A hoot

from Carolyn

We saw what I think was a small screech owl on campus yesterday, in the loggia between Clark and Dibble. We were walking through with Pete on our way to Mac Field, and it was just sitting about five feet up on a small pedestal in a corner. It was very exciting to see. ("I scared owl," Pete admitted, although he gave several excited hoots and has retold the story of seeing the owl many times since. I'm starting to think that when Pete says he's scared of something, he really means he's struck by it.) When we passed through again on our way home, the owl had moved to a bike wheel not far from where we had first seen it. Other birds in the area were making a big racket in nearby branches. Maybe because they were unnerved by the owl?

Giving Thanks

from Carolyn

I was putting a diaper on Pete after his bath tonight, and he burst into a little exposition on the subject of gratitude: "Home, yay! School yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Oh, Sweety P! You're so welcome!

I tried to stump him last night by asking him where his tail was (while he was trying to hold Giddy's tail). He put both hands right on his backside, very matter-of-factly.

Bird names

from Carolyn--

Wow! There are a lot of people on plans. And thanks to so many of you for your good wishes. I'm looking forward to the day when Erik turns to all of you to help us choose toilet training methods by means of a plans poll. I can report that so far (almost 4 months along) pregnancy has not been as bad as I had feared. I have had only minimal food aversions, for instance. Turns out I can't eat cottage cheese any more. I'm facing this loss bravely.

My first ideas when Erik told me of [someone]'s suggestion of bird names were "Buzzard" and "Great Auk". Erik seemed less enthusiastic than I.