Battle scars

I locked myself out of the house today.

Just me, not the baby. He was sleeping peacefully on the couch when I went to water the tomatoes. I left through the garage door to turn on the hose. The patio door, usually open to allow for fresh air, wasn't open because it's hot and I didn't want the hot air to get inside and force me to turn on the AC.

So there we were ... the baby inside, me locked out. No obvious way in.

All ended well, I'll just say that before I mention that I'd just changed out of my "leaving the house" outfit into Scott's boxers and a wife-beater tank top -- my "can't even answer the door in this outfit" outfit. I was just going to water the tomatoes! No one was going to see me!

Well, actually, there are any number of people who might have seen me as a circled the house twice, tried every door repeatedly, checked for the spare key where it should have been 16 times, and looked in the window at least 40 times to ensure the baby was not awake and wailing. I finally ran across the street in Scott's underwear, sweating like a maniac and praying that the baby didn't wake up.

My neighbor, also the mother of a newborn, didn't answer her door so I ran back across the street determined to break into my own house. Which I did. It was scary easy (thank god, but, yes, we'll be addressing that) and all was well except for a few scrapes and bruises on my legs.

Ten minutes later, my heartbeat had nearly returned to a normal pace, I'd already e-mailed Scott to inform him that the spare is not where it should be, and the baby? Still sleeping peacefully.

Whew!

Day at the Farm, Part 2

And like any 4-year-old boy, Will also liked the sparklers and s'mores.

Day at the Farm, Part 1

A couple weekends ago we went to a party thrown by some friends some work, an annual affair dubbed Day on the Farm. Will loved the tire swing, goat, pigs, horses, roosters, llama, etc.

Polar bears on Mars?

Saturday night, Will and I made a fire and made s'mores. Mmmmm, s'mores.

As the sun went down and the stars came out, we started talking about the stars. Will empathized with one outlier, which he dubbed "Lonely Star."

We then started talking about the other planets in the solar system, and how there wasn't life on them, including Mars. I told Will that Mars was much colder than anywhere on Earth, so nothing lived there.

"Except polar bears," Will said.

That's right, except polar bears dominate Mars.

Ready for business

Bottle? Check. BlackBerry? Check. Poopy diaper? Check.

Charlie's a young corporate climber ready for business.

Guy Smiley

Charlie's starting to give us some smiles nowadays, and Jana caught this one Friday night at a hot air balloon rally we went to in Waupaca.

Father's Day, Part 3

The highlights of the Bay Beach amusement park were the miniature train, which seemed much smaller and shorter than it did when I was 12 - Will still made a trip with both Mommy and Daddy; and the bumper cars. Will picked an outlying car, and we were really moving at a good pace away from the scrum when Will said "Daddy, let's hit someone!" Which we then did, and took our share of hits. If only I could bottle his laughter during those minutes ...

Needless to say, everyone was pretty pooped at the end of the day.

Father's Day, Part 2

On to the Bay Beach amusement park ...

Father's Day, Part 1

We had a great Father's Day, the highlight being our time at Bay Beach. Our first stop there was at a wildlife sanctuary, where we fed the geese, watched birds of prey, and visited the museum. It was such a nice day with Charlie, Will and Jana.

A brother's instinct

People often ask us how Will is adjusting to being a big brother. Much as he was during my pregnancy, Will has remained very protective and, somehow, become the authority on Charlie.

The other day, as Will and Scott were leaving, Will told me, "Mommy, you need to feed the baby when he's hungry."

Thanks Dr. Spock.

"OK, I will. Thanks for being such a good brother," I said.

"Mommy, you need to sing to him or hold him when he cries."

"OK, will do. I've got it under control."

"Mommy, do you need a job to do today?"

"What?" I started getting a bit defensive by this point, "Sure. Do you have a job for me?"

"Yup. You can make me dinner."

He must be so proud of his mother.