Yee Haw

Over the weekend Jake became obsessed with taking walks. Since we are experiencing the beginnings of fall here (meaning it's 80 degrees and windy) I was happy to oblige. Friday night, on our first of seven walks, we wandered into a part of the neighborhood we don't visit often and discovered our distant neighbors really like decorating for Halloween - everything from inflatable horse-drawn hearses to giant spiders to red-eyed gargoyles. (Incidentally, a stuffed suit hanging from a tree does not make a good Halloween decoration, in my opinion.)

The next morning Jake wanted to see the decorations again so while Sam and Abby played with dad, we hit the road again. We were about five blocks from our house when I realized that headed down the street toward us was a cowboy on a horse. An authentic, leather chaps, spurs, weathered hat and saddle, lasso-twirling cowboy. I have no idea why he was riding around our neighborhood, but it was surreal and spectacular. Jake and I watched silently as he passed, tipped his hat and kept trotting by.

Milk Man

Every day Jake has "chocky milk in a blue and red cup." I realize there is little nutritional value in it (I'm sure he's getting the nutrients he needs from the pancakes and syrup and ketchup he consumes at nearly every meal), but it's a comfort to him and since he's no longer taking it in a bottle, who am I to say no.

Yesterday while getting my lunch in our cafeteria I noticed a man, probably in his 40s, eating his lunch by himself. He was drinking a pint of chocolate milk. At first I thought it was funny. It seems like such a children's drink. But then, I have to admit, it made me a little sad because all I could picture was Jake as a 40-year-old man drinking a pint of chocolate milk while eating his lunch alone.

Good Things

Several weeks ago, Sam, Abby and I were out for a walk when we came across a Woolly Bear caterpillar, one of those black, fuzzy caterpillars whose thick bristles are supposed to portend a cold winter.

We put it in our terrarium, along with some leaves and twigs. It ate a lot and pooped a lot. I checked on it a lot. About a week ago when I checked the terrarium there were two Woolly Bears. Come to find out, they shed their 'segments' before preparing their cocoons. A couple days after shedding, the segments seemed dead, but cradled in a curvy leaf was a fluorescent green cocoon.

Every morning when I fed our fish I'd check it and this morning I noticed the green cocoon had turned grey. Maybe it was dying, maybe it was transforming. And then this afternoon, while I was online trying to find out how long a Woolly Bear hibernates, Sam ran into the den to tell me there was a moth in our terrarium. Sure enough the green cocoon was now a soft, oozing shell and there was a big, active Tiger Moth in its place. We took the terrarium outside to release the moth. And then found 3 more Woolly Bears.

(Update: Four Wooly Bears later, we have not been able to replicate the success of the first Wooly Bear.)

Let's Talk Politics ... and Vomit

So Sam and I were driving to day care at lunch today to take Jake his car blanket. He forgot it this morning and since he's about as predictable as a rattlesnake I thought it best he have it before nap time. We managed to get the blanket to his teacher without Jake seeing us (yes, I snuck in and out of daycare) and were back in the car driving home when a story about President Bush came on NPR.

Both of us were quiet during the segment, but when it was over Sam said "What happens when a president is bad?" (Proof that little pitchers have big ears.)

"Well," I started. "If a president is really bad, he may get impeached. That means he doesn't get to be president anymore. But sometimes he can do bad things and nothing will happen to him."

"Do we think the president does bad things?" he asked.

Here is my chance, I thought, to have a meaningful, important conversation. Tell him something informative, enlightening.

"Well, yes, I think this president does bad things. But it is up to you to learn all you can, read all you can, listen all you can and decide for yourself if he makes good decisions or bad decisions," I said.

I thought maybe I was actually making some sense. He paused.

"Is there such a thing as blue puke?"

Long Time No Blog

I'm not sure why it's been one month since I've blogged. Lately there's enough stuff going on around here to write a novel. Sam is six weeks into kindergarten and he and I are adjusting. He's made some friends, kicked some genitals (see, there's one blog I missed), learned a little and complained about homework a lot. (Yes, there's homework in kindergarten. I actually caught myself worrying about whether we'd done last night's assignment correctly - then I remembered IT'S KINDER - EFFIN - GARTEN!!)



Jake celebrated his third birthday on October 1. He shares his birthday with my grandmother - we call her Meams - who turned 90. So this past weekend four generations met at the park to eat cake and watch Jake open presents. As I look through the few photos I took I realize I didn't get any of Jake and Meams together, but I did capture Jake opening his presents, enjoying cake and disrobing in public to put on a new pair of Scooby Doo underwear. It probably won't be the only birthday he finds himself naked in a public place.




Since a lot of our family was in town for Jake's birthday we also had Abby baptized on Sunday. Again, I somehow didn't get any pictures of her, but the few I have of Jake and Sam in their suits and ties almost make up for that. She was splendid during the baptism but perhaps my favorite part was the brief 'sermon' our preacher gave when he baptized her, something like:

"Congregration, can you see little Abigail? She has her toy, she is calm, quiet. The picture of peace. But it's not easy being a little kid. You have so many questions, so much energy. You want to run and ask, and then you encounter that terrible word "NO." It's an awful word because you want to do what you want when you want, but you find out there is no and naptime and bedtime."



"But Abigial you push. You learn. You inquire. And may God give you the courage to fight the good fight and become your own person."

Amen.