Who doesn't love games and puzzles and songs and coloring and snacks? Especially the snacks.

So I was called to nursery.

The 2d Counselor kind of held his breath waiting for my response, since it's a pretty heavy "turn-down" calling, but seriously? it's only fair if one uses a service to be willing to put some time into it.

And I'm way better with 2 year-olds than 14 year-olds.

We have four nurseries in our ward, and I'll be in the one with Lorin. Which is fine with me.

Lorin's opinion? Well, I asked her:

"Hey, guess what? I'm going to be your new teacher in nursery! Would you like me to go to nursery with you every week?"

She didn't hesitate.

"Nope."

The Tip-off

How to tell your kid is sick, if your kid is Lorin:*

Rather than stall bedtime by requesting "one last book" multiple times (which is the best stall of all - do I sacrifice my kid's sleep or her love for reading?), Lorin refused a second book because she "want[ed] to go to sleep." Wish granted.

* In addition to the 256-degree fever, the hours of inconsolable sobbing-crying, the need to be attached to my body at all times, and the waking up in the middle of the night.

Enjoying the last few nice days...

Someone didn't fall asleep immediately after being put down for a nap...

Yes, she was wearing clothes when she went to bed. I'm just glad she kept on her diaper.

Yes, my 2.5 year old still wears diapers. You are welcome to come potty-train her anytime.

Please wear your seatbelt.

Last night, I was startled awake by a - spoiler alert - crash. When I tried to describe it to Mr. T, I said it "sounded like a big truck dumping a load of metal into our backyard." He tried to convince me that it was just our neighbor taking out his trash barrel (which unfortunately is a common 2 a.m. occurrence). But it wasn't trash day, and the dog next door was much more upset than he would be about trash.

I looked out our back bedroom window - which faces a major street - but didn't see anything. Mr. T wandered downstairs and looked out the front. Nothing. We got back into bed, but my Law & Order-saturated mind kept spinning scenarios involving drug runners or illegal immigrants or someone jumping into our yard.

Less than five minutes after I first heard the noise, I heard the sirens.

Two minutes after that, we looked out the window and saw three firetrucks, three ambulances, and a host of police vehicles.


And from our corner bathroom window, we saw an SUV on its side and EMTs running into the drainage ditch with boards. We watched for an hour as they rescued two people, sent one in an ambulance, and worked on another until a helicopter landed on our street to take him to - we assume - a hospital with a Level I trauma center.

I said a prayer for the passengers and their families.

All night, various crews stayed to clean up and take evidence (in fact, the street wasn't reopened until nearly 8 a.m.). We lied in bed listening and talking about how lucky we were that this didn't happen to us. And the main difference was that Mr. T was wearing his seatbelt.

I scoured the news today and eventually learned that the passenger will be fine, but the driver (the one taken away in the helicopter) died. I also saw that, in a separate accident yesterday, two little boys lost their mother when she was ejected from their truck because she wasn't wearing her seatbelt.

I generally keep the tone on this blog light (and Lorin-centered), but I felt the need for a PSA today.

Please wear your seatbelt. All the time.

Happy Easter!

Not-so-well-timed milestone: Lorin chose this morning to demand that she pick out her outfit - pants and a white t-shirt. She got over it.

First Haircut

Even though Lorin's hair isn't by any definition long, it was getting a little scraggly. So we set an appointment with Sandy (who's been doing my MIL's hair for 24 years now), bravely looking past (1) Lorin's extreme fear of hairdryers, (2) her inability to sit still for longer than 2.6 seconds, and (3) the fact that she sobs every time we cut her nails, and she's never even been nicked.

We each had a role:

(1) Sandy cut very quickly.
(2) Mr. T held Lorin in place.
(3) I took pictures (of course).
(4) Grandma and Aunt Maren cheered (not pictured).
(5) And Lorin sat reasonably still and ate candy.


We were surprised (and happy) that it actually worked, and Lorin's hair looks great. (You'll just have to trust me since she refused to pose for an "after" picture.)