That's what he said

Harper took some pictures of us last week.
I'm thinking I'll get her to take the Christmas card picture this year then we'll just photoshop her in.

Hudson has a new pair of silver Nikes that he loves very much. He can put them on by himself, thanks to the velcro, which I love very much. He still needs help with socks and tight-necked t-shirts, but he's getting himself dressed pretty well in the mornings. I especially like it when he puts his cargo shorts on backwards. I don't fix them usually. He's maturing in so many ways, probably because he'll be 3 1/2 in a couple of days. He accidentally stomped on my bare foot with his aforementioned new shoes (which he puts on upon awakening and only takes off for sleeping) one day last week and I yelped loudly because 30 pounds of stomp with a hearty waffle tred is a surprisingly agonizing combination on a bare foot. He said, "I'm SAW-WEE Mommy! You need my night-night?" and he trotted off to his bed to get his special blanket, which he then gently rubbed on my injured foot. Sweet boy. He's gotten pretty into being an army man and a hunter lately. He needs pretty constant validation that his own life is meeting the Army Man Standard: "Do army mens eat yodurt? Do army mens do tarate? Do army mens ride bites? Do army mens mommies wipe their poo-poo?" That last one got a hearty, "They do NOT! Army men wipe their very own poo-poo!" And I totally cracked up one morning when he was getting himself into position for said procedure. He almost fell off the stool but caught himself and said, "Whew! Dat was yike Spider Man!" and I said, "Yes, I'm certain that is the sort of agility displayed by Spider Man when his mommy wiped his bottom."
He got this Nerf gun a few weeks ago and he does a fair amount of stalking around with a very stern expression, hunting for Monsters. One morning while I was brushing my teeth he was sitting on our bed watching, and he said, "Sometimes, army men shoot other army men." He watched my face carefully, pretty certain he was giving me some new information. "Yes, sadly, they do," I said, thinking he might have some follow up question. And he did: "Can I have some granola with my yodurt? Do army mens eat granola with their yodurt?" I am sure there are some army men who eat granola with their yogurt, I answered, glad that we were done with war for now.

prodigal dog

We had a good weekend. We very much enjoyed our annual visit from the Tamisieas. Clare was Harper's first friend, the summer she turned one. Mrs. T was my good friend when I worked at Children's in Dallas, AND we've each managed to have three kids at very similar intervals, which makes for lots of shared experiences. We miss them and wish they didn't live so far away. Helena was asleep and John Paul thinks taking pictures is a major impediment to his well-being. But here are the rest of us:

Yesterday we went to a church to hear Randall Goodgame sing about bears and tractors and bees who don't say please. The kids at my house are very fond of his cd, "Slugs and Bugs and Lullabies," ESPECIALLY a little ditty called, "Tractor, Tractor." We were running a smidge late (because our air conditioner died--more on that later) and we sprinted in just as he was finishing the first verse of "Tractor, Tractor." So, crisis averted. Hudson and Harper thought it was fantastic, even if they sat very still the entire time instead of partaking of the frolic like some of the other kids. They get a little star-struck and overwhelmed. Hudson did a few, very subtle hand motions and clapped a tiny bit, all the while sporting a very stern expression. He does the same thing at the library story time. He got caught up in "Wheels on the Bus" a few weeks ago and actually "beep, beep, beeped," then, when he caught me looking, he jerked back to attention with his hands clasped tightly in his lap. Apparently the crazy dance moves we work on at home are not for public consumption. Incidentally, Randall Goodgame also writes songs for grownups, and there's a song on his "War and Peace" album about the day Charles Schultz died that may have the most well written lyrics I've ever heard.

