Out of the housepet stage

"Here, Lindsay, you hang on to the duck."

"Duh."

"Yeah, that's a duck!"

"Duh."

Fifty cent words

"I am always a little apprehensive about getting my
hair cut."

Unlikely

Directly after I explained to my 4-year-old how unlikely it is we would have to call the police, of course, I had to call the police.

My next door neighbor asked me to collect his mail and newspapers while he and his wife traveled South to her eldest son's school. It's "March Madness" and he's a team captain. He was very excited about the trip. He said, in his drawl, "Well, I just thought we shouldn't have a stack of mail and newspapers advertising we were gone so that someone came and stole the stereo."

I noticed as I was washing the dinner dishes that there were several lights on in the house that weren't on when I'd served dinner. I was surprised to see a male figure walk across the darkened kitchen. I hesitated though. They have 4 kids between them. I had no idea if one or more were staying in the house, or if someone was over perhaps to feed the cat. I decided that the neighbor probably wouldn't have asked me to collect mail if someone were feeding the cat or if his kid(s) were there, and called the police.

There were 3 cruisers outside in 2 minutes. I saw the police walk around the perimeter of the property, and then it was quiet for a long time. Forty minutes passed, the cruisers still on the street. So I thought, well something must've been going on...

After I tucked Lindsay into bed, and in the middle of Lauren's story, an officer arrived at my door. He'd set two bottles on my porch. "Good evening, Ma'am. Did you call about the neighbor's house?"

"Yes, Officer." I replied. "I was concerned that I was sending in the police to bother my neighbor's cat sitter."

"Oh, no, Ma'am." he answered. "There were quite a lot of teenagers there with a couple of kegs of beer and bottles. I guess that their son had decided he'd have a party."

I nodded. "Oh."

"So we ended it a little early."

"I see. Well, thank you, Officer. You have a good night."

I went back upstairs and explained to Lauren why I'd called the police, because I didn't know if it was safe for me to go over there. I called the police and they checked it out, and they found that the neighbor's son was at the house when he wasn't supposed to be.

"Oh." said she.

"And Lauren?"

"Yeah?"

"Probably when you're a teenager, this is a bad neighborhood to try and have a keg party when your parents are away."

"Ok, Mom."

Riiight.

Aftermath of Child Assault Prevention week at school

"And then we will go play outside, I will keep a lookout for strangers. And then if I see one, I will holler, 'Stranger' and we will go hide. And then we can go inside the house and shut the door. And then if the stranger comes to the door we will NOT answer it, we will stay quietly inside and the stranger will think no one is home and go away. And then we should know that we must never be left alone inside the house."

Adoration

Lindsay and Lauren, February 2007

Happy Valentines

We are happy valentines Chez Stoll. All three girls got flowers:

Mom's flowers

Lauren's flowers

Lindsay's flowers

And a present for Alec:

Front walk Chez Stoll, through the dining room window.

No, I didn't shovel, honey. But you didn't grow the flowers either...and I still love them.

And I took this last one yesterday for Karen. I thought about how much I loved to see Lindsay wear Lauren's hand-me-downs, so I tried to take a picture of Lindsay wearing "Bugs on Parade", however, she said, "Mama. It's nap time."

Lindsay calls it quits.

Her fan club

Lauren is the kid in the class everybody likes. I can't say I truly understand what constitutes popular at age 4. This was what the teachers told us way back when she was a toddler in daycare - the other kids just like her - her peers, the older kids. Anyway, I'm not complaining...it's certainly better than the alternative.

And so, this wasn't the first time I have been approached by a fellow parent in a store, child tagging behind, with an awed whisper, "It's Lauren!" But this time, it was in the Target a couple towns away, in the art supply aisle. Classmate's dad appeared to be by himself. He looked at me vaguely, trying to place where he knew me. Looked at Lauren.

"Hey," I said.

"Our kids are in the same class..." he exclaimed.

"Yep."

"Mine is Nicole."

"This is Lauren." I replied. Lauren looked at me. "He's Nicole's dad."

"Oh..." she said. "Hi, Nicole's dad."

"Wow...This is Lauren?! Oh my goodness. Nicole is always talking about Lauren."

I chuckled. "Yes, they must be friends at school. Lauren talks about Nicole too."

"Wow. I have to go get her..." He returned a couple minutes later with Nicole, who had been admiring princess dresses a couple aisles away with her grandmother.

