Dress up

It started with a random request for earrings. (I'm not really sure where that came from – Rae doesn't wear them that often.) From there we got a request for a belt ... and before you knew it, Kaylee was embarking on her first official game of dress up. (You should have seen Rae's face when she realized this. I'm pretty sure this was more fun for her than it was for Kaylee.)

We got up to clip-on earrings, a canvas belt and two different pairs of shoes before Kaylee decided it was more fun to play in the closet. (Please ignore how filthy the mirror doors are.)

But in the closet she found dad's "black duck" shirt and had to try it on. Then she got REALLY excited by the home jersey (the "big black duck" shirt) – but slammed her finger in the closet door before she got around to trying it on.

Wordle

This page has just been Wordled. Try it out yourself.

Dinnertime with the kid

"How does this damn bib work?"

"Stylish – but not quite."

"That's not going to do it either."

Poor, abused cat.

Because I'm bored.

I present ...

... the only photo I have ever taken with 1,520 miles between subjects.

Saturday we ...

... helped Mom play with her new Wii. Jumping over toddlers increases the difficulty of Wii Fit – but you don't get any extra points for it.*

... found a praying mantis on the wheel of the Mustang. Kaylee was cool with it – as long as it wasn't running in her direction. (A trait she gets from her mother.)

... decided this was a safer place for the little guy than the wheels of a car. Especially since we were getting ready to leave the house. (And how about that shot? Can you say Macro lens?)

... had a KFC picnic dinner at the park. Greasy chicken, flat Pepsi, dry biscuits and mac & cheese that had likely been sitting there for 7 hours. Mmmmm-mmmmm good!

... fed the ducks our leftover biscuits. (Note the SpongeBob Band-Aid on the crippled finger. It's not Manman, but it's yellow. And that makes it good enough.)

And then the battery on the camera died.

* NOTE: Picture is really from Thursday – but I loaded it in on Saturday and for the sake of some sort of a narrative in this post, decided to just pretend. I could have just passed it off, but one or two of you smarter readers (I'll let you decide who I'm taking about) would have realized that Kaylee is wearing a different outifit. I could have concocted a cover story involving finger paint – but then you probably would have complained (I'm talking about Maggie now) until I scanned the painting because you had to see it. And then I would have had to make a snarky comment about how "I don't owe you anything" or "you'll take what I give you and like it" and I really don't have time for all of that. So just pretend this picture is from Saturday. It will save all of us a lot of time in the long run.

Ladies and gentlemen ...

... we have potty. And it only took 57 days until first splash down.

Now we'll see if she can do it again ...

Don't mind the mess

I started this morning by playing around in Photoshop to create a new banner for the page ... just kept going and ended up with a new template. I'm going to have to figure out how to fix a few default settings (like that dotted rule has GOT to go), but I like it for the most part.

At least for now.

If you can't find something, I've accidentally deleted it. Let me know and I'll see about putting it back where it belongs. Or not. It depends how much I like you and if the deletion was accidentally on purpose.

Belated birthdays

In case you hadn't heard, Rae had a birthday last week. There were balloons, salmon kabobs, wine, cheesecake, a Wii, phone callers singing in harmony, phone callers not singing in harmony, several annoying cards with pre-recorded birthday messages (Kaylee loved these) and a very special birthday card made of yellow construction paper, drawn with yellow markers and held together with yellow Band-Aids.

I'm still not sure why the fine folks at day care thought Spongebob Squarepants adhesive bandages would be what made the card extra special – but these are the same people who are teaching serial killer 101.

Today, as part of the official birthday weekend, we started off the day at the zoo* where we saw all kinds of cool things. Basically the same cool things we see every time we go to the zoo – but I guess almost two-year-olds see things a little differently. (Either that or they just have really bad long-term memories.) But we talked to monkeys, laughed at the otters, shot water at mom and got a little closer to feeding the giraffe. (That über-tongue just freaks her out.)

The day wrapped up with a trip to a friend's pool – where Kaylee got to experience swimming in something larger than the bathtub, but a little less fishy-smelling than Lake Michigan. Loads of fun and Kaylee was super cute in her little green swimsuit.

So, of course, I forgot the camera.

I'd blame it on Rae, but it's her birthday.



* A NOTE TO THE SOCIALLY INEPT: Dear lady. I think it was wonderful of you to tell your 10-year-old daughter and her cousin that it was rude when they cut in front of my child at the zoo this morning. My cute, adorable, not-even-two-year-old daughter. Manners are something that children do not come by naturally – they must be taught. That you were willing to stop your child and tell her that what she had done was inconsiderate is commendable. So imagine how surprised I was when you then did a complete 180 and then encouraged your kid to stop and pose for a picture. And then had her pose for a picture with her cousin. And then had her cousin pose for a photo on her own. Did I mention that my child was still standing there, waiting patiently for your kids to get out of the way? Did you not notice my wife and I standing there, staring at you with open mouths? We eventually gave up and walked away while you and your kin continued your photo-op. I figured it was just best to get my child as far away from you before she picked up any of your bad habits (and before I taught her any choice four letter words.) Some may say that you needed to be confronted, that if allowed to walk all over an innocent child you would just continue to do so in the future. I like to think that karma will take care of you and yours. So when little Sally comes home pregnant at fourteen or your pickup truck is clipped at a stoplight by a speeding SUV maybe you'll finally remember the lesson that it's not always easy to wait – but sometimes it's important.

Just for Maggie

Maggie's giving me a hard time about not updating my blog.

I really don't have any new stories. I haven't picked up the camera all week. I didn't take a trip on a train to visit a big shiny bean. My clothes aren't moldy. I'm not going through any legal proceedings. Things are pretty status quo. So I've really got nothing to add. Especially not 10 things.

Me? I strive for quality over quantity – and I refuse to give my audience less than they deserve. I'm even putting way too much thought into this post.

So I'll stop.

Twitterpated.

OK - playing around with something I've been meaning to do for MONTHS now.

Over at the top of the rail you'll notice a new item - Twitter updates. For the three of you who don't know what that is – think of it as instant blogging. I'll be posting short notes there whenever the mood strikes me. (And it's a lot easier to do on the phone than it is to update the blog.)

Be warned ... I've got a life (barely) outside baby-land. And real life may seep in. Just turn a blind eye to any profanities. I'll try to keep it clean.