orichalcum

When I dropped Mac off at school this morning, I noticed a new project on display. Last week had focused on dinosaurs, which Mac of course loved. For a group project, the kids took a giant cutout of a real dinosaur footprint, and then traced their own feet inside the dinosaur footprint. Their teachers asked them, "How many of our little feet can fit inside the dinosaur footprint?" and then wrote the answers on a big chart, after noting that the correct number was 28.

Most of the kids said, "2!" or "5!" or "2...um, lots!"

Mac apparently said, "Just green. I want a big dinosaur, actually."

Sigh. I'm starting to wonder if he may have the same issue that his dad and I both had as kids (and arguably as adults) of being really good at difficult things and bad at/bored by basic skills. It does boggle me slightly that a child who can cross-reference images of toys across different children's books ( "Look, Mommy, Curious George has toy plane like Little Blue Engine. But that plane really big. This just little plane.") can't remember the difference between green and blue, or that he can sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" but not count to 5. Toddler brains are strange and wondrous things; it will all work out in the end.

In other amusing verbal news, Mac has decided that "hammer" is a good all-purpose adjective, useful for phrases like "It's a big hammer train" and "I want big hammer pants." (Yes, we giggled.) I asked him what "hammer" meant, and this was more or less his response: "Hammer is...only one at school. Only. special. My hammer!" My current deduction is that "hammer" therefore means "special" or "unique" because, unlike the other toys at school, there's only one hammer. It's a working theory, at least.

Meanwhile, Eowyn is reacting to the advent of spring by trying to eat as much grass as possible, with predictable results. However, she's gotten into a much better relationship with Mac, thankfully, and will even happily let him brush her after she comes in wet from a rainy walk. I remain incredibly thankful that we have a dog gentle enough that, even when a overenthusiastic toddler accidentally pokes her in the eye, she'll just look at me imploringly rather than getting hostile or aggressive.

I mentioned to Mac the other day that Eowyn was going over to play with Finn, the Davis-Wilson's dog.
"I want to play with Finn!"
"Mac, you know Finn doesn't really play well with you. He's scared of you."
"I give Finn treats! Then he not scared! Then he not bark!"
Can't say Mac isn't learning the basics of dog training early on!

A few amusing moments in Mac conversation the last few days:
Yesterday, I was going to skip his morning shower, because he'd gotten an evening shower and we were in a hurry. He started crying and jumping in the tub.
"I'm sorry, Mac," I said. "I know this isn't your normal routine."
"I Want My Normal Routine!!!!" he wailed.

At dinner tonight, CP leaned over and said, "Mac, are you all done?"
"Pants!" he answered clearly and decisively.

He gets a report card every day from preschool. Predictably, he spent a great deal of his first day proclaiming "I want outside! I want slide!"

Meanwhile, Eowyn has made a new friend, a 1-year-old black Lab named Benny, who she spent a bunch of time with both them lying next to each other on their backs, stomachs exposed to the sky. Also, our courtyard neighbors have a 12-week old white furball puppy, but Eowyn (who tried to submit to it) isn't allowed to play with it yet, cuz it hasn't had its shots. She's behaving better and  calmer every day; all the exercise and socialization is really good for her.

Reassuring a mom anxious about her daughter's precarious walking ability that I didn't walk until 16 months is, perhaps, slightly less comforting when wearing a large ankle brace.

"Well, it's great that you've worked all the kinks out" is the wrong metaphor to use when discussing a relationship, generally speaking.

Mac has been throwing temper tantrums entirely connected to our refusal to let him model all adult things. Example #1: Taking money out of my wallet, being very possessive out of it, and then, strangely, attempting to throw it out the window (luckily we have the aforementioned screens.) #2: Getting very upset when _he_ wasn't allowed to write checks in the checkbook.

He also got extremely angry yesterday when I failed to be appropriately appreciative of all his hard work in carrying over a piece of his playfence next to the stereo table, wedging it against the wall to form a ramp of sorts, and scrambling up it so he could stand on the stereo table and start throwing CDs around.

Of course, he got a big bump and Totally Insignificant cut on his eyebrow from running into the TV table two days before my mother-in-law arrives.

New word-phrase of the day: "Lion Roar!"

And what about Eowyn? Well, she was being a very barky dog for a long while while CP was the only one walking her. Since I've been doing some walking again, we've been working on the training and it's been getting better. However, there is one odd new behavior I can't curb. She used to totally ignore our babysitter, who's not really a dog person. For the past few weeks, since our babysitter advanced to the stage in her pregnancy when the baby started kicking, however, every time she arrives Eowyn runs up to her excitedly and insists on sniffing and pushing her head right up against Y's belly. She's particularly insistent on Tuesdays when she hasn't seen the sitter for four days - it's like a checkup. This isn't really thrilling Y, although she understands what's going on.