So we admired princess dresses with Nicole for a while, and then Lauren and I had one of our conversations that went like this:

"K. We're going to have to finish up our shopping so we can head home. I don't want to have to drive in the snow."

"I'll drive."

"Well, you know, Lauren, when you can actually drive the car, that will be a relevant offer, but right now, it's not. We're going in a couple of minutes."

"When I'm sixteen, I can drive..."

"True. But that isn't going to help me this afternoon."

Classmate's dad alternated between looking surprised and amused by this exchange.

Twelve small steps

"Hi, my name is Lauren..."

"Hi, Lauren."

"I never lie to other people..."

"That's great."

"I only lie to myself..."

"Oh. Not so great..."

My mommy the blogger

Another weird shot from Lauren's camera. I don't know that I'm actually blogging in this picture, but since there are about a half dozen pictures at the laptop, her perception is either I am often at the computer or it's just too hard to take a picture of me standing up.
And this one is titled: Daddy, Fashionista.

Lindsay

Lindsay at 8 1/2 months, February 2007

An action shot of Lindsay, sitting up on one knee, picks up and drops her teething ring. This is a common position, she uses it to turn around toward the bent leg, pushing off on the straight leg. It appears to be a study in holding her upper body straight as she bends and straightens her legs, part of her quest to stand unsupported in the center of the room. She favors her left hand. Also, socks have suddenly become unpopular.

Come home, your girls miss you

Bye, bye, Baby

Lindsay is growing in leaps and bounds. But more than that, she's evolved into quite an endearing little person. The itty bitty baby is gone, and I can already see the toddler emerging.

She's not into pulling herself up on stuff, but rather, she tries to stand in the middle of the room. She will crawl along, and slide her feet under her a la downward facing dog of yoga fame, land on one knee to hold her upper body straight. It is as though she is training herself in the art of standing. She is expert at crawling, sitting, turning her body mid-sit and changing direction.

Her vocalizations are starting to become deliberate sounds. Alec and I heard her first distinct word about a week ago, "Mama!" She repeated it until she got fed. This week, she's been working on "Uh oh!" She was surprised by Seamus jumping on the bed while she was sitting on it. When I said "Kitty", she responded with "Psssst" as though she was calling the kitty.

She continues to enjoy eating baby food, and likes everything she's tried except green beans, which she usually spits. She enjoys gnawing on a Zwieback cookie with her very sharp tooth. I noticed today there is a second tooth starting to erupt.

She hates getting dressed, and loves to have her tooth brushed. She opens her mouth and makes a "Nuh nuh nuh" sound. She loves bath time. She prefers to recline, feet in hands, a toe or two to nibble on and watch Lauren play with toys.

Weird religion

We've been reading a book nearly nightly about Passover. It's a great little book that explains the story of Exodus, as well as the symbols used during a Seder. We usually attend at least one, so I figured this year it would make it a little less boring for her if she knew what was going on and why.

I had a little trouble explaining WHY the door is opened for Elijah the Prophet. She insisted that the illustrator did a "Very bad job because you can't see him". I tried to explain that you don't actually see him. Pouring him a glass of wine and opening the door for him is symbolic. She didn't like that answer. I mean, if you're going to open the door, someone better show up.

We've also been talking about Saints Valentine and Patrick. Now, the story of Saint Valentine is a bit more concrete, but Saint Patrick and the Irish snakes? She demanded, "So where are the snakes now? Did he put them on a plane and send them somewhere else?"

I have no answers.

Oh puleease...

"Do you need help unzipping your parka?"

"Yes, please, Mom."

"Don't forget to take your snack and your folder out of your backpack."

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been going to school for years. I know to take out my snack and folder out."

"Ok, honey."

"You don't have to remind me."

As the bowl flushes

Not only do I regretfully have to announce the demise of Candy III, but also the remaining 2 Cookies and the algae eaters, yet unnamed.

We're thinking that Alec's saltwater tank savvy just doesn't translate cross-platform to freshwater...and also, that maybe Candy IV will be one of those magnetic fish.

Changes

"May I please change my birthday to Valentine's Day?"

"What? No. You can't change your birthday, honey. It is the anniversary of the day you were born."

"But Valentine's Day is a special day."

"Your birthday is also a special day."

"Can I decide what to do on my birthday?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, Mom."

On some Mondays...

"On some Mondays, it's Martin Luther King's birthday. But, he's dead. So he doesn't have cake."

Lauren on the phone with a classmate.