Happy St. Patrick's Day! And what a glorious day it was--mid-70s and sunny. It surely is the warmest St. Patrick's Day in my life. Where were these warm breezes when we were seated along the Chicago parade route basking in the glory of the 1980s?

Anyway, we had a fun day. Our early morning photo shoot was a bit frenetic as I tried to capture the festive t-shirts before whatever might befall them at daycare. (They actually made it through relatively unscathed.) During naptime I pulled out the grill and wiped down the patio table for our "Irish picnic" dinner--first grilled burgers of the season! I also converted our stroller to give Ed the option to sit or stand--one of the features that led to its selection last year. He still wanted to sit, but was more willing to walk along for a bit knowing he could get in and out easily. We took it for a spin up to the park for a little while and enjoyed lots of climbing and sliding. Daniel accidentally tackled a little girl--first time he's made a girl (other than his mom) cry. She definitely wasn't hurt, and her dad said she was "sensitive," but I still felt bad. He just lost his balance near her and ended up falling on her. I had him blow her a kiss while her dad held her for a few minutes and she seemed to recover, though she would not go near him again.

We blocked off the porch door with a sturdy patio chair so the kids would not be tempted to leave the porch while the coals were heating on the grill. (Mom: no worries, I was right there the whole time; the chair was just the visual reminder that we were staying in.) This basketball shot shows (I think) the full glory of Ed's outfit, including shamrock sweats recovered from the "archives" at my parents' house over the weekend. The elastic isn't quite as stretchy as it might have been once, but the drawstring keeps them up. He was very impressed with himself, though he did decide to change to shorts once John got home.

While I was getting dinner together, playtime apparently devolved to belly rubbing. Guess you gotta go with your strengths when it comes to sporting endeavors.


Dinner was great, though Daniel was more into the bun (and chips) than the hamburger. Ed still calls them "han-ga-burgers" and devoured his along with tons of carrots. Guess all the fresh air makes them hungry. Tired, too, if these photos are any indication. All in all, a great day. Looking forward to many more as the weather stays nicer. 50s forecast the rest of the week--not exactly tropical, but definitely no longer winter. A note at daycare telling parents to take all winter gear (snow pants, extra hats/mittens, etc.) home truly signals the onset of spring.

As mentioned, we spent the weekend with my parents and had fun with them as well as visiting aunts, uncle and cousins. Saturday morning we went for a ride on the "el" because Edward has been saying for weeks that he wanted to ride on a train. He frequently asks if we can go to the dry cleaner on the way home from daycare because that route involves three separate train crossings. I used to dread the lowering of the gates and the flashing lights, but now I'm actually driving out of my way to try to find them. Anyway, he was definitely interested in the train experience, but didn't gush with excitement. I think it was a lot to take in. We only rode five stops north and then got off and waited on the other side of the platform for the southbound return. The park at the end might have been a highlight. We'd never seen a spinner quite like this one, but Ed got a kick out of it. His cousin Katherine wasn't too sure. Nora almost got blackmail video of John trying it out, but he saw the camera too soon. For more weekend photos, check out my sister's blog.

We've hit the highlights; now for the lowlight. While we were there I came down with strep throat. AGAIN! Ugh! This was Saturday night and not severe enough for an ER trip, so my dad made me some tea and I found some (unexpired) Tylenol and went to bed. Daniel was also suffering with an ear infection that had been diagnosed on Thursday. Since he wasn't running a fever they recommended just treating the pain with topical anesthetic ear drops, but gave us an antibiotic prescription in case that didn't do the trick. Sunday morning, after two nights of multiple scream-fests, we sent PopPop to Walgreens to fill the prescription. Sunday night he slept like a baby...which, of course, he is. Wish we'd just filled it right away, but I do understand that not everything needs to be treated this way.

