Parts of our town are slowly disappearing under the rising river. One main road into town from the interstate is closed. Lots of sandbags are being piled around vulnerable houses and some parts of campus. I had gone home to Evanston for the summer after my sophomore year the last time this happened (1993.) There is a palpable tension in town as we wait to see if this summer will match that disaster.

We may end up with a bit of seepage in the basement (though, luckily, none so far) but otherwise, we're far enough from the river and creeks to be mere observers to this deluge. We took a walk near the river and the flooded City Park yesterday afternoon. Edward was not impressed. The real drama in his life took place on Tuesday when they tested the fire alarms at daycare. This induced a major panic and hysterics that led his teacher to call me at work. She didn't say I had to come, but he wasn't responding to any of their attempts to soothe him. Since he never does this, they didn't know any "tricks" to put him back on track. It took me more than an hour to persuade him to rejoin the group. And even then, it was mostly because lunch arrived and it was one of his favorites. Before that he was clinging to me, crying and saying "I wanna go outside. I wanna go home."

I didn't want to take him away because I worried that this would make him afraid to come back. Sort of the same reasoning behind getting right back on the horse after falling. He didn't refuse to go back the rest of the week, but he was definitely hesitant and much more emotional/sensitive than usual. I found out late in the week that they don't ring the alarms when they have fire drills, so this really was the first time he'd heard such a piercing sound (his own shriek notwithstanding!)

So he's still talking about "alarms" and saying "alarms hurt me," but he also says "alarm keeps me safe" and "they're just testing it." So he may be on the road to recovery. At one point during the initial breakdown he either asked about Daniel or they thought seeing Daniel might reassure him, so they took Edward to Daniel's class. Daniel was laughing. Edward was not comforted.

We have tried several times this weekend to capture video of Daniel's rolling abilities. Even though his first move upon being placed on his back is to flip himself over, he is mesmerized enough by the sight of the camera that he freezes and stares as soon as it appears. A stare down is not most dramatic video material. Once the camera is put away, he rolls right over. Then it takes just a few minutes for him to realize he really doesn't like being on his belly much. He twists and flails his arms and legs like a beached whale. Today I thought he might be figuring out the reverse flip from belly to back, but I don't think he's there yet.

Edward's gymnastics are on display at the park. Anything above his head is fair game for climbing. He seems to have no fear in this realm. His parents on the other hand... We're trying not to hover too much or stifle his exploration, but we've seen him climb nearly to the top, get distracted and think he can make a lateral move, so we know better than to leave him totally independent.

Daniel was playing with his ear while John and I were eating lunch today. We hope this is "I just discovered these things on the sides of my head" rather than "Man this thing really hurts!" No other signs point to the latter, so we'll assume the best for now.