Heart Shaped Pancakes and "The Blustery Day"

As you can see, Squeaker had holiday appropriate pancakes this morning. I couldn't bring myself to use food coloring though, but the bananas added some nice flavor.

We were headed to the bike shop (broken spoke) and the computer shop (hard drive went bye, bye) and Brite asked Squeaker if she had ever been to a bike shop. She said no, but "Froggy went to the bike shop and got a bike!" Brite pointed out that Froggy was older than her, and Squeaker retorted "I'm bigger than Froggy." She did have fun trying to ride their tricycles, but her legs are just a little too short still. Squeaker pays attention to what she is read. Winnie the Pooh is, like Froggy, a big favorite of hers. Having met Pooh and company in books, she's occasionally seen Pooh videos too.

Much of this week we've been buffeted by very heavy winds. One night this week Brite found Squeaker sitting in bed, upright and gripping Blankie so tightly that sweat was pouring off her hands. The wind hand not by itself frightened her, but the wind and the Pooh story, "The Blustery Day", where Owl's house is knocked down by the wind was a little too much for her. She calmed down after that, and we decided to more carefully monitor anything scary she might be exposed to from here on out. I for one am going to stop reading her the Wall Street Journal for a while.

Potty training continues to go well. She's made it through most days with few, if any, accidents. Although, the Daddy person wimped out on Saturday when he forgot extra clothes and bought some "big girl diapers" since she was resistant to using the "big people toilets". At church today Brite showed her that the they had a special small toilet for little people. After a long pause, Squeaker wanted to know why they didn't have them in her size everywhere.

I might need to revise the wind story a bit, but Brite and Squeaker are both in bed, so for the moment you'll have to settle for a second hand account. Have a good week.

The Education of Squeakerpants

Squeaker has had a busy week learning new things. We have learned about potty training. Thanks to the 1-2-3 Gummy Bear method, we are doing just fine with that too. She's doing a good job making it through the day without too many accidents. Saturday night she was playing and the rest of us were enjoying some pie when we heard echoing through the family room, "I went pee pee!" Squeaker had recognized a need, pulled down her pants, and taken care of business. Needless to say there was much cheering.

We also spent yesterday afternoon outside learning important lessons. Her Momzie and Granddaddy taught her about planting bulbs. She was having trouble getting the bulbs in the holes because she was trying not to get her boots dirty. Brite pointed out that the boots were made for getting dirty and only then did Squeaker get close enough to drop the bulbs in the holes. While we were outside, the Daddy person taught her to catch a football, "give it a hug when it comes to you". Lesson learned, we played catch, albeit at a range of a yard, and more often than not the ball stayed off the ground.

The last thing to point out is that I had her pose in her little rocking chair, where she hopefully learned about listening to Aunt Brite and the Daddy person. Put another way she spent a little bit more time than usual in timeout this weekend. That's about all I know. We had blueberry and raspberry pancakes this week.

Have a good week.

Road Trip!

Squeaker and I have been out on the road this weekend. In this case we headed north to visit my parents. This was a big weekend for us. We made our first of what will be many visits to the Smithsonian. Believe it or not the Daddy person actually is making her wait until her second visit to see the Air and Space Museum, though I have been talking it up some. We also got to go on a play date with Baby Sidney and her parents.

The last picture had us in stitches, because Squeaker didn't want me taking pictures. No idea why, maybe she doesn't want to tell Aunt Brite about the four wheeler.

Quote of the Week

"Smokey no smoking!"

I offer this one as a puzzle for the parents of anyone under about 15. Can you tell what TV show we let Squeaker watch this week? For the record, Smokey is one of my parent's foxy cats, not a plea to get any of us to try the patch.

Have a good week!

News Flash: Flower Girl takes another Lap

I should probably should disclose that this picture is from last month. I wasn't able to take any pictures of the Squeaker as the flower girl (Groomsman's code). She was a big hit and did very well, albeit with her on spin on things. We practiced coming up the aisle to the Daddy person at the rehearsal, but we were not sure if she would have flowers, so we just practiced walking. The evening of the wedding we gave her flowers to drop and she did a fine job of that. When she got to the front instead of heading to me, she turned for the bridal party. She got to the end and turned back to me, still dropping a flowers here and there. However when she got to the aisle, she turned back for the door and went all they way back down on victory lap (she was supposed to head down the side and go to Aunt Brite after the service got underway). Having made it to the door and scared the Daddy person who was worried about what might happen next, she turned back, came to me and dropped a huge pile of roses at my feet. She did very well, even if Brite and I were terrified she was going to be in front of the door when the bride (now one of the Doctors Z) came into the sanctuary.

This week was the first time I headed away for my teaching overnights. Wednesday morning Squeaker wanted Aunt Brite to be the Daddy person.

