Kate's journey

Kate really wanted to climb on the couch, but she couldn't quite get her foot up on it. Her parents were cruel and didn't lift her up.

She tried the kid-sized rocker. That was better, but it tricked her because she got her foot into the seat and then her rear end was not properly placed to sit. Bother! So she lay down on the floor and lamented  the injustice of the world.

But she was not done! Next Kate went to the large box full of DVDs by the TV. That was really promising, and she had one foot all the way in, when her parents inexplicably intervened. It looked comfortable, like a dragon's bed of treasure. But sadly, no DVD bed for Kate.

 Back to the couch. Meg hauled her up! Hurray! Kate perched proudly on the arm, just in time for Daddy to come dashing over and set her down again. How could he be so unreasonable?

Oh well. Kate found a good doll and carried her around by the hair. Dolly could sit in the rocking chair like a big girl, so it all turned out all right.

Historical discussion

Tonight at dinner, I ranted (briefly) about Henry the Eighth's burning of libraries as he dissolved the monasteries. (How many manuscripts of Beowulf might we HAVE if he hadn't been such a dork??)
"Henry the Eighth was a corkscrew!" Jonathan announced.
Meg agreed with us. "Yeah, he was sharp and wasn't careful with his words."

How musical

As you may know, Meg has her birthday right after Christmas, so this tends to be a toy-intensive time of year. (I really don't mind.) This year, apparently we were all on a wavelength, because independently the grandmas and I got the girls:

a xylophone
a battery-powered keyboard
a drum and sticks
castanets
maracas
a tambourine
and a recorder.

There's been a lot of music around here.

We only got around to putting the batteries in the keyboard this morning, though, and it didn't work. Nothing happened when we turned it on and pushed buttons. I fiddled with it, Jonathan fiddled with it, and Meg bemoaned its fate loudly. Since it continued to do nothing, and we don't have particularly long attention spans, we all wandered off.

Kate, in very Kateish form, happened quietly along and picked it up. She pushed a couple buttons and threw it on the floor.

Would you believe THE KEYBOARD STARTED WORKING? And it's been fine ever since.