I went to the doctor Monday morning and once again the "15-minute" rapid strep test was showing positive in less than five minutes. Amoxicilin this time and things are improving. I like that it's only a twice a day med. This bout definitely was not as bad as the last, but I have no need to keep repeating this pattern just to prove I can survive it.

This week is the university's spring break, which does not mean staff holiday, but which does mean a week off from my class. It reminds me of what I like about NOT being in school. I kind of feel like it's over since I'm not thinking about homework or planning my week around the Thursday night away from home. However, we still have four weeks to go. I'll survive--statistics is boring, but at least it's formulaic.

We had a couple of warm days last week and enjoyed some time in the back yard. It was still a little muddy in spots, but for the most part, a great space for running, jumping, throwing balls, finding sticks, and a host of other wonders. You can see this tends to make a boy thirsty. The mud will certainly be with us for a while after about two inches of rain over the weekend left our yard looking like a lake in spots. More rain tonight. We didn't have as much snow this year, but people are still on edge worrying about flooding.

Daniel was doing pretty well with keeping the hat on. He tried pulling it off a couple of times, but was easily distracted into forgetting he was wearing it. We also made sure he saw that Ed was wearing his. It reminds me of teaching Ed to keep his hat on in his first summer "on the go" and it eventually became habit. It's a necessary fashion accessory for the thin of hair.

Inside, anything and everything can be made into a hat. For a few months now, since we took him to see a local country/folk/family band at a fundraiser, Ed has used the blue hat Daniel is wearing above as his "Mike Finders hat." (Mike was wearing a cowboy hat with a dangling chin string during the performance, so I guess this hat's strap is an acceptable substitute for Edward.) The first time I saw him take the arm cover for our couch and put it on his head I nearly fell over laughing. My sisters (and maybe my brother, but not sure he'll own up to it) used to do this all the time. We girls pretended it was long hair, since we were never allowed to keep our hair long. Sometimes they were veils, as we saw on the nuns in our elementary school. Ed hasn't specified any particular function, but still finds it all amusing.

You may recall Edward's snowplow preference. His latest distinction is based on the type of lights atop our local police cars. He noticed that some have "square" lights and some have "rectangle" and has registered a clear preference for square. In case you didn't know that there actually were different kinds of lights, I will attempt to describe. The "square" lights look like a series of individual lights in a row, or maybe a slight 'v' shape on top of the car. The "rectangle" lights are all in one bar across the top. Apparently this just ruins the aesthetic.

Yesterday in the 45 minutes between the end of dinner and bath time, Daniel stumbled or tumbled about six times. He's either in a growth spurt or has some sort of inner-ear imbalance thing going on. Some of these incidents are clearly a case of his overestimating his own physical prowess, such as when he stood on the step between the dining room and library and thought he could bend over from the waist and pick something up from the lower step. That resulted in a head-over-heels tumble down the two steps. Other times, he's just walking and either falls or crashes into something. Maybe it's a depth-perception thing...Hmmm. I guess we'll just watch and see. Maybe he'll get more coordinated with time. Lucky for him, most of his spills are easy to bounce back from. It's the rare one (like the steps) that result in lengthy consolation.

He's actually mastered the steps (with the rare exception noted above) so that we don't have to chase him down and body block when he's headed toward them. We still go with, but he now dutifully turns himself around (sometimes several feet before the edge of the step) and scoots down on his belly. This means we can keep the door open between the dining room and library for access to a full "loop." We do a lot of walking in circles now.

Daniel also has been "singing" a version of "Row, row, row your boat" to our endless amusement. Edward taught us all a new verse that is "Row, row, row your boat underneath the stream. Ha ha, fooled you! I'm a submarine!" If we start with "row row row" Daniel will chime in with "Ha ha ha" and then continue on his own "row row; ha ha ha!" and then clap for himself.

