On Pet Ownership

At about 5:30 this morning, my cat sneezed.

I know this because his face was about 2 inches from mine at the time.

Ah, feline saliva....

An Addendum

Two conversations I inexplicably left out the first time around:

• Playing cards with I and H when C asks to play, too. We end up inventing a game in which H shows him a card and if he correctly identifies it, he gets to have it. "Fwee!" he cries. "Four! A!" Until we get to Eight. He stares for a moment, furrows his little brow, purses his little lips and then, shaking his head slightly, declares, "I don't want that one."
• And a quote from C after he emerges from the bathroom: "There was a lot of pee in there! It was good to get it out."
  

Conversations with Boys

Just spent a delightful 4 days in Wisconsin with (almost) the whole family, including all four nephews. Some conversational highlights include:

The husband comes outside with a cookie in hand.
3-year-old C: Hey, can I have some of that?
The husband: Sure, you can have a little piece.
C: What is it, though?
H: ...a cookie. You didn't know what it was when you asked for it?
C: [no answer, just wanders away chewing thoughtfully]

H to 5-year-old D: So what do you like best about being here?
D: I like you. Also, I like him [pointing to his grandfather], her [to his aunt]... wait... [counting everyone in the room] I like seven people!

Me to C: Hey, C, how's your morning going?
C: I'm not C! I'm THE FWASH!
Me: OK, then. [20 minutes later] Hey, Flash, what are you doing?
C: I'm not Fwash! I'm Supaboy!

D to his father, I: Can I be excused to go to the playground?
I: Tell you what - stay here long enough to order your own ice cream cone, and then you can take it out to the playground.
D: But I wanna go out NOW!
I: I know, but you have to carry your own dessert outside, that's all.
D: But I wanna go to the playground!
I: And you will, I just want you to order your ice cream first.
D: No, but I want the PLAYGROUND!
I: ...Um, okay. I'm offering you ice cream AND the playground, though.
D: I WANT TO GO TO THE PLAYGROUND. And I'm ONLY having ice cream if you MAKE ME STAY INSIDE.
I: All right, then. Don't have any ice cream, feel free to go outside.
D: Thank you.
I to me: ...That didn't make any sense, right?

The logic of boys is curious indeed. Still, though, they make for better conversation partners than their 13-month-old cousins, whose vocabularies pretty much consist of "Duck," "Ma," and "bllrghsagrblblbl."