Sometimes I do feel a bit sad that Eowyn will never get to have her own puppies.

Four brief stories about experimentation and manipulation:

1. Mac (almost 20 months old!) has a favorite new game of tossing up objects in the air and then manuevering so they land on his head. ::shrug:: He also likes handing me shoes as a signal that he wants to go out. So yesterday, while lying on my lap, he grabbed his snow boot, tossed it slightly in the air while saying "shoes!" - and bonked himself in the head with it. I take absolutely no responsibility for his subsequent look of "ow;" some things you have to learn yourself.

2. It was snack time, and Mac was already chewing on an apple slice when I brought out a chunk of cheddar. He got very excited and started grabbing for it.
"No," I said, "You can't have cheese until you're done chewing the apple. I'll give you cheese when you can open your mouth and say "Aaah" and show me it's empty."
Mac looked at me and promptly spat apple chunks out all over my lap and chortled, "Aaah!"

Eowyn thought this was great.

3. This morning, cerebralpaladin was in charge of giving Mac breakfast while I walked Eowyn. We had forgotten that we had left the cinnamon jar on the dining room table, in reach, as it turned out, of Mac in his high chair. While CP was getting cereal, Mac grabbed the jar, took off the cover, and shook it. We had an apple-pie baby briefly.

4. When Eowyn thinks it's time to go for a walk, especially if I've said the word, and I'm trying to quickly check email, she's learned that barking or growling gets her nowhere. Instead, she'll come up to me, insert her wet nose underneath my wrist as I type, and flick up gently, making it unable for me to type or use the mouse effectively. I haven't really discouraged it, since she only does it when she's right that it really is time for a walk, but it's a very subtle bit of affectionate nudging.

Tip of the Hat:
Insomnia Cookies: Fresh-baked warm cookies, brownies, and milk, now available from 14th St to Broome St in Manhattan and at a variety of college campus, delivered to your home between 8 PM and 3 AM for only 90 cents a cookie.

Wag of the Finger:
To the person who decided to scatter a dozen chocolate-glazed doughnuts and bagels with cream cheese across the alley at the beginning of the dog walk for all 50+ dogs in our apartment building. Thanks for the obstacle course. Vengeance shall strike you down eventually.

So, Eowyn is, as kid_cthulhu once put it kindly, an "in-the-box" thinker. Sometimes literally - I still regret not being able to find my camera during the 5 minutes where she had gotten her head stuck inside a Cheezits box.

She's also a very timid girl, and sometimes, these intersect poorly. Like this morning, where Eowyn was repeatedly terrified by the loud noise and sudden smell appearing directly behind her, and would run and try and hide next to my knee. Yes, gentle reader, you've gussed it - my dog is scared of her own farts. Which meant that, among other highlights of the day, i kept having a smelly dog trying to snuggle in as close to me as possible. :)

Dana Perino, the White House Press Secretary, yesterday:

Q: The American people are being asked to die and pay for this, and you’re saying they have no say in this war?

PERINO: I didn’t say that, Helen. But, Helen, this President was elected —

Q: Well, what it amounts to is you saying we have no input at all.

PERINO: You had input. The American people have input every four years, and that’s the way our system is set up.

I missed the bit where we had a regularly elected dictatorship somehow...

I really don't think that when Jesus asked us to remember him, he wanted people to actually crucify themselves in his name on Good Friday.

This is why I like the whole idea of _symbolic_ gestures.

Urgl.

In happier Easter traditions, apparently in Belgium there is a belief that all the church bells fly to Rome and come back with Easter eggs which they drop en route in their flight. This leads to a wonderful mental image of "Everyone duck! The bells are flying overhead!"

Also, in Norway, it is traditional to solve murder mysteries and play Yahtzee on Easter weekend.

For Easter:
Cadbury Creme Egg Muffins

Yes, that's right, a cadbury creme egg embedded inside a vanilla muffin....it's calling your name.Eowyn

Also, a lazy hamantaschen recipe

Happy Dog Moment of the Day: Eowyn joyously outracing the other golden retriever at the dog run.

Sad-puzzling moment of the day: How exactly does someone lose a 125-lb Newfie? I mean, I'm sorry for the owners and I hope they find their dog soon, but really, it's not like they run very fast, or you can just steal one and tuck it in a handbag. And, um, not exactly inconspicuous.

So, I've been considering getting Eowyn some doggie daycare so she doesn't go so stir-crazy. A fellow dog-owner on the walk this morning recommended this place, and so I went to check out their website.

Is it just me, or is the picture on the right-hand side offering "personalized care when you're not there" for your dog a little, um, suggestive? I'm looking for energetic dog-group play fun, not an escort service...