Twas the night before

The Christmas program, and all through Squeakers house, all the creature were eating, except the Daddy person who was off writing exams.

At dinner Squeaker asked her Uncle Mack if he would be coming to her Christmas program. He offered his regrets because of work. Squeaker responded by saying "at least Daddy will definately (loud sigh) maybe be there."

The Daddy person stayed up extra late and got the exams finished (complete with a few typos) and has this video to show for it.



What doesn't show on the video is the emotion behind the camera.

Semesters mark my inexorable path away from youth. Summers become fall, fall passes to spring and I am a year older than I was. Squeaker's time passes differently, in leaps and fits, progress perceptible in a way it is not for me, but unfit for the years by which we measure our own time. Occasionally life makes a point of marking for me both the glory of her growth but also the sadness of her mother's absence.

This program was one of those days for me.

Snow Days and Snowmen

Squeaker had a nice day in the snow today. She started the day with pancakes and ended up spending almost two hours running around with her Uncle Mack outside. That's a big change from the snow last year when she felt the cold more and the fun less. No such problem this year. She enjoyed every minute of her time in the snow.

Speaking of Snowmen, Brite and I were reminded of how much Squeaker loved her 'Nomen in the days of old. Sadly now she doesn't seem interested in them. From what I understand they have been talks with their agents and are considering coming out with another sequel in the spring.

Have a good week and enjoy the snow (if you got some).

Turkeys & Family

Squeaker and I are back from our usual whirlwind tour of the Commonwealth. She and her Aunt Gidget are still trying to figure out how to stop talking and go to sleep when they share a bedroom, with obvious and not unexpected consequences.

Meanwhile, Squeaker enjoyed orchestrating a game of pool. She told her Daddy and Granddaddy which balls to knock down which sometimes took multiple attempts. We even had time for some blueberry pancakes.

Have a good week.

No Post This Week : <

Sorry! The Daddy person was busy being an economist last week (rather than just teaching economics) and was away from Squeaker and didn't get a good post together.

Stay tuned for turkey day stories next week.

Sleep Over

Three nights sleeping over with our Aunt Gidget
Three days without a nap.
Hours and hours of playing.
A big lunch.
Being in a quiet car.

Priceless.

Videos

Its been a while since we have uploaded video, though not since I promised video, so here's a collage of shorts. We enjoyed a quiet weekend at home, something of a rarity recently. Have a good week.

The Empathy Strikes Back

Check-up Time

Not long ago Squeaker (shown here in her Halloween Costume) went to the doctor for her check-up. Part of this year's check-up was a flu shot. She did not enjoy the experience. It took a little while for the tears to cease. Once they did, she had some questions for Brite.

"Why did you let them give me a shot?" Brite's answer was that it was "to prevent the flu". Squeaker then wanted to know "What does the flu feel like?" and sometimes "What different kinds of flu are there?" Every ten minutes for the rest of the day, she would interrogate Brite again (looking perhaps for Brite to change her answers in an attempt to minimize her betrayal). Although she still enjoys playing doctor with her kit, she no longer gives any of her friends shots.


Squeaker on Hair Styles

Last week at the wedding she got to see her Aunt (technically great) Sandra. They even had a chance to play basketball together in their wedding finery. At dinner last night, after a long period of what Brite referred to as "glorious silence", Squeaker looked a Brite and said "I think Mr. B and and Aunt Sandra are the same." Not surprisingly Brite wanted to know way. The answer was that "Mr. B has long hair. Aunt Sandra has very short hair. They are the same because that is different than usual."



The List

Squeaker can be very empathetic when it comes to characters in stories. Most of the time her empathy make sense. On the way to Kentucky a viewing of "Ratatouille" had to be cut short because Squeaker was became unstrung during the storm drain sequence. For any little person, this could be intense, especially for this one, since Squeaker recognized that "drowning" (her word, not mine) was a possibility.

Last night she and Brite were reading "Frog and Toad Together" when empathy struck again. In the story, Toad decides to make himself a list of activities (such as, wake up, get out of bed, eat breakfast, etc). Each time Toad finishes an item, he enjoys crossing it off the list. One of the items was to go for a walk with his friend Frog. During the walk a gust of wind blows the list away. At this point in the story, Squeaker is curled up in bed with Brite and seems to be enjoying the story. Frog tries to catch the list for Toad, but the list is lost for good. Frog comforts Toad and the story ends. Squeaker sits straight up in bed and begins sobbing uncontrollably. Brite doesn't quite understand why until Squeaker blurts out "Oh, Brite, will Toad ever get his list back?"

Brite tried hard to comfort Squeaker while stifling laughter. Squeaker takes the book out of Brite's hands and starts furiously flipping through the pages to see if Toad is every reunited with his list. Squeaker did finally calm down, but Toad was never reunited with his list.