Lucie's tooth

The tooth is finally out! It happened in the car on the way to school this morning. Lucie reports that Jason told her to "just yank on it."


Last photo with all top baby teeth

Pleez?

(Those of you scratching your heads might want to visit http://icanhascheezburger.com/. For the record, C is the one who finds this funny.)

Hockey night in Raleigh

Last month C took Lucie to her first Hurricanes game, at the RBC center in Raleigh. Lucie thought it was pretty cool. They sat with a group of people who work with C at the museum.



Their seats were pretty high up there. Not too far away to see the inevitable fight, though. C had to try to explain why all of a sudden a couple of players were punching each other in the head. Later in the game, Lucie asked more than once, "Daddy, when is there going to be another tussle?"



Snack time.



For the record, the Hurricanes lost.

More snapping and dancing

Milo

When Milo was a baby, he used to wave and yell, "Hi!" to everyone in a particularly charming way. If there was a lull in the dinnertime conversation, and Milo caught you looking at him, he would smile and say, "Hi!" Remember that? Sadly, he now says "hi" to people with a normal frequency and level of enthusiasm. In this post I want to record some of his other quirks, before they, too, vanish.

Have I already mentioned that Milo is a snapping prodigy? I don't know when most children develop this skill, but Milo has been doing it for months now. In his Milo way, he saw us doing it and put his mind to figuring it out. Now he snaps for the joy of it, as well as (for some reason) before falling asleep, sometimes.

Have we mentioned that Milo likes to table dance? Here he snaps and dances at the same time.



Milo has a communication style that is oddly clear and complete for a two-year-old. He speaks slowly and deliberately, almost robotically, with all connector words included. "Oh, no, that is not very good." "Oh, that is very fun." "I want milk, also."

Milo likes to use the word, "okay," as in, "Don't do that, okay?" or "I want to see that, okay?" It is perhaps most often used in trying to pre-emptively counter arguments that he knows are about to be presented to him. "I won't break it, okay?" "I not fall down and crack mine neck, okay?"

He still uses "mine" for "my," as in, "Where is mine water gum?"

Milo is also coming out with some record-breaking speeches, in terms of length. The night before last, Chris was going to go upstairs with him, but he told Chris, "You wake me up in the morning and I will come downstairs and get dressed. Good night."

SWT seeks princess. Who knew?

The scene: Milo and Daddy are watching the annoying beginning part of a DVD that electronically prevents you from skipping the advertisement. The D*sney logo comes up and a familiar character flies across the screen, waving her wand and trailing pixie dust.

Milo: I want that princess.*

Daddy: That's not a princess. That's a fairy. Her name is Tinkerbell.

Milo (in a really high voice, with as much incredulity as one could possibly ascribe to a two-year old): TINkerbell? (after a pause, now with a low bemused voice) Heh heh heh.

*K maintains that this is the funny part of the story.

Speaking (cold) truth to (nominal) power

A scene from the other morning:

Daddy (to Mommy): Look at these beautiful children we made.

Lucie: Not BOTH of you...(to Daddy) You only did (holds thumb and forefinger several nanometers apart) a little tiny bit.

Lucie reads to Milo

Keep in mind that Lucie had already read "Do Pigs Have Stripes?" to Milo before I started shooting, so Milo's patience was running out.

Lucie reads "Lift a Rock" to Milo.

Lucie reads "Country Animals" to Milo.

Little Peep

Lucie played the part of Spot the Dog in last weekend's YPPC production of "Little Peep."


"You must never, never, never annoy the rooster."

Daddy adds: "Word."


Spot and Little Peep, after the show

Fun-n-motion

Lucie and Milo went to a birthday party for Lucie's friend Miles. It was at Wheels in the "fun-n-motion" section, which was like a McDonald's play structure on steroids.


Milo looking up at the gigantic climbing structure. We were not long for the "toddler play area."








"I'm burning!"


There was a pirate theme.


Mallory, Lucie, Enoch, and Miles


Milo could not wait for the pizza and cupcakes to be over, so he could go back to the video games. ("Drive!")


"A gum!"

"Sherrill gave it me."

Milo makes pancakes while wearing his favorite shirt.

