Toads-in-the-Hole

Storytime before nap today included a couple of Adelaide's latest favorites ...

On our left is a copy of a delightful Charlie and Lola book by Lauren Child. For those of you who are familiar with this Brit-Kid-Lit duo, you'll smile to hear that Charlie and Lola is Adelaide's favorite and her best. The C&L series of books and cartoons based on the books center around the day-to-day happenings in the petite lives of Charlie and his little sister Lola. Every story and episode begins with Charlie saying, "I have this little sister Lola. She is small and very funny," but when you ask Adelaide how the stories begin she'll say, "I have this little sister Lola. She is smooth and very funny." Those Londonish accents from the T.V. show are sometimes tricky.

On our right is a macabre non-fiction history book entitled Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker. The book chronicles the work of a group of forensic historians and archaeologists, unearthing the bones of early American settlers from Seventeenth Century. The book is full of glossy, full-color photos of digs. The photos include graphic images of skeletons half-peeking out of their graves as archaeologists carefully brush the dust from their noses and survey sites in pith helmets and khahis. Adelaide clutches this book close to her chest and says, "I'm going to be an Ark-Le-Ologist."

Pause.

"After I'm a mom, and a dentist, and a doctor."

While Adelaide and I discuss the finer points of ArkLeOlogy, Henry is happiest left to his own devices in Adelaide's room. There are no silly baby toys here!

Posted by Aimee at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not last night, but the night before ... I worked until about midnight.

I crawled into bed and slept peacefully until about 5 a.m., when seemingly simultaneously, Ophelia started yowlping downstairs and Adelaide started yowlping from across the hall. Joel and I sprang from our slumber to tend to the beasts: Ophelia spotted a raccoon in the backyard; Adelaide wet the bed.

When all was right with the world again (after about 30 minutes work), it was basically time to get up and make coffee anyway ... Later in the morning, Adelaide complained of a little bit of a sore throat and had the sneezies, and asked if she could stay home from school. I compromised: Adelaide would go to school in the morning, but then I'd pick her up before lunch. We'd lunch at home, nap, and then go to the library! What a fun idea, especially the nap!

Can you guess that my perfect plans quickly went awry?

Well, we all had a good lunch, anyway. I'd snuggled a scratchy-voiced Adelaide and a go-with-the-flow Hal into bed, and thought "I'll just do up the lunch dishes and then snuggle up myself!" All of a sudden the quiet of the house was broken by a shrieking, screaming banshee-like wail.

Adelaide.

I ran upstairs to find Adelaide in her bed, rubbing her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Nine-sniff-sniff-scratched-sniff-my-eye-snrumph-I-I-I-wahhhh-was-sleeping-and-sniff-slrumph-she-scratched-ME!!"

I scooped Adelaide up and took her into the bathroom for a closer look. Adelaide's left cheek had angry, red, puffy scratch marks, and her left eye had some broken blood vessels. Adelaide assured me that she could see, but I decided that we'd better go to the doctor anyway. No naps today! I woke Hal and in no time everybody was secured into the van and off we went.

I juggled our two temperamental kids at the doctor's office with the help of various nurses, residents, and receptionists ... It takes a village, doesn't it? After some looking and restraining (yuck) and flashlights and flourescent dye and black lights, we determined that Adelaide's vision was unaffected and that her eye was a-okay.

We met Papa - our Blood Bank Hero - for a cookie after our trials, and we're on our way back home at 4:00. "Missed nap," I thought as I drove home. When we got home and we're parked in the garage, I looked to the backseat and saw that both kids were blissfully snoring away.

Posted by Aimee at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Posted by Aimee at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

The scene: A rumpled father and his daughter are perusing a picture book about animals.

Joel: And see, every continent has its own animals.

Adelaide: Different animals for different countries.

Joel: Right, kangaroos grew up in Australia, lions grew up in Africa, bears grew up in America-

Adelaide: They grew up there?

Joel: Well, yeah. Australia was just right for kangaroos, so kangaroos grew up there.

Adelaide: And God made them there.

Joel: Oh. Uh, well, a lot of people argue about whether-

Adelaide: And I don't like lions because they can bite you.

Joel: Whew.

Posted by Joel at 7:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Snow Woman

Snow Cave

Snow Sled

We had what I fervently hope is our last snowstorm last night. Given that, and a surprisingly good night of sleep, Adelaide and I felt ambitious enough to pull of the child's winter trifecta. The snow cave is my pride and joy. All winter long I've been piling the driveway snow into a towering hump in the front yard. It's core has become ice, and I was able to hollow out a space large enough for Adelaide to turn around in. "I'm like a bear in a cave with dolls!" she exclaimed, jamming her Cinderella doll into a gap in the wall.

Posted by Joel at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Adelaide continues to look charming with her umbrella and other pink accoutrements.

Henry's got a cheeky new grin (since yesterday) that he's having fun showing off.

(Joel is coping with his fourth Surg Path rotation and I am coping with a case of walking pneumonia. Ophelia continues to teethe on our basement sofa. Nine seems happier now that her litter box is upstairs.)

Good times.

Posted by Aimee at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)