Darwiniana

Posting has been light from the distaff side of the Darwin entity because of the blossoming abilities of Noogs and Babs. There's a saying in Cincinnati: "If you don't like the weather, stick around five minutes; it'll change." Here at the Darwin household, if you're unsatisfied with the freshly-cleaned living room, just stay upstairs for five minutes. Upon returning to the lower regions, you'll find Babs sitting under a table in the living room eating flour out of the bag with a spoon. Check the kitchen and you'll see that she dropped the bag from the second highest pantry shelf to ensure that the largest mess possible was created. She enjoys this activity so much that's she's tried it three times in the past week. Much to my amazement, I've discovered that the chain on the pantry door only keeps the girls out when I remember to fasten it. Who knew?

So whenever I sit down to check my email or start writing a blog post, I find the house in a bit more shambles than it was before.l

We have our lighter moments, though. Last night at dinner, Noogs (sitting by the window) was fascinated by a gecko which suddenly pounced on a moth. She gave a running commentary as the gecko crunched up the moth bit by bit. "Look, Mommy, Mr. Gecko is eating that moth! he is eating it all up!" It seems no one had ever told the gecko that it is the course of wisdom never to eat anything larger than your head. Darwin and I were put quite off our feed by this spectacle, but Noogs and Babs were delighted and proceeded to smear ketchup around with a will. I'm glad they're not traumatized by witnessing the circle of life in action.

Meanwhile, Smaskig continues to grow and kick. Pushing into my sixth month, the charm of being pregnant has worn off. She's on a growth spurt and has started a campaign to expand the borders of her territory. She doesn't like to negotiate for more room, however; she invades and then offers me terms of surrender that dictate how and when I can sleep, how often I go to the bathroom, how long I can stand up, and even what clothes I wear. Little tyrant! Just wait until she has to treat with the established princesses, and we'll see how long Smaskig can remain top dog.

On occasion the stars are aligned and everyone is either peaceable or asleep at the same time. Then the house becomes a small garden of delights. At those moments I think that if only there were some cookies around here life would be perfect.