The Foot Is Like The Hand Of The Leg

Smiles at the thought of blueberries from our bush this summer

A couple days ago, Andrew and I were together in Phil's little 2-door silver car and he became fascinated with the fact that he could so easily reach the window next to his car seat. Our conversation went something like this:

Andrew: Can reach the window!

Mommy: Yes, you can reach the window. This car is small, so it's easier to reach.

Andrew: Can't open it?

Mommy: No, that window back there doesn't open.

Andrew: Bummer.

Our baby dogwood blooming for the first time!

I find so many of my conversations with The Precious amusing these days. One thing that is (usually) pretty funny (though sometimes exhausting) is the way he has suddenly become Mr. Negotiator. He doesn't have to check out the plumbing quite as often as he did a few weeks ago. Instead, his current obsession is dropping and things down into other things (most often pennies down into some new crevice he's found, but it could be anything into or onto anything). So about 25 times a day, I will experience some variation of the following conversation (he still gets his pronouns backwards):

Andrew: You can drop pennies down this hole, OK?

Mommy: Which hole?

Andrew: This where the air comes out?

Mommy: No Honey, I don't want you to drop pennies down the return vent. I can't get them back out.

Andrew: Can drop pennies down this hole where the air comes out, that's fine?

Mommy: No, that's the heating vent. I can't get them out from there, either.

Andrew: Can drop pennies on Shiloh?

Mommy: No, I don't want you to drop anything on Shiloh. He won't like that.

Andrew: You can drop pennies in this bottle, yes you can?

Mommy: Yes, you may drop your pennies down that old water bottle. That's fine.

At least he asks first. My favorite part is how he tacks on affirmative responses he's heard from me to the end of his questions, sometimes nodding his head at the same time. Phil thinks he's trying out his Jedi mind tricks on us. "These aren't the droids you're looking for." It really cracks me up. But you would not believe all the variations this kid can come up with if his first request is denied! "If I can't throw the glass vase across the room, how about if I just toss it gently down the stairs? How about if I just drop it out of the window? Smash it on Shiloh's head? Bump it on the kitty? Drop it on Mommy's toe?"

Funny story from last week, totally unrelated to mind tricks. Andrew and I met Brea and Skeezix* on Friday at a nearby McDonalds that has a really nice indoor play area. You climb up into this giant enclosed tree house area, and there's a big, twirly (also enclosed) slide to bring you back down. Brea and I were visiting at the table while watching our boys play when I look up to see Andrew ... jumping off the bottom of the slide ... completely naked from the waist down! Ahhhhhh!

I hustle over to him and, trying to shield him from the rest of the restaurant with my body, ask him anxiously where in the world his pants are. "Up there," he points to the top of the slide/tree house. Now, I'm too big at this point to climb up the (also enclosed) child-sized staircase, so I sent him back up to bring his pants to me. He ran back up the stairs and slid his jeans and underpants down the slide to me, thought that was fabulous, and wanted to run back up to slide them down again. Fortunately, I was able to convince him that he really needed to wear his pants at this particular establishment.

Brea knew immediately what had happened. Apparently Skeezix has recently discovered he has the power to become completely naked anywhere, at any time (Andrew still can't manage the shirt bit), and she has also seen that Andrew will copy most anything his friends are doing. She, being a svelte individual, squeezed herself up the stairs to find her little boy in one of the tree house rooms in the process of putting back on his clothes. The one grandmother at the bottom of the slide who got quite an eye full just smiled understandingly at me and said, "That's just what they do!"

Adorable video (also unrelated to any items previously discussed): Andrew helping Daddy fix the toilet paper holder that kept falling off the wall.

And in closing, Phil and I decided to shave Sofie ourselves this weekend. She's so insanely furry, and we get really tired of all the hairballs during the summer, that we've had it done professionally several times. But, since she's also part demon, a groomer can't ever get through it without knocking her out, which costs so much. So we figured, between the two of us and some hair clippers, we could get the job done ourselves. I also figured we'd do a horrible job and she'd look hilarious by the end. I was not disappointed.

The "before" shot

Halfway through (actually, we still haven't done any more,
so I'll have to let you know if we ever finish the job)

What she looks like right now. It's much worse than can be captured in a photo.

"You have no idea how many ways I can make you suffer for this humiliation!"