This morning I put an assortment of berries on my daughter’s breakfast plate and watched as she began sorting them by type into the little compartments of her plate.  Raspberries to the left, strawberries in the middle, blackberries to the right.

Now, I might eat my M&Ms in order by color.  I might have this “thing” about how boxes are taped up.  And I might occasionally make a conscious effort to avoid stepping on the sidewalk cracks (which shouldn’t really count because it’s more of a leftover habit from childhood games).

BUT I DO NOT SORT MY FOOD.  SHE DID NOT GET THIS FROM ME.

And since her father does not have an OCD bone in his body, I can only assume that she gets this from her Grandpa … along with her habit of going through the cup of crayons to make sure they’re all pointing the same direction. 

So you see, it is apparently possible for the tendency toward OCD to leap out of the gene pool* and cross 2 generations. 

Those are some serious genes.

(more…)

This morning Kaelin was informing me of how much she really really wanted to watch some TV before Tuesday School.  I told her that she could watch 1 show if we had time, but that we had to do her hair before any TV.

“I don’t want to do my hair.”
“If you want to watch TV, we have to do your hair first.”
“Suddenly, I don’t wanna watch TV.”

I’m not really sure where she picked up the word “suddenly,” but I don’t know where she gets half the things she says these days…

Yesterday after Jens got off work, we all took a trip to the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.  It was such a beautiful day that it seemed a shame to stay inside.  I know, I know, I’ve been a little shutter happy recently.  I’m making up for all those months when I didn’t pull the camera out.

It’s weird to think that Kaelin just has a few more weeks of being an only child – and therefore only a few more weeks of being the only one subject to my camera-clicking whims.  She’ll probably appreciate getting to share that responsibility.

Playing with the water

Throwing rocks in the stream

Throwing rocks in the stream. I don’t know what my camera was trying to focus on in this shot, but apparently it wasn’t Kaelin.

Chillin’ on the playground. Kaelin asked me to take her picture right here about 12 times. I obliged.

On the swing set. This is the first time she’s ever expressed any interest in swinging on her tummy.

On the way out, she spotted this little patch of flowers and plopped down in it. She was up and out of there just as quickly once she spotted a bee.

The weather is perfect today, so Kaelin and I hung out in the back yard before her nap, blowing bubbles and just having fun.  And of course, taking pictures…

Somehow, I managed to get a little over-zealous with the bubble bath this morning.  Kaelin didn’t seem to mind though…

This morning Kaelin pulled her little step ladder up to the counter and noticed the “project box.”  It’s a package of foam pieces and pipe cleaners that we make animals out of.

Kaelin: Can I have some googly eyes?
Mama: No, not right now.  We can’t make a mess because today is cleaning day.
Kaelin: (reaching for the package anyway)
Mama: Kaelin, stop trying to grab things after I’ve already told you no.
Kaelin: Did you tell me no?
Mama: Um… yes.  I did.
Kaelin: Hmm…. interesting….

Today Mama got a new filter for her camera… which she didn’t get to use because it’s meant for sunny days and the sun completely disappeared within 5 seconds of making the purchase. 

Figures.  But nonetheless, we went to the park for some fun and pictures.

“Dear God, thank you for Mama and Daddo, amen.  What else? And for Debra and Brady and Debra and Keenan.  And don’t forget Greg!  And Debra and Greg.  And Mrs. Jenny and Cooper.  And thank you for Caroline. And all my friends.  And nice teachers!  And Mama and Daddo, amen.

“Kaelin, what do you think we should name your baby brother?”
“Tofu.”

Those of you who have ever met Kaelin know that she has always been rather articulate and has a wicked memory for the names of things.  My only guess is that she gets it from her father because I know for a fact that I can’t claim any credit for a memory like that.

Have I mentioned that she can READ?  So far she knows 10 words: Kaelin, Mama, Daddo, Ana, Papa, Jon, Iris, Cat, Dog, and Boz.  And she recognizes the heart symbol for “love” so she can read things like “Mama loves Kaelin” etc.  Kindergarten is going to be totally boring.

While I know that sounds like a lot of bragging, my point is really that when she does get something “wrong,” it always catches me off guard.

At “Tuesday School” she made a stamp picture of insects, and she wanted to show it to Daddo and Grandmommy yesterday.  We were asking her what each insect stamp represented, and she would answer “Butterfly” or “Ant,” etc.  We pointed to a picture of a grasshopper. 

“What’s this one?”
“A gurt-plopper.”
“A… what???”
“A gurt-plopper!”

We then erupted into spontaneous giggles, which was probably not the appropriate and PC response. 

The moment lasted all too briefly.  Later I asked her to tell me again what that bug was, and she called it correctly, and has ever since.

Which for some reason, I’m kind of disappointed about.  Personally I prefer “gurt-plopper.”

In other news, Kaelin has recently taken an interest in singing along with the radio.  Her favorite song thus far is Matchbox 20’s How Far We’ve Come.  She asks if they’re going to play it every time we get in the car.  The only part she knows is “Let’s see how far we’ve come” but she gets to sing it a lot during that song.

Today Gwen Stefani was singing “Ain’t No Holla Back Girl” (or whatever that song is called) and Kaelin picked up on the chorus.  About halfway through the song, she says, “What’s a hollow bat girl?”

Speaking of Gwen Stefani, one of my favorite things Kaelin started saying (though she doesn’t do it much anymore) was when we would call her a “silly girl.”  She would often reply, “No.  I’m not.  I’m just a girl.  I’m just a girl in the world like Gwen Stefani.”

Welcome to our new site!  Have some tea, take a look around, and please let me know if anything looks funky.

Also, Hawaii pictures are up!  Check out the Photos section and click “Hawaii” under Albums.

It’s not finished, and I’ll probably be tweaking and adding things for a while (like pictures).  But I believe it’s at least to the point of being functional.  If you see anything that doesn’t work, or just looks odd, please let me know in the comments.  And be sure to tell me what browser you’re using (Internet Explorer 7.0, FireFox 2.0, etc)

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This site is enabled with accounts – meaning you get your own special username and password.  If you look to the left, you’ll see a place to log in, view the members list, etc. 

Here’s the deal with accounts:  while most of this site is pretty much free-for-all, there may be material from time to time that I deem inappropriate or inadvisable to share with the whole wide internet world.  Those pieces, be them blog entries, photos, pages, etc, will only be available to people who a) are members, and b) are logged in.  It’s my way of providing a little extra security when necessary, without making this a restricted site.

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