Words fail me!

I'm not feeling so prolific this week; I apologize for the infrequent and not-so-entertaining posts.

Dan is in his second week of truck school at Pro Drive. He's enjoying it, still. Yesterday he had both his physical exam and his written permit test. He passed the former with no issue, and passed 2 of the 3 sections on the latter. He'll re-take it in a few days. Funny, it was the section about which he was the most confident that he didn't pass.

He also had his phone interview with the Department of Labor, so the unemployment claim process is finally moving forward. Hopefully we'll see some helpful checks in the mail soon.

Vi and Dan were both plagued with the most awful stomach virus I've ever...well, seen, smelled, heard, or micro-managed. I frantically texted my mother at one point, asking her to bring me some Lysol! She did, and now she's sick, too. We also seem to have infected three friends. We're awesome. They're both feeling better but not 100%.

My tax season is mostly over. I have a couple of clients who weren't able to get me their information on time, so they'll have to file an extension. Overall, though, it was great having full-time, free, flexible child care (read: stay-at-home Dad) during my busy season. A strange blessing in disguise.

We had a nasty storm on Sunday night which lasted into Monday afternoon, leaving about nine inches of snow on the ground (and on the car, the roof, the trees...). It's gorgeous. I'M READY FOR IT TO BE GONE. Spring can't come fast enough this year! I am longing for a warm, sunny day in our front yard, under the maple tree, taking in the wonderful, clean air. Even our neighbor commented that he can't wait to sit under our tree this year! Of course, both of our kids are mobile now, so it will be quite different than sitting with a stationary baby in the shade.

Some friends are planning a seedling-swap. I think the idea is that we'll all start our own seeds, then get together to swap our extras. That way we'll have enough cucumbers but not too many. In theory.

Vi has new words every day. The funniest one is Knut. You remember Knut? Sure you do... look here. My friend Kristin sends books for Vi at every gift-giving occasion, and a book about Knut was in this year's Christmas package. I had no idea that Vi liked it so much until the other day she approached me in the living room, hand extended, saying "Han, han, han, han, han." This was not a request for Han Solo, but for me to take her hand and go with her. As having a child reach out to hold your hand is THE MOST PRECIOUS THING IN THE WORLD, I gladly obliged. I was led to her bookshelf in her bedroom. She was not saying, "Noot, noot, noot, noot." She selected the Knut book quite deliberately and handed it to me continuing her noot-ing. No, I'm not planning on correcting her pronunciation just yet...it's too sweet to hear her say it the way she says it.

What else does she say? Still "all done" and "all gone." Also, Papou (Greek for Grandfather, it's my step-father's grandpa name) and Purple (for Purple Bear, you've seen the pictures) both come out like "Poo-poo," unfortunately. Ba-nee means either Bunny, Bottle, Ronnie (the penguin, her large stuffed animal), Running (a request to be "chased" by Ronnie), Willy (my brother Tim's bird), Banana, or some other 7th thing which remains unidentifiable in the most frustrating way. There's nothing quite as upsetting as having a tearful kid yelling "Ba-nee!!" over and over again and having no idea what she wants or needs. Any ideas?

She's all into learning names. Papou, as mentioned above, Gro-gro,Boo, Sassy/Cassy/Solasi - three dogs, all of which she calls "Csassy" - Noni, Ky, Coro, Dan, Mitts and Wy-eee. You know who you are.

She also says "goose." We call her a silly goose so often, that the nickname "Goose" has sort of stuck. Sometimes she is being silly and just cuts to the chase and starts saying "goose, goose, goose." Which is pretty silly in itself.

She's a good kid. She still gets us to laugh every day and gives the best, best, best hugs and kisses I never knew I deserved.