A fluttery, tropical treat

A great place to go when you're sick of the cold is the Butterfly House. And when you've got a toddler in tow, it's even more magical. A tropical paradise, with jewel wings fluttering everywhere. Allen was entranced. And Daddy remembered Grampy's favorite line: "Butterflies up the gee-gee!"

And there were lots. Allen and Grandma had never been there, so it was a treat for the two of them. And we got LOTS of great pictures. So, wipe the fog off your glasses, think warm, and check them out!

Friday at the Butterfly House

Jennie's Book Chat: "Born in Death"

These futuristic thrillers by Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, are just like candy. They're not necessarily good for you, but you can't stop devouring them. And right around Valentine's Day, you can't possibly resist one.

That's how it was for me, and "Born in Death." It's been out since the fall, but I had other reading commitments... And I had to put it off. But with February howling outside, and the season of love in the air, I had to reach for Eve and Roarke. (And see if Mavis would FINALLY have that baby!)

If you like good buddy stories. If you like the future. If you like cops. If you like hot marital lovin', you've got to read the "In Death" books. And if you want to read one, be sure you start WAY back with "Naked in Death." If you don't start with Roarke keeping Eve's button in his pocket, you're missing out.

And Nora Roberts writes like one a week. I think this was No. 24. Twenty-four!!! And the good part about waiting so long to read it is... the next one comes out next week! Hooray!

Happy Valentine's Day, from Trevor

Look at this handsome little cupid! This is Trevor Mason Garbo. He's 7 months old, and he lives in Germany -- which makes him the only baby I know with dual German-American citizenship! He lives with his daddy, Terry, and his mommy, Stacy. Stacy is my friend from middle school... She moved to Pennsylvania when we were in high school. But she's still awesome, and wacky enough to trick out her little cherub for a Valentine's photo shoot! Visit Trevor at his blog.

Jennie's Book Chat: "Hannibal Rising"

Well, Laurie and I are finished with "Hannibal Rising," now a major motion picture playing at theaters near you.

A little background... It's a prequel to all the Thomas Harris novels featuring Hannibal Lecter... "Silence of the Lambs" being the most famous; "Hannibal" being the most grotesque. (In that book, Hannibal and Clarisse dine on a guy's brains while he's sitting at the table, alive. Yeah. Ick.)

This book takes us back to Hannibal's childhood, in Lithuania or Latvia or someplace, ground zero for Nazis vs. Russians in World War II. It's an interesting sketch of the total lawlessness of war. People with no morals change sides at will, depending on who's winning. It's these people that Hannibal goes after... because they ate his baby sister to survive the winter.

Laurie says: Living when and where we do we forget how really awful war is for the innocent bystander. And how really low people can sink when they are backed up against a wall. I love the whole mind palace thing, they should teach stuff like that in school. So kids can remember all the things they need to.

Speaking of Mischa, Hannibal's baby sister, there's an enduring image in this book and from the last book, "Hannibal" -- He's always talking about the baby's star-shaped hand, reaching out to him. Here, we find out she was reaching as they were carrying her away for cooking... But strangely, I read "Hannibal" when I had a toddler -- 7 years ago, with Emilyn -- and "Hannibal Rising" when I had a toddler -- this time, Allen. And both times, that image of their star-shaped hands really resonates with me. It's part of what a baby is... Reaching out, trying to absorb all they can about the world. And they rely on you to filter everything for them. I can imagine going crackpot if someone hurt my toddler... Would I become a cannibal? That's less certain.

Laurie says: I was kinda disappointed. I
was expecting something a little less slow in the
middle.....a little more organized in his execution of
his plans, of course I know he was just beginning. I
think the most frightening thing in the movie had
nothing to do with Hannibal, it was the thing that
created him....all that f%$#@d up stuff that happened
during the war. That was what gave me the willies.
Man's inhumanity to man, that sort of thing.
So far he hasn't killed anyone I object to.

So, yeah, this was OK... He killed a bunch of Nazi sympathizers that you hated anyway. It wasn't nearly as disturbing as "Hannibal." That book messes with your mind, big time. So, beware.

