Note to self

Do NOT allow Carter to put his finger in your mouth. Unless you like boogers.

He disagrees.

The tree is up, and everytime Carter touches it, he gets a nice "Not for Carter!" from whoever is on the scene. He's really so good about listening, too... but he's starting to disagree. The last two times I said, "Not for Carter," he turned, grinned at me and signed 'more'. He still obeys, but he *really* wants to touch the lights that're blinking at his level.

It's pretty cute.

Is this not?

The sweetest photo? Not that I'm biased.

Dada's a Boob

Apparently Carter has decided my boobs are called "dada". He points authoritatively at them and says that, so it must be.

A Life's Work

I'm nearly done reading A Life's Work, by Rachel Cusk. If I were to begin underlining passages I poifind that speak to me, the whole dang book would be underlined. Which as I recall, negates the whole point highlighting, or underlining.

Must write more on this when I have digested it further. At the moment I'll leave it at this: well worth reading by every mother. And probably not able to be understood by anyone who is not a mother.

Mercury, I have seen you.

Today I got to see Mercury passing the sun. Very cool. In a geeky, astronomy club way. They were lined up at the park when we got there to have a playdate with one of Bun's schoolmates, and I knew what they were up to, but we were late, so we hustled over to the 'big kid' playground. About 2 hrs later I stopped with the kids and we looked at one of those slit viewers. Yup, little black speck to the right edge of a large lit orb. There were a whole slew of telescopes set up, and we also peered through a couple to see it in 'technicolor'. I can't recall exactly why, but the coolest one was red, and it was something about seeing only the hydrogen burning because of a filter. Bunny loved it, and it was the first thing she reported to Daddy upon his arrival home.

We also went to the Mommy and Me day at a mall, which was 'meh'. Bunny got a balloon flower by one of those freaky balloon artists (who you know also like to dress up as clowns [ick]). She also decorated a paper crown. I guess it was better than sitting at home, but not as good as some other things. I'd initially thought about going to The Jungle or Discovery Museum, but with the sky clearing, I wanted to make sure we kept our date with Anna at the park, and those two places take more time, if you're going to 'do it right'.

In other news, Bunny has named her toes. I'm trying very hard to not learn their names.

Civic Duty? Check.

Another election day, and this time I went to the polls. Usually I vote via absentee ballot, because I like to take my time and read the voter info guide while I vote... walk away from it and think about things, etc. But this year I figured, heck, it's on the street adjacent to me, why not just walk there and vote? I strapped Carter on my back and we enjoyed a nice stroll. I did have to rock and sway while I voted to keep Mr Sillymon from squawking too much, but hey, who said democracy was perfect?

Mostly I wanted to vote for Ahnuld and against a few propositions. I was surprised I didn't get to vote for mayor. I guess we 'county' San Jose residents don't get that. WHatever. As long as our esteemed Gonzales is out. Though it is nice to have a mayor who's so well known, it's not so great that it's for corruption, bribery, conspiracy and falsifying records. ;)

Carter at 12 Months

Carter's on the MOVE. I have to chase him constantly. Today I was putting some things into the stroller for a project at Bun's school, and he walked 20 yards down a path, making his way to the back parking lot apparently. He will follow a path anywhere. He also climbs a lot. Right as I type, he's trying to climb onto his work bench he got for his birthday. He really wants to climb to the top of the big kid slide and becomes angry when I don't let him. Yet, he does not like swings very much. I've only recently gotten him to tolerate 2-3 mins in the bucket swings, and I can't swing too fast or he'll become scared. He loves being pushed in the Little Tikes car (coupe or whatever it's called). He loves sorting things, and taking toys out of and putting back into containers.

Verbally, he's not as far along. He is constantly making noises of all kinds, but so far he only says mama, dada, dat (cat), chz (cheese), mimi (milk), niss (nurse), Cahtah (Carter). He's a little confused about who I am. Sometimes he very authoritatively points to me and says "dada!". Hmmm. I am learning a few baby signs and we're integrating those in and trying to nail down that you shake your head only for 'no', not for everything. ;) He likes to make weird noises, too. Trills and clicks with his tongue that make my mouth feel tickly when I try to mimic it (which I guess is why he does it? feels neat?).

