The dangers of having long, curly hair and an older brother

Not much to report

We've been having a great summer. Lots of pool and beach time. Sadie's been pooping on the potty like a champ lately. We are now diaper-free except at night. So we've got that going for us. And we're all so excited about it that we've developed a new dance. Btw, what Soen mentions at the end of this video wound up being a false alarm.

Meet Speedy

Once upon a time we were on a cat reduction plan. Actually that was as recently as Saturday. Funny story. You see... a certain someone was at his wit's end when it came to getting his daughter to poop on the potty. And try as he might he couldn't find anything to bribe her with. Candy, toys, sleeping upstairs with her brother.... She wanted nothing. And worse, she showed absolutely no interest in pooping on the potty. Now, this person knew that kids will do things on their own time. He knew that his daughter wouldn't be 16 years old and still wearing diapers. But his patience was wearing a bit thin. And then had a sudden flash of inspiration. "Sadie," he said, "what if we got a kitten?" "A big kitty cat?" she asked him. "Nope. A teeny tiny baby kitty cat." She gasped and dashed off to the potty with renewed interest and... achieved poop.

After detailing his victory to his wife (and after his daughter blurted out what her new prize would be even though it was supposed to be a secret) and after assuring her that he wasn't crazy, the man, his wife, and their two kids journeyed to PetSmart where they met Speedy (formerly Drake) and fell in love. And they lived happily ever after with their four and a half cats.

(The half cat would be the grey cat that's been hanging about that I mentioned in a recent post. Yes, we are clearly insane.)

As for the name: It's one thing coming up with a pet's name when it's just you or your spouse. After all, who could forget our previous triumphs, Mr Pants and Foot Foot? But when you have a 2-year old and a 5-year old in the picture, it's hard steering them past names like Green Lantern, Spiderman, Backugan, Spiderman, Superman, and Spiderman. Wife hates the name. Then again, she didn't like Mr Pants, either.

Jose

I managed to catch one of her two favorite expressions on video. Her other favorite is "No way, Jose!." That's my favorite, because while most people use it in jest, Sadie uses it when she's really angry. Like when we tell her it's finally time to go to bed after granting her a few one minute extensions. "No way, Jose!" It's hard not to laugh. Well, not that hard. After all by the time she whips out No way, Jose, we're beyond joking around. But at least it's G-rated.

The creepies, the crawlies, and me.

Soen at his happiest.

I don't know what was going on but today our backyard was like an episode of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

On a typical day one might find a few of those green and brown lizards called Anoles hanging out on our backyard fence. Let me rephrase that. Every single morning Soen wakes up, eats, and goes outside to find anoles. I usually have to drag him to the pool, where, after swimming for a bit, he gets out of the pool and goes to look for bugs and anoles.

We have a few other creatures that sometimes make themselves known to us. There's an elusive Southeastern Five-lined Skink that always scurries out of reach. (Those suckers an insanely fast.) And an Eastern Glass Lizard or two that have managed to remain alive in spite of being captured by Soen a few times. But mostly we just have those anoles.

Then today we managed to catch a green tree frog, a salamander, and this toad you see in the photo above. I say "we" but it was all Soen. I found the toad and the frog and managed to steer them towards Soen, who grabbed them so adeptly it was almost frightening. I had ample opportunities to grab these creatures myself but I couldn't get past the yuck factor.

Ever since Soen was a toddler he's been into bugs and all other sorts of creepie crawlies. He has never had any qualms about grabbing the most slimy and digusting creatures you've ever seen. On the contrary, nothing makes him happier. I, on the other hand, have basically tried my best to encourage Soen's interest in this sort of thing while hiding the fact that I have no stomach for it. Frankly, I've gotten rather good at it walking this line. I either make it my job to shepherd the animal in question towards Soen or I do a great imitation of a hunter who is just slightly too slow to grab the prey as it escapes. Of course I've gotten a lot of practice at this because I'm the one Soen wants with him as he goes hunting. I love that he asks me to go find lizards with him several times a day. I just wish he would invite me to do something that doesn't make me look less manly than Sadie (see below).

Anyway, back to today's catch: Soen couldn't have been more gleeful. I love that level of pure joy that only kids can experience and express. Sadie had a similar moment later today. There's this grey kitten that's suddenly been hanging out in our yard. He's very cute and playful but he is also understandably terrified of Sadie. Well, this afternoon he not only didn't run screaming when she approached him, but he actually played with her. Well, if she said "Meow meow play with me!" once she said it four hundred and sevently-five times. Which is probably the way I'd react if Soen suddenly said, "Hey Dad, let's go golfing."

The Taming of the Shrew's Hair

The cleanest Sadie will ever look.

Sadie's hair is basically a rat's nest 95% of the time. It's a very cute rat's nest. And all the people who comment on her golden curly locks never seem to notice the snarls entangled in knots ensnared in the morass that is her hair. And no matter how much we wash her hair or how much leave-in conditioner we slather on it when it comes to trying to get a comb through her hair... well, let's just say that she'd probably prefer to be waterboarded. At least, that was the case before we were clued in to the secret of the African American hair products.

I don't know what's in this extra-strength conditioner Wife picked up the other day, but I'm sure it's probably single-handedly responsible for global warming. Frankly, I'm willing to be blissfully ignorant on this issue because it worked like magic. One application of this stuff and the knots practically fell out by themselves. For the first time it was actually possible for someone to run a comb through her hair.

So, I had to take a picture. Her hair actually stayed presentable all through the dinner we were going to when I took this picture. The same can't be said for her white dress.

(One might gather, from the way I wrote this, that I handle all of Sadie's hair care. Of course we both know that's not the case. Sadie does have a shirt that says "Daddy does my hair," but I think wife bought that to deflect all the blame.)