Safety Goggles Advised

He gouges out of love.

Kuh-nuffle Cow?

Sophie REALIZED something. She marched into my room and said, "THIS IS NOT MY COW!"

Albert Cowmoo is Sophie's first love. When we realized that Cowmoo was going to be Sophie's nighttime/naptime lovey when she was just a little over a year old, we rushed out to find a spare. The REAL Cowmoo was a gift from Aunt Laura, but it was a seasonal item -- sold along with the book Click Clack Moo, and nowhere to be found. Except Ebay. So that's how we got CowTwo. But until a few days ago, Sophie did not know about the stunt double. We dutifully rotated the cows so that they got a relatively equal amount of wear (great trick of hiding cleaner cow in the washing machine, then inserting dirty cow right in front of Sophie's eyes, closing the lid, then opening the lid and removing clean cow -- cooking show style). We never left two cows grazing at the same time. We never mentioned the name CowTwo in front of the girl. But we're tired, now. Corners got cut. And, somehow, Cowmoo became two. In true Knuffle Bunny style (great book if you haven't read it), Sophie was having NONE of it. She was not amused that there were two cows. She did not think that a cow visitor had decided to come play. She announced that one of them was NOT her cow, and that it probably belonged to Berkely (a kid at her school). I promised I would return it to him, and shoved it back in its corner behind Frank's hiking boots when she wasn't looking. Here's a shot of Sophie and Cow from September, 2006:

Let there be KITE

We went to the kite festival, oh...about twenty days ago. I'm just now getting around to posting some pics. They look better when larger, so click on these...

An idea sprung from Jameson's head:

Look out, boy! That kite's gonna land on yer nose...

Let there be (L)ight

Jameson said his first word! It's not dada (although he does say duh duh duh duh all the time). It's not mama (he grins/laughs/cackles when I say mama, but he doesn't say it). It's not Sophie or Sissy or So-so, despite her many efforts to get him to say her name first. It's not "Callie, No!" which I'm sure is imprinted on his brain. It's not uh-oh (that was Sophie's first word, and continues to be a testament to her balance).

It's LIGHT.

At dinner the other night, he reached up with both hands for the light above the table, jutting out his bottom jaw (and his bottom teeth) and started babbling. I said "light" and he said "ight." Just like that. Frank said "light?" and Jameson parroted "light?" And now he says it whenever he's referring to things he likes or wants. Light, light, light. I think it's a good first word. Light is knowledge and truth and God (and the glowing ball above J's head at dinnertime).

Sophie's Dictionary

to·la·ter /tə-lāˈ-tər/ adverb
1. an indication of when things might occur, esp. in reference to candy eating
2. an unspecified extension of the time continuum, as in "today," "tomorrow," and "tolater"
Ex. I'm not eating any more Spongebob gummis now, but can I have some tolater?

blur·ry /ˈblər-ē/ adjective
1. unknown, unfathomable, but probably yucky
2. lacking that je ne sais quoi
Example 1: As we're driving the principal from Cheongwon High School from the airport to his host family's house, Sophie asks, "Are you from Korea?" He answers, "Yes. Do you know where Korea is? She answers, "Yes, it's very blurry there." He wonders what she means. We change the subject.
Example 2: Sophie emerges from her cardboard house with my purse on her arm and brown stuff all over her cheeks. I ask, "What's that on your face?" She answers, "Make-up. My face was looking a little blurry." (Fashion tip: eyeshadow does not clear up blurry cheeks)

Footnote: Sophie likes to make up new words and new usages for existing words, but she does not always appreciate new vocabulary. When Frank told her to stop being so obsequious, she screamed, "That's not even a word to me!" and then crumpled in a little heap of Sophie onto the floor.

Snoozefest

Jameson thinks Pinkalicious is sooooo boring. Where's the dinosaurliscious book? Or truckaluscious?