Oh, and a note for posterity: Daniel has given up his bottles. He had been down to just one a day, before bed, and drinking the rest of the time from sippy cups. After about a week of nightly soaking due to over-capacity overnight diapers, we decided that we had to cut this pre-bed liquid. He actually did fine with the transition (about two weeks ago)--a little crying and some extra snuggles on the first two nights, but now he has a paci while we read some stories and then goes to bed with little fuss. Yet another passageway from "baby" to "toddler." Now, what do I do with all the bottles?

I knew we were short on photos this week so we took the camera to Grandma and Grandpa's on Saturday night hoping for a few choice moments. We were not disappointed. You, however, will be, as we left the camera there and opted not to make a special trip for its retrieval since we'll be back again on Tuesday.

So I'll take this opportunity to share two old photos, joined together to illustrate our continuing journey with the March of Dimes.


Many of you know that we have been involved with the March of Dimes since Will's death. Each spring we join the March for Babies, a nationwide fundraiser for the organization's work to give all babies a healthy start to life. We have been so grateful for the support of so many family and friends along this journey. We have always been deliberate in our requests for whatever support you can offer--whether physical (walking with us), moral (cheering us as we prep for and complete the walk) or financial (direct contributions to the March of Dimes in the name of Team Kenyon.) This year we're putting special emphasis on the physical.

In 2009 we will celebrate 40 years since John's birth, three weeks early at a tiny four pounds on December 5, 1969; 2009 will also mark five years since Will was born, October 26, 2004, fifteen and a half weeks early.

In honor of these two milestones, we are hoping to have 40 members of Team Kenyon, walking 5 miles in the March for Babies.

We've never had more than about 15, so we are aware that this is an ambitious goal. However, we don't think we'd have trouble getting 40 people to come out for a party, and since John would sooner divorce me than let me throw a birthday party, we thought this might be the best alternative.

We'll walk in Iowa City on Saturday, April 18, starting in City Park at 8:30 a.m. We'd love to have as many as possible join us here, but there are walks all over the country so there's no need to travel.

Click here to join Team Kenyon and then click on "walk with me" just under the photo. There's also a "sponsor my walk" link there or on John's page.

Hope to see you there. Who knows...maybe this will be the year we finally plan ahead enough to get our own team t-shirts!

Medical update: John has strep throat; Daniel has impetigo. Prescriptions are being filled. Can Edward possibly emerge unscathed?

I believe we need a quarantine sign for our front door. My mid-week mild sore throat was full-blown strep by Friday, knocking me out for a full day and leaving John a single parent. Thank goodness he was able to pick the kids up at noon, work from home during naps, and then take the rest of the day off. There is no way I could have kept them safe and entertained. I believe I was out of bed for a total of about three hours on Friday including the time it took to get to the doctor and back. I was horrified at first when the nurse said it would take 48 hours for the throat culture results. I asked about the rapid test and she said, "Oh, yeah, if that's positive they don't do the culture. It takes 40 minutes." I don't think she believed I was sick because she didn't measure a fever. I believe that was operator error on her part (or the equipment) since I'd taken 100.7 at home just before I left and deliberately did not take ibuprofen until after they'd taken my vitals. Anyway, the 40-minute test was returned in less than 15 with a positive result so I was out the door with my prescription.

I was feeling better by noonish on Saturday (24 hours after first meds) and back up to speed by Sunday. However, John started feeling sick Sunday night and Daniel woke up with a rash all over his cheek this morning. I thought I remembered something about a rash associated with strep and looked it up. This said the abdomen would show the fist signs and Daniel's is confined to his right cheek and ear. But it also said a rash like this can be a strep skin infection (rather than accompanying strep throat) if the bacteria enters the body through a cut, scrape, etc. Daniel's nose has been red, raw for at least a week from being wiped so often, so there definitely would have been opportunity for me to infect him before I knew I was contagious. Poor kid.

We couldn't get in to the dr. until 1:30 this afternoon, so John is going to take him and get his own throat culture in the same trip. Will Ed be next? Stay tuned, but we sure hope not!

