So far, so good

Well, they seem to be playing nice so far tonight. They just seem to be splitting hairs over most issues (Iraq, in particular).
Mike and I were discussing which candidate(s) should receive our votes on Tuesday. I think we are both pretty torn. We decided, however, that this is a good problem to have. I mean, it's good to have two people who would make good general-election candidates, moreover, good presidents. It's a lot better than having two no-good candidates and having to pick the lesser of the two evils.
I guess what I'm thinking is that either would be good. Whoever wins the primary will get my support in November because I think both Clinton and Obama are well-qualified and well-meaning.

Shaping up to be ugly

I wish the Democratic candidates for president would quit beating one another up. Don't they realize they are just giving ammo to the Republicans for the general election? Their little drama over what happened Monday night at the SotU speech is just too much!


Tonight's debate should be a real knock-down-drag-out. I'm going to tune in online, as we don't have cable. I have been wavering on my support for Hillary lately... I have until Tuesday to decide who to pick. This post pretty much sums up where I find myself these days.

Our Love Clock

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. If you haven't gotten That Special Gift for That Special Someone, allow me to suggest the Our Love Clock.
We got an ad for this contraption in the mail yesterday. Too bad I've already done my Valentine's Day shopping...

This is NOT good news

An excerpt from an article in the NYT today:

As long ago as last August, people at Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Journal, said that Mr. Murdoch was musing about moving the paper out of the World Financial Center and into his company’s building on Avenue of the Americas at 48th Street. The News Corporation completed its purchase of Dow Jones on Dec. 13 for more than $5 billion.

Now the move is all but certain and should take place this year, according to Dow Jones executives who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the changes. The Journal’s newsroom will move, they said, along with some other Dow Jones offices; parts of the newsroom operation relocated in 2001 to South Brunswick. N.J., where the company has a printing plant, and the paper already has its advertising sales department in the Times Square area.

A move to Midtown would be embraced more readily by Journal employees than some other changes Mr. Murdoch has proposed. The Journal’s offices overlook the World Trade Center site, a raw daily reminder of Sept. 11, 2001. Many of those who died were known well by people at The Journal, and a cloud of toxic dust forced the paper and its neighbors to abandon the area for nearly a year.

The move would also make for easier commuting for people who live in the suburbs and take commuter trains and buses, which go to Midtown.

It's not set in stone, but it's pretty clear that something is in the works. If this happens, it would mean Mike would have to commute into the city every day for work. I am very upset about this possibility...

Are you for serious?

I am always looking for new and interesting things for W and me to do while Mike's at work. While checking out the local library's website, I ran across this "fun" activity.
Unfortunately for those of you who don't live in the mid-Atlantic states, the Juggling Hoffmans limit their performances to NJ, DE, PA, MD, NY and northern VA. I'm sure, however, if you contacted them via their website they might consider expanding their geographic area.
Seriously, I think I would rather have a root canal than endure this "performance art" dynamic duo.

Bananas

I had one of the ickier moments of motherhood thus far this morning. I was getting W ready to go to the grocery store. After finding his shoes (one was in his bedroom, the other in the kitchen), I corralled him long enough to get them on his feet. One on--great! As I reached inside the other shoe to adjust the tongue, my fingers felt something cold and mushy. Oh my. I was afraid to look. Upon closer inspection, I realized that SOMEONE had squirreled away some banana (for later enjoyment??). Of course I had already mushed it up really well when I initially nonchalantly reached inside the shoe. So it was really fun to get all the mushed up banana out.
Okay, granted, that's not really really really gross. In the grand scheme of gross things one can encounter with a little person, it wasn't too bad. I mean, it doesn't rank up there with getting pooped on. But still, for today, it reached my limit of grossness.
Oh, and he fussed when I put the banana in the trash can. I guess he wanted to eat it or something. Maybe he really was saving it for later!

NYT Endorsements

A newspaper endorsement is not the be-all and end-all for a political campaign. However, after reading the NYT's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, I think I know who's going to get my vote in a few weeks. The endorsement is honest, straightforward and fair. Hillary is not treated with kid-gloves, nor are her opponents bashed. To read it, click here.
For those of you who tend to gravitate towards the other end of the political spectrum, you can read about who the NYT endorses for the Republican primary here. Especially interesting is the NYT's explanation as to why they are not endorsing Giuliani.