He has 7 teeth and is threatening to teeth some more. His 12 mo checkup is next week, a little late to space for his 2nd dose of the flu vaccine.

Personality-wise, he's a neat little guy. Very easy going in general, though he can become angry if I remove him from something he wants to do (like put something in the toilet). Then he'll arch his back, screech, go limp noodle, and if possible, throw himself back and maybe hit his head on something behind him in the process. Poor guy; I just tell him *he* did that and to calm down.

He's very affectionate and loves Bunny, despite her torment. He seems to have a sense of humor for the ridiculous. He loves being chased and tries to entice us to chase him down the hall, and if we do not follow, he will peek around the corner to try and egg us on.

He still gets lots of 'sling' time in Daddy's pouch sling and also will snuggle with Daddy a lot. Me? I'm good for some snuggles, but please make the boob accessible, thanksmuch. In some ways I look forward to weaning so that we can snuggle *for real*.

Happy Birthday... a day early.

Yesterday we had a little halloween party for some playgroup friends and also had Carter's birthday cake cutting. I wanted to do something fancier, but we ended up going out with the DiMicelis to Campbell shops trick or treating and, well, I'm happy we enjoyed ourselves. The cake was yummy, even if it was not something fancy. :)

Carter got into it. :)

Rememberies of a Geisha

Bunny loved the pretty kimonos in Memoirs of a Geisha so much that she decided she wanted to be a 'real Geisha' for Halloween. Mama did her best with the makeup, but discovered that watching a movie and expertly applying makeup are different, haha. But anyway, the point was made.

If at first you don't succeed.

Frog and frog again. It took me four tries to get this 'skull' skull cap to something like what I'd envisioned when I decided I wanted to make it. Couldn't find a pattern, so I graphed the skull from a SnB pattern for sweater--and had to use a different scale alltogether. I learned that you can't get the same straight sides working in rounds that you can on a flat piece, even on the tube part just because the stitches end up staggered, not in a grid. So, I did a straight piece for the skull section, joined it and completed with decreasing rounds. All in all I am happy considering I was making it up as I went along. Paul wants one in his size. :)

Running Commentary

Having a child who's learning to speak means one must--if one desires their child actually learn speech, cadence, etc--have a constant running commentary on one's extremely dull goings on.

I don't simply pour a sippy of milk. No, that would be too efficient. I must explain the sippy comes out of the cupboard empty, but that we go to the fridge and get the big bottle of milk, then put some into the sippy--then put the big bottle back!

It's all well and good, but there are times when you wonder if it's getting in while a nearly 12 month old stares at you. You wonder, "Is he processing this? Is he just thirsty and waiting for me to hand him the damn sippy? Or is he thinking his mama's a bit loony?"

There have been (rare) times that I have caught myself talking to myself, I am so used to the 'color commentary' of my day to day existence. I was in Trader Joe's and asked no one in particular, "What kind of juice should we got today?" I blushed when I realized why someone was looking at me funny. Maybe they thought I had a mouse in my pocket, and that's who 'we' was, haha.

Then there are the times when it pays off. Yesterday was a working day at the co-op preschool, and Heidi watched Carter for me (saint that she is). When I picked him up, she told me he really like a Pooh toy and they played with it for a while, Heidi asking where the nose, eyes, etc were and Carter pointed them out! I guess all that telling him what things are and what I am doing sinks in after all.

Carry on. Carry on, crazy woman who asks invisible people questions in the store.

The Little Duckling

Bunny chose The Little Duckl for her bedtime story tonight. We've read that book about Henry's birth, babyhood, and eventual return to the pond to find true love many times. I recall reading it when I was a child, so it's also a nice memory for me, too.

Last night Bunny asked about the egg in the grass at the end. Would the boy get it and put it in an incubator? We agreed maybe, but probably the duck and his 'special friend', the girl duck, would be its mommy and daddy and it would hatch by the pond.

Then Bunny asked if the ducks got married. We laughed a lot thinking about the ducks dressed in tuxedo and wedding gown. Possibly they invited the hen, rabbit, and goat to the ceremony. It was a nice giggly way to end the day.

School Photo Day

Today Bunny has her school pictures. Fingers crossed my hard playing girlie actually kept out of the paint/dirt long enough to look presentable! I think I used a whole can of hair spray trying to tame her crazy Einstein hair, LOL. But it was darn cute. I am giving myself extra points for braiding yarn bows that matched her outfit.