The silver lining for Daniel is that he enjoyed his first Jell-O on Friday when I was having an afternoon "snack." Whenever Daniel sees someone eating, he screams and grunts, pointing at the food item until it is shared with him. Obviously, he got his own cup in this case. As you'll see, he kinda liked it.

Edward has entered a very oppositional stage. His response to nearly everything is "No" or "I don't want to" even if it's something innocuous or something he clearly would enjoy. Tonight he sat in the doorway of the kitchen because he announced, "I don't want to eat dinner." This despite the fact that he'd been asking me for a second snack less than 30 minute prior. I told him he did not have to eat dinner (chicken chili, which he likes), but he could not be in the kitchen unless he was at the table eating with us, so he stood and sat in the doorway trying to get our attention while we attempted to carry on a conversation and "ignore him into submission." He eventually came to the table after we were completely done eating, so John took Daniel to play, and Edward ate while I cleaned up. It's a really irritating stage (and we PRAY it truly is something fleeting.) For the most part we are successful in either ignoring the behavior or pointing out unfavorable consequences. "Don't want to put your shoes on? OK, well then you'll have to stay home while I take Daniel to school." Of course this is a dangerous path in itself since I couldn't actually follow through and leave him at home. Oh well.

To counter-balance with cuteness, over the weekend he shoved his new stuffed dog (photo above) under his shirt and pretended he had a "baby in my belly that will come out on my birthday." One of the teachers he sometimes interacts with is pregnant, and I think has been answering the "when is the baby coming" question with "on her birthday." So this was all very cute as he wandered around for a bit in this state. Then I saw him bending and stretching backward at angles while holding his lower back in a very good imitation of a pregnant woman, and he said, "Oh, it's hard to sit down when you have a baby in your belly!" It took me a while to recover from that one!

Daniel has been expanding his vocabulary a bit. I think I'd previously reported "uh-oh" and "no" but he also says "bye-bye" with a wave and "ni-night" while laying his head on your shoulder or the floor or wherever he happens to be. He does this when tired, but also at random intervals throughout the day, as if practicing for when he actually becomes tired. He can say "ball" and what we assume to be "brother" because he seems to use it in reference to Edward. These are very hard to distinguish--context is helpful. Ball kind of sounds like "baw" and brother is more of a straight on "baa." He can also say something like "my ball," which I believe to be somewhat Darwinian in terms of self-defense/preservation. He just started saying "Hi" in the last week. He's been able to sign and say "more" for a while now, and he just had a break though over the weekend in learning to sign "help me." Thank God! The alternative is endless screeching and grunting in frustration to the point where I'm ready to join in the howl!

Yesterday it was sunny and 60. Today it is rainy and 38. Yesterday all the snow melted. More snow is expected on Friday. Such is life in the Midwest. We knew it couldn't last so we bolted outside as soon as naps were over. In fact, Daniel and I ventured as far as the porch while Ed was still sleeping. Daniel was quite intrigued by the concept of the "open door." He stood there for a while looking out, then played with the inside door, opening and closing over and over. When he started banging with both hands on the screen door, I got our shoes and sweatshirts.

We were headed down the driveway with the wagon when John pulled up, home an hour early from work. Perfect day for playing hooky. We started walking while he went in to change. Progress was slow as we stopped to splash in puddles and explore what has been covered in snow for the last two months. He caught up with us in less than a block. At that point we knew both boys would have to ride if we were going to make it to the park (four blocks.) Here's what we were doing while waiting for John:



Fashion disclaimer: Edward's ladybug rain boots were a hand-me-down from our former neighbor. I just remembered they were stashed away after he soaked himself splashing on Monday. Edward LOVES them and never wants to wear any other footwear. John is less enthusiastic.

We played at the park for an hour, trying to soak up every last ray of the setting sun. Daniel is a climber--quite adventurous and with no concept of his own physical limitations. This will definitely make for an interesting spring/summer!