Donna Martin is busy!

Tori Spelling (aka Donna Martin) is preggo again. She just had a baby last March! I don't even have the energy to think about having another baby! Hey, more power to her, I guess. I can see why some people might want to get their baby-havin' done in a relatively short period of time. Me? Well, I'd be happy with just one. But if we do decide to try for another, it won't be until W is potty-trained.
In other celeb-news, Amy Winehouse has, in fact, checked herself into rehab (again). Let's hope she stays and it sticks!

What I'm reading

We went to the library yesterday. I got several books about gardening and kitchen remodeling. We are going to give our kitchen a budget face-lift this spring and I'm hunting for tips and ideas. I also picked up A.J. Jacobs' book The Know-It-All since I enjoyed his The Year of Living Biblically so much. I also picked up a book in the "new arrivals" section called Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler. The reviews on Amazon.com are mixed, so I don't have extremely high hopes for it, but it seems like it will be a fun, quick read.
Mike and I took W to the doctor today for his 18-month check-up. He did not appreciate being stripped down when they weighed him, nor did he like it when they took his temperature rectally. Can't say that I blame him, really. Mercifully, he got no shots today. The pediatrician wanted to know if he colors with crayons yet. Yes, I told her, but after drawing one or two lines on the paper, he would just prefer to eat the crayons. She recommended getting an Aqua-Doodle or Magna-Doodle for him. So on doctor's orders, I got him a Magna-Doodle today at Target. It has big shape stampers and a big screen. It was under $20 and looks like it will hold up well. I got the Little People one because it was recommended for ages 2 and up and the other Magna-Doodle products were for kids a little bit older (3+). When W gets up from his snooze we're going to try it out.

So sad

It's a shame Amy Winehouse can't seem to pull herself together. I really like her Back to Black CD but I can't bring myself to listen to it these days because it's just too depressing. She's so talented, but it's clear that she's also very, very sick. A video has surfaced of her snorting various drugs and smoking crack; hopefully she can get some help before she finds herself in jail (or worse, dead).

It's a good cause

I got an email from my dearest friend today. She always has some crazy (in a good way) project she's working on. I don't know where she gets the energy. Anyway, she has decided to run a marathon. That's right. 26 miles and 385 yards. She is doing it as part of a team in order to raise money to find cures for leukemia and lymphoma. It's true that each person's life has been affected by cancer in some way. The race is in San Diego on June 1. She has to raise $5000 before then in order to participate. You can donate online and read a little bit more about the race and the organization she's training with by going to her training website.

Geese Police

We have a lot of Canadian Geese around here. They aren't flying South for the winter. Apparently their migration patterns have gotten out of whack due to weird weather (aka Global Warming) and they are really a problem in many areas. What to do? Call the Geese Police, of course!
Seriously. I saw an official Geese Police truck today as W and I were leaving the library. There is a huge open field behind the library where a few hundred geese like to hang out, and I guess someone had called the GP to take care of them. The company is based right here in NJ and they have franchises in various locales (sounds like a great business opportunity, right??). They use border collies (and "other" techniques) to get the geese off of your property. The website is fantastic (and pretty funny). You can meet the Deputy Dogs, get the scoop on the "suspects" and learn about their tried-and-true techniques.
And what good is a company without a motto, right? The Geese Police have a great one. "Call us to get the flock out!"

Wrong on so many levels

A friend sent this picture to me last week. I Googled "walmart cake" and was able to find the whole story on the Internet.
Apparently some folks at the Little Rock BCBS claim office had a going away party for a co-worker (Suzanne, I suppose). One of the supervisors called the local Wal-Mart and ordered a cake for the festivities. He told the person at the bakery to write, "'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that write 'We will miss you'."Obviously, it didn't turn out quite right.

Seeing this reminded me of what happened when I ordered Mike's wedding band on the Internet. I found this website that would engrave it if you told them what you wanted during the online checkout. After entering in all my payment information, I was ready to input my message for engraving. There wasn't a place on the page that was marked for the engraving message, only a little comment box at the bottom. So I did what any rational person would do. I typed, "I would like to have this ring engraved. Hopefully that's the next step," thinking that maybe the personalization part was on the next webpage or that they would contact me and ask what I wanted. Nothing. A week or so later I received the ring in the mail. Perfect in every way except for the fact that they had engraved the inside of the ring "hopefully that's the next step." They must have worked really hard to fit that inside the ring, especially since Mike's fingers aren't very big. After getting a good laugh out of the whole thing, I contacted the company, sent back the ring, and received the correct message, with their abject apologies.
What did I want engraved? "Alligator food," plus our wedding date, naturally.

