"Mama, I have a secret for you." What could it be? A explanation for the daily demand for a bowl of yogurt which she never eats? The REAL reason why she won't go near a potty? She comes up to me and pushes aside my hair gently, cupping my ear. "Pss, pss, pssssss," she murmurs. "Psss, pssss!" I sit back and look at her bemusedly. "Is that it?" "Yes, that is my secret!" she exclaims as she does a wiggly happy dance.

A friend of mine has a 20-month-old who has recently developed a certain affection for two stuffed animals, a lion and a polar bear. They both roar, and he is still figuring out his pronunciation. So he croons, "Whore, whore" when he wants them.

Question of the Day: "Mama, what is it that looks like a bat but eats beef?"

It is Girl Scout Cookie time, and ours were delivered yesterday by the local dealer, Julia. "Sorry our house is so messy," I said automatically as I opened the door. "No worse than mine," she replied cheerily. I'm sure her mom, standing back by the street so as to let Julia handle the transaction "on her own," was thrilled. ("Don't go into the strange people's house, dear.") We got a box of Pinatas (strawberry and frosting!) for the toddler, and two boxes of coveted peanut butter patties which I did not intend to share. "What are THOSE cookies?" she asked, as I whisked them out of her sight. I frantically searched my mind (whoo, not much there) for an answer. "Those are...are grownup cookies, and they taste like DIRT." "And coffee," Charles added helpfully. "Plus they are very spicy." "Yes," I said, "They are dirt-spicy-coffee cookies! Yuck!" I exclaimed, as I bit into one sweet circle of joy. "Blech!" cried Charles as he chewed. I don't think she was fooled.

Quote of the Day: "Large for the omelette, that's what I always say. Large for the omelette."

(No, we have no idea where this comes from. When asked, "Large what?" the Toddlerita replied, "For the omelette!")

Quote of the Day, actually from last week: "We are all calabazas (Spanish for "pumpkins") and our intestines are two candles."

2:59 pm: BOTH OF MY CHILDREN ARE ASLEEP, AND NEITHER ONE OF THEM IS ON OR IN MY BODY!

What am I going to do with this time? Laundry? Dishes? Dusting? NO. I am sipping cocoa. I am writing. I am experiencing life as it was BEFORE. I am waiting to hear the inevitable...ah, there it is. The cooing of the wee, wee one. Back to reality.