During Monday's afternoon adventure, which was much more puddly, we took Daniel's push walker outside. It is now permanently an outdoor toy as it is well-acquainted with mud and melted snow. In its place, we finally brought out Daniel's birthday present (a shopping cart), which did not arrive in time for his actual birthday due in part to poor planning and in part due to poor retail. (I assumed I could buy this locally and didn't realize until six days before his birthday that none of our local stores carry it. I had to order online.) As luck would have it, we also had two final Christmas presents from my aunt and uncle, delivered last weekend when my parents visited. This somewhat reduced Edward's "entitlement" attitude toward Daniel's new toy, but we still had some refereeing to do.



Fashion disclaimer 2: Edward required a change of pants after our park adventure and insisted on shorts. It wasn't really this warm, but what the heck.

In closing, one last photo I forgot to post last time. I think this is the mental picture of fatherhood John had before any actual kids arrived on the scene. It was quite cute, though, of course, short-lived. (For the pop-culture-impaired among us, this is father and son enjoying the Bruce Springsteen performance at halftime during the Superbowl.)

Edward experienced his first Iowa Hawkeye basketball game today, and while it wasn't a memorable game, I hope he had a good enough time to remember it and want to go again some day.

We decided today would be the best chance we'd have to do this for quite some time. Tickets were only $10 because the team isn't very good, it was a 5 p.m. game which puts it right between nap time and bed time, and it was warm enough that we wouldn't be fighting stiff, cold winds to trek to the arena.

We got there early and went down to courtside to see how tall the players really are. We also got to hear the band. Ed's one word review: "Loud!" My dad and his neighbor also were at the game, and even though their seats were much better than ours, we were able to sit with them for the entire time we were there (note I didn't say the entire game). It was really too long for Edward's short attention span, but he did enjoy parts of it, and actually seemed to pay attention to the game itself for a moment here or there. His favorite part was the male cheerleaders walking on their hands for the length of the court, something he told Mary about tonight after doing a somersault after we got home.

I was worried that we wouldn't make it very long. About mid-way through the first half, he turned to me and said, "I'm done, I want to leave." A well-timed hot dog dinner kept his interest through the end of the half. I had promised popcorn, too, but in the middle of halftime, he declared again that he wanted to go, putting his head down on my lap for emphasis. We grabbed our coats, said our goodbyes and walked up the 20 or so rows worth of stairs to the top. I tried to get him to put on his coat, but he refused, saying he wanted popcorn. I said we could get some to eat on the trip home, but he said, "No, I want to eat it down there," pointing back down to where we had been sitting. So, we got the popcorn and he sat on my lap, eating it happily for the first part of the second half. We finally called Mary for our ride and left with about five minutes left. It was great to have chauffeur service, and nice that the Hawks pulled off a win, 56-51, in Ed's first live game experience.

Let us all now pause for a moment to admire Daniel's first shiner. It happened at daycare on Thursday when he was attempting to maneuver around another child seated in a chair at the table. The other child decided to get up, Daniel lost his balance and "biffed it"--the exact words of his teacher when she called to report the injury. Apparently his misery was short-lived--he was back to playing after a few hugs and some ice--but the evidence remains. This photo was taken the next morning--a little puffy, but otherwise no big deal.

We're in the middle of our annual February thaw--it's 50 today and not supposed to dip below freezing until Tuesday night. We took the opportunity for some "outdoor" play yesterday--on the screen porch. There's still enough snow that full snow gear would be required outside, but it was warm enough that this probably wouldn't have been too comfortable. Plus, it's so much less effort to just throw on jackets and shoes and play on the porch. They did go out to the "melted" part of the yard for a bit, but it was pretty muddy. It actually was a little chillier than I thought because Ed asked for mittens and his hat. His mittens were still soaked from his morning play at school, but I got the hat and he seemed happy. In the end, it was Daniel who tired of the endeavor first. Both had to change pants when we came in--the porch may not be snowy, but it's still damp if you sit on the floor. Ed was disappointed that all his comfy sweats were in the laundry but he pulled out shorts and asked if he could wear them? Why not? This excitement carried through the whole evening, especially when John came home and decided he'd follow suit after changing from his work clothes.

