Happenin' Specs

Rachel's class also made Thanksgiving bracelets. There were some leftover beads, so Rachel decided to accessorize her glasses. If this is what it will take for her to keep them on, so be it.

Rachel's Turkey

During the Thanksgiving Day celebration at Rachel's school, the kids made miniature turkeys out of food. This is Rachel's.

Cotume #2-Cowgirl!

My Two Great Loves

Ready For Her Closeup

Kitty Fairy Princess

I lost my camera for a month, so here are the 2008 Halloween pictures, one month late. Our first Halloween costume is Kitty Fairy Princess.

They Call The Wind....Well, In This Case, Rachel

The birth certificate say Rachel is a girl. Sometimes I wonder.

Last weekend, her grandmother was in the hospital. It's okay, she was released after two days.

We stopped by to visit Saturday afternoon. The hospital is in one of Atlanta's northern suburbs, about 45 minutes to an hour from our house. The lobby was eerily quiet.

No one manned the information desk. The shiny floors hardly looked trodden upon. An occasional doctor or orderly would walk by, but beyond that, there were few people, other than one woman quietly talking on her cell phone. Rachel and I were in the corridor, waiting for Rebecca to buy something in the gift shop for her mother.

Bored, Rachel sat on the floor. Sometimes she lay on her side or twirled around on her behind. Suddenly, the antiseptic silence was pierced by the distinct, loud, well enunciated words of my daughter, across from the hospital chapel. "I FARTED!" she proclaimed.

What did that birth certificate say again?

Booty Call

I feel old and not just because Rebecca and I showed up at Rachel's school today for Grandparents' Day. Grandma couldn't make it and since it was also called Special Persons Day, we asked for and received permission to stand in for grandma.

We enjoyed listening to the middle school percussion band, meeting new people and some of Rachel's friends. We also participated in Thanksgiving-related arts and crafts. I was pleased when Rachel filled out two turkey feathers that featured fill in the blanks..."I am thankful for...." I figured she would say "my toys" or "mommy and daddy." Instead, she said "earth" and "everything." Much more worldly and environmental. Cool!

After the class sang three Thanksgiving songs, complete with choreography, things began to wind down. All students were asked to empty their lockers and bring more wintry backup clothes next week.

Rachel asked where her pirate booty was. Pirate booty is a snack food made of rice and corn. Rachel had been eating some on her way to school. I wanted to make sure she brought any that was left home with her, so I urged her, "Take, take, take...take, take, take....take your booty...take your booty." My wife laughed. I think she was the only one old enough to get the reference. I think it was lost on her teacher, who looks to be in about her mid-twenties. Oh well!

Rachel Is Changing...And It's Probably Her Shirt

Rachel is growing up quickly. Every day, she can read more words and she is not even six yet! It has reached the point where we can no longer spell in front of her. There is a good chance she will figure out the topic of conversation.

One thing that has not changed, however, is her ability to get food stains on her clothing. The chance of that happening is directly related to whether she is wearing her school uniform. If she happens to be wearing a white shirt from The Davis Academy, the odds are overwhelming that either a lemonade stain or various chocolate stains will wind up on it.

Other prior certainties in her life are no longer sure things. Tonight, I heard her switch off the nightlight in her room. She said she is no longer scared of the dark and besides, she can still see the light from the adjacent bathroom. All of a sudden, the heretofore shunned crust on a slice of bread is no longer verboten. Up until now, mom and dad have been required to remove said crust before bread is to be eaten.

At age five and five-sixths, Rachel still doesn't have the edit mechanism you develop before you open your mouth and say something. Then again, I'm still waiting for mine to kick in. We play a game called the alphabet game, where we take turns naming words that begin with each letter of the alphabet. When we get to n, Rachel almost always says, "nose hair." Guilty! How I wish Rebecca hadn't said that a year and a half ago! It continues to haunt.

Tonight, I recited the letters o-l-d from a street sign. Rachel told me that spelled "old." She then related that she had gone to a store called "Olde Time Pottery" with her mom. They apparently bought a pillow and Rachel lay down on it. My wife has been known to take her time in stores like that. When I told Rachel that I didn't realize she had been there, she replied, "Believe me, I've been there! She inherited my patience...or lack thereof.

She is already looking toward a career. Tonight, she wants to be a police officer. She pantomimed directing traffic and said she wants to put bad guys in jail.

But my favorite conversation with her today was when I tried to describe how big nine feet is. "That is me standing up and another half of me on top of that," I tried to explain.

"How tall are you?" she asked.

"Six foot two," I replied. "74 inches. That is 32 inches tallen than your 42 inches.'

"I am 42 inches," she acknowleged. "When I have my clothes on."

Put The Fairy on Standby!

Rachel has marked another milestone. She has her first loose tooth.

According to the child resources on the Internet, she's a little early. The guides I have found say most children lose their first tooth somewhere between six and seven years old. Rachel is two months shy of six.

The same guides also say that if your child received her teeth late, they will probably lose their teeth later than average. Rachel's first tooth came in at 13 months, so she's bucking that trend too.

Of course, as is Rachel's modus operandi, the tooth development has been accompanied by much drama. She is scared. She keeps wiggling it with her finger.
By no means is her tongue to come over and play with it. It is almost as if the tooth has taken out a temporary restraining order and forbidden the tongue from coming within twenty yards of it.

Another fear she has expressed is that she may swallow it. I assured her that fear won't come back to bite her in the butt.

When I was young, my tongue always wanted to come over and play with a loose tooth, much like a cat with a June bug. Apparently, Rebecca was the same way. Rachel, not so much.

She had corn on the cob today in her lunch bag and there was no way that corn cob was getting anywhere near the loose tooth. Rachel held out for a banana when she got home and at dinner tonight, tried to learn how to bite with the side of her mouth.

Forget what mom and dad did; Rachel is the polar opposite--or is that molar opposite?

I tried to remind her that the tooth fairy will reward her when it comes out. She wanted to know whether the tooth fairy would want her tooth when it's all bloody. We assured her it would be cleaned up. She then wanted to know what the tooth fairy does with all the teeth. My guess is either a really gaudy necklace or a big payoff at the cuspid recycler.

Apparently, the tooth didn't bother her enough to avoid M&M's for dessert. They do melt in your mouth, after all.

Anyway, it looks as if for the next few days or weeks, our main topic of conversation will be the tooth,the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth!

Oh, So That's It!

I was having a basic conversation with Rachel last night in which I asked her whether she knew my mother's name.

She said she did not.

I told her my mom's name was Betty. I then asked her if she knew the name of Rebecca's mother.

She correctly replied that Rebecca's mom is named Betty as well. She then informed me, "And that's why you and mom had to get married...because your mom is named Betty and her mom is named Betty!"