Perspectives 2.0

If you hold a wet wipe in front of Carli, she will yell "all clean!" and try to wipe herself... and will wipe her hair and miss her face.







If you hold a wet wipe in front of Joseph, he will stare at it until you do something with it.



Upon entering her classroom, Carli will seek out the art project.



Upon entering the same classroom, Joseph will seek out his favorite toy and make sure no one else gets hold of it. Following acquisition, heaven help you if you cross his path.



When at home, when faced with a room filled with activities, Carli will name the objects she sees and will usually settle on a book.


In the same situation, Joseph will ensure that all doors and drawers are closed and properly aligned. He will then look for the toy that sings "Old MacDonald" and E-I-E-I-O along with it.


When holding a marker, Carli will give it a taste test (and mom will be grateful for non-toxic ink).



When holding a marker, Joseph will shake it and eventually get rid of it as it makes no music.


Both however, will produce lovely artwork. Eventually.


When faced with a rainy afternoon, offspring will think, "Here we go!! Pillow Forts! Races up the stairs!"


When faced with the same afternoon, parental units will think, "Is it bedtime yet?"




When faced with dinnertime, mom will hope that tonight's the night for take out. Conversely, dad will lament, "how much will this cost me?"

If however, dinner will originate at home, dad will think, "Ah, the fruits of breadwinning... there's nothing like a home cooked meal." And mom will think, "How long will it take me to clean up this mess?"

When faced with the exurberance that can only come from people under the age of 3, mom and dad humbly acknowledge that despite little sleep, the days fly by faster than the rising price of gasoline. And like most of our precious resources, we should enjoy what we have while we still have it.

We hope you have a happy and healthy turkey feast!!!

Back To School

For all of us.

Okay, clarification. New to School for Carli and Joseph, back to school for mom and dad. Just when we thought that we knew a thing or two about a thing or two, enter two talented and strong willed toddlers. After many months of basking in relative independence, Carli decided that nothing can be done without mom. Even mom's trips to the loo. And Mr. predictable Joseph sent us back to the culinary drawing board when all of his usual favorite foods became objects of contempt.

Thus we begin the latest chapter in our work in progress, "Ha! The terrible twos arrive earlier than two! That's why they're so terrible!" (Not the kids, the concept.)

But school you ask? Sort of. To avoid a general sense of toddler ennui, Gymboree is being supplemented with classes at their future school. Mom's still part of the student body, as are all the other moms with their little people in the class.

From Carli and Joseph's perspective, it's a cool new room with toys, new eyes to poke, a new teacher to smile at and cool new foods for lunch. (Eating said food is entirely optional) It's also a chance to see older cousins in their classrooms and look forward to the day when they can check mom at the door.

From Mom and Dad's perspective, it's school all over again (how do I look? Who are the cool kids? Math... yikes!) and a huge reminder that even though days tend to drag on at times, the popsicle we call time is melting, and fast!

We are also proud of how well our darling duo travels. So much, in fact, that we plan to up the travel ante in the next few months and really see what they're made of. So far they make driving at night more than just setting the cruise control; they quietly sing along to the music and play footsie games with skills far beyond their months. But seriously, we are looking forward to our first plane ride as a foursome and fun weekends in Brooklyn to round out the fun times we enjoy north of the border. More updates on those as they approach.

On another note, we are continually grateful for your readership. And it means a lot that what we have to say means something to you. If you glance to the right (scroll up just a bit), you'll notice a couple of links that we hit on a regular basis. If you'd like your place in space to be part of that list, please let us know! (All subjects welcome, but we are a family site, so please keep it clean) We would be happy to connect what's important to you with people that may not already know about it.

Mwah!