Speaking of excitement, it seems the stars have aligned for Ed to attend his first Hawkeye basketball game later this afternoon. It's a rare 5 p.m. start time, which means no conflict with sleeping (usually they're earlier in the afternoon conflicting with naps or later in the evening conflicting with bedtime) and the team is SO abysmal this year that they've actually started selling tickets for $10 each just to get people in the seats. Attendance has been hovering at around half the arena capacity, a sad commentary on fair-weather fans, but honestly, would you pay $30+ to watch the 10th ranked team in the Big 10? We wouldn't pay that much for a three-year-old EVER. We'll see how it goes. John is hoping they'll make it through at least the first half and anything after that is gravy.

A brief update on my academic pursuits. I'm taking statistics this semester and have already made it through 1/4 of the class (3 weeks.) It's pretty boring so far, but that's almost welcome after my challenges with finance last semester. The book is open on the desk next to me, but I'm not terribly inspired to work on the homework. The time required for reading and homework (at least so far) is much more within my comfort zone.

Tonight was the "Winter Wonderland" show at the daycare. Edward has been singing his class's song for more than a month because this was originally scheduled for December, but had to be rescheduled due to an actual winter wonderland--six inches of snow that day. When it was his class's turn, guess who would not get out of his chair? Oh well.

Daniel actually did get up with his class, but only wore this costume for about 4.2 seconds. However, he managed to steal the show anyway by grooving to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." He was swaying and bouncing as the teachers sang and attempted to get the kids (mostly older...closer to 2) to do some simple hand gestures. As they approached the final "How I wonder what you are?" Daniel started clapping wildly, anticipating the audience reaction.It was definitely an ambitious project given the "talent" available. They hadn't done anything like this before, and the teachers put a lot of effort into making it fun and festive.

In other news, I've neglected to share some recent favorites from the Edward lexicon. A favorite snack of late has been "yo-grit," which we keep in the "fridgalater." Also, he's been very interested in spelling out words wherever he sees them--books, cereal boxes, the morning paper, the poster in his room, etc. After some confusion over punctuation, John seems to have succeeded in explaining that an 'i' has the dot on top and an exclamation point has the dot on the bottom. Still, pronunciation is a challenge: "ex-ta-ma-tion pont." (Not sure I'm getting that quite right...John may have to adjust later.)

We're actually quite amazed at all the spelling. He's known letters for quite a while, but is now seeming to understand that they combine into all sorts of words, not just his own name. It's so interesting to watch their little minds expand and develop.

Edward was annoying me in the post-school, pre-nap phase of the day (which was longer than it should have been, hence the annoyance.) So I need to post two funny stories as a reminder of what a great kid he really is. I will balance that with Daniel photos that have nothing to do with these stories.

Earlier this month Edward learned about John's contacts while watching him in the morning. John has let him wear his glasses (closely supervised) but I don't think Ed ever realized that when John isn't wearing glasses (most of the time) he still has vision correction. So they discussed it in detail and Edward moved on with his morning. Later at snack time, Edward was having Cheerios (his request.) I was washing dishes with my back to him when he called out, "Mom, look." I turned around to see him with his eyes closed pressing a Cheerio against each eyelid: "These are my contacts!" I was laughing so hard I had to call John at work to tell him what was happening at home. This has been repeated a few times but not always announced. The way we know what he's been up to is the milk drops on his cheeks.