Bundle up!

It is so cold here. Our high temperature today was 25. It's 17 right now, and it's supposed to get down to 10 tonight. Tomorrow our high is supposed to be 29.
Of course, we've got nothing on Green Bay, WI. Talk about cold! Mike and I just watched the game between GB and NY. Surprisingly, NY won. I wouldn't necessarily say that the Giants played a spectacular game of ball (it's a miracle that anyone can understand Eli when he calls plays). However, Green Bay's accumulation of penalties and their own lack of spectacular play made it possible for NY to eke out a win.
Perhaps they were distracted by this? Remember, the temperature was negative 1, with a wind chill of negative 24. Apparently they are sort of a fixture of Lambeau Field.Their mothers must be so proud.

Who are YOU going to vote for?

So many candidates, only one vote. It's daunting, trying to figure out which person should receive your one vote in your state's upcoming primary. To help in the decision-making process, take this quiz. It's quick, straightforward and comprehensive.
Of course, it didn't wind up helping me too much. I had already narrowed down my choice to two candidates. My "score" placed me in agreement with two candidates at an equal percentage. I guess I'll have to keep doing some digging into what they really believe and make a choice from that.

I'm a joiner

When I was in high school I was involved in practically every non-athletic extracurricular activity imaginable (except for that ill-considered season of cross-country my junior year). In fact, I received the "Activity" award at senior awards day due to my (insane) commitment to all my various clubs and groups. When I got to college, I was burned out. I was somewhat active in my own dorm's governance system, but other than giving a few campus tours a month and "joining" the ceramics club, I laid low.
That being said, there is one organization that has always been near and dear to my heart. I don't talk about it much (for obvious reasons) because I'm afraid people will get the wrong idea about me. You see, I've been a member of Mensa since I was 8 years old. My dad, also a member, took me to monthly gatherings that included dinner and speakers. One month there would be a tour of the post office; another month there was a guy who administered polygraph tests for a living. We had a tour of a funeral home once, and a few months later we had ballroom dance lessons. Sound weird? Maybe a little. The members I encountered were as eclectic as the monthly meeting topics. If it were not for our group affiliation it is possible that I would have never met some of those folks. What bound our hodge-podge group together? It's hard to say. I suppose the best way to sum up what makes a Mensan a "Mensan" (besides the obvious) is the fact that most of us really get a kick out of learning about new, and often off-beat, things.
Since moving to NJ my social life has gotten off track. I don't particularly like meeting new people. My friends would say I am outgoing, but the truth is, I feel extremely awkward around people I don't know. What to do? I'm going to re-up my membership with Mensa. While I've been a member for 20 years, I haven't paid dues in 5. I'm cashing in my chips, so to speak. I'm going to join the Central New Jersey chapter of Mensa. They have tons of activities and I really think it might be a great way to meet some new folks and try some new things.
If I was a member of DAR, I'd join the local DAR chapter. If I was a great bowler, I might join a bowling league. Well, I'm a member of Mensa. The way I see it, I might as well take advantage of this built-in social network and get to know some new people .

Tom Cruise is nutty

I don't think I'm alone in thinking that Tom Cruise is two things:

1. very good-looking
2. crazy

As if you needed proof, click here. It's especially creepy when he says that he and fellow Scientologists are "the authorities of the mind". Granted, it's a 4 year old video, so it's quite possible that it doesn't exhibit Maverick's current thinking... because hey, he's probably even kookier now!
I am DEFINITELY getting on the waiting list at the library for the new (unauthorized) Cruise biography that was released this week. If he's so upset about its contents, it must be juicy and scandalous!

Old news

So Ike Turner's been dead since mid-December and the San Diego ME has finally announced that his death was due to a cocaine overdose. This takes me back to a conversation Mike and I had a few weeks ago. We were discussing appropriate and inappropriate newspaper headlines. This headline, we decided, definitely fell under the "inappropriate" banner for a couple of reasons. First of all, Tina did not die as a result of Ike's abuse--duh, she's still alive. Secondly, it's just wrong. However, I must admit--wrong as it is--that I did emit a little chuckle when I read it.
A side note: Mike and I saw Tina in concert back in 1997 at the Pyramid in Memphis. She was incredible.

