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Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

9/26/13 (Thursday)

Owen was drawing on one of those little magnetic tablets at YBR today when Cara and I arrived to pick him up. We had to wait quite a while while he wrote his name. He ended up essentially writing "slow" upside-down. Then he decorated it. Then we could go.

While we were on our way out, Owen announced that he had pooped on the potty at school. Neither Miss Vina nor Miss Minal could confirm this. We questioned him extensively. When we asked him which teacher had been there, he decided that it was Miss Vina. Later, when I tried him again, he claimed that it had been Miss Rebecca. Unless we question the entire staff, I don't think there's any way to find this out. I've talked to him about it too much; I don't think he has any idea what's true anymore. (Because he's three, not because I interrogated him tied to a chair under bright lights.)

Recently Owen got a Mexican wrestler Little Guy as a potty prize. Everyone is delighted. He went in the bath tonight, where, with Aquaman, he discovered the distorting properties of water. "Hey," said the Mexican wrestler, "I am much fatter than I am!" "I am much fatter than I am, too!" said Aquaman.

9/27/13 (Friday)

It was Family Fun Night, and we had a few mintues to spend before Steve got home and we went out to dinner. The kids and I got out Hoot, Owl, Hoot, a cooperative game. We managed to play it! Each player gets three cards with colored dots on them (or sun cards), and you have to get all of the six owls back to their nest before the sun moves along its path towards dawn. It's a very cute game, and everyone wins together.

9/28/13 (Saturday)

After a very lazy morning in which we managed to not do much of anything at all, the kids went off for a sleepover. They brought Hoot, Owl, Hoot and a really horrible game involving trying to balance penguin pirates on a plastic pirate ship that falls over at the first touch of a penguin.

The moment the kids arrived, they brought out the games they had packed. We played the owl game first, and at the end, we collaboratively cheated to allow all the owls to get home.

I love it that Owen pretends to read! We got out the penguin boat game, and Owen carefully held up the instructions and "read" them to us. George is confident that the boat could be made to balance, but not with the assistance of children. Eventually, though, the boat and penguins were very useful - they lured Owen into the bath, where is turns out that the boat and penguins all sink like stones. Happily, this in no way diminished a little boy's vigorous enjoyment of the water. We brought in the swimming fish and turtle as well, and they seem to have had a battle. No toys were injured in the making of this epic.

Before supper and bath-time, though, George and Cara made an expedition to restock our river tank. Owen declined this opportunity in favor of a solo pillow fight with me. He lay flat and I piled seven pillows on top of him, which he then joyfully dislodged and threw to the floor. For a grand finale, he slid off the bed onto his pile of pillows and wrestled them where they lay.

Cara's evening was rich in crafts. While Owen worked up a storm in the tub, she and George worked with a glue gun to make a display of rocks and minerals we got during a trip to Pennsylvania some time ago. I had provided a shadow box for them. Later, she colored more shrinky-dinks, which we baked this morning, Sunday. She has also demonstrated continued mastery of the magic rings trick.

9/29/13 (Sunday)

We have breakfasted on eggs and bacon - Owen declined an offer to dye the eggs green a la Dr. Seuss - and fresh-baked bread. Whenever these children decide they are ready, we will take them to the park.

Grandpapa took Owen to the park, which seems to have been fun, but all Owen claims to have done was to walk on the stairs. The ladders and slides were wet. Stairs, though! Fun!

Owen has spent a lot of time lately shrieking with glee. He likes to announce his presence in a room that way. He liked to punctuate activities with little outbursts. It's one of those things that I guess people other than his parents might not find pleasant. Personally, I mostly think it's adorable.

Claire came up, and we spent the afternoon in the kitchen. We made tonight's dinner, Tuesday's dinner, and some things that are in the freezer. When we were in a lull, Owen brought in his nook and got Claire, the ever-popular, to play barnyard memory with him. She'd turn over one card. Then he'd turn over a bunch until he got a match. Then it was her turn. She'd do her one card and let him get back to work. Everyone was happy.

