Naming the Baby

We hear from Inge that she and Buddy had a conversation today about what Mitch should be named when Mitch emerges. Buddy, Inge avows, wants to name it "Bless You." She herself thinks--as she usually does--we should name it Inge. Inge is her prime choice for names. "Binge" runs a close second, being a moniker of her own invention, original, and yet familiar somehow.

"You want us to name the baby Inge?" we asked.

"Yes," she said. "When he comes out."

It isn't inconceivable that Buddy might want to name the child "Bless You." This ranks among his chief phrases this week. He delivers it with vigor and pride whenever someone sneezes. It is pronounced "Blotchoo."

Syllabification 101

Overheard, Inge teaching Buddy to say "Hallelujah," after one of her solo singing sessions, her small but attentive audience having evinced some interest in learning her technique:

Inge: say Hah
Buddy: Hah
Inge: say Ley
Buddy: Ley
Inge, after thinking deeply: say You
Buddy: You
Inge: say Lah
Buddy: Lah

Inge, beginning phase 2: Now, say Hah-ley

American Haiku

"Parenthood Is"

things falling
in
the other room

and also,

I
knew
I smelled something

Merry Christmas from the Roises. The Lord is come!! 

Lewisisms

Lewis has begun commenting on movies. He turns to whomever he is sitting with and urges his (rather simple) insights until they are acknowledged. "Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat-hat!" Or, watching a movie in which somebody was sleeping: "A-pleep! A-PLEEP!"

Another common funny is his rendering of the word "milk." eh-MULK.

And yes, Winnie-the-Pooh has already left his mark: this morning I found Lewis stalking about his bedroom with a partially open umbrella, observing, "tut-tut! weenh! tut-tut, weenh!"

The inspiration for this blog just happened a moment ago. Sometimes I am too busy to take care of potential disasters right away, and so, I procrastinate--salving my conscience by taking two-minute readings. ("On the Mommy scale, disaster potential is now at a 6; thirty seconds remaining to zero hour") The young man had oiled his way into his father's empty office--on the disaster scale an easy 9 and a half. But he was sitting innocently in a Church-hillian pose on Daddy's chair, looking proud and inert, so I left him there. On the second check it became evident that a previously held plan had been quickly put into action as soon as I left, for there was Lewis in the same chair with a pipe and an open tobacco pouch, preparing to have a smoke.

Singing lessons

We overslept this morning. The first thing we heard when we did awake was a singing lesson well in progress in the next room. We think it may also have been Inge and Lewis's first verbalized argument:

Inge: Gloooooria, oh, Gloooooooria!

Lewis (ponderously melodious): Goooooooria

Inge: No, it's Gloria.

Lewis, branching out on a derivation of his own: It's happy, it's happy!

Inge: No, Gloria.

Lewis--not a dutiful student--doesn't care any more: Happy, happy!

Moral: Area codes DO matter

I know this, because I just called a potato warehouse in Aberdeen, Idaho, and told them I wanted an ultrasound.

On topics less imponderable: Buddy likes trucks. From the heavily bundled figure in the right-hand half of the stroller, I heard the following commentary during our walk this morning:

"Puck!...Wwwwrruck!....Hrruck!...Frrruck!"

Discovered too Latte

Biddle-bud hoping to have received a Latte, discovers that the restaurant manager disguised water in a hot drink cup, with a lid.

Watertower

A watertower at sunset. This is a view from our street (well, sort of-- my new super zoom makes it look closer than it really is)

Bibbycakes

Babycakes with a bib on... (taken with the new camera)

Vignette

Scene: The Homestead Place after dinner. Some early Christmas music fills the house with fun and cheer. Claire is cleaning up the post-dinner mess. Peter has gone upstairs. Inge and Lewis are entertaining themselves in some mysterious fashion in the family room.

Vignette: Claire walks around the corner, to see Lewis--to the strains of Frosty the Snowman--vigorously emptying the pepper shaker as he walks about the room. The scene is oddly reminiscent of the holidays--Buddy reminds one of those Salvation Army ringers, or perhaps Santa, or an oldtime town crier during the holidays. Pepper drifts down something like snow. ~


"Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" just came on. There is a strange thumping noise coming around the corner, the sort of noise a hammer would make if it were pounding on the closed piano.

Signing off,

Claire

More from Mommy

how the world works

Inge has from somewhere contrived a notion that a marriage ceremony consists in the proper wearing of a veil. In her world of make-believe, it follows that she can marry any unsuspecting individual she can drape a veil over. Such as Buddy. A veil can be, and usually is, a piece of string. And so it happens that Buddy will get married two or three times a day, without his consent, participation, or knowledge; and the sign of the recent nuptials is a long red string run over his crown and tucked behind his ears. Poor innocent. But I wonder...Is there a moral to this story?

Dragon Slayer

In some ways, Inge puts her mommy to shame. (Mommy's posting, this time.) She brought me into the living room to "show me something" today, that was supposed to be a spider. Inge's spiders usually aren't, but this one was--had been, I mean. Inge had killed it, as she reasonably explained to me, because it had been inside, which is where spiders are not supposed to be. Turns out she killed it with a microphone and a wooden bead. Got the job done, certainly. She wanted to be the one to wipe it up, too.

Poppies

I like Poppies.

Halloween Cometh

This is real. Hunny (Claire's grandma) apparently puts out the real halloween decorations.

Columbia River, Mt. Hood, and the Beautiful NW

Mt Hood, on the way to Namma and Tappa Quack's house. They sure picked a nice scenic drive for us!!

Tragedy and Apples

Nevertheless, not all was fair and fine. A nap or so came up lacking.

Bishop's Orchard

The Roises and their boarders went to Bishop's Orchard for apples and homemade cider. Good stuff, Mayton!

Our new front door!

Red, white, and blue.... Getting ready for the elections, I guess.

Hooray!

The house is painted, finally....