This is what I get for being ambitious

I so rocked my after bed routine tonight. Did it all, baby. Decided I'd go for the brownie points and even set up the coffee maker to go off tomorrow morning, which I have been skipping lately.

About 15 mins later, Paul asks, "Did you mean to brew a pot of coffee?"

Shit. I pushed the on button instead of timer. So much for that. Well, Paul had a good idea to put it in a pticher and tomorrow afternoon I'll have iced coffee waiting for me.

Well, that sucked.

So this morning was interesting! After I feed the kids breakfast, I go into my room to dress, since no way do I dress to the shoes before I have a LOT of coffee. ;) As I am in the room, I hear an odd noise. It's water pouring down the outside of the bedroom window. Hmmm. That's odd, I think. Seeing as it's sunny out and we do have adequate eaves. Pop open the sliding door and, OMG... the hose that goes from the pool filter to the booster pump for the sweep has busted off and there is a not-so-mini Old Faithful going on outside my house. Thankfully I had the presence of mind to not step in the water and I was able to reach the breaker box and shut off the power instantly.

I'm calling the pool guy about it, as Paul calls to me that it's puddling inside the bedroom--it caused a flood. Sheep dip. About a 10X5 foot area is soaked to the padding. Long story short, the carpet is now pulled up and draped over something to get air to the padding while a MASSIVE fan rented from Home Depot is running in my bedroom to dry the padding. It may take 48-72 hours to dry. YAY!

At least I caught it. That could have been a lot worse than it was if I were not home and didn't happen to walk in when I did.

It's all a matter of perspective

Isn't it weird how perception changes your reaction to the same thing almost instantly?

Yesterday at Bun's school there were men excavating outside. I was pretty sure at first they must be working on the electrical problem the building has been having, where the breaker trips if, say, the coffee pot and the fridge are on at the same time. Seemed reasonable to me.

Went inside and the place reeked of onions. As we were in line up, waiting for Bunny to get her nametag, I joked maybe they were serving just a big pile of onions for snack today. Then Skyler's dad said he thought it might be the sewage line they were working on and that's what the smell was. He sounded authoritative. Instantly, I began to feel woozy, since, well, onion-poo is a bad smell! I was going to deal with it, but ugh. It was not good, and I could see I was not the only parent going green in the face.

Then, it turned out potstickers was part of a snack the cook mom brought for the working parents that day. Viola--that was the onion smell. Again, instantly, I liked the smell again.

Did the smell change? No! My perception of it made me amused, then revolted, then hungry all within about 3 minutes. Hmmm. There has to be a deep thought there. ;)

More Bunnyisms

This one from Paul:

Wednesday I had to go to my doctor to review the results from my annual physical (which was actually about 15 years after the prior one). Paul was home working, so he hung out with the kids. Bunny kind of drove him crazy as he tried to get Carter asleep, but he did have this gem to share.

Bunny: Daddy, when Santa comes for Halloween do his reindeer come in the house?
Paul: Santa comes at Christmas.
Bunny: Oh yeah, I meant that. When Santa comes for Christmas, do the reindeer come inside? Because the deer nibbled the carrot, right?
Paul: I don't know.
Bunny: If they leave footprints does Santa vacuum?
Paul: Maybe. We'll have to check next time, okay?

So... we are going to have to figure out how to leave hoofprints. And a note apologizing for not cleaning up, since he's so busy...

Ponay Partay

Today was busy... life has been on some fast forward the past month or so since Bunny started school. Discovery has been great for her. For me? Eh, I'm learning.

Why do I have to always make things as hard as possible? I could have chosen a typical preschool, but noooo, I had to choose a co-op. I'll get the hang of it. Bunny is doing very well--I vascilate between loving it and hating all the work it is for me. Currently I have a tricycle in my garage that needs to be painted, primed, and sanded... or wait, reverse that. And I have an art project to prep for the kids. On the plus side, it's only $130/mo. Which, to a newbie may sound like a lot, but preschool around here costs more than UVA cost me annually undergrad for tuition. Not the co-op, of course, but there are those who spend something like $450/mo on school for a toddler.