Where the rivers meet

On a nice-ish Sunday (not 25 degrees), we had to head ... somewhere! So, it was off to the Confluence Point state park, where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi. The "Mighty Mo" roars in on your right, and the languid ol' Miss rolls along on your left. And you can stand out on the point where they come together. It's neat. And the quarter-mile sidewalk is just right for an antsy boy who wants to walk! walk! walk!

We got lots of great pictures, too. Look at these two beautiful children! For those of you keeping track, this is what they look like right now.

Allen among the rocks Emilyn on a stump

We even saw a real-life (blurry) bald eagle! See if you can find it, too!

Confluence Point park

Under the sea

Emilyn and Daddy went to the Daddy-Daughter Girl Scout Valentine's dance tonight... The theme was "Under the sea."

Here's what Emilyn had to say: "It was the best night of my life! I played hide and seek with Sarah, and I had root beer. Daddy found a glove box in the cafeteria, and hew blew one up and tied it. At the end, I got a picture frame, a package of seashells and a SWAP with sand and seashells. Everyone looked like they were at a wedding. Every table had balloons. I had Chex mix, potato chips, a brownie, Cheetos and I think that was it. Daddy talked to Sarah's dad about trips that they took, and I think Daddy had the best night of his life also. Once when we were dancing, everyone was screaming so loud, that me and Daddy had to go into the cafeteria to dance. It was awesome!"

More scary weather

Yesterday in our driveway: 15 degrees. Today in our driveway: 55 degrees. Steve washed the cars.

Taking the plunge

What better on a 25-degree day than a trip to the ... pool? Apparently, everyone else had the same idea. Nice and steamy at the pool on Sunday. This is what it looks like when you take your cold camera to the indoor pool: (Ahoy there, Allen! It's thick as pea soup!)



Anyway, once our lens defogged, we had fun...

Sunday at the pool

Jennie's Book Chat: "A Necessary Evil"

Finally! I'm all done with the Alex Kava books. It took me a while! This one was not my favorite. It was OK, but I miss Tully. And the whole thing with Gwen seemed weird. Of all of the Kava books, I really liked "A Perfect Evil" and "The Soul Catcher."

My sister, Laurie, and I are endeavoring to read books together now, sort of our own little book club. She boiled it down this way:

"How about we pick a book and read it together and then I can talk to someone intelligent about it. AND you won't make me read stuff that will move/touch/enlighten me."

As usual, I couldn't have said it better myself!

So, anyway, if you like trashy suspense novels, you can join us. I think we're reading "Hannibal Rising" next. I'll post back as soon as I'm sure.

Spam haiku

I'm convinced: I get the best spam ever. The most poetic spam, anyway. Now, I never open it. Even I know, that would be bad. But the subject lines! Here are two I got today:

Sprightly ruffian
Flatulent somnambulist

A gas-passing sleepwalker? Come on, that's priceless.

Anyway, I'm thinking of writing a book of spam haiku. So, let me know all the amazing subject lines you see in your inboxes. Don't open your spam, though!

Snow! Just snow!

Man, I never thought I'd say that, but a couple inches of snow is nice! Compared to howling, nasty ice storms! We got out and made these excellent snowmen, using Grampy's Snowman Kit, and other stuff (including maple syrup caps). Thanks to Tara for taking a picture of all of us!

Allen at (nearly) 16 months

We went for a checkup today... Here are the particulars:
Height: 32.5 inches (67th percentile) -- up from 30.75 at 1 year
Weight: 25 pounds, 4 ounces (51st percentile) -- up from 23 at 1 year
Head circumference: 48.5 cm (78th percentile) -- up from 47 at 1 year

Dr. Cohen's exact words were: "He looks great. Keep up the good work. Don't turn your back on him for a second."

And it's true... Allen loves to dismantle things. Open things. Rip things. Dump things out. I swear, I'm going to sit him in a cardboard box of newspapers and just let him go hog wild. He's conquered the child lock on the cabinet under the sink, so we're going to have to go for the kind that latches on the inside instead.

Congratulations, Jackie and Steve!

My good friends from the paper, Jackie and Steve, are engaged! They plan to be married this year -- Jackie says whenever they find a reception venue they like, and it's available. Well, it couldn't happen to two nicer people, and we here at The Crabbe Trap are overjoyed. Congratulations!

