Friday, May 23, 2014

Spelling B

From last night:

Me: “I think tonight it will be early B-E-D for H.”
Brad: “Sounds good to me.”
Harper: “What is B-E-D?”...
Me: “Why don’t you sound it out?”
Harper: “Buh-Buh-Buh. EEE-EEE.”
Me: “Actually, this ‘e’ sounds like ‘eh’.”
Harper: “Eh-Eh-Eh. Duh-Duh-Duh. Buh-Eh-Duh.” (thinking) “But I don’t want to go to bed!”


I fear the jig is up.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Word Monkey

Harper's favorite place on Earth is the Florida Aquarium. We have been regulars there for years now, so much so that she said her first word there ("Duck!") and, to keep the family tradition of reaching milestones there, recently Will stood up for the first time in the changing room.

I turned around and caught him doing this.

"Look what I can do all by myself, mom!"

There is a new Madagascar exhibit on the third floor, the centerpiece of which being a lemur enclosure featuring three Ring-Tailed Lemurs; two males and a female. One of the males has a shaved tail due to a recent veterinary procedure, so he’s very easy to pick out.


These are NOT monkeys.

Today, about an hour into our sojourn, we went up to the third floor so I could nurse Will in relative peace while Harper enjoyed looking at the giant reef tank and the lemurs. As you have probably surmised by now, Harper is a bit of a Social Sally, so to kill time she befriended a little boy about her age who was there with his parents. She took the opportunity to explain the lemur exhibit to him (after his parents mistakenly referred to the lemurs as monkeys not once but twice).
   
Harper (pointing at the lemur with the shaved tail): “See! That’s a lemur!”

Boy: “Monkey.”

Harper: “Not a monkey. He’s a lemur. He’s a boy lemur.”

Boy’s Mother (incredulously): “How do you know he’s a boy?”

Harper (Matter-of-Factly): “He has a penis.”


She will really use any opportunity to show off her vocabulary.


Thursday, May 15, 2014

Boob

To be blunt, Will has been a little constipated. Ever practical, I decided to give him apple juice in a bottle to "loosen him up" a little. 

What's important to understand here is that I nurse my babies (no pumping) so Will has literally never drank anything from a bottle before. (Harper only saw her first baby drink from a bottle a couple of weeks ago and she was completely fascinated with all the paraphernalia involved in that feeding process.) Accordingly, I had to dig our one-and-only bottle out of the back of the cabinet from whence it has sat since it was gifted to us back when I was pregnant with Harper.

So, without further ado, this is what a breastfed baby looks like the first time he "drinks" from a bottle:



Is it weird that I'm proud that he is completely clueless?  

P.S. Please note our well behaved, attentive dog in the background, hoping for stray blueberries.

Friday, May 9, 2014

The Tractor Birthday

Alderman's Ford Regional Park

Well, the birthdays keep coming around here and, unfortunately, neither Brad nor I are immune to them.

Brad's forty-something-th birthday was a few days ago. Harper, our little party planner, decided he needed a "Tractor Birthday," which I interpreted as a farm-inspired celebration. Brad was indifferent about the whole thing save two details: he wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and he wanted to spend some time with the family. (He was also excited about the possibility of presents, but he'd never admit that part.)


Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (detail). 
Clearly, frosting is not my medium.

I got it together at the last minute and baked a sheet cake and frosted and decorated it with a farm motif before making a country-style dinner, complete with mashed potatoes and gravy and Brad's favorite roasted root vegetables (that man is a sucker for parsnips and beets). 

After we blew out the candles, Brad opened his gifts from the kids: from Will, a brand new Nebraska Cornhuskers T-shirt to replace the threadbare one in his closet and from Harper, a copy of You Are Stardust, which is their favorite bedtime story to read together. Then, on Sunday, we went for a family (and dog) walk around the two mile loop at Alderman's Ford Regional Park. It was really nice.


Brad and Harper's bedtime book.


Will enjoyed his dinner thoroughly.

A Happy Birthday balloon for Daddy!

The Birthday Boy lighting the candles.

Happy birthday, Brad! You just keep getting better!