Whatever. I'm kind of in the 'can't polish a turd' school of thinking on that. Kids need to learn social skills, to listen to a teacher, the flow of events of school (come in, do different tasks, play, eat quietly, line up, yada yada). She'll have plenty of time to learn algorithms when the time comes. Usually the people that I know who send their kids to ridiculously pompous schools have rather dense kids or are ridiculously pompous themselves. Or both. ;)

Anyway, Bunny's thriving there, but she has always thrived everywhere. Give her an arena and she takes to it. Next week she has a playdate at the park with Anna, her first schoolmate playdate. She also has a playdate Monday with Jacob, park day Tuesday morning, a birthday party Friday afternoon....and so forth. The rest of the month goes pretty much the same. Carter? He's along for the ride until his moment in the sun on the 28th for a party here.

Carter is at Heidi's house with Lily and Luke every other Monday when I am at school working. He is dealing pretty well for a total Mama's Boy. And he is a total Mama's boy, lemme tell you.

Anyway, what did all this have to do with Pony Party? Nothing! Just playgroup had a pony party this weekend. Bunny rode the pony 5 times. Got right back at the back each time to line back up...until Tucker the pony had to go home.

Duuuh, Mama!

Driving is such fodder for the best bon mots from Chatty Cathy. The other day, we were nearly home from whatever boring errand and Bunny kept asking me if I remembered some mundane moment that was obviously more interesting to her than me. I kept saying that I did not remember it, that I forget way more than I remember these days and that's how it is when you're a grown up. You can't keep all that junk in your head. Well, Bunny says to me, "Mama, I keep all my rememberies in my head! You should do that."

Touche.

Yesterday, when we were driving home from picking up our CSA veggies:
Bunny: Can I take a cat to college?
Me: Usually they don't like you to have pets in dorms. Dorms are the big houses that kids live in in college.
Bunny: Oh, I am not going to live at college.
Me: So you just want to take him to class?
Bunny: Yes! Can I?
Me: Well, I think he'd get awful grades. And how would he use a pencil? It might be too hard for a cat to go to college.
Bunny has melted into peals of laughter at this point...

Then there was last night, while we were watching Survivor, and yes, Bunny watches, it, too:
Bunny: Mama, if I ever go on Survivor, will you pack me some snacks?
Me: Yes, that's a very good idea.
Bunny: If I had snacks, I am sure I'd win. Because no one remembers food.
Me: Yes, they do seem to have a hard time finding food.
Bunny: Oh! And some lasagne. No one could beat me if my belly was full of lasagne.

First Hair Cut

Carter's mop hair was cute, but he kept running his gooey hands through his hair when eating, and I was becoming tired of cleaning it so often. I clipped it today. :) I'm not done, as he only tolerated it for so long...I need to get the 'top' shorter than it is, because he looks like a skate-rat with long bangs. And there are some wisps in back that I missed as he wriggled around. But all in all, it's amazing how he suddenly became more 'little boy' and less 'baby'.

Paul's going to be sad, but I really needed to get the crusty curls gone. ;)

Four year olds and razors?

Had an eventful day. First, I should mention, Ralph remains missing. I doubt we'll ever see his fuzzy face again. After 16 years, it's hard to think of a Ralph-free existence. Bunny is most upset about it. I simply wish I *knew*. Is he dead? Did he have a stroke and become disorented? Maybe someone is feeding him. But, in my heart and gut, I feel he died. Hopefully quickly. Of course the troubling thing is the thought that he could be hurt and suffering somewhere. It's very upsetting, and I miss him annoying me for milk in the morning. Otis is going to need a friend, too. He sleeps with Bunny, but he needs a cat compainion, too. He is not like Ralph and won't go around making friends with allt he cats on the block. Ralph is gregarious. Otis is a scardey cat.

Anyway. Today was my first day working in Bun's class. I was Art Room parent and we did fold-overs with red and blue paint to make today's color--purple. All in all, it was fun, and not so much stressful as contained chaos. Which is fine. I was amused by how some of the moms were so into doing it 'right'... and not too shockingly, it was their kids who could not 'imagine' their pseudo-Rorschach was anything. Probably because maybe they'd be 'wrong'. I didn't care, and I guess I don't even care enough about using too much paint or whatever. Guess that's why I have to clean so many messes at home, haha.

