Today is the third anniversary of the day we moved into our house. I know this because our on-the-ball real estate agent sent me a congratulatory e-card. Apparently there is yet another annual event that I regularly forget. Who knew?

When we moved into this house, AJ was not yet a year old. He neither walked nor talked and spent most of the early weeks rolling on the carpet and trying to figure out the stairs, neither of which had been a feature of our previous home.

Needless to say, neither the walking nor the talking are no longer an issue. And although he still occasionally chooses to crawl up the stairs on all fours or slide down on his butt, generally he chooses the more traditional homo erectus posture � and I have the handprints on the wall to prove it. My baby�s growing up.

Unfortunately, the phrase homo erectus looks a little too much like the Latin drills I�ve been plowing through in anticipation of a translation exam I�m taking on Thursday. (and elgan, take note � these drills are great.) I�ve been spending most of my time working on noun/adjective agreement when the cases are different. I have always struggled with that particular problem and I just can�t seem to internalize it. Fortunately, however, I usually do much better translating from Latin to English, which is what I have to do on Thursday.

Latin hardly seems like the appropriate way to celebrate Mardi Gras. However, my head is swimming with declensions and I can�t seem to think of anything else today. I did manage to tear myself away long enough to take AJ to pick out materials with which to make valentines. We�re getting a late start this year, thanks to all the family illness. But I�m committed to homemade Valentines. AJ has been practicing his rubber stamping technique all over his art table. It looks like a veritable lovefest in there. He also picked up a new knock-knock joke at our library�s story time this morning. It goes something like this:

Knock-knock.
Who�s there?
Lenny.
Lenny who?
Lenny give you a BIG kiss!

This last line is accompanied by a big smack and, if you�re lucky enough to be in close proximity, a hug.

Best knock-knock joke ever.

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