"Single" parenthood

I'm getting a taste of what it would be like if I was a single parent. I have said, time and time again, what a wonderful father (and husband, for that matter) Mike is. I have never taken that for granted, and my experiences over the past week ensure that I never will. Don't get me wrong--W is wonderful. A few mini-fits throughout the day when he's tired or isn't getting exactly what he wants, but for the most part, he's a happy little boy. With Mike working in NYC every day last week and again this week, and no family around to give me relief, it's been a challenge. W's usual bedtime routine involves all three of us (and occasional assistance from Maggie the Wonder Dog), and cutting out one of the adults certainly ups the ante.
But we manage. We do our routine, sans Dad. He still splish-splashes around in the tub. I remember to refill his humidifier and turn it on. He lets me put Balmex on his bottom. I dim the lights. We read "Goodnight Moon". He nurses. When he finishes he looks up at me and claps his hands softly and I say, "Time to go to sleep." I put him in his crib with his soft duckie blanket that he likes to hold, his Sut Pup (a stuffed dog a dear friend gave to him) on his chest (after giving putting its nose to W's nose like it's a kiss) and his Tigger next to him. I tuck him in under the fleece blanket his grandmother Burdy made him and say "I love you bubba. See you later." I turn the lights off the rest of the way and shut the door. Silence. He's a good little kid.
I've been cross stitching a lot with Mike gone so much. I've almost finished a birthday present for his mother. I'd write more about it, but it's likely she'll read this post, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'll post a picture of the finished product once her birthday has come and gone.
Also, with Mike gone, I have been watching a lot of 90210 once W's in bed. I think I watched THREE episodes last night... "Donna Martin Graduates" being one of the three. The two commencement episodes are a cheese-fest. Of course Andrea is valedictorian. Of course Kelly's dad shows up at the ceremony. Of course Brenda and Dylan almost hook up. Of course the gang spends the night after graduation camped out on a hillside overlooking LA. And of course they (somehow manage to) hang a sign over the famous "Hollywood" sign that reads "W Bev Hi 93".

Sunday football

So there were two big football games today. I watched about five minutes of the Giants v. Dallas. It was tied when I was watching, but it appears that the Giants wound up winning. Surprisingly, the Colts lost to San Diego. Yes, this means that Eli "notquitereadyforprimetime" Manning's team is moving on and big bro is having to take it to the house. Not to worry about what ol' Peyton will be doing to occupy his time, I'm sure he has some more awesomely bad commercials to work on.
We're on the southern end of a Nor'easter and might get a dusting of snow tonight. The worst of the weather will be well to the north of us. I'd love some nice snow, but with Mike having to commute into NYC tomorrow, it's just as well that we aren't going to get pummeled.

Feaux King Cake

So you want to make a king cake but you don't want to spend the entire day doing it? Well, Mike and I made one tonight and it literally took less than thirty minutes, start to finish. How to do it? Here ya go:

• 1 tube/can dinner rolls
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out the dinner rolls. Mix the butter, cinnamon and sugar together and spread onto the rolled-out rolls. Roll the rolled-out dough into a spiral and twist and lay on a greased cookie sheet, joining the ends to make an oval. Bake for 15 minutes, but keep an eye on it. Some of the sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture leaked out and the house got smoky...!!! While the cake is still hot, glaze and decorate it.

For the sugar glaze:

• confectioner's/powdered sugar
• milk

Mix the milk and sugar to make an icing-like consistency. Spoon onto the hot cake. Sprinkle purple, gold and green sugar on the cake. We made our colored sugar by putting some sugar in Ziploc bags along with appropriate amounts of food coloring gel and mushing it up until we had a good color going.

Delish!

I'm sick and tired....

