My New Pet

Jake had to miss my birthday this year due to another Livermore trip but wanted to make up for it by getting me something he knew I would love and could get really excited about:


Welcome, Roomba! I have been drooling over these since I first heard they had been invented. I guess I really have a thing for robotesque appliances that make my life easier and I just know that Roomba and Future Trash will become great friends!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I wanted to share a couple of pictures of Daniel in his schnazzy green shirt. He wasn't in the mood to pose, so this was the best I could do. I bought the shirt on a recent shopping trip because I thought it would look great on him, and this morning it occurred to me that it would be the perfect attire for St. Patrick's Day!

I had to wrestle him to get the shirt on because for some reason he hates to wear shirts with buttons. Normally I don't fight my kids on what they want (or don't want) to wear, but we were headed to a St. Patrick's Day potluck at preschool and, like I mentioned, I knew that this was the shirt for the occasion. Besides, he thanked me for it later after all the compliments he received (or at least he would have if he cared about such things).

I love being a mom!

I can't explain why, but I loved the feeling I had last night while staying up way too late making way too many mini-cupcakes for Joshua to share with his friends at preschool to help celebrate his birthday. Maybe it's because I was doing it all for such a special guy!

Caught in the Act

Having completed shopping for Joshua's birthday presents today, Leslie and I were taking advantage of some free time this evening to get them wrapped. Joshua, who is so well behaved he NEVER gets out of bed at night, got thirsty and came out to ask for a drink. I tried to obscure the presents while Leslie whisked him away for some water, but apparently I didn't do a good enough job of it. While getting his drink, he whispered conspiratorially to Leslie, "I couldn't see the top of the box, but it looked like it might be a Lego set. It looked like it might be a lot of fun!"

Cookies!

The boys helped Leslie make cookies last night. Not only is it exciting to help cook, but with cookies it's exciting to eat them fresh from the oven too!

Daniel had a rather unique way of eating his. Instead of holding it and taking bites, he pushed his finger into the still-melted chocolate chips, the cookie equivalent of getting poked in the eye.

I guess for him that's the best part. Yummy!

All the World's a Stage...

I've said this before, but let me blog it: they call it the terrible twos not because it's the stage kids are at when they're two, but because it lasts for two years (18 to 42 months). Our son Daniel is at the peak of it, being about two and a half. He's given up naps, but still gets tired in the afternoon and can fall apart in the evenings.

This evening was one of those. "I'm tired and can't deal with it" activities include tearing stuff off of shelves and tables, too much playing with food, and finally unprovoked violence. Leslie recognized it as a stage of life when she suggested to Daniel, "You're just acting like a two year old, aren't you?"

We didn't anticipate his response: "I am NOT acting."