- I discovered a new pattern last night involving the Toddler bed: Lights On--Toddler gets in and out of bed 50 times by herself. Light Off--Toddler cannot get in or out the bed by herself. I feel like I should stand at the lamp and flip it on and off over and over just to see what she will do.

- You know it's been a rough week when I am ecstatic--ECSTATIC I tell you--that Alexis only woke up once last night. Even more exciting is the fact that the wake-up call came immediately after a thump loud enough to wake a Daddy. OK, so it's not cool that she fell out of bed, but it's totally cool that a little rolling and crashing was the only thing that woke her up. (She was totally fine, not a single mark anywhere.)

- This is NOT right:

While some people are running around all excited that it was in the mid-60's the past two days, I am not one of them. It's going to get cold again. It is, after all, January and Pittsburgh we're talking about here. It's going to feel 300 times worse when it happens than it would have if the temperature had just stayed steady. Ever go on vacation to the beach in the middle of winter then return home to freezing weather? That is what it's going to feel like. I'm not looking forward to the cold wind slapping me in the face and reminding me that I live in the North.

- Since a few of you asked a little while back, the new job is Training Manager for a big, international construction company. It's a new position and involves building the department from the ground up. Since I know you're curious, I think it's OK to reveal that I look smokin' in my hardhat, steel-toed boots, safety glasses, and bright orange vest. Especially when I'm up to my knees in mud. I'm headed to the World Trade Center work site next month; I'll try to get a picture so you can see just how big of a dork I can be.

- Alexis loves to sing. I mean, really loves to sing. Every moment that she spends in the car is a moment that she spends composing beautiful music. Sometimes she sings along with whatever I have playing on the stereo. The girl does "Maneater" WAY better than Nelly Furtado. Since she seldom convinces me to listen to crappy pop music, she frequently relies on her favorite Signing Time songs for material. But lately, she has started to sing kid songs she learned at daycare. I'm a big fan of "Circle, Circle Little Star" (please don't tell her those aren't the real words--I adore her version), but the tune she sang today was the BEST. It started out as your standard "Wheels on the Bus." She got the first and second verses right, but when she got to the third verse, she proved herself a genius by doing a little substitution for "baby":

"The Daddies on the bus go WAH WAH WAH
WAH WAH WAH
WAH WAH WAH
The Daddies on the bus go WAH WAH WAH
All through the town."

Truer words have never been sung by a one-year.