...of feeling sick and tired. So yesterday I went to the doctor. My regular doctor, Dr. Chang, was booked, so I saw a different one, Dr. Sheik. He was alright, but I definitely prefer my regular doctor. She usually spends a lot more time with me than did he. I told him that I suspected that I had a sinus infection. He checked my ears, nose and throat, and prescribed an antibiotic. He never told me my diagnosis; I guess he agreed with my personal evaluation. He also gave me some sort of nasal spray I have to use at bedtime. I've taken two of the antibiotics so far and have done the nose stuff. I don't feel much better yet. I think it's going to take a lot of rest over the weekend. That's going to be sort of hard to get, though. Mike's brother-in-law (I don't know if that makes him my BIL or not??) may or may not be coming to visit tomorrow. He has business in Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania, so he figured he might as well stop in for a night. That's fine by us, of course, but it means I have to get the house looking halfway decent. It's not that easy to do when--

• you have a toddler running around who is terrified of the vacuum cleaner,
• you have a dog that would rather pee in the kitchen than go out in the rain,
• you have a husband that steps in the dog pee while trying to clean it up (bless Mike!),
• you have a self-diagnosed sinus infection.

But sweet Mike took W to Wegmans with him so that I could vacuum and because we desperately needed milk, fruit and bread. I've vacuumed the first floor and think I might just skip the second floor. I still have to clean both bathrooms, but can't do the second floor one until Mike does the snake-drain thingy on the sink because it's clogged.
This all goes back to what Mike and I say... It's so fun being a grown-up! You get to do whatever you want whenever you want to do it! If you're sick and you want to clean the house, by all means, go right ahead!
I'm working on a new cross stitch. It's a Lizzie Kate snippet called Summer. I am going to make it into a pillow for my living room when it's completed. There are three others similar to it for the other seasons. I have the Winter one (both the Summer and Winter were included in that big lot of patterns I got on Ebay a few months ago) that I might also do if this one turns out well.
I ordered a spring-themed cross stitch pattern a few days ago. It's by The Trilogy and it's called Spring Line-up. I thought the colors were pretty and I liked the little designs on it. It's a candidate for a seasonal-use pillow as well once it's stitched.

And on the second day...

It's the second day of Mike's NYC job adventure. He got home a little bit after midnight last night to find a very ill LMSS. I think my "cold" has morphed into a full-blown sinus infection. I feel like I have been run over by an 18 wheeler. I have spent most of the day on the couch. W is so patient; he just brings books over to me and I read to him. Sometimes he'll bring a toy over and we'll play together, but he is really good about playing solo... as long as I'm within sight. We did fine last night when it was just me to give him his bath. He gave me a mini-shower with all his splashing. It's so cute when Mike's sitting on the edge of the tub as W splish-splashes around... Not quite as cute when it's myself getting drenched!
I watched a couple of 90210 episodes from the 3rd season DVD set my mom gave me for my birthday. I just watched the one in which Jack McKay gets out of prison early and Dylan chooses Kelly over Brenda. Oh, the drama!

Yes, it's for real

I just wanted to make sure that the past 24 hours hadn't been a dream before I jinxed them by saying anything... Geaux Tigers!

Just to clarify...

I think my last post might have left some readers thinking that Mike will be working in NYC full time from now on... Not so. He will be training for the position this week and the next, meaning he will have to take the train in to the city each day, but will only do the job regularly on Monday's. So it actually won't be that bad. It will just make for a long Monday.
W and I went to the library today. A while back a reader had suggested that I read A.J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically. Since it was just recently published, I had to get on the waiting list for it. I was able to pick it up today and started reading it this afternoon during W's nap. So far so good. It chronicles a New Yorker's attempt to follow the Bible as literally as possible in the course of a year. This guy is a writer for Esquire, so separating the secular from the holy presents several interesting challenges for him. So far he's grown a beard (it's gotten past the itchy phase) and has had a Jewish clothing tester come in and inspect his clothing for mixed fibers (the Bible says not to mix wool and linen). The clothing tester admits that he doesn't know why God commanded this, but that since He did, it must mean something to Him. At this, Jacobs made an interesting point in this: yes, it's nitpicky, but isn't that what it's all about? Following God's commandments to a "t"? I mean, it's pretty easy to follow the big and obvious ones, such as not committing murder, adultery, etc, but doesn't your devotion show more when you follow the smaller inexplicable ones?
As for W's favorite book these days, he's really into one that Santa brought for him. It's called Where is Elmo's Blanket? and it has over 30 "nifty flaps to lift!" He really loves it. It's pretty cool how you can as him to point to "Count" or "Ernie" or "Cookie Monster" and he does just that. The best is when you ask him where "Oscar" is and he lifts the flap on the garbage can and exposes Oscar.

