Sicko

Home today with a very puny Keillor. He has more liquid coming out both ends than we put in. He also has a double ear infection. Antibiotic goes in…and comes out. Motrin goes in…and comes out. Put him down, he screams. Put him in his crib, he screams.

He just came off a 20 minute screaming jag. Could not be consoled. Upstairs, downstairs, inside, outside, red-faced bawling. Finally he started pointing to the kitchen cabinets. Point, scream; point, scream harder. In the last cabinet, he pointed to the Ritz crackers and screamed. I gave him a Ritz. Then he pointed to the raisins and screamed. I let him get some raisins. By some miracle, he stopped. Of course, I know I will be seeing these raisins again very soon, only wetter and all over the front of my shirt. Still, you know the old adage: a quiet toddler now is worth a puking toddler later.

Here I sit, Keillor in lap shoving raisins in his mouth, typing one-handed, just waiting for the eruption of partially digested raisins and crackers to ruin my laptop. And that’s all I know about that.

A Very Victorian Christmas

The kids were supposed to go see Santa at our school Christmas party, but it was cancelled thanks to a healthy dose of ice and snow. They don’t know who this Santa character is, but they see pictures of him everywhere, and people keep talking to them about him. Because they don’t like strangers, and because our friend Bill, who the kids know, was going to be Santa, we thought we were golden. No such luck. We may still try to pay way too much and take them to see mall Santa. Slim chance. Just in case, I PhotoShopped our kids’ heads on the bodies of twins sitting on Santa’s lap. The result is odd.

Fake Keillor and Emaline with Santa.

I am working on creating silhouettes of the kids. In sketching them out, I noticed the Keillor is starting to look a little older than Emaline. I wonder if this trend will continue.

Guess Who?

I am very excited that my children have chosen a favorite book. I know it is their favorite because we have to have two copies of it and we have to hide it from them so they don't destroy it. In 1977, my aunt bought me a book that became one of my all-time favorites. Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen features a naked Mickey saving breakfast by flying to the Milky Way and pouring milk into the batter of the bakers who bake until dawn. The Schmookies love it as much as I did. When we get to the part where Mickey cries, "Cock a Doodle Doo," Keillor tries to mimic him. They love to find the moon on every page, and we must read the book at least twice before bedtime. Once I do the narration and Aimee does the voices; next we switch. Wrapped in the favorite blankets, each on a different lap, they know when to turn the pages and when the story is sadly over.

One Year Ago

A year ago, the kids were eating apple sauce (or at least learning to). They spent a lot of time on their backs, and didn't do much talking. Boy, a lot has changed.

Animal Noises

We have been practicing with animal noises: the cow says, "moo"; the horse says, "neigh"; the cat says, "meow," that kind of thing. We thought it was time to share what our kids can do with the world. They are not the best, but they try really hard.

Twin Rangers

Continuing with our video library, here is a recent gem recorded December 11. Happy Trails...

Zamfir, Master of the Bear Flute

Phone Call