King cake

Lucie said, "I wish Uncle Gary would send us another Martin Luther King cake."

EDIT: Thank you, Uncle Gary, for making Lucie's wish come true. We brought the cake to James and Emily's Robert Burns Night party. It was enjoyed alongside the haggis and shortbread. (Rachel found the baby.)

Milo is also a good dancer

Milo dancing

Yellow Submarine

Brian gave Lucie and Milo a tape of Yellow Submarine for Christmas. Now it is all Milo wants to watch. ("Watch SUBMARINE!") The songs are very popular with both children. It is especially cute to hear Milo singing "Hey Bulldog." ("You can talk a me... If you're lonely you can talk a me.")

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

NC Zoo

It was a beautiful day to visit the NC Zoo with Nini. We were especially thrilled to see an elephant at close range*, a male elk with a huge rack large pair** of antlers, giraffes, bobcats, puffins, chimpanzees, and lions. There was also a really great playground.

*DAD's EDIT: I did not attend, and the report to me from L was as follows: "Dad! We got to see an elephant [urinate] AND [defecate]!!

**EDIT #2: I can see this post is going to result in disappointment for certain Google searches. Sorry, freaks.


"Hook, Nini."

Miscellaneous

It was a bittersweet moment when, a couple of days ago, Milo pronounced Lucie's name correctly for the first time. Actually, it still comes out more like "Hucie" than Lucie. But we will miss him calling her, "Hooey."

In other news, on Christmas eve, Lucie reported feeling a sort of pain. I asked her if she was nervous about Santa Claus coming, and she said, "Sort of nervous, and sort of excited." I asked her if it was a physical pain, or if she just felt mentally uncomfortable. She said, "It is sort of uncomfortable and sort of comfortable, at the same time." I said, "Lucie, all kids feel that way on Christmas eve. It is totally normal." Lucie said, "No it isn't, this is totally over the top."

Locomotion

On Christmas eve, Lucie officially became a bike rider. She rode unassisted for the first time earlier this year, but Monday was the first time she ever said, "I want to ride my bike some more!"


Here's the thing that did it. James turned us on to the "like-a-bike," a wooden, pedal-less, brakeless vehicle that helps kids learn how to balance on two wheels. We got one for Milo, but he's still too small for it. Lucie quickly learned how to careen around Orchard Park on it.

(I tried riding Lucie's bike in like-a-bike fashion, without brakes. It was terrifying.)


Milo quickly learned how to careen around Orchard Park on this...


...and this. (Actually, he can't reach the pedals yet.)


Before long, Lucie was careening around the park on this, unassisted.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you.

Thanksgiving

We were happy to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family in Black Mountain. We have much to be thankful for.


Confidential to Aunt Jane: If your friends start asking about strange emails you've been sending, you can refer them to this picture.


The weather was beautiful. We planned to hike up Lookout Mt. on Friday, but were dissuaded by signs in Montreat warning of an aggressive bear sighting and the beginning of hunting season. So we did the American thing and shopped instead. The kids were very excited when this swan headed straight for us.






We got this "bike guy" for Milo at Ten Thousand Villages. Milo put quite a few miles on him.

Lucky dog Roxy got to come along on this trip. She was in heaven, getting to be near everyone, eat Thanksgiving scraps, and play with Laura's dog, Sandy.


On Saturday we went to the Folk Art Center. This wood turner made a top for Lucie.




By a crazy coincidence, we ran into Zoe's family here. We took a short hike with them along a portion of the Mountains to Sea trail, which intersects with the Folk Center parking lot.


Banana splits!






Don't worry -- Mom helped him eat it.

Thank you, everyone. We had a great time and hope we see you again soon.

Bowling and birthdays

Lucie went to a bowling birthday party on Saturday. She bowled a 74 (with the bumpers in).




Ethan likes Milo.


Each child had their own bowling style. Max's was to fall to his knees and skid. Lucie's was to walk to the end of the lane and lob the bowling ball like a shot put.




Saturday was also Daddy's birthday. He cooked delicious veal shanks and risotto for his family and friends. Here we've just finished the chocolate cake course.

One random note. As I counted out the candles for Chris' cake, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven" (a nice divisor of 42), Milo kept going, "eight, nine." Who knew he could count?