Two

We've had a busy December here at the Politrell compound, which partially accounts for the lack of new posts (and the rest of the blame goes to general indolence.) Avery turned two years old at the beginning of the month, and enjoyed her birthday party and cake plus the auxiliary family cake and celebration a couple of days later. As our singing has not improved any since last year, I'll spare you the video clip this time around.


I got a ridiculous amount of satisfaction out of the fact that there were exactly the same number of cupcakes on the cake as there were children in attendance. This was pure serendipity but it appealed to my compulsive side.

Post-frosting euphoria

I couldn't get any of them to look up.

So far Avery's twos have been more terrific than terrible. She has recently begun talking in full sentences (sample monologue: "Where's my purse? Mommy! Where my shoes gone? Where's that chocolate??" Proving that, indeed, children learn what they live.) She and Ethan (mostly) adore each other, and the highlight of her day is picking him up from school with me. Despite our best efforts, she has discovered princesses and prefers to wear a tiara at all times, ideally paired with those plastic feather-trimmed high-heeled shoes that seem to have been produced and marketed for the express purpose of breaking toddlers' ankles.

Pictured here with emergency back-up tiara in hand

She is adorable, clever, and funny and none of us have any idea how we ever managed without her. Especially now that she's definitively committed to the concept that nighttime is for sleeping; that's really sent her approval ratings through the roof.

In Which I Get What I Deserve

Those of you who weren't big fans of my last post will probably enjoy this one... While I was jubilantly composing my ode to change, Avery was wandering around entertaining herself (first indicator of poor parenting) while still clad in the previous night's diaper (second and more incriminating indicator of poor parenting).

In case anyone's ever wondered how long a size 4 disposable can hold out against a 2-year-old and three 8-ounce cups of milk, just know that 14 hours is pushing it, and may result in total failure of the absorbent granule system. When that happens, you can expect to find thousands of tiny piles of over-engineered gel all over your living room, like this:




McCain supporters, I hope this eases some of your pain.