purse, along with a few of her most important toys, and we set off for the haircut place. She sat patiently in the waiting area, and braved the actual haircut without too many fidgets. Afterwards I held her up to the counter, and she solemnly produced the money from her purse and said "I would like to buy a balloon!"

Three Years Old

Hard to believe that little RR is now Three Years Old! She had cupcakes at Preschool 1 on her birthday, and a small party with presents at home that evening, and then another party yesterday afternoon with several relatives over and more presents and a proper birthday cake. Of course, the first thing she said upon awakening today was "I want another party!"

She has been showing signs she's no longer a baby all along, of course. One of those is that she is picky about what clothing she wears, often preferring dresses, and wants several laid out for her choice and approval. She is showing an interest in puzzles, now assembling her 24-piece Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle in record time, and is becoming more helpful carrying and putting away groceries. She recently had her 3-year checkup at the doctor's office and the procedure was different- they took her blood pressure this time, checked her vision, and gave her a hospital gown to wear as she waited for the doctor to arrive. Gray and red, open in the back. She looked down at it and said, "Mommy, this dress is terrible!"

The Evening Hours

Both RR and Baby K have been showing some reluctance to go down for the night recently, requiring quite a bit more time in the transition to sleep. I was holding baby K while contemplating this task, and a perhaps a bit annoyed when T urged me outside to see something last night, but this turned out to be a quite worthwhile view of a dramatic misty moon rising through the trees.

I know you can never really capture these moments, but you have to try, so I hurried inside to get some things. So it happened, that I was squinting through the viewfinder while T explained to the quizzical neighbors bringing out their trash bins, that I was really just taking a picture of the moon while standing there in my socks with my camera and tripod and Lens Of Unusual Size, and not really trying to see into their windows. "Oh no, it's ok", they said, "you can take a picture of our house any time..."

A New House

Not-so-little-anymore RR has found a new way to enjoy the sofa. She takes all the cushions off, sometimes stacking them carefully to the side to form walls and a door, and calls it her house. As you see, it's good for bouncing in.