Are Popsickles Part of the New Food Pyramid?

Well, our little hot-dog eater is feeling fine; I have no excuse to offer for Patricia, who went on a sleep-over Friday night a happy, healthy kid and was returned to me a spewing, puking zombie. She said she woke up this morning and her stomach hurt, but she made it through until about 3:30 just as the family was about to bring her (and Margaret, who also went to the sleep-over -- their two girls are friends with our two girls) home. They gave her a bucket and drove her home. Hope it's just a brief thing, but on the bright side, the kids are off from school on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so she won't have to miss anything if it does linger throughout the weekend. I just hope it doesn't spread through the house.

So while the two older girls were at their friends' house, Brigid and I got out of Daddy's hair so he and Granddad could work on the downstairs bathroom. They got the tub and shower surround in today and part of the plumbing for said tub. With any luck, we'll be showering and bathing in the thing sometime in the near future. But it's looking good and we're all dully excited and impressed. As a result of the capital improvement project and the fact that Granddad, chief cook and bottle washer at his house, was at our house all day, I called Grandma Downs and invited them to stay for dinner so he didn't have to go home and cook dinner. She came over and played with Brigid while I made (or heated) a pot roast. I can't take credit for the roast. It's one of the best finds at Sam's -- already cooked. You just have to add a little water for gravy and heat it in the oven for a half-hour. Yummy. Brigid, however, would have none of it. Her grandmother made the mistake of asking if she wanted "another one" forgetting, of course, what "another one" stands for in her limited vocabulary. Brigid started crying for "anudder one! anudder one!" so all she ate at the dinner table was a grape popsickle. We'll see if she requires any future nutritional supplements later in the evening, but who knows? She may have discovered a new complete meal on a stick.

While Brigid and I were out of Daddy and Granddad's hair, we walked around the mall a little bit and ate lunch and then around her nap time, I headed home only to be told by Daddy I should drive around with the sleeping Baby B for a while because they were in the middle of some very noisy renovation stuff. So I drove and she slept. I finally ended up in the parking lot at Sam's since I planned on going there anyway. She chose this afternoon to take close to a 2-hour nap. But it was OK because I listened to some very good music and made out my shopping list. When she woke up, she was in good enough spirits to venture into the box store where we were disappointed in the offerings of free samples ... and such small portions!

The last few times I've waited on line with Brigid in a shopping cart, she's introduced herself and today was no exception. We got to the cashier at Sam's and she pointed to herself with both her hands and said, "I Bi-gid." The cashier was very friendly and talked to her while scanning our purchases. She then said, "Bye-bye, Brigid." To which Brigid said, "Buh-bye." I didn't even have to prompt her. Civilization comes to those who wait.