What happens when...

...a two-year old gets caught between an irresistible force (Mommy at one end of the hall, getting the kids ready for bed) and an immovable object (Daddy at the other end of the hall, preventing the child from fleeing)? Judging from Rebecca's behavior, the only solution is to sit down in the middle of the hall and have a temper tantrum.

Because Amber asked me to...

Here's one of my favorite Princess Bride quotes: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

That line is used in offices more frequently than I would have expected, mostly in response to some kind of new corporate term. For instance:

"initiative" really means "useless time-wasting event to make management feel better",
"employee empowerment" really means "you can choose to do your job any way you like... as long as it's like THIS",
and a "suggestion" by the corporation really means "do this or die".

I finally photographed Becca smiling

I have never seen a child look more "serious" than Becca does when we're trying to take her picture. If we catch her unawares we might capture a smile, but more often she switches to concentration mode whenever we snap the picture. Maybe it's the flash. Maybe she's just trying to figure out why we're taking pictures instead of playing with her. I don't know what it is. But we recently captured a couple pictures of Becca where she's actually smiling.

I added some new pictures to our Facebook page here. I included some new "serious" ones to illustrate how hard it is to capture a good picture of Becca. Believe me, there are lots more. But my favorite is the last one in the blue swing. It's a bit blurry because I had to take it with my camera phone while the swing was moving. Given the constraints, I think it turned out fairly well.

Pokemon

A few months ago, Kathryn got a Pokemon trading card in a Burger King kids meal. She asked me what it was and I explained the concept to her. She seemed vaguely interested so, in the interests of education, I picked up a pair of starter decks so we could learn the rules together. See I'm of the opinion that kids learn best when they're at play. This is in no way an original concept, but it dovetails nicely with my own temperment: I prefer having fun to not having fun. So if I can entertain Kathryn while enjoying myself and give her practice in reading, math, and strategy, that's something I'm going to get behind.

We'd only played one game before tonight. In order to learn the game that first time, we didn't hide any of our cards so we could discuss strategy. But tonight we each kept our cards to ourselves. I decided we'd have a nice Daddy-Daughter night out. I took Kathryn to Panera Bread for her favorite potato soup. We grabbed a big table, laid our cards out, and put our soup bowls next to the playing area. So while one person played, the other would eat. Remarkably we didn't have any unfortunate soup/card interactions. It was a delightful night!

Kathryn beat me again tonight. I think she's got a better grasp of the game than I do. She tried to comfort me on the way home, telling me that "you taught me so well that you forgot to remember the game yourself." Surely that must be the reason.

Great America

Here are some new pictures from our Great America trip. Kathryn and Becca especially enjoyed the "new" Wiggles' themed water playarea.

Becca's walking!

Finally, after many setbacks, Becca has started walking all by herself! Hurray! I wish I'd kept recording for a few more seconds though. Right after I stopped, Becca and Kathryn both fell backwards and Kathryn yelled, "Cut! Cut!"

"A meek accompanist"?

Homophonic -- A texture with a principal melody and accompanying harmony, as opposed to polyphonic.

Polyphonic -- Having two or more voices or parts, each with an independent melody, but all harmonizing.

Most Christian marriage councillors will tell us that a homophonic relationship is best in marriage, with the husband a driving melody and the wife merely accompanying harmony. I've always found something vaguely unsettling about that. The Bible says that a husband and wife are to become one. Imagined as a single body, it would seem odd then to have half of the body moving ahead while the other lags behind to support it.

I am fortunate that my wife is able to be more than merely a support for me. Instead she is my equal partner. With her I can be myself, and trust her to be herself. Together we uphold each with our complementary strengths.

"Peter -- what did you mean when you said that anybody could have the harmony if they would leave us the counterpoint?"
"Why, that I like my music polyphonic. If you think I meant anything else, you know what I meant."
"Polyphonic music takes a lot of playing. You've got to be more than a fiddler. It needs a musician."
"In this case, two fiddlers -- both musicians. I admit that Bach isn't a matter of an autocratic virtuoso and a meek accompanist. But do you want to be either? Pray silence for the soloist. But let him be soon over, that we may hear the great striding fugue again."

-- Peter and Harriet, Gaudy Night

To my better half, you are my Harriet: my beloved whom I am glad to call my partner in all things. Happy anniversary, Kristin!