This will be a bit scattershot, but I hope it becomes a worthy chronicle of the last two weeks. Rather than a chronological exposition, we'll start with the highlight--Daniel's second birthday. A quick note to let you know that the birthday photos are brought to you by John's technological ingenuity, as they were inadvertently deleted from the camera without showing up on the computer. I downloaded them, then downloaded a second set (non-birthday), deleted all photos from the camera and went to the folder where they download only to find just the second download. While I panicked and waged an internal battle between logic (they're only pictures) and emotion (they're the ONLY pictures of his second birthday! I wonder if I could make another cake and re-stage the whole thing without confusing them...) John went to work looking up freeware programs that allow you to recover deleted files. He tried two or three before finding one that worked. A huge sigh of maternal relief. But seriously, how could I not be disappointed at the prospect of losing this photo:
Or this one:
For the occasion we decided on a pineapple upside down cake. We'd had a lot of cake recently with Christmas, Ed's birthday and Grandma's birthday so I was looking for something different. I was thinking banana, but when I opened the cookbook for the recipe, the pineapple upside down picture grabbed Edward's attention. He thought it looked good, and I liked that it was a simple, one-layer cake--a lot less left over! Daniel said, "Mmmmm, that's good cake" and gobbled it up. And we had pasta with marinara for dinner and did not wash his face before cake. John said it's his "Homer Simpson" look.
Our present to Daniel was this tent, to which our play tunnel can be connected. It's big enough for two kids and an adult (if the adult is flexible) and has already been "a bargain at twice the price" for the indoor entertainment novelty. In addition to a regular old tent, it has also been a fire truck, an ambulance, a bear cave, a dog house, a school, and a bakery.
Aware that it might be difficult for Edward to have Daniel at the center of attention, I took him the day before the birthday to pick out a present that he could give Daniel. He selected a Fisher Price Little People birthday set and wanted to know if I thought Daniel would need help opening it. Also, could he play with it as soon as Daniel opened it? So, marginal success on the lesson in giving. Ed actually did very well throughout the day, but had a complete meltdown at bath/bed time, finally wailing, "I'm just too tired!"

Daniel loved all the presents and wanted each item not just unwrapped, but fully relieved of its packaging immediately. Still, I managed to secret away a few things that will be much more necessary come March or rainy summer.

As with the tent, we've found that most toys are used for many things beyond their intrinsic purpose. For Christmas, Daniel got a doctor kit and Edward a tool set, but Daniel is just as inclined to use the tools to "fix" himself or others and both kids love using the reflex "hammer" in the doctor bag to "fix" the wall.
As mentioned, we've had lots of indoor time recently as our year started out as only the fourth on record with average temperatures below zero.
I don't know how the daycare teachers survive when there is no outdoor play to break up the days. We marshaled all our creative resources and got through with some coloring, many games of chase, lots of different wooden train configurations, countless games of Cars dominoes/Zingo/Hungry Caterpillar/Thomas cards, and a few trips to fun indoor spots like the Children's Museum.

We also tried a place at the mall with a large, indoor, soft-padded climbing maze. Before stopping there, we needed to hit the store across the way for a birthday gift for Grandma. We were looking for a picture frame, but also told Edward that Grandma likes snowmen. As we were browsing, we suddenly heard from behind a discount display of Christmas ornaments, "LOOK!!! It's a snowman POLICEMAN!!!" You'd have thought he struck gold. This was of course purchased and proudly presented by Edward later in the week. I wonder if he'll remember it as fondly when the tree goes up next year?

Another bonus during the cold snap were the new pajamas I'd found at the Carter's outlet post-Christmas.
Also made for some very cozy Orange Bowl viewing, although I must say that even though they are Hawkeyes through-and-through, they were MUCH more excited about getting to eat Oreos in the living room than about the game itself. As soon as the cookies were gone, Daniel pronounced himself ready for bed. He might have seen one or two plays in the game, as it started at about 7:15 p.m. Edward stayed up a bit longer (perhaps through the first quarter?) but still had to wait 'til morning for the good news. Go Hawks!
In additional Edward news, he had his four-year well-child check up the first week of January and was pronounced in good health and right on track with the growth curve. He's tipping the scales at just under 38 pounds and is about 40 inches tall. Surprisingly, that's only about three inches taller and five pounds heavier than he was at his last check up a year ago. I would be willing to bet that at least two and possibly all three of those inches have come since September, as we feel like he's growing from one night to the next morning. His well-established curiosity (why? why? why?) now extends to clusters of letters and full words, as he frequently asks "What does (insert string of letters here) spell?" The other day he asked about a word, and when I told him it was "light," he responded, "Then why does it have a 'g' in it?" A good reminder of the insanity that we call the English language!

While we were at the doctor,I also snuck Daniel on the scale for a quick comparison. He's about 33 pounds, but we'll get the official weigh-in at his own check up later this month. (Quick note about the doctor, whose name is Stacey McConkey: Daniel has taken to refering to her as "Donkey Conkey.") I knew there wouldn't be much difference. Daniel is now wearing many of the clothes Edward wore just last winter. I am going to be really bummed if he thwarts my hand-me-down plans and ends up the same size as his brother, leaving me to buy two wardrobes in each size!

This is my last Monday night at home until April. Another class starts next week--Global Business Policy. I have every hope that I will be able to leave my calculator stashed in my book bag for the duration of the term.