who says boys take longer?

ma, pa, milos did it!


milos has done it. in his quiet little way, milos just sat down when none of us were paying attention, tucked in his dangly bits and peed in the potty!...and he's been doing it ever since. we're still waiting for the first poop (no opportunity has yet arisen), but we're pretty proud of that little boy!

overheard in the kitchen:

pa: who's the smartest person in the house, milos?

milos: me!

yes, indeed.

holy sh*t!

we've been potty training this little girl over the last few days and today, without any prompting, without us even paying attention, she went over and dropped her first poop in the potty. it's taken three days but she is officially potty trained. there are sure to be accidents, and there is a way to go to make it complete, but she is trained. very cool.

the only problem is that while i was doing well with diaper changing and cleaning up that kind of poop i just about threw up when i saw the very adult looking logs sitting in the potty. cleaning up this kind of poop is going to be a BIG problem for me. yuck.

but brontë...you are the best girl i know.

no, pa! those are my nanaimo bars!

nanny's fave shot

21 months of cool stuff (the centennial post)

so what parents don't want to brag about their kids? well, kiki and i have got a lot to brag about. the biggest reason is because our kids are some of the happiest kids we've ever seen (and she and i have seen a lot of kids). they go to restaurants and don't freak out; they go to parties and don't disrupt the proceedings; they share and play with each other better than other kids their own age; hell, about the only thing that is a negative is a fear of my parents' dog, gus, and that's gus's own fault for taking a chomp at brontë a while back that left bruises and frightened both her and milos -- and i'm sure not going to force them to hang out with something that scares otherwise fearless children so completely (by the way, thanks for making sure gussy is not around when the babes come over nanny and pappy. we all appreciate it).

but if all these things aren't cool enough, there is a bunch of other stuff that make our babies even cooler. milos loves two strange and marvelous things: cleaning and cooking.


at least we think he likes cooking. he's obsessed with cooking utensils: whisks, spatulas, wooden spoons and flippers. and the boys loves to clean. our babes draw on the walls with washable crayolas, and every night milos takes his cloth and goes around cleaning the walls. but the best of all is that milos has decided he likes to dry dishes (just between us...he's not so good yet, but he's getting better). he likes it so much that he pushes the chair up to the sink by himself and gets down to work. what a cutie!

and then there is brontë. she sings, she dances, she stomps, she bosses, she walks downstairs, she draws with precision, she knows part of the alphabet, she says a million zillion words (including "george," from the beatles, and "henry," arsenal's french striker) and she peels her own oranges.

it won't be long before brontë and milos are making kiki and me breakfast in bed. best of all, they already be capable of cleaning up after themselves (of course, i'll probably clean up anyway).

and, for all those who are wondering, the babes don't care about christmas. and that suits us jusssssst fine.

who's the rat?

i have the evidence in case she ever decides to claim she's innocent.

poor beans. i let him chase after her so they could figure it out. she's been silent ever since. hmmm...maybe i should go check on her?

i love this boy

i love this girl

dangerous lives in the oven

some of you know what that means (one person in particular). for those who don't you'll just have to beg us and maybe we'll tell you.

the severed garden

I'm sick of dour faces
Staring at me from the tv
Tower, I want roses in
My garden bower; dig?
Royal babies, rubies
Must now replace aborted
Strangers in the mud
These mutants, blood-meal
For the plant that's plowed.

They are waiting to take us into
The severed garden
Do you know how pale and wanton thrillful
Comes death on a strange hour
Unannounced, unplanned for
Like a scaring over-friendly guest you've
Brought to bed
Death makes angels of us all
And gives us wings
Where we had shoulders
Smooth as raven's
Claws

apple head

launch party

ma and pa are having a silly launch party for pa's "trekkin on the radio" play. so they decided we should advertise on our site. i'm going as captain kirk again, and milos is going as mr. spock. you should all come, especially karissa cause we miss ya.

i'm tired, pa.

holy duck!

i was just sitting there a minute ago reading a book to milos and brontë and we passed a picture of a penguin. brontë instantly said, "duck!" that's another new one, she adds tons every day, so, as usual, i asked her to say it again: "can you say duck, brontë?"

"quack," she said.

quack! how the hell does she know ducks and quack go together? amazing.

meanwhile, while all this is going on, milos is still reading the book, but when brontë shifted a puzzle piece popped up beside los on the couch. so he sees it out of the corner of his eye, half turns to the puzzle, gives it a quick look, puts the piece straight into its spot, not looking anymore, and goes back to the book. incredible.

what's going on down there?

another fun day

we hung out, and had a whole lot of fun.

wow! is your dad a knob

you see that look on milos' face? that is the look of a boy who can't figure out why his dad is such a fool.



the camera i thought was stolen has turned up. and while that in itself doesn't make me a tool, the fact that erika and i have already purchased a replacement camera (unreturnable because we saved money by getting it on e-bay) does. luckily, a friend of ours is interested in buying it from us, but it doesn't change the sand i have for a brain.

you're right, los, i really need to tie everything to my body.

bron + los = fun

one likes to get muddy...



...and...



...the other likes to show off. what a couple of turkeys.