Buttons and crackers.

Christopher got his hair cut last week at an overpriced kiddie salon that I only shell out for when absolutely necessary (read: he's been there 3 times in his life and I do the in-between trimmings, for better or worse...). The stylist wanted to use an electric razor on the back of his neck and over his ears to really clean him up and so he let her. He's pretty trusting. Plus, he was distracted by the video playing in front of him. The stylist had cued up a Thomas the Train movie for him on the little DVD player and he was captivated by that. The cut came out nicely, if a bit short for my taste. I do love it when it's just long enough to still see some of his curl. Ah well - it should last us until the end of summer!

Afterwards, I asked him what he thought about the haircut and he told me, "She was pushing my buttons and cracking my neck, Mama."

I think he meant the DVD player buttons and the shaving/buzzing of the razor, but it was pretty darn funny.

* * * * *

Before leaving his bedroom tonight after stories and rocking and songs, I asked what he was going to dream about and he enthusiastically told me, "Playdoh! And cheese... and crackers!" Preschool is tomorrow and I think he's looking forward to it.

I'm so glad that I have another little one who will go through this stage in exactly two years from now. Though the rough moments of toddlerdom are indeed, rough, there are moments like these that are so sweetly wonderful.

Nice stuff

- Little boys in matching monkey pj's.

- This dress from Boden. And if I had that dress... I'd need a trip (for two, please) to:

- France. Nice, please.

- Teeth *after* they've cut through. We're in the pre-cut phase right now and it's brutal. Poor babe.

- My first baby. The Black 2000 Honda Civic EX. She quietly passed the 100K mile mark without my noticing sometime in the last few months. She's at 100.8K right now and deserves a post devoted entirely to her alone. Coming soon.

- Downton Abbey. I don't ever want it to end. And I want all of Lady Mary's dresses.

- The aforementioned with an accompanying cup of Yorkshire Tea. At about 2pm. While two little boys are sleeping. Ahhhh.

- Good fabric and good yarn.

- A vocal coaching... the first one in 2+ years. Too long.

- A rippingly good High C. :)

- My yearly Valentine's Day poem. Better than any gift or box of chocolates out there.

- Vegetable garden planning. Easy to do around here with the lack of snow we've had this winter.

The winter that wasn't.

We made a mad dash to the local children's consignment store late last week in search of rain boots for muddy outdoor play. The combo of next-to-zero snowfall and winter sunshine has created the most boot-sucking, shoe-sole-caking, super-duper-cold mud... it feels like spring! However, spring this is not, and so we picked up a pair of bright yellow fireman rain boots to save the snow boots and the sneakers from doing all the heavy duty mud work. You should have seen Christopher's face when a Real! Live! Fireman! commented on his fireman rain boots at the grocery store last weekend. AMAZING. Worth every second hand penny I paid.

Colin is a drooling, finger-gnawing gigglepants except for when he's fussing because his gums hurt. I can just sense those first chompers will be coming through soon. He's 5 months old now and my favorite parts of the day are when he and Christopher have giggle fits together. They just laugh at each other... it's a cackling-giggling-heart-tickling circle of little boy laughter.

The Things They Say
Recently: "Daddy, turn off the wind." "Mama, make a train appear."
It's good to be regarded with the powers of a super hero.