What We Learned

1. When the twin-screen seatback DVD player first appeared in the house, I suggested that it should be returned. Now, I would like to kiss it's inventor/designer full on the mouth. The Principled Stance is a pose that wants breaking.
2. However, when utilizing the DVD player, one wants to keep in mind the possible disparity between perceived and experienced motion. To put it another way, if you play Finding Nemo while the car is moving, Caleb will throw up. This happened only twice before my limited understanding of motion sickness and my limited viewing of Nemo matched my limited deduction abilities.
3. In Sam's developing lexicon, the word "bubble" means the following things: bubble, bubble bath, fish, Finding Nemo, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish snacks, turtles, things that are shaped like fish, things that have the same colors as the things shaped like fish, and rain puddles.
4. Sometimes, all you need is a little plastic shovel. Other times, you need a little plastic shovel and some Chex mix.
5. Someone would make a bundle of money by designing a toy that featured dinosaurs driving trucks. Or, you know, vice versa.
6. Neither we nor our father-in-law will be buying a Dodge Durango.
7. When in doubt, offer them a hot dog.
8. After nearly accidentally including it on a CD I burned for the drive, I found a new way to hear Paul Simon's "American Tune." As with "Born in the USA," it's easy to sort of half-hear the song as championing patriotism when in fact the lyrics are quite a bit darker, and could easily be applied to the last seven years.
9. Traffic was horrible in Atlanta, at a time when it really needed to not be horrible.
10. Not everything needs narration.
11. Between HBO's John Adams and a somewhat nostalgic road-trip and the Easter holiday, I'm feeling more Unitarian than I have in some time. I'm sorely tempted to read the Jefferson Bible.
12. Because it contains bright colors and a lot of activity, the boys are really interested in Nemo at the moment. Caleb always laughs heartily when the spiny-toothed barracuda chases after Coral, clearly without understanding what happens to Nemo's mother and potential siblings. There's something strange about listening to him laugh at something that he'll later find sad. (At least Coral's death happens off-stage, unlike the slaughter of Bambi's mother that I witnessed as a kid...)
13. It was my grandmother's phrase, but it bears repeating: Everyone has their idiosinocracies.
14. While sliding or swinging, Sam has taken to saying "Wheeeee!" It's also clear, in context, that he damn well means it. Pure joy.
15. We're incredibly lucky to have the family we have. A thousand thank you's to grandparents, uncles and aunts, and brothers and sisters, for being there for Sam and Caleb.