So, the air conditioner at our house has decided it is tired and needs to rest. Which isn't as dire as it could be because, 1. It has been raining and so the temperature is not as shocking as it might be this time of year, and 2. Because the husband, when he realized that we were going to be sans cool air for at least 24 hours, promptly headed to Lowe's for TWO window units. Which, if you are keeping count, brings our total number of window units to THREE. Which earns us lots of You Know You're a Redneck bonus points. Oh, and I just remembered that just as we were finishing lunch with our friends yesterday, a LIVE ROACH scurried across our kitchen counter, and the husband, in his zeal to get it, knocked it under the table where it came within millimeters of Mrs. T's foot before meeting its death by 70% isopropyl alcohol (which the husband keeps in a large spray bottle for household uses both cleaning and insecticidal). In case you didn't know, nothing says "I hope you and your children enjoyed your freshly prepared sandwich lunch at my home" like a live roach show.

Then today while we waited at home all day for the air conditioning guy, who finally showed up at 4:45 pm, Hudson lost his stuffed puppy, Cooper. We looked everywhere for Cooper and couldn't find him before nap time. I looked in all of the usual hiding places to no avail. When Hudson got up from his nap, I asked him what the last thing he remembered doing with Cooper was. "I frew him UP. In the kitchen!" Can you guess where Cooper came down? Can you? Did you guess in the trash can? Under the coffee grounds and plum pits and the entire overripe, cut in two watermelon I had to throw away at lunch? Yes, then, you are correct. And no, the air conditioner is not fixed. Of course there's a part to replace. And of course the store is already closed. So they'll be back "first thing tomorrow." And to that I say crank up the window unit.

It's been such a long time

Now you have a Boston tune whirling through your head and that is supposed to help you forget that I have not blogged in approximately an eon. Or perhaps an epoch. I don't have much of an excuse. But I realize that when I go this long between posts I forget little things that I don't want to forget. Like the fact that Hudson's been really working on finally making the 'k' sound, instead of using the 't' sound. He's really guttural about it, like maybe he summons it from down in his bronchioles somewhere. He'll say, "Yisten, Mommy: 'cuh, cuh, cuh!" and I'll say, "That's terrific, little man! Now can you say 'cupcake'?" and he'll beam and say, "Tup-tate!"

And how one night I could hear Hudson and Harper giggling like crazy while I was putting Helena to bed and they finally came running in and said, "MOMMY. Look what we can do!" And Hudson got directly in front of Harper and she wrapped her arms around him from behind and lifted him about 3 inches off the ground. They thought this was quite a Feat. In fact, when Harper saw a 6 year old girl carrying her toddler sister at the mall today, she said, "I can pick my brother up too!" And she did. And he didn't mind. I think she only outweighs him by about 6 pounds now, so it's probably not entirely safe for either one of them. But it's almost as good as a hug, and after all this time, I'm certainly not going to deny Hudson that pleasure.

We got to take a little trip with our dear friends the Bowsers. We went to a lake house west of Austin and it was pure delight. Helena's favorite part was probably the wind chimes. I didn't get a picture, but she would reach out to clink them together and get a serene smile of bliss on her face listening to the resulting chime. Harper and her friend Estie had all sorts of fun, but Harper declared sitting in this swing that the neighbors brought over to be her Absolute Favorite Thing, though you certainly can't tell by their expressions in the picture:


Hudson had lots of fun splashing in the Llano and fishing a little with Daddy, but when I asked him on the way home what his favorite thing was, he said, without hesitation, "The Elmo computer." My kids who have, for the most part, been deprived of any toys that make any kind of electronic noise (for my sanity, not for any deep philosophical protest) are inexorably drawn to them when they encounter them elsewhere.

Speaking of Boston, he was 100% cute, 100%of the time, and he sounds like a tiny baby pterodactyl (or, as I imagine a baby pterodactyl might have sounded--that was before recorded sound, right?)

The husband and Mr. B spent some time talking pipes and tobacco and puttering around in a golf cart:

And as for me, well, there was a hammock. And temperatures were in the 70's most of the time. And I got to talk for several uninterrupted hours with a dear friend. That is a recipe for goodness.