Tiny!

Ben and Mary Ellen are parents! Madeleine was born at 1:30 Tuesday morning, and we were lucky enough to meet her this evening. She is perfect in every way, with almond-shaped dark blue eyes that look like they'll turn brown, olive skin and a head of brown hair with a golden cast that I am guessing will turn blonde. She looks a lot like Mary Ellen, and she gazed docilely at me as I held her, then fell asleep. No trace of Ben...yet.

Thankful

Thanksgiving was a Major family affair at Bruce's lakehouse in Nocona. While the food was great as always, this year's highlight was the celebration of every holiday, all at once, on Wednesday night — including Easter, Halloween, Mardi Gras, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day and the Fourth of July. Now we can say we were together for all holidays this year.

As part of our Thanksgiving grace, all 20 or so of us went around and said what we were most thankful for. Blake, who is almost six, said he was thankful that we were having another party. Aunt Helen, who is 94, was thankful we could all be together. Lucy was thankful for her mom. I am thankful for all of it.

Lord Help Us

She and Jason are negotiating about whether we are going to watch Noggin or football on the living room TV. She says, "I am warning you. I want to watch my show." Jason won, but I could tell he was momentarily afraid of what she would do.

Makes Own Jokes

This morning I lost my keys and said, "DADGUMMIT," which is a routine I repeat most mornings. From her carseat, Lu said, "Mom, you say, 'dadgummit' and Dad says, 'momgummit.' Isn't that funny?" Well, yes, it is. And it's better than the poop jokes she normally tells.

p.s. My keys were in the trash, where I'd just tossed a bunch of junk from my car.

Bee Movie, A-Plus Kiddo

We took Lucy to the movies with Nini and the Websters yesterday. She made it all the way through (with the help of her thumb and duck). She seemed to enjoy it, although she laughed at inappropriate times.

Space Chat

I just called Maggie and said, "What are you doing?" And she said, "Laney and Lucy are having a video chat."

?

I can hear two tiny, animated voices in the background. What are they talking about? Riding in space cars? BABIES THAT VIDEO CHAT. That is too much future for me.

Maggie's comment: "This is the best thing ever. It's like they're babysittting each other and I don't have to do anything."

I guess I like the future if it involves less parenting.

Priceless

Lucy thinks the word "expensive" means "very special and fabulous and private and don't touch that please, it's mine." Which it does and doesn't. The other day she told Jason her Lego castle was "expensive." He inquired about how much it costs, and she said, "It doesn't cost anything. But it's very expensive." Then when I intruded on a moment of pretend ballet class, she complained, "Mom, ballet class is expensive," and shooed me away.

"Expensive." The highest honor she can bestow on something. I'm so proud.

Brabby

Abby and Brad got married last night, and I don't thnk I've ever been at a wedding where the bride and groom seemed so...tickled to have gotten married to each other. When the minister turned them to face the congregation and be introduced, Abby laughed out loud. I could hear her thinking, "OMG, I just got married! To Brad!" She looked like Cinderella.

Jason and I love weddings. It makes us feel extra married and in love with each other, which I guess could be the combination of champagne and dancing as much as the weddings themselves. This one was one of the most fun we've ever attended: fabulous food, great DJ (am sore from dancing), abundant drinks (I think I had one signature "Brabby" cocktail and about 47 glasses of wine, which explains my really good dancing), and cheeseburgers and donuts for the guests as they left. A wedding that combines Willie Nelson, shrimp cocktail shots and CHEESEBURGERS AND DONUTS? It was even better than I can describe.

Possessive

Ben informed me that he is mad at Lucy. Do I think it's strange that a 31-year-old man is mad at a 3.5-year-old? No, I'm frequently mad at her.

His beef: the other day at Central Market, she was carrying her My Little Pony® doll, and Ben says, "Hey, is that My Little Pony?" And she screams, "NOOO, it's MY little pony. It's not YOUR little pony." He wisely avoided a who's-on-first-type argument with her. Nonetheless, they are in a fight.

A Day Without Whining?

She and Dad had a meeting last night. She said that today, Saturday, she was not going to whine. At all.

But without a signed, notarized affidavit, this promise is non-binding. Damn.

I should also note that this morning, when Jason reminded her of this promise, she roared, "No! It's a secret!"

Overheard

From her bathroom: "Ew."
Me, calling from my bedroom: "What, Lu?"
Lu: "Nothing."
Me: "Why did you say 'ew'?"
Lu: "Something smells like butt."
Me: "What is it?"
Lu: "My butt."
Me: "What does it smell like?"
Lu: "Butt."
Me: "Do you need help with something?"
Lu: "No."

Not Unlike Having Hard Drugs in the House

All the Halloween candy is causing some new behavior problems. Like sneaking around. Lying. Total denial in the face of an accusation. The kind of behavior you expect from, I don't know, AN ADDICT?

On Friday, I told her she could not have any more candy before school, and mere minutes later, I found her closing the pantry drawer. She spun around with her hands in the air and this look of forced innocence. When asked WHAT she was doing, she said, "Nothing," which was not easy given that she had two pieces of candy in her mouth. I made her spit them out, then said, "You disobeyed me, so now you're going to get a what?" She wailed, "A CONSEQUENCE." Her consequence: no more candy for the rest of the day. She flailed around the house telling me she did not love me or like me and I was not her friend. Which I am not.

The Doctor Is In

I settled the Princess vs. Doctor debate by ordering, er...I mean...sewing, myself, by hand, a doctor costume. Lucy wore it proudly on Halloween. She raked in lots of candy trick-or-treating and had a great time at the Websters' Lamer Tamer Halloween party (tame, but definitely not lame).

Who was lame? Me. No costume this year, breaking a streak of office costume party wins and near-wins. To echo my lameness, my boss dressed up as ME. Strange and funny.

See more Halloween pics here.