(I just have one question: When Steve marries one of my best friends, can I start piling my papers on his desk again? Just wondering.)

Twice as ice

If you thought the last ice storm was interesting... This time we got a lot more ice, and our trees paid the price.

The saddest loss was Steve's birch tree (below), a gift from Mom and Dad when we moved in 7 years ago. Emilyn heard it crash outside her window Saturday morning. What a shame! We're hoping, though, that the bottom half can recover and make a go of it this spring. We'll see!



Meanwhile, there are branches down everywhere. The good news is, the threatened second half of the storm has been called off. It got too warm, and it looks like all we'll get tonight and tomorrow is rain.

Ice storm 2007

Toilet paper? What toilet paper?

The child virtually refuses to play with his own toys... He must have only what he mustn't have! And that includes the TP we keep in the linen closet...

Allen rides a dolphin!

It was the closest thing we could find to a shark...

Jennie's Book Chat: "At the Stroke of Madness"

This one by Alex Kava was a pretty good tale of a killer who digs out physical imperfections from his victims and keeps them in a variety of nice jars in his house. What wasn't explored very thoroughly was the killer himself, who was poisoned by his mother gradually over several years to keep him sickly -- Munchausen-by-proxy.

A good character, though, was Luc Racine, father of fiery Detective Julia Racine... He's a nice retired letter carrier suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer's disease... Kava captures the very frightening, poignant aspects of slowly losing one's mind... It's sad, and very real.

It's on to the last Maggie O'Dell novel! Hope it's a good one!

"Quack! Quack! I'm naked!"

I bet that got your attention... Well, Allen got our attention today too... When Steve and I went in to get him this morning, he was clad in diaper only! I just bought him three new sets of pajamas with space aliens on them... and they're all kind of big. Well, I guess Allen just felt the need to shed them sometime during the night! Strange, because it's actually pretty cold now! (I guess we're really lucky he kept the diaper on...)

Also, he's surprised us with his new animal noise... He's excellent at "quack-quack." He even brought a very old ducky toy out of his room today to show us how it goes "quack."

Anyway, he's just as cute as cute can be, and really expressive. What he can't say he makes up for with a panoply of hand gestures. He's so eager to get us to understand. It's (mostly) fun trying to decipher what he's after!

Shoe success!

Thanks to the fine people at Laurie's Shoes/Stride Rite in Chesterfield, our little boy is indeed striding right in a snazzy new pair of sneaks. White and navy, with nifty neon green accents.

As I may have mentioned, I have never been able to fit Allen's foot into any commercially prepared, mass produced shoe. Turns out, his feet aren't medium. They aren't wide. They're XW. Extra wide. We're blaming Daddy, who has always had feet kind of like pancakes. The ladies at Laurie's Shoes could relate. "It's like trying to squeeze a tennis ball into a matchbox," one said. Exactly!

So, we spent 49 big ones on size 6 XW sneakers. That he'll grow out of before you read the end of this message. But, we're happy "clients" of Laurie's Shoes for life. The first people who could actually get shoes on Allen's feet.

Jennie's Book Chat: "The Soul Catcher"

I think I liked this one the best so far! No. 3 in Alex Kava's Maggie O'Dell series is all about a crazy-mad cult preacher and an obsessed photographer. Maggie's drunk mother takes center stage, and we begin to learn something, anything about partner R.J. Tully! (Again, very little Nick Morelli! What's up with that?)

The St. Louis County Library will be happy to know that I just have two more to go... And then I start my Christmas stack!

New Year's Eve dinner at Simon's

After his haircut, Allen was too fancy to just sit home on New Year's Eve. So, we decided to break the bank and head to Simon's for dinner. Simon's is a fancy Middle Eastern place just up Highway 141 from us. When we pulled into the parking lot, fireworks were going off at Creve Coeur Lake! Cool! The downside: Allen kept chirping about them pretty much all the way through dinner. Right up until, that is, Mommy let him chew on her lamb bones. (Simon's follows the "ambience through darkness" rule of fancy restaurants, so these pictures are very grainy. Best viewed very small.)

Ringing out 2006 with lamb and hummus