Tanks Easter Bunny - - Bawk, Bawk!

I think our Easter can best be described in two words: food coma... uff. Mer and I wanted to see if Lucia would remember Maine without prompting, so we didn't mention Nonne and Papa at all in the car ride. We pulled into their driveway and asked, "Lucia, who lives here?" And she replied with a big grin, "PAPA!" so we of course asked, "And who lives with Papa?" And the still smiling Luce shouts, "ZOE!". Sorry Nonne, you got third billing. Of course once inside Lucia was allll about her Nonne and Papa (and she even warmed up to Zoe after the barking stopped). I failed to get any good Easter shots, but here's enough to give you a sweet tooth (sweet eye?). Oh, one final March b-day shout out to our pal Pearl. Hey, you're older than I am right?? Tee hee.

Ben, The Two of Us Need Look No More...

Those of you who have been in touch with us these past few days, know that the Mothers Goose have had a rough go of it as home owners. It all started innocently enough with a little water in the basement last Sunday (see previous wet/dry vac reference). Really, it was more of a nuisance than anything else and hey, now I have a wet/dry vac. Awesome. Then on Tuesday morning, there's really no easy way to say this... I caught a rat in our bathroom. Yeah, it's as traumatic as it sounds. Actually, not to toot my own horn but I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping it together enough to trap the lil sucker. He made it easy for me by hiding in Mer's bathrobe (!), so all I had to do was wrap it up and seal 'em in a giant Rubbermaid bin. Big props to Sadie for pointing him out for me (she didn't take her eyes off that robe). We have no idea how he got IN our bathroom, but we're thinking the excessive water over the weekend may have had something to do with it. Luckily, there has been no evidence of his family (exterminators came by with traps... and they're all clean so far), but Meredith now has a severe case of robeaphobia. We were pretty freaked out at the time, but now we've gained some distance and can finally laugh about it all. Our friend Cathy actually gave Mer a book about "tending to your pet rat" for her b-day. Thanks Cath, very helpful. Also, I have been plagued (heh) by mental rat references all week - Michael Jackson's theme song, the super intelligent Nicodemus, the swishy stylings of Paul Lynde's Templeton, not to mention the very obscure Ratboy movie which was an HBO staple in the 80s. I guess rats have always been in my life, which is fine - just NOT IN MY HOUSE. Mr. Rosella, any chance you wanna lend me your bb gun??
Well, I feel much better now. We had a great weekend and Luce even got the chance to explore her new backyard (rat free).

This Just In... Alison.

Ok, so Mothers Goose has the tremendous privilege of sharing with you the following breaking news: Lucia is going to have a cousin Leary! Or rather cousin Leary Reeves! Cousin Leeves? I'm kidding Uncle B, keep your shirt on... I know your lil one will be an Infantine ;-) Congrats to Aunt Alison and Uncle Brendan! We can't wait for September.

And of course, Happy 29th Birthday to Mama Mer. We're heading out to fancy pants dinner tonight, so I have to go find something to wear.

Membership Has Its Privileges...

Mothers Goose would like to publicly thank Nonne and Papa again for the Children's Museum membership. We love to go during "members hours" on the weekends when it's a little less crowded. Luce likes her space... and so do we. Continuing on our elitist streak, we also signed up for a family membership at the Franklin Park Zoo. Sure it's no San Diego, but it's a great place to kill an hour of time looking at funny creatures. Much like the Brookline library, where Mama Mer and Lucia walked to on Sunday yet were denied a library card because it was "too late in the day." Hm. We'll have to try again at a more acceptable hour.
Other random things I'm thinking about right now:
- Happy B-Day Uncle B! Presents in the mail, I swear.
- Happy B-Day Shins! Presents in the mail, I swear.
- Happy B-Day Cathy! Present is over here. Come get it.
- Happy B-Day Nonne! We're coming to see you for Easter!
- We haven't had phone service in 4 days. Annoying perhaps, but also kinda nice.
- Purchased a wet/dry vac on Sunday after heavy, heavy rains. Have I done an I hate Home Depot rant yet? Don't worry, I will.

So Much to Do, So Much to See...

We had a very eventful weekend so before I get even further behind with my posts I thought to do a mid-week update. First, how about a big shout to our girl Hillary for pulling out some big wins this week! It's so gratifying to see a woman of such substance, intelligence and poise finally getting the recognition she so richly deserves. As though we need further proof that we're not in JP anymore, the Mothers Goose saw a coyote in our backyard on Saturday. Being the city slickers that we are, we didn't know what to do... so we called the cops. Go ahead and laugh rural dwelling friends, the cop I spoke with sure did. Perhaps these critters were put here to take care of the other Brookline wildlife (see Dec. 4 post). On Sunday we attended one of Lucia's daycare pal's 4th birthday party. It was a pool party, and Mama Mer was the designated swimmer. She wins. Of course, even though Mer was ready willing and suited, Luce wanted nothing to do with the water. They both looked awfully cute though. Once on dry land, Lucia had a wonderful time at the party. Tell me this isn't the cutest party outfit ever? To wrap up the weekend, our friends Laura and Erin were kind enough to bring over our favorite Thai take out for dinner Sunday night. Yum. Lucia was being her usual cute self, showing off her belly button to all and then pointing out our belly buttons as well. When she got to Erin's belly button, Lucia's eyes grew wide, she pointed at it and said, "Uh oh!" (Erin happens to have a pierced belly button). It was hysterical and one of those adorable moments as a parent you hope you never forget... and now I told you, so you can remind me.

All The Way From Houston Texas...

Put your hands together for the Schindler and Annie Show (ba-bah)! Don't kill me Shins but this pic is typifies your entire visit. As you can see, we all had a blast. Lucia was instantly smitten with Schindler, but was a little more circumspect when it came to Annie. I think it was a turf thing. At home, Lucia was very possessive of her things and didn't want Annie touching her toys, her shoes, her cat, her moms, etc... but once we were out (at the museum for instance) everything was hunky dory. Our child is a mystery. It was so great to catch up with Schindler and Annie - we've known Shins since Bowdoin and Annie, well since birth (she's only 10 days older than Luce). This visit pretty much confirms what we've known for the past few years - WE NEED YOU TO MOVE BACK! Oh, and in case you're wondering why we call her Schindler... ask Paige.

Lucia Devours Books, Literally....

Perhaps this explains her explosive vocabulary over the past 2 weeks. Every day it seems we're hearing a new word come out of that adorable mouth. We've been trying to keep a list and I think it's well over 40 at this point. I'll share with you the highlights to date:

Chuu-chuuuus = Cheerios

Hiaaay SayDee, Hiiaaay SayDee, hiiiiii = Hello Sadie

Nooooooooze (said very nasally) = nose

Kaaah kaah = car (Boston accent already?)

Peetzah = pizza (of COURSE she knows this word)

Gig-gi = kitty

Muuunkee = monkey

Pktszurs = pictures (she loves looking at her blog)

Lucia's cuteness is hard to keep up with these days so I'm a bit behind with her blog. As mentioned in the last post, Mothers Goose had a lovely visit up in Maine complete with some individual shopping trips (ah, 2 hours all to myself... just me and the Freeport outlets), alone time at dinner, a trip to the Children's Museum in Portland, and visiting with our old friends Pearl and Curtis and their son Kai. The 3 day weekend was just what we needed to recharge. This past weekend, Lucia played host to her first peer house guest. It was quite an adventure and one that requires its own post. Stay tuned...