Boogity, Boogity, Boogity

Lincoln had such success mixing baseball with ballet he decided to give the NASCAR-Nefertiti look a try. Not sure what Little E would think, but we're sure he gave The Intimidator a chuckle in the heavens.

Year of the Ox

We entertained training into Manhattan today for a Chinese New Year parade, but stayed home and went with our friends the Haydens to Dynasty restaurant. It was the first taste of Dim Sum for Carey and the kids. I enjoyed it once while on a business trip to L.A. All the dishes were tasteful enough, but we did translate Dim Sum from the Cantonese. It means "grab anything you think looks interesting when the cart comes by, because it may not roll your way again." Both Greta & Lincoln were quite adept with chopsticks. Lincoln in particular had fun stabbing stuff.

Budding Picassos?

Greta's loved painting for awhile now, but Lincoln is just getting old enough to hold the brush and dip into the paint without causing a massive mess. And as with all things, Greta has taken it upon herself to teach him how to do it. There may be hope for your artistic gene after all, Grandpa Jerry.

Sibling revelry

While Carey was emptying the dishwasher after lunch, she heard giggles in the dining room and ran to get her trusty camera. I think what she caught in pixels says an awful lot about the relationship between Greta and Lincoln. May it always be so sweet.

Potty break

At 19 months, Lincoln is definitely aware of his bowel movements. He stands very still and gets a stern expression on his face. Doesn't strain at all. Takes it very seriously. Tuesday night, Carey caught him standing still in Greta's closet. She calmly asked, "Are you pooping?" Lincoln bolted out of the closet, ran to the bathroom, and shouted, "Potty! Potty! Potty!" Even picked up the step stool that somehow he knew converted into a potty seat. So Carey unsnapped his bottoms, took off his diaper, and put him on the seat. He sat there for about 10 seconds and then said, "Book!" He never did move his bowels, but I do think he enjoyed his 3,524th reading of "Curious George Goes Fishing."

Tea time

Greta and Lincoln had a special guest at their tea party this morning: Jinx! He has never been interested in our "formal" snack times before, but apparently the blueberry Nutra-grain bar Lincoln offered was too good to pass up.

Milestone

Let the record show Lincoln David Merrill turned around in his car seat at exactly 19 months of age. That's four months later than Greta, if you go by calendars.

Lincoln is only about 22 pounds and still quite short, but we basically tired of him missing all the front-facing fun. You can see in the slide show he enjoyed the view and that, in the end, backwards or forwards, the somnolent power of the car cannot be stopped.

Dance Dance Revolution

Who needs Wii Fit or Music Together when you've got a Madonna-lovin' wife with a repressed booty that just wants to shake, shake, shake!?!

Love the one you're with

You gotta love kids. Always in the moment. We thought Greta had pretty much forgotten about Jay, the boy who shares her birthday. She has new BFFs in South Orange and it's their names that are always on her lips -- "I miss Duncan. I miss Emma. I miss Other Emma."

Well, we've been home from our almost two-day visit to D.C. for a few days now and Carey reports that Greta said, "I miss Jay" at least a dozen times yesterday.

But will she miss him tomorrow?

With apologies to Adler and Ross

Today was Pajama Day at Greta's school. Decked out in her favorite nightie and princess slippers, the pajama game was the game she's in, in Mrs. Hicks' hideaway. And although her is a kinda doll that drives a person bats, with such stars in her eyes, I pledge my heart that I love her more than a lion loves her cub.

The Merrills go to Washington

Drove down Saturday morning in no traffic. Seriously, door-to-door in 3 1/2 hours with no stops thanks to two sleeping kids and a hearty breakfast. Saturday afternoon Kay Taylor Winthrop's mom and dad stopped by. Here's KayTay checking out Lincoln. We just want her to know she has options. The Mershon marriage isn't a done deal just yet.


It was great seeing Dudley and Jen as seasoned parents. We last saw them 11 months ago when Kay Taylor was just about 3 months old. Carey captured a moment of maternal affection and snapped a good one of Dudley and I getting a shoulder workout while the kids worked their gums.



Sunday we had breakfast with Aunt Kathy and Carey was her usual Pied Piper self, somehow managing to keep the kids (relatively) quiet while eating two pancakes, two eggs and a sausage link.


Sunday afternoon we spent hours at the Fairfax County Cub Run RECenter, complete with an indoor water park. A kiddie slide, lots of water spouts, a vortex (aka a whirlpool) and a current channel (aka, by Greta and Jay, "the river"). No pictures, sorry. I was too busy bouncing kids on my knee. It was truly fantastic. Until someone else's precious loved one threw up in the pool and they shut it down for two hours. Now that's health conscious.

Carey figured out the timer setting on the new camera so we could take a group farewell photo. She programmed it to take 5 shots in 10 seconds. Kinda cool.

We do solemly swear...

... to blog again after we get back from Washington. Happy Inauguration, everyone.

Chop chop

I was very reluctant to get Lincoln's hair cut last year. Just didn't want to say goodbye to my baby. But since Lincoln can now run, climb, talk back, and instigate, there was no question in my mind that it was time for the boy to get another haircut.

We're not sure whether Edgardo did a good job or not...that double whorl he inherited from Great Grandpa Merrill proved a bit tricky. But I'm not worried...it'll certainly grow out fast enough! Here's a "before" from last week, and the peanut-butter-cracker-faced "after."

