End of November

Today's post ends Na(tional)Bl(og)Po(sting)Mo(nth). So while I'm sure everyone spent much time with the refresh key on their computer, wondering just when the day's post would arrive, you can now go back to checking less frequently, as I know I'll be writing less frequently - although I would like to start capturing more of the funny things Connor says each day, so perhaps I'll make a point of posting more conversation snippets.

Today also was our first full day back from Thanksgiving vacation at Ed's family. I attempted to get a photo of all 5 grandchildren on that side, but what can I say, 3 out of 5 isn't bad, considering the other two are ages 2 and 1. Herding squirrels, I tell ya. Alisa is the glue of this crew!

Connor spent a fair amount of his time "cleaning" my mother-in-law's windows, stove, inside of her dishwasher, playground equipment, and basketball court. The latter two were particularly dirty, being that they were outside in the rain and all. I'm sure she appreciated his efforts, even if he left a few smears on his surfaces. Helen enjoyed the inside of my mother-in-law's washine maching. I would post a similar photo I took of Connor at this age, but I accidentally erased it and I am still sad about that. It is mostly Ed's fault as he was bugging me to do some home maintenance task that was rather urgent, but ended up being a total waste of my time.

Connor also enjoyed hanging out in the basement, where my father-in-law has this nifty ski machine. And it's a good thing Connor got his exercise, because I broke a many year ban on McDonald's and actually took both kids there yesterday for dinner because Helen had spent so much of the trip from Baltimore screaming that my nerves were frayed, and I wanted to be within walking distance of home when we stopped to eat in case she had another breakdown as we tried to strap her into her carseat for the final leg of our journey. Helen adored the french fries, and even remembered that she had tasted ketchup a few weeks ago and when she saw it, she promptly signaled that she would like it and dipped her fries and fist right in. This reminded me that I am regularly surprised at how much the non-talking crowd is taking in.

Elaine