shoes and who needs 'em

If PC is like his parents, he may end up with a shoe habit.

According to babycenter.com's "9 month, week 4" e-mail, he's too young to start buying them:

"...you needn't bother until he's really walking well. In fact, experts believe going barefoot indoors helps a baby's foot develop properly and promotes better balance and coordination."

We can appreciate this. But whoever wrote this never shopped for adorable little baby shoes.

weeekend towel scramble

Dear Prince Clementine:

First off, we love you very much.

Second , here's a list of lessons from this weekend.

1. Buford's giant bowl is meant to hold the doggy's water. When you grab its edge and pull toward you, the water spills everywhere and your parents go scrambling for towels. Maybe you knew this. Remember, Buford can't drink the water if it's not in the bowl.

2. "Sippy cups" are called that because babies drink from them. This requires that someone (preferably you, PC) lift the cup to your lips and tip it toward you. Holding the sippy cup upside down like a salt shaker means your parents scrambling for towels.

3. This is huge. The toilet is the white ceramic bowl where you poo and the bathtub is the bigger white ceramic tub where you clean yourself. When you poo in the bathtub we have to scramble for towels and hold you over the toilet (we can see how this is confusing). Remember, it's cold when you're wet and hanging over the toilet as the area is sanitized. Think of bath time as relaxing, yes, but not too relaxing.

We love you very much.

Your parents

mixing it up

PC and I had a morning home together today--a rare thing. We started by reading a book about colors, then we advanced to playtime down stairs and an attempt at a "schedule." I say attempt because it was clear, throughout the morning, that he clearly understood something was different. I am not the person he sees most mornings, or plays with or eats with, and he certainly does not take his morning nap in his mom and dad's bedroom. This he made clear to me. Eventually, though, we worked things out. We rocked Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees," became tearful and lonely singing "Red River Valley," and shouted out our self-esteem with a, uh, evolving version of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful." He thinks guitars and singing are magic.