See these two? That's Jafta and Ryder. They have been best friends for five years. They met each other as babies and they love hanging out together. They are the same age, and Ryder lives down the street. All day, every day, Jafta is asking to hang out with Ryder. But . . . they go to different preschools. Jafta goes in the morning. Ryder goes in the afternoon. It's all very complicated and sad for these two.Now, see this?This is what happens when I have a desperately bored 3-year-old . . .

It has happened. I own my very own minivan. In my heart, I'm still rebelling against it. There is rage. Oh yes, there is rage. But also, there is a sliding door that closes with a button, and a trunk that fits my ginormous stroller. So there you go.And really, how mortified can I be about my own ride when my new son is rolling the neighborhood on a princess bike? It's all about perspective. . . .

It's the beginning of a new decade, so my kids and I decided to make a atime capsule together. I meant to do this at the beginning of the year, but a few other things happened (like running a half marathon and getting stuck in Haiti during an earthquake and adding a new kids to our family. You know, minor distractions). I thought it would be a fun project that they could open in ten years when they are 15, 13, and 10, and look back on some memories from their preschool days. In the year . . .

About two seconds prior to snapping this picture, I discovered Karis licking the foot pedal of our trash can.You know, with my first child, I was so diligent in trying to keep the germs at bay. I doused our hands in sanitizer, I wiped down shopping carts, I put any dropped pacifier into quarantine status until they could be properly boiled. Until one day, I found Jafta licking the bottom of a shoe I had removed. And then a few days later, came upon him chewing on the wheels of his stroller. . . .

Karis is officially crawling now. At six months, this is earlier than either of her siblings learned to crawl. To be honest, I'm not that thrilled about the early milestone. I've always loved the stage when babies are old enough to be really playful, and yet young enough to sit where you plant them. She seems to have skipped that phase altogether. Every time I turn around, she is booking it across the room, with her eyeball on some small speck of something that she wants to put in her mouth. And . . .

My kid (as most kids do) use some vocabulary that is uniquely their own. The funniest to me by far is the way Jafta refers to Karis's frequent spit-up as "drama". I have no idea how he picked this up, but he actually thinks this is the correct term for it. Of course I don't correct him, because it cracks me up. Nearly every day I hear him say "Uh-oh, Karis is having some drama right now". Or "There's some drama on the floor over there." Or "Burp her so there won't be any drama." Hilarious, . . .