The second tidbit isn't so much a story as an observation. Whenever we're in the car we have a running commentary on all manner of vehicles and snowplows are definitely part of the mix. Late last week Edward informed me, "I like the big, big snowplows, not the pick-up kind." That is, the only satisfactory snowplows are the actual city trucks. Any schmo who can attach a plow blade to his pick-up is a mere poseur and not worth a three-year-old's observational energy. Now, whenever we see a pick-up snowplow, Edward announces, "I don't like that kind."

These winter photos and video are from a week ago Sunday, before the deep freeze of last week. We finally made it back out today for a bit of snow play. Daniel likes riding in the sled, but he's not so much about the walking in snow. Hard to blame him since he's pretty much as wide as he is tall in all this gear. It can't be easy to move. During the outing pictured here he did in fact face-plant into a snow drift at least once. This was not his favorite, but he was willing to be brushed with my relatively dry glove and keep going. Edward also enjoys the snow flop, but he's coordinated enough to execute it face up (usually) and then follow it up with a snow angel.

Today we spent some time on our screen porch, which had enough snow for filling buckets and dumping them/spreading the snow all over. Daniel preferred this sedentary occupation. Ed took his shovel out to a snow drift and dug around a bit. I eventually retrieved the sled (no easy task as both of our gates are "snowed shut" and the sled was on the front porch) and gave Daniel some rides down our "swail." He was good for a bit, but finally could not be persuaded to stay out any longer. Ed wasn't ready to come in, but a promise of hot chocolate did the trick. He decided he prefers "warm chocolate," though John noted that this would be a much tougher marketing pitch.



Since our August move, a number of friends have asked for house pictures. I never really feel the house itself is picture worthy as most of the time our decor can only be described as "scattered toys." But here is a shot that captures one of my favorite features--the walk-in closet in the master bedroom. I think I have said it before, but it bears repeating, this closet is bigger than my childhood bedroom. Edward and Daniel like to play in it--you can't believe how many different things an empty hanger or a cedar shoetree can be. Also, the whole closet is occasionally a train, frequently Chicago-bound to see Gram and PopPop.

Daniel had his 12-month check-up last Thursday (the day the high was 7 below zero!) and received a glowing report. He's up to 25 1/4 pounds and 30 3/4 inches. His height and weight seem to be evening out a bit at around the 80th percentile. (he's been a bit higher in weight than height in terms of percentiles.) His doctor gave his thighs a good squeeze on exam since we'll all be sad to see them melt away as he continues the marathon that is his daily life. I am not exaggerating when I say that he is never still. And let's note that both the shirt and pants in these two pictures have now been retired to the "outgrown" bin. Those stripes just couldn't stretch any further.

These and the series below show one of my least favorite features of this house: the two steps up from the front hall to the living room. There are another two from the dining room down to the library, but at least there is a pocket door to close those off. Here we have an extra-wide doorway and a door frame that is even with the lower step, which has made it virtually impossible to find a gate to block it off. Instead, we have to run after him every time he beelines for this area because he simply will not stop on his own. He thinks he can walk down like Edward does and will not be deterred until you catch him and flip him over to crawl down on his belly. The low point of the deep freeze week was the afternoon I finally got tired of chasing him and pushed the couch across the room to block the doorway. It kind of freaked Edward out, but it totally worked. Daniel didn't even head in that direction the rest of the afternoon.

Speaking of "like Edward," Daniel also had his first "I want the same thing as my brother" tantrum today at snack time. He was happily eating some wheat crackers before Edward woke up. Ed came down mid-snack and asked for Goldfish crackers. Once he had the bowl in front of him, Daniel started shrieking, pointing, flailing and arching his back, refusing another bite of the crackers he was eating. He was silenced when I placed three Goldfish on his tray. They were in his mouth within seconds.

I took the boys for a quick trip to the grocery store this afternoon. We needed milk and a few other things, and it was a good excuse to get out of the house after being confined by record sub-zero temperatures all week. (The local schools were actually closed Wednesday for snow and Thursday and Friday because of the danger of having kids out walking to school and because the diesel bus fuel turns to gel at these temperatures. Luckily our daycare follows the university's weather closing routine so it was open.)

