Now we are ... 11.
Elizabeth hasn't exactly asked to borrow the car yet, but it surely seems like that is just around the corner. She took charge of her birthday cake, designing it and requesting the frosting style. (And supervising the application of it.) Then she took over the final decoration stage. Click on the photo for a larger version.
This was apparently inspired by the children's book, The Rainbow Fish, at least as far as Cate and I can tell.
Cate and Elizabeth were treated by mom and dad last night to a trip to the Children's Theater Company here in Minneapolis, where they saw a production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Aside from the whole Harry Potter series, this is one of Elizabeth's favorite books, and she was surprised and pleased that they stayed so true to the book.
This stands in stark contrast to whichever Harry Potter movie she watched most recently in which she recorded, meticulously, 253 "mistakes." Plot deviations and the like, you know, movie stuff. Wait until she reads The Natural.
Speaking of Harry Potter, Elizabeth got a genuine magic wand. Just add magic. She hasn't taken her OWL test or anything, but I'm sure she'll be putting it to good use. She was reading The Sorcerer's Stone to review her spells.
We refuse to help her acquire the necessary toads' eyes required to turn little brothers into small woodland creatures.
And don't you go helping her either.
Elizabeth also got a surprise phone call from Caitlin and talked to Nanny as well.
She also received a couple pairs of knee socks, which seem to be her favorite way to layer for the weather, as well as a pre-teen favorite Kooky Clicker. She has a new, fleece-lined hat from Nonna that covers the ears oh, so fashionably, and can accessorize with a trip to Limited Too, which made Uncle Ryan (again) very popular with his niece.
We'll spare you the memories of 11 years ago today. But Da played the voice mail message I left for him at work the day she was born, in which I apparently reported that she had two eyes and a little bit of brown hair but had not been weighed yet.
Da has saved this voice mail every two weeks for 11 years. Almost makes me wish I still worked at ... nah.
For everything that must be stirred, there is a spoon that must be licked.
Even if that spoon was stirring cranberry relish that includes onions and horseradish. Apparently, not a problem. We'll see if she eats it on Thursday.
It's nothing like the chocolate chip cookies she "helped" make a couple weeks ago.
It turns out Sprite Zero freezes at a higher temperature than Diet Coke or Caffeine Free Diet Coke does.
I have some of each in the trunk of the car. Weather chills it too well now.
Elizabeth's best friend from Virginia paid Minneapolis an unexpected visit last week, as Caitlin's mom had a business meeting here in the area and she got to tag along.
One of Elizabeth's regular laments had been that she likes her new school but misses her old classmates. So it was fun to see the two of them interact a little bit, though most of that happened outside of my view. (And I have a little 10-year-old source who's not talking.)
So we let Elizabeth miss a day and a half of school. I know they went to the Science Museum of Minnesota, and that Caitlin and her mom had dinner with all of us and Caitlin slept over here one night. Elizabeth spent a night with them at their hotel.
For a short while, Robert had two older sisters telling him what to do. And to be honest, if you had your back to them, it was hard to tell who was talking. Elizabeth and Caitlin have very similar speech patterns and use a lot of the same phrases. If Caitlin had dark hair, whew, you'd never know.
We're talking about driving out to D.C. for Barack Obama's inauguration, so she would see Caitlin then. And Elizabeth wants to go to summer camp with her this summer ... though that is still up for discussion.
Gas at the BP near my office was $1.99 when I drove past this morning. The same gas station was $3.59 when we got here. And even that was 30 cents cheaper than what we left in Virginia.
Have fun while it lasts!
One never really knows what a little kid absorbs of the adults' world going on around them. So much of it is over their heads, not just figuratively but literally. But Robert was really into the whole election process, especially last night.
There was a map around the house with the number of electoral votes for each state, which was a great teaching tool both for math and geography. When I asked this 6-year-old if he would rather win Texas or Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, he did the math without a problem.
He was distraught when South Carolina was called for John McCain early in the night and Vermont for Barack Obama, putting Obama in an 8-3 hole in the electoral college count. Later things started looking brighter, and when he was in bed he asked Cate to check, saying, "I bet he's at a hundred now!"
Indeed, Obama had 102 electoral votes by CNN's count.
Cate asked Robert what he thought would happen if Obama was elected, and the first thing out of his mouth was, "the war would end." He also thought Obama would take better care of poor people and sick people.
Here's hoping.
Colleen has not been great at listening to Nonna today, and I'm seeing more of it first-hand since I'm working from home. The kids don't have school today so I offered to be here as a backup goalie, so to speak.
I was talking to Colleen about listening and reminded her that especially when Mom's not here, she needs to listen to Nonna. And I also made sure she knew that Mom is coming back from Pennsylvania tomorrow. I work a late shift to cover the elections, so ...
"That means you and I can go to the airport to pick her up!"
She gives a strange look. "That would be weird."
It was my turn to be puzzled. Then the light bulb went on.
"Oh, Colleen, we don't actually go and lift Mommy. We just drive the car to the airport and she comes home with us."
That seemed to be the explanation she was looking for.
Turns out that the Sunday before last was not the last great day of the summer. That or today was the last great day of the fall, or the first great day of winter.
Elizabeth and I got the bikes back out of the garage and headed for Minnehaha Falls. She and Robert and Colleen and I had just been there yesterday but we had designs on getting back there. I wasn't sure Elizabeth was going to make it -- the route is 15 miles round trip, nearly twice as long as our trip two weeks ago. So we took a nice break when we got there, thankful that the Dairy Queen stayed open a couple days later than it seems they were expecting.
Meanwhile, Nonna took Robert and Colleen down to the park, where they ran into their friends from down the street, August, Jacob and Eloise.
Also, Elizabeth got played this time. She doesn't like to shift gears on her bike at all, and would do the entire ride in fifth gear if she could. But I told her that I didn't think we'd make it to the falls if she didn't shift up into a higher gear. Voila -- 12th all the way.
"It feels weird," she said. But she did just fine, no surprise.
After getting the little ones to bed the other night, Colleen asleep and Robert resting, close to sleep, I poked my head in and checked on Elizabeth.
It's been a pretty good few days, and on days where Elizabeth is helpful and I'm in charge, she gets extra privileges out of me, like staying up late, watching a few innings of the World Series, a game of chess.
But it's already a pretty late night. I sat down on the bed next to her and we were talking about Halloween, how I don't usually go out with the kids and what a good time it was. Then I saw she had dirt on her hands and I told her she better not let Nonna see hands that dirty -- she'll think I'm not a good daddy.
"You're a good daddy," she said. (It's remnants from art class, she says.)
I said thanks and smiled. And she continued: "Now you're a daddy who will leave me alone and let me finish my book."
I stopped and looked at her, saying, "I think I just got played!"
She said, "played?"
"Yes," I responded. "Don't you know what that phrase means?"
She said, "Yes, of course, Dad. I was just playing you."
Hmm, yes, at least once.
Now we are ... 11.
This stands in stark contrast to whichever Harry Potter movie she watched most recently in which she recorded, meticulously, 253 "mistakes." Plot deviations and the like, you know, movie stuff. Wait until she reads The Natural.
She also received a couple pairs of knee socks, which seem to be her favorite way to layer for the weather, as well as a pre-teen favorite Kooky Clicker. She has a new, fleece-lined hat from Nonna that covers the ears oh, so fashionably, and can accessorize with a trip to Limited Too, which made Uncle Ryan (again) very popular with his niece.
