Freedom

The children enjoy a whole lot more freedom in the new house, including access to all parts of the kitchen. I have to say they haven't gotten themselves into trouble too much. In the old apartment I had a baby gate up to the one kitchen entry, and at every chance Alexander would run in and play with Shreve's water bowl. Now, it rarely happens. Must be that whole forbidden thing -- you know, you want to do what you're not supposed to; then when you're allowed it, you don't care much about it. The children do sometimes open the fridge or freezer and open the drawer holding a few non-sharp kitchen tools. They like to play with measuring spoons, whisks or "the man," a little basting brush whose handle end is shaped like a chef. They can go up and down both sets of stairs but are usually pretty good about staying on whatever level I am.

On another note, you tell me, is this a boy story or an any kid story? Yesterday, I was about to get the children out of the car to go into a store and saw Alexander picking his nose. As I was telling him not to do that I noticed a disgusting clump inside his left nostril. Upon closure inspection I saw it was a Yogo which was stuck inside his nose! On our way to the store, I had let the kids have a snack of Yogos, those tiny ball-shaped pieces of jam covered in yogurt. (Yeah, I know, I'm sure there is just as much sugar in these as in those obvious no-no candies, but the marketing of the yogurt aspect seems to make it more palatable for me as a mom.) Anyway, Alexander kept trying to get it out and I was afraid he would push it further up and cause serious problems. This Yogo was stuck so tightly in his nostril that the only way to get it out was to push his nostril flat from the top down until it popped out. (Imagine flattening out your tube of toothpaste so that you don't waste.) Yuck! When Mikel came home I told him I had a real "boy" story for him. He laughed but said he didn't necessarily think that was a "Boys will be boys" kind of thing. I'm not so sure. Anna promised she would never consider such a thing.