The store didn't have two-seat carts and Edward didn't want to walk. He actually suggested he could ride in a separate cart from Daniel. I'm not sure how he thought I'd push two at once. To avoid a meltdown I let him ride for the first time ever in one of those carts that has a fire truck on the front. I have always avoided those because they're so unwieldy. I am still scarred from an experience five years ago when I misjudged the awkward steering and ended up smashing my niece's fingers against a freezer case. (Oh, Colleen, how your tears broke my heart!) But today, Edward was in heaven, calling out "Honk honk! Everybody out of the way!" all through the store. And to top it all off, on the way home we arrived at a train crossing just as the lights were flashing and the gates lowering and for the first time in my life I was actually excited to sit and wait for the coming freight train. Edward counted five engines, two oil cars (which actually were labeled corn syrup) and lost count of the box cars. Who knew such thrills awaited in a simple grocery run?

Happy 1st Birthday Daniel! Look how far we've come in a year!

I just downloaded 92 pictures and videos from the camera including about 20 of Daniel eating his cake with supreme gusto. I'll post a few now and dole the rest out over a few days. It was a fun day, but I'm exhausted and ready to put my feet up on the couch, perhaps with a beverage in hand.

We had about four inches of new snow overnight so of course John started the day with shovel in hand. Because of that, he didn't have time for the big car seat turn-around before we had to leave for our appointment at the Sears portrait studio. Many, many prints are forthcoming at the end of the month, but here's a preview.

(The car seat has since been switched and I am very much looking forward to a forward-facing Daniel.)

The snow must have kept people home because the indoor play area at the mall was not insane. That was the reward for cooperation with the photos. Both boys ran around like mad in there--climbing, crawling, jumping. Well...just Ed on the jumping!

After naps, Grandma and Grandpa came for some birthday fun. Presents, dinner and...CAKE! Daniel wasn't too interested in the lasagna, focusing mostly on the grapes and crackers on his dinner tray. But when the cake came, look out! We were laughing so hard, and he was loving every gooey minute. Here are a few showing the progression:

One of my mom's secrets to surviving six children was to invent games that allowed a period of rest without losing any luster for the youngster involved. In her case it was "camping." She was able to convince a child who thought s/he was beyond napping age that it would be fun to "camp" in the den with a sleeping bag on the floor. She would lay on the couch in the other "tent." And in this way she secured precious moments of rest on weary afternoons.

I employed a similar tactic this week when I was struck with a nasty stomach bug and had little energy for the afternoon romp. Edward woke up from his nap an hour earlier than expected and had no interest in "snuggle" time, which sometimes leads to additional nap time. So we came downstairs and I laid on the couch trying to conserve strength for when Daniel would awake. Edward decided that his blocks were packages and he was the delivery man. He stood between the couch and chair calling out "Ding dong," which prompted me to "startle" awake so he could deliver the package, leaving it on top of my prone body. Later, after John came home, Edward asked him to "play package." John thought he knew what to do until Edward said, "No, sleep!" There was no way to instruct in the nuances of this game, so a demonstration was in order. John laughed his way to the camera to preserve this moment for posterity.

The bug had departed by New Year's Day, but we still held to our tradition of staying in pajamas all day. The Hawkeyes helped with our entertainment needs, crushing South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. But mostly, we just lolled about playing various games, reading books, doing puzzles, and, in Daniel's case, wandering mostly aimlessly from room to room. Not a bad way to kick off the new year.

Very little other news to report. It was a weird week with a sick day and a holiday. We'll be glad to get back to routine this week, though five days of work in a row seems like a long stretch!

Here are two videos: first the "bowling" game John invented with Edward's Christmas blocks from Gram and PopPop, and second, random babbling from Daniel, who amuses himself.