We were sitting around the other night talking about our neighbor who'd lost one of his dogs a month or so ago. Nyssa wasn't really sure about why Elizabeth was gone, and she wanted Kurt's friend to bring her back, but eventually she asked, "Why do things die when they are old?"
What a great question to answer. What a fun question.

Not that I knew how to answer it, but I sat there and thought for a minute and said, "well, people die so that new things can be born." Is that right? I mean, I don't mean is that the right thing to say--I don't give a crap about that--I mean isn't that why there is death. Out of death life? Especially here in Iowa, all this verdancy is just an excuse to decay, to make mud. I think I am a good father because I wanted to launch into a long description of how life decays and becomes fertile but didn't.

I am also a good dad because I sat next to Nyssa and her man sized poo for 15 minutes as she sat on her practice toilet. it was a mighty stink.

Yesterday Nyssa was walking bare bottomed up the stairs to get ready for bed and farted in my face. "I farted dadda" she said.

We've been potty training for about a week now. It came on as a surprise. But it has been a lot of fun, of course I like nothing more than to talk about poo and pee, but Nyssa is honestly excited about her new abilities. She even has a little dance to celebrate her big girl panties.