Leftover Jenga

Sorry for the updateless days recently. I was under the mistaken impression that we didn't have any decent unblogged photos, but when I looked at the camera tonight, there were a bunch. And we're having a (slightly early) birthday party for the kid tomorrow, so there should be some prime photo-ops there.

Mommy took this one tonight at dinner. I wasn't there, but she solemnly avows that Aletheia took it upon herself to stack her leftovers like this. She certainly seems happy with herself.

And no! That's not coffee! It's just a handy, minimal-spill container for Aletheia's water.

But, I should mention, she does want to try coffee really badly. Anytime I have a cup and she's around, the "Coffee? Coffee?" chant starts ups. I think because I let her have ice cream and popsicles but keep coffee all to myself, she must think that it is unimaginably delicious.

Juneywhank Falls

Another shot from our Smoky Mountain camping trip

Acclimatizing

I was emailed this picture yesterday while in class. It looks like Aletheia is getting more comfortable holding Coben.

23 Months, 14 Days

Sometimes Hiking is Just Hard

Posting may be skimpy or non-existent until the 23rd. Everyone's flying out-of-town again today, and I'll be in a class all next week, away from Sandy and Aletheia. But we'll be back to blogging soon!

Waving the Flashlight

Mountain Gal

I didn't quite get this shot, but I love the look on her face. Background isn't bad, either.

Aletheia continues to be tons of fun. The sentences are really starting to roll out now. We're on the brink of real conversations. And I'm always amazed at the things she is picking up on. Today was my birthday, and when her mommy asked her to "say happy birthday to Daddy" she said "Happy birthday to you!" I guess she heard the song enough by now to know the whole phrase, but it was still pretty nifty. Later on as I was getting ready to go to Home Depot (for reasons to be blogged about soon), Aletheia called out "I love you, Daddy!"

So, I'm glad we kept her.

Friday we took Aletheia to her first movie, at the drive-in theater in Henderson, NC. They have triple features on Fridays, and this one was Kung Fu Panda, Indiana Jones and the Studio of Warmed Over Cliches, and Leatherheads. We haven't let Allie watch much TV, so we knew that this would be a big night for her, but I had no idea how big. As soon as the screen lit up with ads and previews, she tilted her head back and started roaring with laughter. It's so fun to see her experiencing things for the first time. She had no idea that you could drive someplace and watch a cartoon on a ginormous screen like that. Her world is changed.

When the movie started, she had fun identifying familiar things. Panda! Flower! Bird! Tiger! Mouse! Turtle! And she ate about 10 cubic meters of popcorn.

We were hoping that she would fall asleep during Kung Fu Panda so that we could stay and watch the next one or two, but Aletheia was determined to stay awake as long as there were moving pictures on the magic sign. So we took off about twenty minutes into Indiana Jones, which I knew were the only good twenty minutes in the movie, since I had already seen it.

On the way home a tire blew out--at 11:45 on I-85. I pulled the car over and dug out the jack and the spare. Allie started screaming, so Sandy got her our of the car seat and held by the side of the road. I figured someone would probably pull in behind us when they saw we had an unhappy toddler and I was changing the tire by myself, but NO ONE DID, which is just one more proof that we don't live in Texas anymore, but I knew that already.

Anyway, the whole point of this story is that Sandy started trying to explain what was going on in ways that the kid could understand. No sooner had she said "the tire broke" than Aletheia burst out with "Daddy fix it!" in this tone of complete toddler confidence that I don't think anyone can replicate after age four. It was the first time we had been in a situation like that, and to be the beneficiary of such unbridled trust is, to my way of thinking, pretty much the best thing that can happen to anyone anywhere.

State Line

I love the way she's leaning a little with her hand on the sign. Good pose.

Hiking With Mommy

DANGER!