Ben has been really interested in books lately. I've been putting him to bed more often and I always make him read three board books before he goes to bed. I think mostly he is just interested in carrying the books around to get attention, so that we say, 'look! Ben has a book!' When we try to read the books he's carrying around he usually tries to run away or throw the book. He only lets us read the book when he's in his jammies and is too tired to run away.

Ben was doing some climbing on a bookshelf a few days ago. He fell and got a cut on his eye. It looks like he was in a fight with Apollo Creed.

I had a rough morning with May today. She dragged our comforter into her bedroom (no problem yet) and hit her brother (or did something else to make him cry) when Ben wanted to play with the comforter too. The situation deteriorated quickly. May came downstairs with me to try to get something to eat but spent the whole time crying and yelling at me instead of eating. Finally, I am ashamed to say it, I put her outside with no shoes or coat on. She cried in the backyard for forty-five to sixty seconds while I regretted doing this and knew that I was being a ridiculously bad parent.

After letting her back in, I told her that she had to eat her cranberry bread. She didn't want to eat it, but I told her she was going to eat it or go back into the backyard. She ate the cranberry bread, which Jill and I made last night and is absolutely delicious by the by. Finally, May ate some of my breakfast and after she settled down and ate was much more easy to deal with.

I will regret my ridiculously bad behavior for the rest of my life. Jill, if you read this, I'm sorry and I'm trying to be a better dad.

On a better note...

Last weekend we went to a great Thai/Malay restaurant with my friends from School, Alithea and Curtis. Both of them are super cool and are the kind of people I always want to be when I grow up. They're worldly, educated, well traveled, interested in art, etc., etc. They're about ten years younger than my wife and I, so we didn't talk about our kids at all while we were out with them. Taking a break from thinking, talking, and worrying about the kids was refreshing and allowed us to briefly consider ourselves as a couple and as individuals. After dinner we went to the gourmet gelatto dessert house, Capogiro, that Jill and I went to last year for our anniversary. The gelatto there is expensive, but unforgettable.

Going out to eat with Alithea and Curtis was the best couples activity we've done in months. It made us feel younger, smarter, and hip (but not in an uber-hipster way).