Walking, Skipping, and Strutting

It's official: Ada's walking. Took her15 months, but she's there. She can also retrieve things, pretend she's sleeping on command, and enjoy the nuances of a rousing game of bubble-gum-bubble-gum in-a-dish. You may also know this game as catch-a-tiger-by-the-toe or as eeny-meeny-miny-mo. Point is ...she loves it.

Sadly, and I'm only writing this because they can't read, some boys in Marylin's class are claiming Santa as phony. First, I want to go yell at these kids myself. But, second, our Marylin has become a star defense attorney on behalf of Santa.

"I told them they are wrong! I mean, who brings presents? We leave him cookies and carrots for Rudolph, and in the morning, they're gone," she argues. "They'll see," she continues.

We've tried not to dwell on the topic, but she keeps bringing it up. I can only tell her that the notion of "no Santa" is ridiculous. Simply ridiculous.

4 1/2 year olds should believe! Luckily she does. This happened Monday and that evening Kathy and Marylin went to Somerset Collection (no ...not a "mall" ...puh!) and when Marylin saw Santa she yelled, "I love you Santa! I believe in you. I know you're real."

My wife just smiled ...I would have bawled. Apparently our Marylin is Shirley Temple.

Lastly ...who says a father
can't have fun playing Barbies
with his daughter? I've
refrained from making Ken
talk like Huggy Bear, but I
have made him strut.