Making progress

I've finished two big cross stitch projects in the past couple of days. One says "Bless our Family" and the other "Bless our Home". One is an anniversary gift for a special couple and the other is to hang in our own home. Michael's has a 60% of framing special right now (usually it's only 50% off) so I am going to go by there either today or tomorrow to see how expensive it would be to have them framed. They are both awkward sizes so it isn't really possible to get ready-made frames for either.
My mother-in-law gave me a book with over 50 embroidery stitches in it for Christmas. I learned three of them last night. They would look pretty on napkins, placemats, etc.
W's has learned how to "gimme five." When you hold out your hand and say "gimme five," he grins and pats your hand with his. It's super cute. Mike and I taught him how to do it last night by going back and forth giving each other "five". When he had seen it a few times, I held out my hand, said "gimme five," and BAM! He's such a little monkey.
Tonight's the big night for my Tigers. We were supposed to go over to our friends' house to watch the game and eat good food, but since we've both been sick, we don't really want to push it. They tried to convince us to come anyway by saying that they had been sick too, but we just don't want to "mix our sicks" as Mike puts it. Plus, Mike needs his rest tonight, as tomorrow is his first day on the job in NYC. He's going to be going in every day for the next two weeks, then every Monday for the foreseeable future. I guess I really need my rest too, since it'll make for a really long day here with W, seeing as how Mike won't get home from the city until after midnight! But it's a great career opportunity for him, so I'm up for whatever it takes to make it happen!

Sick-o

Mike and I are both sick. We were feeling yucky earlier this week, then felt better for a couple of days, and now are down for the count again. I think we angered the Cold gods when we tried to fight them off with Zicam. Thankfully, W is not showing signs of illness. He's pretty content to play with his toys and bring books to us to read to him every once in a while while we are laid out on the couch. Maggie's pretty irritated with us since she hasn't gotten a real walk since Monday. This is when it's really hard to be far away from Mom and Dad!!

A cool toy

If you've got to get a present for a little one, allow me to recommend this: The Hasbro Playskool Busy Gears gadget ROCKS. W's Tokyo relatives got it for him through Amazon.com for Christmas and it's a huge hit. In fact, all of us sort of get a kick out of it (especially the not-too-bright dog). It plays music, lights up, and moves when the red button gets pushed. Definitely a must-have.

NYC pics

As promised, here are some pics from our day in NYC. Unfortunately we don't have very many; the ones my mom took were all blurry because there was something wrong with her camera.

Here's a picture of W, Dad, me and Mike at the Hamilton train station waiting for the train to NYC.

Me and W waiting for the train right by the tracks; we could see the headlight off in the distance.

Here we are on the train going into the city; W was sleeping, Mike was reading the paper, and I was wishing I could be working on a Sudoku. Just kidding; there's not much that can top a sleeping toddler!
Our view when we exited Penn Station: the Empire State Building.
The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center; it was SOOOO crowded!

Ice skaters on the rink at Rockefeller Center; isn't the statue cool??

A very blurry picture of W and his daddy in F.A.O. Schwarz; he loved running into and rolling on top of these pink puppy dogs.
View of the Chrysler Building looking south down Lexington Avenue. Note the dirty-water-dog stand in the foreground.
A fellow LSU fan in the park at Union Square! Geaux Tigers!
A self-portrait on our way home on the train after our mama-daddy fancy-schmancy dinner. What a day!

Brr, it's cold out there!

Okay, so today the high was 23. That's pretty cold. Poor Maggie didn't get her morning walk. She's not the brightest dog; she knew it was cold out in the backyard and didn't want to go out there to do her business, but she kept sitting by the front door and looking sad, as if she thought it might be warmer in the front yard. Sweet, but not too bright.
W is really saying "cat" now. For a while it sounded like "gat" but today he started really putting the hard "c" sound at the beginning. He points to one of his kitties and says it. When he does something he knows is good, he claps for himself. We say "good guy" to him when he does something good, and he's gotten to where he'll often say "goo ga" while he's applauding himself. It's pretty cute. He isn't consistently saying "mama" and "dada" yet, but the other morning, he came up to me and wrapped his arms around my legs and looked up and started saying "mamamama!" and grinning. It was wonderful.