I expected that tonight would be a night of constant interruption as Ani explored the boundaries of her new "big girl bed."  Boy was I wrong.
    While she was quite excited by the sight of the green and purple doll house, it was a one-story night, as she was eager to "go to bed (in her big girl bed)."  She went right to sleep, and all is peaceful.
    Funny how often our expectations are challenged, both as parents and as educators, isn’t it?

    Sometimes my online life and my offline one seem to blur together a little bit — and I forget to tell one group things that I’ve told the other — and vice versa.  This became clear to me yesterday when I was having a chat and mentioned that we were preparing Ani to move to a "big girl bed" in order to free up her crib for her soon to be born sister.
    The thing is, I hadn’t mentioned that we were expecting.  So I’m mentioning it. 
    Ani’s going to be a big sister on or around graduation day in late May of this year.   Pretty cool, huh?
    As I’m writing this, Ani is sleeping for (her mother and I hope) the last time in a crib.  Her new bed arrives tomorrow, and we begin the process of sleeping in a bed.  Cross your fingers for us, okay?  It’s certainly not a big deal, but it’ll add a little stress and excitement to our lives.
    I hope it goes well.  I’m a little sad, though, as my little girl’s already beginning to outgrow pieces of her world.   Man,  it’s all happening so fast.
    In fact, soon, she won’t be my little girl anymore.  That title, like the crib, will soon pass to her sister. 

    Yikes.  Here we go again. 

  Good Job, Ani. 
  Originally uploaded by Bud the Teacher.

  It’s never too early to get your children helping out around the house.  After our twenty or so inches of snowfall — more if you count the massive drifts throughout our neighborhood — we sent Ani, almost two, out with her shovel to get the driveway done.  It only took six hours and two diaper changes.
  (I’m kidding, obviously.  But it was quite a day for snow removal here.  Here’s a link to our "Holiday Blizzard 2006" photos.  Isn’t it great that, thanks to television, every major weather event has a cool-sounding name now?)

    As best as I can determine, the first reference on the Internet to my grandfather, a man that I know far too little about, is this one. 
    My given name, Edward, is/was/will always be his, too.  (Bud, the nickname that I’ve used for everyone except substitute teachers and bank tellers, is/was/will forever be my father’s father’s name.  I was named for both of my grandfathers.)
    I’ll be offline much of this week, with family in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where I used to play in my Granddaddy’s amazing garden.