In like a lion

Tom Skilling, whom my late grandmother would have you know is never wrong, says that today marks the beginning of meteorological spring. I know it's snowing my homeland, and it hasn't gotten out of the 20s here all weekend. So much for spring, though I do see highs in the 60s and 70s in the Columbia 10 day forecast, so easy on the complaints about the cold. Anyway...

While I worked late Tuesday, David and Kevin headed to the Srokas to celebrate Fat Tuesday Polish-style with paczkis (which is really pronounced more like "poonch-kies"). For anyone not familiar, they are essentially Polish donuts. They come with a variety of flavors and fillings, but Kevin's Uncle Rog makes them from scratch and puts apples in the batter. They are delicious. Roger got stuck at work until the wee hours Tuesday, but I heard that Barb stepped in and did a lovely job of making the paczkis. David had a lot of fun and...surprise surprise...loved Patch the dog.

David and I started our Magical Mornings class on Friday. I'm not sure how magical it's really going to be. It's run by a retired preschool teacher who brings a bunch of old toys. The kids free play for a while, can take part in a craft if they want (David lost interest in making his lion after about 60 seconds) and then sing about 4 songs. He had fun, though, which is all that matters. The class is mostly boys, and there is a lot of run-run-running, so hopefully this will help him burn off some of his trapped inside winter energy.

While I spent Saturday morning saving the world from the common cold and explaining to parents that 4 days isn't actually too long to be congested, Kevin and David went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the choo choos, airplanes and submarine.

Today we partied at the Swansons. Their son Eli celebrated his first birthday. David got to play with the usual suspects--Gus, Eli, Maya and Evie. Here are a few pictures: David with Maya, David actively involved in a game of run-run-run and Eli with smash cake. Happy birthday, E!

David's story finally got posted on http://nohandsfamilystories.blogspot.com/, so check him out there. I would also like to share that one of the words David has trouble pronouncing is "you." He says "woot." It cracks me up every time. He looks at me very seriously gives me an instruction and says "WOOT!"