1 - 2 !!!

Ginger called me at work to give an account of the morning's events thus far. When we feed the babies, we almost always have them in high chairs, arranged in a row in our dining room on top of a drop-cloth meant to protect the carpet. Out of habit, we generally arrange the babies Ella - Grace - Joel from left to right. This pattern was originally instituted because (of the three) Grace tends to throw the most food from her tray. Being in the middle, her projectiles would have a higher probability of landing on the drop-cloth instead of on the carpet (side note: what foolish person EVER thought it would be a good idea to put carpet in a dining room?)

We've been excited to welcome Ginger's dad O.D. into our home over the past week. He is visiting us as part of his grand motorcycle tour of the central United States :o) Since we are limited to two bedrooms, and since the downstairs tends to be quieter (at night) and cooler than the upstairs, O.D. has been sleeping on the couch. Yesterday evening, due to some congestion, he had kinda a rough night.

In order to allow him to get some more rest without babies running wild downstairs, Ginger decided to give the babies a picnic breakfast up in their rooms. She brought up the sheet and their food and began the process of feeding them.

She said that Joel and Ella sat next to each other on the blanket...then, suddenly, Grace ran over crying and upset and pointed at her siblings while telling Ginger "1, 2!!!...2!!!...1, 2!!!" Ginger thought for a moment, and then realized that Grace was actually referencing the seating arrangement. She was upset that Joel and Ella were directly next to one another and that there was no room for Grace in the middle. Ginger told Grace "It's OK. Maybe you can be 3 today. 1, 2, 3." Grace repeated "1, 2..." and then with Ginger's help added "3." She then sat down next to her siblings and enjoyed her breakfast.