Carter was pretty good for Heidi, though she said he had to be held or worn the whole time. Except! She got him to take a 2 hr nap in the stroller. Which is actually better than I manage. Kids always do something like that for others they'd never do for you, the little stinkers. I was glad he was not miserable and also that Heidi was not miserable (more so that, honestly, since I would not want her to offer to go thru hell every other Monday). Bun and Lily had a great time playing when I came to pick up Carter, and it was nice to hang out with Heidi while Carter finally got on the floor and into the toys he was too verklempt to play with when I was gone.

Anyway, what does this all have to do with razors? Not much. Except that this afternoon after we were home and Bunny was supposedly going to the bathroom, it seems she decided to shave her legs. Or her foot, I guess. I don't think she got far before she sliced a little sliver off the top of her foot. She was scared of the cut, but more so of being found out, so she left a trail of bloody toilet paper to her room. Didn't take Sherlock Holmes to solve that mystery. She spent an hour in her room because of that. Yeah, it was a long time. She's also not allowed in our room/bathroom AT ALL unless she's up at night needing snuggling. Made sure she knew that was okay. But after the nailpolish yesterday, the lipgloss a couple of days earlier, and who knows what every other day before that I've had it. No more mama-daddy room privileges.

Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?? *snort*

Been a long time...

Time marched on, tirelessly. Too bad I can't say the same for myself.

Bunny started preschool the week before last, and me being me, of course I had to scramble to do all kinds of stuff last minute to get all the Ts dotted and Is crossed. Oh shoot, that's backwards--which is how I ended up doing everything for those couple of weeks. ;)

Paul got his man-vacation at Burning Man and my father came out to visit. It was a nice visit, and great to have backup so I could go to the bathroom or shower. Plus it's nice for hte kids to spend more than a day or two with him.

Recently my 'no fair' button has been stuck down. Where is the equivocation?? When is MY vacation alone where I don't take care of anyone? Na-ga-da. Na-ga-happen. Paul wants us to vacation at the beach, but it's still not the same. I am going to a MNO tomorrow with some playgroup moms, but it's not the same. If I were to take a vacation as Paul did, it'd be doubly expensive, because who takes care of the kids whilst I'm gone? Does Paul take off time and use his vacation for staying home with kids? Pay a sitter? Ugh. Times like this, having two incomes would be nice. But noooo, I have to want to raise my kids full time. Shit.

I didn't say my inner brat was rational. She wants cake and lots of it, and for each piece to be made custom order at her whimsy. She needs a time out for longer than a trip to Target alone to buy baby wipes and loiter looking at the nailpolishes because at least she didn't bring any kids with her and it may be her one time all week to be alone.

Actually, she needs to go to the gym more and use their free childcare. She needs more zen and less *grrrr*.

Diving all the way down.

Bunny has conquered her fear of the deep end. She can now dive down to retrieve rings that're all the way down by the drain. She's such a brave swimmer...only 4 and going 12 feet under. :)

Trifecta

Teething: Check.
Head-moving-to-chest-cold: Check.
Growth spurt: check!

Add in the odds for separation anxiety and I'm winning not only the trifecta, but the exacta, too! Go baby go!

Oh, forgot to add in the 102 degree fever. Wheee!

It's very special to me.

Sunday we were just being lazy and decided to go crazy and have burritos. I ran out to the Burrito Factory and when I came back Bunny was wearing a very fancy dress and had set the picnic table for our "Mexican Picnic". Paul said when he suggested that might be too nice a dress for spilling beans all over, she replied, "This picnic is very special to me." Later she said she thought we should have another picnic next year and invite our whole familly.

It will be quite the take-out affair. ;)

Up! In the Sky!

Biplanes! This afternoon we were in the pool and 5 biplanes flew over us. No tricks to be seen, though. Wonder what they were doing? They were yellow with a red stripe on each lower wing. And loud. :)

First Tooth!

Today Carter popped his first tooth! I was actually at Karen's house, visiting and meeting Katie for the first time (such a sweet cute baby!), and he fussed up about halfway through and remained a bit 'touchy' the whole time. Well, he cut a tooth today at her house! No wonder! :)

Good shots/Better shots

Saturday:

Took Bunny to Petroglyph to paint a cup for Grandma for Mother's Day (obviously I'm a little late on that). Well, Bunny fell in LOVE with a dolphin figurine and I ended up making something for Grandma, haha! I had fun, though, painting a mug deep pink and adding bumpy daisies to it.

