Man of Mystery

Mommy: Paul, what did you do in school today?

Paul: I went outside and played with Aiden.

M: What did you play with Aiden?

P: (silence)

M: Did you play tag?

P: No.

M: Did you ride bikes?

P: No.

M: Did you play pretend?

P: No. I played. . .something. . .YOU don't know.

M: Wow - what was it?

P: Um. . .I don't remember.

Perspective

Mommy: (looking out at the rain) Ugh. It is not a nice day out today.
Paul: I like the rain, so it is a VERY NICE day today!

Movie Star Part Two

[Driving on the highway past the movie theater]

P: I want to see Toy Story 5

Dad: Wow. They haven't even made Toy Story 4. Who is in Toy Story 5?

P: Me and Buzz and Woody and the whole world! It's a very long movie.

Dad: How long is it?

P: 150 Years.

Dad: Wow. That's a long time. We'd have to live there. And our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

P: And Mommy and Joss can join us. And we can have popcorn. But the movie theater has no doors.

Dad: Then how will we get in?

P: We have to use magic. We'll need magic wands.

[At this point, he gets quiet and looks out the windows]

Movie Star

P: Daddy! We don't have Toy Story 4!

Dad: Sorry, honey, there is no Toy Story 4. They've only made three of them.

P: Toy Story 4 is the one with ME in it. And I go up to space and ... [an uninterpretable, manic, stream of consciousness story of him in space involving Woody and space follows].

Note that we were watching The Muppet Movie at the time.

Playtime

The boys play so well. Smile! Thanks, Paul.

Paul loves his trains.

And Joss loves puzzles!

Cookie Time w/ Mommy

What does a family do the day after Thanksgiving? Make more food! Paul is a terrific cookie maker.

Mix that dough. Mix that dough!

Daddy, don't disturb the chef!

Sick Day for Joss

Joss didn't eat last night. We chalked it up to his finicky nature. This morning he proved us wrong in a big way - by regurgitating breakfast all over Mommy! This is what he looked like this morning:

If you're wondering, this was Joss' tub when he came home from the hospital. By midday, though, he was feeling much better. Begging for crackers and cookies. I walked out of the room, and came back to fine him like this:

Jossence of Arabia! I hope we're done with sickness for a while.

Joss' Florida Adventure!

Daddy & Joss bravely flew down to Florida for some fun in the sun with Bubbie Barbara. What would Joss do without his theatrical older brother?

Posing for the paparazzi

Joss loves the dollhouse. Mostly, he likes throwing the baby doll down the dollhouse steps.

Overalls: A great place to hide your arms

Bathtime Baby, Splish Splash in Bubbles

I can use a spoon right side up...

...and upside down.

What's up here?

Monkeys!!!!

Down the slide

Through the port hole.

Steering the ship.

Ride 'em, Seahorse. Away!

Babaloooooo!

Stop! In the name of love.

Plaster Fun

At a classmate's birthday party. A wall full of animals and figures, and Paul chooses one that says "Danger, Mother at Work."

Our little innovator

Why just have a bottle when you can have a bottle?

The Yogurt Eater

Joss has not quite perfected the art of eating yogurt with his hands.

Paul the Poacher

Daddy: Paul, Daddy is going to be away for one sleep and Mommy is going to be gone for seven sleeps.
Paul: When I get big, I'm going away for TEN sleeps.
D: Where will you go?
P: On a trip.
D: On a trip to where?
P: To a forest.
D: What will you do in the forest?
P: Break animals. And eat them!
D: What kind of animals will you eat?
P: Lions and TIGERS!

School Photos!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!! THE BIG 04!!

Paul's 4th birthday party (with a Wizard of Oz theme) was supposed to be at a super cool play place, but Mommy got her times confused, and there was double booking, and much wailing and gnashing of teeth until Super Daddy took the reins, notified friends, planned an activity, and bought tons of paint in neat little plastic tube-brushes. Mommy already had all the paper goods, the cake, and a tank and a half of helium, and a house party was born. . .

Cowboy Paul wrangles some doggies, er, balloons. . .

. . .and of course Joss has to do whatever big Brother does.

"Somewhere over the rainbow. . ."

Thanks to Mike, Reiko, James, and Mikeayla for coming early and helping with set-up!

Toys, and costumes, and friends - Oh My!

Couple of balloons. . .

Oh, and a frikkin huge Nemo came by to say hello.

Woah.

(Thanks to Safta Sheila for the remote-controlled behmoth.)

Joss takes a quick break in the kitchen. . .

. . .before heading outside for a little fresh air.

The activity Daddy planned? PUMPKIN PAINTING!!




Joss was outraged that the pumpkins were being abused with paint instead of pureed with bananas. Outraged!

Thanks to Jon, Stacey, Tesla, and Faraday for supplying the pumpkins!

Paul says that Asher is his cousin and his friend (emphasis his).

Paul and his 4 balloon.

After the pumpkin painting - Pizza! Paul managed to find the cheesiest, goopiest slice ever witnessed this side of the mighty Charles.

Pizza party!

Pizza party picnic!

Adorable family.

Cheerful chaos.

Amidst the craziness, Jacob manages to fall into a good book - he makes his aunt proud.

Sonia is the collector and redistributer of balloons. . .

Safta and Bubbie plot their next caper. (Maybe robbing a bank? Really, really slowly?)


Cake time! While the cake looked kind of like a giraffe wearing a party hat, with the proper decorations, once can clearly see that it's the Emerald City and the Yellow Brick Road. Right? (And yes, that is a mini bottle of vodka on the spice rack. Mommy keeps that there for emergencies.)


Happy birthday, darling Paul. May all your wishes come true.

Brotherly love - post noogie/headlock.

Oh, did we mention the cake was RAINBOW inside? Yeah, Mommy rocked the cake this year.

Aaaaaaaannnnd, the aftermath. Once our wonderful guests left, and the party was cleaned up, Mommy baked, frosted, decorated, and packed up two dozen cupcakes for Paul's school on Monday. . .

Whew. So, what should we plan for Joss in February?