Out and about.

We took both girls for well-child visits on Friday morning. Jo's 3-year stats: Height: 37" (50th percentile.) Weight: 36 lbs (90th percentile.) Eve's 18-month stats: Height: 31.25" (25th percentile.) Weight: 21 lbs. 2 oz. (less than 10th percentile.) Head: 48.6 cm (95th percentile.)

It was a good visit, overall, for both girls. Jo did remarkably well (at least that's what the nurse kept telling us) at the hearing screening and pretty well at shape identification during the eye test. Both girls were reasonably chipper and well-behaved. The doc said as she came in the room that she was told there were a "couple of rays of sunshine waiting for her."

By the time we left - one of the rays was considerably less sunny and shiny than before. Eve showed off her screaming abilites while we were waiting for their shots, then had to endure the agony of being restrained on the table with that horrid paper covering to add insult to injury. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper. But she survived unscathed. And Jo was very tickled with the Tinkerbell sticker she got as a reward.

Friday night I got to go out with some friends. We ate at Don Pablo's, then went to play Bingo. That's right - you read it correctly. B. I. N. G. O. And it was a blast. A bit stressful at first - that's a lot of pressure and a lot of things to keep track of when you really don't know what the heck you're doing. I'll have to find a lucky charm to bring with next time - I didn't win a darn thing. Or maybe I did... and I just didn't know what the hell was going on.

Saturday we took the girls to the mall (which is just about as close to The Best Place On Earth, as far as Josie's concerned) so we could get mamma a new pair of shoes. Tennis shoes, that is. I've plum worn mine out. Granted, they were over 3 years old to start with, and then I started to really give them a workout as of late. I'm gellin' in my new Asics. Love 'em.

Pat and I got a little outing all to ourselves after dropping the girls off at Grandma Di and Grandpa Mike's house Saturday afternoon. Brian and Sara bought us tickets for Christmas to see the comedian Frank Caliendo at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. So we had a couple of drinks and some appetizers at Rossi's first, then took in the show. He's the guy who does the impressions for the FOX NFL Sunday pregame show, and has his own tv show, Frank TV on TBS. He's hilarious - and we had a blast.

And here we are today. Another laid-back Sunday. Love it. I'm itching for the weather to get warmer. And stay warmer. Can't wait to be outside more.

I'm not sure what flip got switched in Eve's head all of the sudden... but for the past couple of days, she's decided that maybe it's actually okay to eat. A lot. She's even having seconds. And sometimes even thirds. We're not sure where our finicky Evie went, but we're going to cram as much fat in this new kid while we can. It's been fun to see her enjoy a meal. Pat's parents said they actually ran out of food when the fed the girls supper last night. That's a first.