Call It What You Want...

Fortunately, around our house we all like to tell stories. This is Mark's story from last night.

Once upon a time there was a cat named Moostatic.
It had no tail, so it couldn't go whap whap!
But it went whap whap on the dog with its tongue.
It knocked the rocks down on the dog. Then it knocked the rocks down on the little boy.

The End.

Moostatic? A Cat with no tail? Knocking rocks down on the dog and the boy? No wonder he can't go to sleep at night!!!

This afternoon, after he'd gotten up from his nap but before we headed downstairs, Adam and I snuggled in the rocking chair for a little bit. He suggested that I tell a story. I thought maybe he could help. This story was told in a sort of Mad Libs style, with me saying the first part of the sentence and then pausing for him to finish the sentences. His completions are underlined in the story we told, below.

Once upon a time there was a loader.

The loader had a driver named Dozer.

One day the loader got a load of rocks to take to the paper mill.

They saw their friend Backhoe. They said, “Don’t turn off the light!”

Backhoe said, “Turn off the light!”

Then they went on a picnic. They had a tissue picnic. They ate some corn. Then they had dessert. It was yummy.

Then they went home for naptime.

They went to blankey bear. They went home.

The End.

Mark informed Daddy this morning -- and then me, later -- that today is Doggy's birthday!

It was quite a day of celebration for our furry friend -- cake and ice cream (so Mark says) and "baby presents like rattles" because, despite having a birthday, Doggy is still a little baby. Doggy's Mommy (Clifford) gave him a baby excavator (construction equipment, not some way of digging up small children) to play with. Doggy was good to his Mommy, giving her a present for his birthday, too -- a bulldozer. And, of course, there was all the fun of celebrating. Doggy played with his baby excavator for a while while his mommy played with her bulldozer, and then Doggy got a turn to play with the bulldozer. "It was nice because everyone got a turn!" Mark announced.

Just in case you wondered, none of this really happened.

Or did it?

Mark feeds Doggy his first solid food, in the high chair, March 2007

Doggy plays in the baby seat, because, after all, he is a baby, March 2007. A year and a half later, he's still a baby.

We all know how Mark feels about his "precious Doggy."

Incidentally, we're pretty sure that Mark has no idea that he was given Doggy in July of 2005. Here is our first photographic moment of Mark playing with Doggy:

September, 2005.

Happy Birthday, little friend!