THE FROGS HAVE ARRIVED!

For Christmas my brother, Todd, bought a frog environment for Makena, his daughter. This is the moment of the frog unveiling--Olivia stands as witness. Within 24 hours the aquarium had been upended, frogs were headed to places unknown . . . but Preston and I corralled them again. They remain, at the time of this post, alive. I think.

The outermost keys

. . . are Olivia's piano étude staples. She met her first piano in Delaware. Loves it. Oh God. I can just see the investment looming now . . .

Doodley-doo ("Let's build another snowman")

OK, so my vocal accompaniment to Olivia's dancing is annoying. But her dancing and eating of the carrots intended for the snowmen's nose offset that factor. Awesome.

Grandpa Wrastling, Part I (or II, depending on how you read the blog)

Grandpa wrestles Olivia with ball as accomplice and Ahnee Kathleen filming. She loves it. If you like this, try "Unparalleled Joy," the previous post. Good stuff. The more Olivia can flop around on beds or carpeted surfaces aided by a grandfather, the better, apparently.

The Unparalleled Joy of Pushing Someone Forty Times Your Size

When it comes to kids, Grampy specializes in physical humor. Super-specialty: farts. But for toddlers, you really have to go that extra mile, so Grampy imitated a tree chopping himself down over and over again, tilting precariously and risking crushing the howling two-year-old on the Marriot bed. (Yes -- my whole immediate family -- parents, siblings, and their spouses and kids -- were in a Marriot room spending some QT together over the break. Hey -- when it comes to Christmas, it's time to pull out the stops. And party like a falling log.)

The resulting video, I think you'll find, is breathtaking. Enjoy.