I feel like I'm raising a husky puppy

A couple of days ago the kids and I went to a park about a mile and a half away... I pushed Catherine and Noah in the stroller. Ethan wanted to ride his bike... not only did he ride all the way there and back but he rode around and around the sidewalk loop while we were there.

This morning as I was going for my run, he (of course was up) told me that he wanted to go with me. I told him he could later. When I got back I took him out running and he just kept going! We probably ran about a half mile together!

Not only that, but he's fast. REALLY fast.

aw

oh, my sweet baby!

So, when I got out of the shower today, I went to check on the kids... I usually do, just to be sure everyone is still alive and kickin. This time I couldn't find Noah. There weren't many places he could have gone... I had locked the gate in the hall. Catherine and Ethan didn't know where he was. I was beginning to panic, especially since he usually shows up pretty soon after calling his name. I had the thought to check my closet... the door was closed and I wasn't sure if it was closed or not before I got into the shower. I opened the door... thunk. right into his little sleeping head! My poor baby! He had shut himself in there with the light off, and apparently thought since he couldn't figure his way out and couldn't see anything to get into, he might as well catch a few winks until someone came around to rescue him. What a little doll. It was the saddest and cutest thing ever! He's so darling. I just can't figure out why he can open doors when he wants to get into something, but can't figure out to open them to get out... maybe because it was pitch black?

my new running buddy

i have a new running buddy...

Ethan really wanted to go running with me this morning... he woke up just as I was about to leave. I told him he could come with me after a little bit. So, I went out for a quick run, about 2 and a quarter miles, then came back and got Ethan all suited up to go with me. He wore his little dark grey cotton pants, new plaid tennis shoes and his family reunion t-shirt. When we got outside I asked him where he wanted to run to...

"COST-CO!"

haha

I suggested we run to the fountain... he liked that idea too. So we did.

Then he wanted to run some more... I asked him if he'd like to run to the mailboxes.

And we did.

Then he wanted to run back to the fountain.

Then he wanted to run back to the mailboxes again.

He sounded a little winded so I asked him if he'd like to walk a little.

He said, "Ya, (and a split second later) AND LET'S RACE!"

And he was off again!

After the mailboxes he consented to "racing home."

I was really impressed. We probably ran a total of about a half mile.

When we got home he told me, "I'm a good runner." and "I make lots of good choices and bad choices... That's because I'm a good boy."

I love my new little running buddy!

We need to get some good running shoes for him!

a new chapter...

Noah can now reach the door handles, and hasn't wasted a second figuring out how to open all of the doors now....

So, like it or not, we are on to the new chapter of baby/toddler hood...

first it's the crawling phase where every tiny speck on your floor has to be cleaned up and monitored at all times and every available counter/tabletop space is occupied with everything but the kitchen sink... your furniture is now resembling some form of Picasso's artwork to hide all of the dangerous plugs and lamps...

Then it's the walking phase... removing lamps and other objects from the lower table tops and scooting everything in from the edges of the higher counters and tables... out of reach of the curious little fingers appearing at the edge of every ledge...

so now we are onto the opening doors stage... back to the baby gates! Heaven help us! And Heaven HELP ME! stop this vicious cycle of clutter invading my house and get it all picked up and away from curious little fingers before it's all in vain!

food for thought...

SO, all you physics majors out there.... i still SO wish I had minored in physics....

we know that darkness is just the absence of light....

we know that energy is found in various forms... kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational...etc. and these energies can be converted or transferred into other forms of energy... such as electricity.

This is really mundane, I know... but what got me thinking on this was my bottle of water....

haha.

I had about 10 ounces of warm water in a bottle, and added about 24 ounces of cold water (to fill it up) As my sensitive teeth are not a fan of super cold water, I thought about how nice it would be to drink the "not very cold, but not warm" water.... I thought to myself, "should I shake it up to mix the temperatures well?" then I remembered about diffusion and thought about how quickly the like elements at different stages of energy would diffuse to meet an equilibrium.

And as I thought about this diffusion of thermal energy, I wondered...

and i pose my question,

If HEAT is an indication of the presence of energy, is COLD merely the absence of it?