A special visit

Last week we had special houseguests -- Melissa and Thalia. They drove in from Helotes for a couple of days of playing, reading, cooking, eating and shopping.

Melissa and I have been friends since eighth grade, and Thalia and Cooper were born just three months apart. They get along really well, partly because of their equally overactive imaginations. The two can play for hours unsupervised, escaping into their own creative worlds.

Katie adores Melissa, and they already share a love of accessories and jewelry.

at the neighborhood park

(wearing a hand-me-down hat from Thalia & Carys)

at soccer practice

at the Galleria

We hope it's the last time he hallucinates

Cooper had the tube removed from his left ear Monday at Children's. He loved being at Daddy's work (we were comfortable with that, too!). There were no complications, expect the hour of hallucinations after he came out of the anesthesia.

He thought there were blue things on the wall and green things coming at him. He said that when he held B (his beloved blanket) up to his face, he could see television and hear a pirate ship song.

Happy Easter!

(Many more photos from the past week are available here. Maybe too many. Only the most devoted Damm family fans may want to spend the time to go through them all!)

Sugar cookies and a sweet bunny

Cooper helped Grandma roll, cut and decorate sugar cookies this morning, though not for long. He was more interested in playing outside. He didn't mind at all eating the cookies, though.

An Easter package arrived today from Melissa, who always spoils the kids in the nicest possible way. Included were some bunny ears for Katie. We plopped the ears on her head right in the middle of dinner.

What we read tonight

• It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
• The Giving Tree
• Parts
• Altoona Baboona

Hands full

Spring is such a busy time of year! This week was Cooper's Easter party and egg hunt at preschool.

Later that day was kindergarten roundup. We had hoped for more access to the school, but they had us cardoned off in an unused wing. (His elementary school is built for growth. This year there are five kindergarten classes; in August there will be seven.) So, I filled out forms while Steve held Katie and corralled Cooper. On the readiness list there were three skills he hasn't conquered (or really even attempted -- eeks!): tying shoes and knowing his address and phone number.
We've got two soccer games in the next three days, cookie decorating at Grandma's house, a dinosaur birthday party, dinner with friends and, of course, Easter activities. Thankfully they're all activities we look forward to!

Benadryl as a sedative

The Benadryl story I've been working on for about a month is in today's Dallas Morning News.

Gift idea for 4- and 5-year-olds

This matching game is the current favorite game at our house. Cooper loves it because he almost always beats us. I love the cheerful illustrations and chance to talk about other countries. Each child is from a different country and is identified on the back of the box. The only oddity -- there's a child from the United States and another from Hawaii.

If you're happy & you know it, clap your hands!

Katie learned to clap about two weeks ago (the first time was with Grandma Alice), and she practices all day long. When we pick her up from her crib, she claps. When we walk outside or into a new room, she claps. She saves her most enthusiastic applause for big brother Cooper (as shown here).

Egg hunt

Yesterday was the annual egg hunt at our church. Katie mostly hung out with me and the Easter Bunny.


Cooper, who has been every year of his life, was super speedy this year. He's also become picky about his candy. After the hunt, he culled the candy he doesn't like -- mostly the fruit-flavored variety. He gave all that away to nearby adults and kept the chocoloate for himself.

"Can you call Noggin for me?"

Cooper doesn't watch a lot of TV -- 30 or 60 minutes a day if at all. So he's thrilled that he's watching two shows on Noggin right now -- live, not filtered through Tivo. He just finished LazyTown, and Backyardigans is on next. I guess today's episodes are new:

Cooper: Mommy, can you call Noggin for me?
Me: Um, why?
Cooper: Because I want to thank them for putting on new shows for me.

Old friend, new friend

A dear friend from high school, Adam Kosofsky, was in town this weekend. The whole Damm family met him at a Dallas Starbucks and then walked to dinner Monday night. Cooper took about 15 seconds to warm up to Adam (himself a dad to cutie-pie Alexa, who stayed home with mom Tracy in Florida).

On the drive north, Adam read to Cooper (& sleeping Katie) The Scrambled States of America.

We dropped him off at another Starbucks and said goodbye. (I don't remember where folks met before Starbucks.) We hope to meet Alexa next time we're in the Sunshine State!

Where Katie gets her fun hair