Afterwards I decided to take us into Jamba Juice for smoothie, seeing as I had a coupon for a free all fruit smoothie. While there I decided to try a wheatgrass shot. A one ounce shot of the stuff is supposed to be like eating 2 POUNDS of vegetables--which ones? I find it hard to believe half a table spoon could be that nutritious, but what the heck. I've been out here eyeing the wheatgrass for ~8 yrs and thought it high time to try one of those shots.

Thank goodness it came with a fresh OJ chaser. Wheatgrass juice tastes like... LAWN CLIPPINGS. Go figure. It is grass after all. Not so bad, all in all, though. I could see doing them once a week or so. But I also could see just taking the pills, haha.

Sunday:

Onto better shots. TEQUILA! Met up with some of the moms at El Burro and had a Cuervo Gold margarita. Mmmm. Now that's something I can stomach once a week, too, LMAO!

Pizza Messy Play

Today playgroup had messy play at Vito's Famous Pizza. It was a lot of fun for the kids, and hey--pizza! I downed a lot of diet coke to make up for not sleeping the night before, and also the better part of a few pieces of pizza. I even liked their Hawaiian pizza, which was surprising to me. Usually I can't stand pineapple on pizza.

Oh, and we also learned how to stretch the dough. I liked their method more than what I used to do at Glenmore.

Baby, it's HOT out there.

This weather's crazy. Well, actually THIS weather's awesome. It's simply the fact that it was cold and dreary last week and now it's hotter than Hades and I have that 'sticky' feeling from sweating juuust a little bit all the time. I feel grubby.

The pool is a great equalizer, though. Right now, it's after dinner and Paul and Bunny are out playing in the pool and hot tub. Clingy boy is asleep nursing. I *almost* was able to put him down for a nap and get some things done this afternoon, but someone whose name rhymes with funny decided to yell right next to him. Bah. Poor guy's exhausted. But he's asleep and that means I am getting closer to my 'off' time for today.

The hours between when Bunny goes to bed and when I go to bed are precious. Worth the sleep deprivation, though I do go to bed really early once or twice a week to try to catch up a little.

I think I'll get a full night's sleep in about 2010. Seriously.

The things he does...

Carter's sitting all. the. time. He sat without a topple for 45+ mins, playing with stuff on the floor next to my desk yesterday. He can't get himself into a sitting position, but his balance is really becoming good and he can catch himself and straighten pretty well when he starts to 'list'. ;)

And, I may be imagining this, but I think he's trying to figure out how to kiss. He's aways been one to try to latch onto your face given haf a chance, but lately, he's doing this thing where he grabs your cheeks or jaw with both hands and just kind of slobbers all over your mouth/cheeck for only a moment. It's as if he's trying to smooch, because he pulls back and then smiles at you much as we do after we kiss his cheek.

Paul's mom always said for years that Paul never crawled; he rolled around to get places, then one day he got up and walked, LOL. Well, Carter will roll across the room. I always thought MIL was out of her mind with the rolling, but apparently I have a 'roller' here.

C also does 'binky tricks' He'll spit it, spin it around like a someone with a pocket watch on a chain might, and has a few funny ways that he fiddles with the binky and sucks it in and out like it's bubble gum. He also likes to blow gooey raspberries with binky in place. :)

And he's threatening to grow a tooth. Swelling and general fussiness/clinginess... but no white bulge yet.

Bunny's plans for the future.

Bunny has been planning ahead. When she's a mom, she's going to live across the street in Linda's house so I can come take care of her babies for her, haha! Also, I have to help her with dinner because she's not sure if she'll be using the stove yet and knives scare her.

She slays me.

Yesterday we met up with some people from playgroup at the SF Zoo. After two months of pretty much all rain, all the time, it was wonderful to get out and just walk and walk. Took BOB up, and as usual, loved pushing it around, even as all the 3-4 yr olds played musical strollers/wagons. Never knew exactly who I was going to push next, haha!

