A few good books

Maya got deep into books over the weekend.

She seemed to be pulling for the ducklings to find safe passage to their new home in the park ...

But the "baa" of the woolly lamb was obviously too much. What can I say, it is a noisy farm.

It was a nice weekend, with terrific weather and a fun visit with Grampy and Grammie Ives. We went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday, where we ran into many people including my old Hancher co-worker Emily Hansen who was in town visiting her sister. Owen and I then had a trip to the pool, Amy got her hair cut, and Maya got a lot of cuddles from the grandparents.

Yesterday was a bit different with very cool temps and scattered storms throwing off the normal summer agenda. We took the neighbor's dog for a walk to the fire station. Owen rode his trike the whole way and did a great job navigating a pretty good hill for someone with small legs, three wheels, a subpar breaking mechanism.

Owen had a hard time getting down for his nap. After a few in-and-outs trying to get him to relax, I went into his room and sat on the floor next to his bed. I wrapped an arm around him and he soon fell asleep ... as did I.

I woke up about a half hour later with an incredible kink in my back from my poor body position. I laid on the floor to straighten myself out then fell asleep for another half hour.

Sorry I didn't get to say good-bye, Drew and Jean.

We had more fun at dinner later. Owen got up from the table determined to plant his apricot seed somewhere in the lawn (hope to see you next year, little tree), but the screen door came off its runners on his way back in. Amy and I got up quickly from our meals and tried to get it back on, but it required some tools we didn't have handy. Since he was finished eating, Owen grabbed his toy tool set and got to work while Amy and I ate. At one point, the door fell off entirely, leading Owen to say matter-of-factly "It's broken. And it's all my fault." He didn't seem distraught about it at all. He just waited for us to finish then he helped us get it back in place.

... and then he came back in and became a little pink cloud.

Butts and good day

Arriving to pick Owen up at daycare the other day, I walked into Kim's and it was quiet ... too quiet. I was sure I hadn't missed the kids playing out back, because Kim's husband Rick was out mowing the back yard. As I walked in, there was Kim sitting at her computer, but no Owen anywhere. Was Amy going to pick him up for some reason?

Kim turned and said hello and I said, "OK, where's the little man?"

"When we got in from playing," Kim said, "Owen came up to me and said he needed some privacy. So I cleared everyone out of the infant's room and he's been playing quietly in there for a half hour."

Kim appreciated Owen's honesty that he needed some down time, and he apparently had a great time. He had a bunch of toys out and was all hugs and smiles when he finally heard me and came out.

Story #2. Owen made my morning when I was leaving for work today. "Have good luck today, Daddy."

I'll try. But if things don't start well I may ask my boss for some privacy.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure this is soon to become Owen's favorite song. It seems like the kind of song Frances would sing when she got a bit older.

Melanoatmeal raisin?

Today's entry begins with a funny little story. The other day at work, Amy and her co-workers received a tray of cookies from a local assisted living facility. Amy said the cookies were absolutely awful, but brought one home anyway. Here's why.

Amy came to find out that the the little sprinkles on the cookies were added with the purpose of reminding residents at the assisted living facility, as well as potential clients, about the dangers of skin cancer. Indeed these sprinkles are there -- I am not kidding you here -- to bring to mind some sort of carcinoma.

Mmmmmm .... hungry?

Undeterred by the cookie's warning, we had a busy day outside yesterday. The Miller Park Zoo had an anniversary celebration with face painting (which we missed), free carousel rides (above) and one of those big inflatable bouncy toys, which Owen thought was awesome!

It was Maya's first trip to the zoo, but she seemed to have a good time being out on a nice day.

For me, though, the most unforgettable part of the day will be this conversation in which I became an unwitting participant:

Looking at the animal jumping into the water, the little girl said, "Look, Daddy, it's a walrus!"

Her dad came over, watched the animal swim for a moment and said, "Yeah look at that walrus." Then, calling to his wife said, "Honey, we've got a walrus over here!"

As the family came over and watched the animal swim, the dad took out his park map and tried to find out where they were. Seeing no walruses on the map he took a quick glance at the animals listed in that area of the zoo and realized they'd made a mistake. "Oh, honey, that's not a walrus. Says here it's a sea lion."

"Actually," I said, unable to restrain myself any longer, "the sea lions are in the next tank. This is an otter."

Maya had a great second week of afternoons with our friend Kelli and her kids across the street. Becca had her 9th birthday on Friday (happy birthday, Becca!), but on Thursday, labeled our little girl with a sparkly label ... uncharacteristic of Maya's easygoing personality, but fun nonetheless.

Tumbling and babbling

As promised, more videos.

Owen began tumbling classes last week. Lessons began with a somersault, and as you can see he took to it naturally.



Meanwhile, Maya has been vocalizing a lot more. Here's a little clip of her showing off her chatty side.

A girl admires her big brother

A couple of videos to add over the next couple of days. Here's the first, a true sense of how much Maya loves watching Owen.

Meanwhile, O seems to be as cool as the other side of the pillow.

"Yeah, I know she's watching. But, dude, I'm eating my hot dogs here and hearing Make Way for Ducklings. I can't be bothered."

Open wide!

The three year old in our house made his first trip to the dentist this week. Owen read lots of books about visiting the dentist before we went. While there were no "yankers" like in the Berenstein Bears dentist story, Owen knew to open his mouth wide, let them count his teeth -- ten on top, ten below -- and have his cleaning. He did great!

Meanwhile, Maya left a much different impression. The other morning, Amy woke up after cuddling with Maya those last few hours of the night to discover this:

Indeed, that is a very tiny ear print ...

Owen and I had lots of outdoor time. We made two trips to the pool and rode the big water slide again and again and again. Fifty steps to the top and about 25 seconds to the bottom, we made the trip a total of 20 times when we went last Monday afternoon. It's terrific fun!

Owen also helped me wash the car

And Auntie Pam came over to sit for a while last weekend so that Amy and I could get out for a brief date night (i.e., dessert out). When we got home, Maya was asleep.

Talk about comfortable ...

And look at those feet.