Leaky Feet

Random Thought of the Day: If crickets are supposed to be good luck, then why do I scream when I see them and fight the urge to smash them to bits? My biggest fear is bludgeoning a big, juicy one with the bottom of my huge tennis shoe and then finding a miniature top hat and cane next to the oozing husk. That's the only thing that keeps me from doing it, really.

I'm waiting with my delicious diet beverage for Erik's bus to pull down the dusty driveway. I wanted to update today to report the sudden surge in language that is happening in Erik. The complete sentences are coming fast and furious now, such as --

"Where's puppy?"

"I broke it."

"I love you, too!"

"I'll find it."

"I'll get it."

"I see it."

I also would like to pose a question to your parents out there in Willie World about skin and nail quality. Erik's toenails and skin break down easily. His toenails are stronger than they used to be (they split when he was a baby), but the skin on the ends of his poor toes wears completely through with very little trauma if he doesn't wear shoes, leaving trails of blood all over the house. If Brian ever disappears and there is Luminol employed during the investigation, I will be in BIG TROUBLE. The place will light up like a Christmas tree. I am constantly mopping bloodstains off the floor. Does anyone else have this problem? I thought it would improve since he began walking and not crawling so often, but the problem has actually not changed at all! He is still covered in mild eczema, mostly on his limbs, which consists of tiny, almost invisible bumps. His face gets bad in the winter, which tends to look a lot worse than the rest of his body. It's red and scaly.

I highly recommend 1 cup white vinegar to 1 quart water for mopping hard surfaces, by the way. Just in case you are wondering how to remove bloodstains.