Since Cael has become such a dancing machine, we've taken to turning on the children's music station on Comcast and letting it play in the background sometimes. I tried the toddler's station, but it's harder to rock out to Raffi than to High School Musical. You try shaking your booty to "If You're Happy and You Know It" and you'll see what I mean.

As the music plays, the television goes through a (very limited) slideshow. The pictures are of things like girls pillow fighting and very!happy!kids wearing backpacks. Each picture has an accompanying fun fact. I know they're "fun" facts because they are prefaced with, "Wow!" and "Hey!" and "Betcha didn't know!" (I'll tell you what I do know - "betcha" isn't a word. But, then again, what do I expect from a channel called "Kidz Only!")

Whoa! The Crayola factory in Easton, PA opened in 1996!

See? Without that "Whoa!" I'd think that was the most ridiculous fact ever and I would immediately flush it from my brain. But I will retain it forever and regale people with its awesomeness because WHOA it's great!

You'd never guess the first pencils were left unpainted to show off the high quality of the wood!

No, I wouldn't!

Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Made you look!

...I don't even know what to say.

I'm going to have to get a radio.

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We were watching So You Think You Can Dance.

Nigel, meet your future contestant:



He's got more rhythm than his Aunt Lauren!

We had to keep rewinding that song because every time it ended, after he applauded, he would cry until it started again. Dancing machine!

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Because it has been so sunny and gorgeous here, we've been taking lots of trips to the park. We've sampled a few of the local spots and settled on South Village park as our favorite because it has tot-sized toys and less moms. (The latter, of course, being the biggest draw. Small talk! Curses!)

I think Cael's becoming a park addict, however. Today at Bush he threw a tantrum every time Lauren and I would try to take him out of the swing. Such a diva. Eventually we just had to drag him away screaming until the swing was out of sight.

Other news: Cael had his first haircut with Tina, and Aunt Lauren bought him shiny new shoes. (No wonder he's become a diva. Spoiled.)

Photos of the beach trip and graduation to come later, when Uncle Marty the Uber Photographer gets us copies of his pics. (Chop, chop Uncle Marty!)

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Cael and I went to Freddy's today, and before we could make it through the front door, we were accosted. Usually, it's the girl scouts (damn them and their cookies!) but today it was a guy from the Statesman Journal. He shoved a newspaper in my face and asked if I would like a free copy.

I said yes.

No one knows why I said yes. I don't like papers, I don't need papers (if it isn't on Stewart or Colbert, it isn't news!) and I certainly didn't want to put it in my cart and deal with the inevitable, "Are you going to pay for that?" from the checkout lady. (We all know that "dealing with checkout ladies" ranks somewhere just above "sand in underwear" on Allies Scale of Discomfort.)

But I took it.

Apparently, taking offered free stuff means that you have to stand there and listen to Paper Dude go through his entire spiel. It's like an invisible tether of obligation. Little did he know, I didn't even want the free one. If I didn't want his free paper, I sure as heck didn't want to sign up for a monthly subscription. And no, two gold dollars don't sweeten the deal. Unfortunately, I'm just so good at smiling politely (what? I am!) that he was so encouraged he felt the need to keep going and going. He even worked Cael into the pitch, saying how adorable he was and being quite the charmer.

Then he got to the end of his little checklist and I denied even the smallest subscription. The moment the final "no thank you" left my lips it was like a switch was flipped. Paper Dude's face fell flat, he turned his back to me and actually made "Have a nice day" sound like a threat.

I barely refrained from chasing after him, calling, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to reject you! Can I get the one that comes with the coins? They looked very shiny!"

Grocery stores should totally have back doors.

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Cael took his first unassisted step yesterday - in the bathtub. Because the logical transition is to go from utter terror of stepping without a hand-hold to free-styling through knee-deep water in a ceramic death-trap. Right?

Today he has taken a few more steps on his own, but still prefers crawling and walking with support. Maybe he's just waiting for his next bath?

Also, today was his first venture into the toilet bowl. Sensing a pattern?

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