Hello hello! We have joined the 21st century and started blogging. This is the initial run!

My kid is lately fascinated with all the parts of the body, like bones, lungs, red blood cells, the digestive system, etc. She also likes to pretend to be different things, such as dogs or horses, and draws whoever is around into the role-playing. These two pastimes often combine with disturbing results, such that she will come up to me and say, "Mama Skull, what are you doing?" (I'm expected to call her "Baby Skull" when I reply.)

She continues to be excited about the arrival of her new sister, I think particularly because she knows it will be happening near her birthday. She thinks the baby is going to sing "Happy Birthday" to her "when it comes out of the belly." She no longer wants to name the baby after herself, and instead has settled on "Jesse" (the yodeling cowgirl from "Toy Story 2").

The newest arrival in the household is Ithaca Fishica, a beta which we are fish-sitting for a friend over the summer, and trying not to kill (the fish, not the friend). Kitty Astronaut, at six months old, is now the size of Sylvie and seems bent on keeping George's memory alive in the Monster Purring, Upholstery-Destroying and general Pain-In-the-Butt departments.