S: “What will I eat for breakfast?”
B: “Oatmeal” (Silly girl, it’s what’s breakfast every morning…)
S: “Oh good, cause I like oatmeal so much.”

Squeaker has been asking the following of her (as the Daddy person):

S:“You’re Daddy, I’m Squeaker”
S: “Daddy you have coffee, what are you eating with your coffee?”
B: “Toast.”
S: “No cereal, sometimes you eat eggs. You’re eating cereal.”
S: “Daddy tickle me, you should tickle me Daddy.”

A few minutes later she began again with:

S: “Daddy, where are you?”
B: “I am at work.”
S: “Why do you have to work? Why are you at work so long?”

After breakfast Squeaker was giving all her stuffed animals alphabet books and is “helping them to learn”. They were arrayed around the table like King Arthur’s court. From what Aunt Brite has told me, Squeaker missed me, but it wasn't as bad as this story makes it sound.

I went to a basketball game without her this weekend, but basketball was on her mind. She told Brite that, "I want to be a ballet dancer at the basketball game and say 'Go Keydets'." Yes, we will be going to some women's game soon.

It turns out that best way to get her to smile at the wedding was to have her say "Go Keydets". The only problem was that her fist pump did tend to obscure the smile. Despite our travels, she had ginger pancakes (courtesy of the bride and groom) at the reception. Have a good week. I'll see if I can't get some pictures of my little "flower pot" at work.

No Squeaker, Eyes Open

Aunt Brite and Squeaker took a road trip to "Foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadephia" this week. They had a great time, but are both very happy to be back. Although on Squeaker's first full day home we went back out on the road. I took her back see the Keydet's play. They didn't win, but when I put her to bed she asked if we could go to more "loud basketball games". She also hopes to have Moe (the Kangaroo and mascot of the Keydets) come over to her house someday soon. As I have mentioned, she likes to rhyme words. At dinner tonight, she came up with "pee-dets" and "poo-dets" as rhymes for Keydet. Yes, we are thinking about potty training and yes, Squeaker is grounded for a long time.

The pictures are from her other fun activity this weekend. She and Aunte Brite spent this afternoon making chocolate chip cookies. No word on when she will learn to smile with her eyes open. Hopefully it will be soon, since she is supposed to be the 'flower pot' at a wedding this weekend. It will be a shame if she doesn't open her eyes for the pictures. Have a good week.

Say What?

Squeaker and the Daddy person have been enjoying a quiet week back at home. We went out on a date Friday night to a local restaurant. I had a crab cake sandwich and she had shrimp and fries. She didn't like the fries (although she did kind of like using them to eat tartar sauce). I told her that of she at her shrimp she could have the ice cream that was part of her meal.

Yes, Virginia, she loves her ice cream.

Saturday we took a road trip with Baby Linda's grandfather to watch the Keydets play basketball (speaking which, I hope our readers in Kentucky know which Lexington is home to the powerhouse this season). Squeaker and I have both been looking forward to this game.

This time last year we received a lot of reader comments that suggested that Squeaker didn't really like basketball. I objected at the time and produced a video that I believe showed her to be a big fan. If any of you have lingering doubts I offer the following story. I put her to bed after dinner Friday night, and between dancing with Daddy and the good night kisses, we were working on proper cheering technique. She knows when to say "Go Keydets", when to say "Go Wahoos", and when to say "Go Tribe".

Once again, I am not making this stuff up.

Having reviewed our roles for the next day ("Daddy will not yell"), she asked, unprompted, when we could go see another game at Virginia. I rest my case for the nay sayers. Speaking of nay sayers, if you live within driving distance of the Keydets you should go see a game. Squeaker has already picked out a pink dress from Disney that's she's going to wear when they go to the Show.

Ok, back to Squeaker. We had a great time at the game, since the Corps was gone we had the best seats in the house. Squeaker enjoyed the game and didn't even mind when the Daddy person yelled. In fact she even asked him to "stand and yell go Keydets" a couple of times when it got quiet (free throws, so "Daddy will not yell"). She also thought is was really funny when the Daddy person sang the Spirt ("Daddy silly").

The only downside of the trip was that she didn't sleep a wink on the ride home and spent the rest of the night alternating between sweet, cute, crazy, and demonic. At a lucid point Squeaker asked if she could have cookies if she finished her dinner. Brite told her that we didn't have any cookies. With out missing a beat Squeaker wanted to know "what I get out of this?"

Brite and the Daddy person tried really hard to laugh, but didn't succeed. Have a good week.

Run for Home Squeaker

After a bunch of time on the road, Squeaker and the Daddy person are home for a while. The Daddy person is a bit under the weather. Among other things Squeaker gave me a cold for Christmas, so we'll pick up with a normal post next week. Happy New Year!