The drive up was gorgeous. Kids were asleep in the car. Music was good. A nice day. Bun even got to ride both the choo choo and the carosel. Carter seemed to get the most enjoyment out of the trees. I let him paw at some leaves as he hung out in the Bjorn--so glad I remembered to pack that. I feel like I have SOOO much baby stuff, but I also feel like I have a better handle on HOW to do things than I did with Bunny. Of course, their vastly different dispositions come into play...maybe if Carter was colicky I'd feel like a novice still. Who knows. What's that line from Baz Lurhman's 'suncreen song'? "…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s."

Bitty Mom

Bunny is so funny with her babies. Yesterday I was nursing C at the computer, and she came up with her baby in a stroller, pink purse, and bottle, asking where the mother's room was in this "store" so she could feed her baby. Then she went on to explain how her stroller is Italian and very fancy. LOL!

Egghunt, schmegghunt.

Bunny does NOT get the concept of an egg hunt. Today was the LM playgroup egg hunt/potluck, and she seemed to not get that time was of the essence when competing with the likes of Jack and Sarah, who know that hoarders take the day in these events. However, she had a great time, and came away with some cute goodies in the few eggs she did manage to gather.

Of course *I* was all like, "Go there! Grab, grab!" *sigh* I need to calm down, LOL. We all had a great time and Carter even caught a nap in the Bjorn.

Right now I guess we can officially mark it as the start of pool season, as Bunny is messing around on the steps and is soaked to the bone with 55 degree water. Being cold consumes a lot of energy, right? We can only hope so. Paul's out sitting reading an article he printed, egging her on to do a canonball, and Carter's here on my lap trying his darndest to type, too. He's a very good right clicker, and keeps making me stop so I can fix it, hahaha.

I'm feeling content and happy to have my house visitor free once again.

How? How? HOW???

Oh Bunny. You're almost FOUR. FOOOOOUR! How?

Now that you're a four year old, you're (as far as you're concerned) a BIG KID. You get to choose your own outfits (usually). You try to help out in the kitchen--you're a great stirrer, washer of fruits and veggies, and the odd egg you've come up against was smashed to smithereens.

You're a tumbling, whirling, swimming, nonstop random motion generator. As you always were. You gather NO moss. If you're not constantly occupied, you find interesting ways to amuse yourself, like the interesting concoction you made with sour cream, jelly, apple sauce, yogurt, and about 25 packets of Splenda. Maaan, was that bad tasting. Yes, I did try it. And lived to tell the tale.

Yet then there are the hours you can spend drawing. Give you a box of crayolas and a stack of construction paper and you're absorbed for a surprisingly long time. Like any tempermental 'artiste', you do become fixated on a subject and sometimes I feel like I need to buy paper by the truckload to keep enough on hand, as you'll draw a line or two, decide you don't like the way it's going to turn out and toss the paper aside--again and again.

You're also a very sweet and kind girl. You are sneaky and rotten at times around the house, to be sure, but all in all, you're a very kind and generous little thing. You have been trying to give Sarah all your used clothes because she is smaller than you and you can't use them. You help Jacob when he is feeling cranky. You play with everyone and make friends when we're at the park on a non-playgroup day.

When you grow up, you say you will be first a ballerina, then a model, then a ballet teacher. Jayla from America's Next Top Model is your favorite, and you cried when she was eliminated--you still cry about how you miss her. It's really cute. You like to dress up as fancy as you know how and I will be the photographer for the fashion shoot.

As far as big sisters go, Carter's very lucky to have you for one. You make him laugh and laugh. When Mama's too busy running hither and thither, trying her best to keep up with everything, you really are a help. I love how you will hold Carter's hand when he fusses in the car.

You tell LOUSY jokes. I remember when Grandpa Alan told me, at about your age, that my jokes were not funny. At the time I didn't get it at ALL. Well, now I see. You think everything is a knock knock joke and that everything is funny.

• Knock knock!
  
• Who's there?
  
• How do you know an elephant's been in the fridge?
  
• Um... how?
  
• No, you need to say, 'Elephant in the fridge who?!?'
  
• Oh, okay. Elephant in the fridge who?
  
• Footprints in the butter! (dissolving into giggles)

In the next year, you're going to be so much more worldly. You'll probably not like playing with boys as much. You may be a bit more, um, shall we say, 'catty'? Maybe you'll be able to ride a pony...and a bike. Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy will still be key players in your universe though. You're not going to grow up all that fast, okay?

You're not allowed! And you still need to let me snuggle you a lot, okay?