Steve pointed out, this evening, that while Owen used to annoy Cara a lot, lately she's bugging the heck out of him. I mentioned this to her, asking whether she was doing it on purpose. She says she's not, and I reminded her what it felt like when Owen did things to drive her up the wall and suggested that if she does things that bother him, perhaps the thing to do would be to stop doing them. I think she gets it.

Steve has two Transformers. They are definitely not appropriate for Owen. I got out Owen's Transformers this evening, hoping to distract him from Daddy's. Owen's Transformers, they told me, are friends. I asked what they like to do together. They like to turn into trucks together.

9/30/13 (Monday)

I'm willing to cautiously decide that I like the routine we'll be in this year. Owen and I got back here around 5:30, in time to say goodbye to Steve. As we got out of the car, I explained to Owen that Daddy was going to go to class. When Owen saw Steve, the first thing he said was "you have a class!"

The two of us had scrambled eggs, cleaned up, got the recycling out, made dinner for Cara, and cut up a pepper for the kids to have in the car. Well, Owen helped with the having-scrambled-eggs part. He brought about eight little guys with us to the dance studio, where he happily lined them all up and then knocked them down one by one.

Owen and I played Hoot, Owl, Hoot. I wouldn't let him cheat--until the end, when I decided we needed to cheat to win! I don't think he learned anything from it, though, either good or bad, because at that point he was distracted by some superheroes. Superman was going through some very strange contortions. Those guys have too many joints.

It was a very pleasant evening. I helped Cara with her math homework while bathing Owen and then wrassling with him. She showered while I read to him. Now, they're both down and the house is quiet.

10/1/13 (Tuesday)

Today was a busy day. I had to work late and then rush to a meeting at Cara's dance studio (competitions will be the weekend of Grandpapa'a birthday, the weekend of my birthday, and some other weekend in the spring), after which I drove up to Highland Park to get Owen and straight back again to get Cara.

In the car, Owen was very thoughtful. We were listening to Joseph. "Mommy," he told me, "I have a boy named Joseph at my school." I asked, naturally, whether he wore a very pretty coat. "No," said Owen, "he doesn't have any coat! But he does have a superhero shirt." Owen proceded to ramble on and on about Joseph's clothes, eventually concluding, I believe, that he did wear some pretty coats.

Then Owen noticed something amazing: "Mommy!" he cried, "some men are fixing that house! They went on ladders, like firemen!" How astonishing.

I had reason to muse, yesterday, whether a child can really be said to have had a fun day if his shoes are not full of mulch. He claimed to have enjoyed himself. There was mulch in his hair. Today, though, not only were his shoes a treasure trove of dirt, but there was dirt all over his face, under his nails, and in his nose. Definitely a good day!

10/2/13 (Wednesday)

When I arrived at YBR, Owen and the other kids were outside drawing with chalk on the blacktop. Owen was wearing what I can only describe as a starfish costume strapped to his back. He was delighted with himself and was very busy drawing. He had no interest in going to Miss Rebecca to get wiped off. Eventually, I went inside to get his lunchbox. Usually, when I try to do that, he comes running. Not today! He was still drawing when I came back out. We asked him what he was drawing. It was a ninja face, with big horns and little feet.

We got home in time to see Daddy before he left for class. The Loefflers came over and we all had a lovely dinner. Owen ate his pasta, his corn, almost an entire piece of chicken, and then a banana. He had a bath. He made me read Busy, Busy Town even though I pointed out that it's not funny when I read it the way it is when Daddy reads it. "Yes, Daddy's so funny!" Owen agreed. He wanted the book anyway, because "there are fluffy guys in it."

It's interesting to read Owen a book that's been Steved. Owen remembers the extra things that he has the characters say, pretty often, so he'll chime in with the funny parts that he really doesn't understand.

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