It's a musical day. I had trouble picking out the Song of the Day from the din in my head. Also playing: Harry Nilsson's Coconut, Hard to Handle by the Black Crowes, and Lazyhead and Sleepybones by They Might Be Giants.

Ack! The scrollything on my mouse isn't working! How will I live without my scrollything? Ack! I'll have to actually click on the scrollbars!!!

Okay, I'm better now.

We had dinner with the Hickses on Saturday, which was really nice. I'd really like to think that Penny and Jess will grow up as friends. And hey, they actually noticed each other this time!

K.T. and I left the babies with the guys and ran out to do a couple of errands. K.T. desperately needed a half hour of baby-free time, so that was good.

And she made Cream of Reuben soup for dinner, which is mostly Atkins-friendly, though the thousand-island dressing isn't quite as low in carbs as we'd estimated when we were planning. And we had Jello for dessert. As it turns out, Jessica really likes strawberry Jello.

In the meantime, it turns out that Penny really likes Cool Whip.

Relax, it was sugar-free, and only a teaspoon's worth. And as reluctant as she's been to eat, I was glad to see she hadn't completely forgotten how. She even consented to take a tablespoon of rice cereal after that, though by Sunday she was back off food again.

Jess (well, K.T.) had a present for Penny (well, me) in the form of a foam playmat. I've wanted one for a few weeks now - especially since Penny learned to roll over, and it's getting harder and harder to keep her on the cloth we put down for her.

This mat has shapes of things on it - vehicles and a dinosaur and a house and a butterfly and that sort of thing. It's very cute.

But if anyone at all can tell me what the two shapes below are supposed to be, I'd be very grateful. None of us could figure it out, though we had all sorts of colorful guesses. It was like the Baby Rorshach test. (And no, I don't know that I've got them right-side-up, here, but that's my best guess.)

Sunday morning, Penny was playing in her saucer while Matt was in the shower, and she stopped everything to watch me take a drink from my can of soda. So I got a little glass and put a tiny bit of water in the bottom, and let her give it a try.

I had to help her with it, but she did in fact drink all the water (maybe an ounce) and then started crying when it ran out. I added a sippy-cup to the grocery shopping list.

Of course, that may have turned out to not be quite the best idea, as after she had the water, I gave her a bottle, and then we tried to give her some cold medicine, which not only made her gag (as usual), but induced her to throw up all over herself and me. Yay.

So we spent the rest of the day being especially jumpy and wondering whether she was going to throw up again. (She didn't, so now I am inclined to believe that it was the cold medicine combined with a tummy overfull with water and formula that set it off.)

Guess from now on, we mix the cold medicine into a bottle.

Of course, she's still on the antibiotic for her ear infection that seems to be giving her diarrhea, so I don't know how long she'll be at daycare today before they decide she's sick and call us to come and get her.

Ah, the joys of parenting.

--Liz