X versus Y

Yesterday, Greta and Lincoln enjoyed a nice play date with their friends, Sasha and Roman, who have been visiting from Prague for the last month. Lincoln sized up Roman (they hadn't seen each other since last summer) and then decided he'd rather play with the girls in Greta's bedroom. Greta was tolerant and even permitted him to wear one of her treasured ballerina outfits. But both Greta and Sasha drew the line when Linc tried to interrupt their tea party in the play room, calling out: "MOM!!!! Get Lincoln!! NO BOYS ALLOWED!"

Broken-hearted, Linc joined Sasha's brother, Roman, at the refrigerator to fuss over alphabet magnets while I put lunch together. It appeared that Roman raised his eyebrows at Linc's attire, but Linc just babbled back some smack that probably had something to do with Roman's hair. Whatever the conversation, they ended their play date throwing frozen peas around...boys will be boys!

The green-eyed monster

Lincoln's friend, Charlotte, spent a few hours at our house this morning while her mom helped at sister Emma's preschool. She and Lincoln played well until Charlotte's tumble and tears required some TLC from me. Then I saw a side I've never seen from Linc before: jealousy.

He started crying, "MAMA, MAMA, MAMA!!!!!" clinging to my leg, trying to scale it, grasping at Charlotte's feet to pull her out of my hugging arms. "Mama, mama" (whimpering now). I reached down and ruffled his hair. "It's okay Linc, Charlotte just needs some loving." I kept her cuddled close and squatted down to include him in our hug. He reached up and patted her on the back. Then Greta came over and did the same. Suddenly I am embracing, and being embraced by, all three kids. Really sorry she took a tumble, but also, um, not so much.

Anyway, here are some pics from our morning.

Happy early Chinese New Year

Had a nice lunch today at my co-worker Nick's house. His wife, Iru, is Taiwanese and cooked an authentic Chinese New Year meal. Lots of dumplings and then a boiling pot of broth heated by Sterno in the middle of the table. You dip raw beef, pork, lamb or tofu into it, along with spinach, bok choy and cabbage, then pull it out about 30 seconds later. Garnish with spicy peanuts mixed with freeze-dried fish bits, add various sauces, and eat. Despite the novelty of it, the kids gobbled it up. Lincoln LOVED the dumplings and Greta even tried some of the boiled meat. Maybe it helped that they were promised ice cream for dessert.

Homme fatale

Like his father, Lincoln has very few male friends. He's doted on by his mother and sister all day and play dates usually add another lady if not a few more to his harem. So what am I saying? At the end of the day, this is what we're dealing with:

Snow charms

It's the 9th of January and Greta doesn't understand why there is no snow on the ground. She knows Dec. 21st was the first day of winter and she associates winter with the white stuff. We keep telling her the Big Surprise will come when she least expects it, but patience is not high on the list of a 3-year-old's most-treasured character traits.

Enter Mrs. Hicks.

Monday Greta came home from school and told Carey she needed to wear her nightgown backwards. Why? Because her teacher told the class that it would provoke precipitation. And the next time it snows, Mrs. Hicks promised to bring some inside the classroom for the sensory table.

When Tuesday morning dawned with no snow, Greta told her dentist's receptionist about it. Well, said the well-meaning woman, don't you know it's not backwards that matters, it's inside-out!

So here's our daughter Tuesday night with her seams showing.

It's Friday night now and still no snow. I can't imagine what's next.

Easy entertainment

Yesterday morning Greta and Lincoln enjoyed watching Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning take care of our neighbor's home. They were sorely disappointed no power hoses were used, but very impressed with the workers' ladder-climbing and roof-walking abilities. I was impressed that the kids remained in the window for 20 minutes while I cleaned up the breakfast table, did the dishes and tossed in a load of laundry.

Dental dress

Ignoring, for the moment, that Greta had a cavity filled at the age of 3 years, 8 months, she at least had a hell of a time at the dentist's office today. It started with a dress yourself party. Initially, she picked out a gingham outfit gifted to her by Aunt Kathy for warmer weather. Carey insisted she wear tights underneath and a long-sleeve shirt. Greta didn't like that idea and suggested her two-piece Ariel swimsuit. After all the negotiating, this is how Greta presented to the public.

Oh, but the fun doesn't stop there. She also was adamant that her hair be elaborately done with no fewer than six ponytails. By this point, Carey found it all very charming, so she obliged.

I'll let Carey share details about the actual dental visit, but I'm told there was nitrous oxide involved. Laughing gas sounds perfectly fitting to me.

Faces of Linc

Boy's been squinting a lot lately ... learning that it provokes a reaction, usually laughter. It's a good chance for Dad to try out the close-up scene function on the camera, at least.

Getting to know Great Grandpa

Lincoln and my paternal grandfather spent some time getting to know each other better over the holidays. Lincoln emptied the kitchen drawer that my cousins will remember as the one with all the toys in it. They're still there -- more than 30 years later. Some of them my father recognized from his childhood, so make that 60 years!

Later, Lincoln presented him with all the gifts he found on the floor, bringing each to Grandpa in his lounge chair.


Before we left, we got a cute photo of the youngest and oldest Merrill men wearing almost-matching flannel.

Christmas photo highlights

I just uploaded 22 of 'em to Facebook, so figured I'd post them here, too. Click this link.

Carey and the kids come home tomorrow. Can't wait. 48 hours is my max to be without them these days. Longer than that and I get a little stir crazy, especially without a car.