Lucy's next milestone

Last week we met up with our friend Carlos and his three daughters to hang out. We went to a park to take advantage of the fabulous spring weather. While there, Lucy let me put her in a swing for her first ride. Here are the cell phone pictures of the happy day:

Belated Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jacob had the cutest outfit ever for St. Patrick's Day. Check it out:



Thanks, Grandmama, for buying the outfit at that St. Patrick's Dinner all those years ago!

Hopefully I will start blogging some more this week. Jacob and Lucy have been working on the Zombification project and thereby curtailing blogging time. I have lots of ideas for blogs but no time to write.

Latest Obsessions

On our previously mentioned trip to the library, Jacob found a book that he fell in love with, so we brought it home with us. The book is My First Things That Go, which features a multitude of transportation options from toy cars to aircraft carriers and hot air balloons, as you might guess from the cover:

It seemed like a harmless enough book in the library. Now that it is home, it is practically the only book he wants to read. In fact, he likes to read it again as soon as he finishes it. Angie accused me of sabotaging her by getting the book on a Friday and having Jacob read it with her all weekend long. All I can say is I'm also having to read it again and again, so I won't be renewing this one. Good thing we didn't find it in a book store!

Jacob's other big obsession right now is a YouTube video which he watches repeatedly if he can get away with it. He calls it the "funny video" and it is pretty funny. In fact, it has a lot more replayability than the book has rereadability. Here's the video:



I do enjoy this video. Like any great work, it does reward multiple viewings. On the next (dozen or so) viewings, I plan to look for where they hid the camera's tracks or how they moved it around the extensive set. One sign of overexposure is that I am beginning to sing the song to myself. I'm not burning out on this video because Jacob watches another video of the same song with the Notre Dame marching band, which he naturally calls, "Marching band!" This video is also entertaining but not as rewatchable. If you must see it, I'm sad to report that the embed link on YouTube says
"Embedding disabled by request." Click here to see it on YouTube. If you watch, clearly one of the things that attracts Jacob is the prominence of the drums.

I wonder what Jacob's next obsession will be...

Best Kept Secret at the Library

Starting this month, our local branch of the Howard County Public Library is giving away a free cookie and a cup of coffee on the first Friday of the month if you take out at least three items. The only trick is that they are doing this from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., so you have to go during the day. Jacob, Lucy and I went yesterday morning to check out some items and check out some cookies too.

We went through our usual routine for visiting the library: we returned some items at the front desk. I looked around to see where the set up for the goodies was but did not spot a coffee pot or a plate of cookies. No worries, I thought, as we headed off to the children's section. They've got a little "log cabin" area where toddlers and infants can hang out, play with toys and be a little noisier. Jacob and I picked out a new puzzle and some books, while Lucy stared at anyone she could see from her stroller. We read some other books too. Finally it was time to go.

We went back to the front desk to check out our books. Encouraged by the fact that five or six different flyers were posted on the check out desk, I asked about the cookies. The librarian behind the desk blinked and didn't know what to say. When I pointed out the signs, she said yes that is today but they hadn't been told anything about it. She went to the information desk to find out more.

Another librarian at the front desk told me that one of the volunteers sometimes brings in baked treats for the staff. That was encouraging news, because I was worried it might be vanilla wafers and yesterday's leftover coffee. She was surprised that no one had told them about it. I was surprised that I was the first to ask about it since it was already 11:45. The first librarian returned to report that we could get our treats at the information desk. We went and took only the cookie, since neither Jacob, Lucy or I drink coffee. The cookie was a home-made, crisp and delicious chocolate chip cookie. Jacob and I enjoyed it. Lucy will have to produce some more teeth if she wants to join in the fun next month.

And I certainly hope next month they tell the front desk workers that there are free cookies for library patrons!