Nurse, I need a pencil, stat!

Well Evil Genius Husband got back safe and sound from his conference at Myrtle Beach. He and his cohorts were a hit with the middle-school-teacher crowd. Bless him, he brought me some pics and some shells and a really cool candle that's too nice to ever burn. I miss the ocean so much and I grilled him on what he did there: "Did you walk on the beach? Did you look for sharks teeth? Was it fabulous?"

Of course, EGH, who doesn't like the beach and didn't want to be away from his family over the week-end, apparently ventured out - fully clothed in jeans, shoes, etc - just far enough to snap my pics then scampered back to the hotel.

Wish I wuz there. *sigh*

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Here are some pics from the two recent birthdays:

Boy is four. Don't forget.

Two-year-old Bitty devouring a cupcake. Don't mind the ratty hair, they'd all just had a bath.

"No pictures please!" The Human Crash Test Dummy on her second cupcake.

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What are little girls made of?

So, I have never bought my daughters any sexually stereotyped toys. No babydolls, barbies, princess outfits, mini-shopping cart with it's own Platinum Card, etc.

I'm not trying to defeminize my daughters, it's just that I'm not into that stuff and never have been. I love playing super hero and getting down on the floor and putting together HotWheels tracks ... but that girly stuff? Meh.

So my policy has always been that if they want some fru-fru stuff then I will be happy to get it for them but so long as I'm doing the choosing it will be more eclectic (for example: all 3 of the older children - boy and girls - love to pretend to cook. They are allowed to play with my pots and spoons and I've gotten them some play food and dishes to further their interest in cooking.)

Anyway, so the HCTD began yesterday to carry a toy around and refer to it as her 'baby'. She even talked to it and put it to bed, etc (which was made a bit bizarre by the fact that the toy in question is a purple rubber anemone that EGH had brought back from the Ripley's Aquaruium gift shop.) The two oldest are really into imaginative play so I wasn't too startled. You would have been proud of me: I dutifully dug out a little soft dolly that had been a gift and gave it to her. Everybody's happy, right?

Fast forward to today just before lunch.

The girls tend to go off on their own sometimes. Actually, it's that Bitty tends to follow her sister around because she (Bitty) is evil and knows that no one can get up to bad stuff like the HCTD. The potential for wanton destruction is high just being in proximity to the HCTD. The two of them together, alone, in another room, even for a moment, is a recipe for disaster.

So after the requisite 30 seconds of not seeing them both I went looking.

I found them in the dining room, on the floor, crouched over the doll. Bitty was holding up a Duplo block and a crayon expectantly and the HCTD was repeatedly stabbing the doll with a pencil. She was even going:"Ow!, Ow! Ow!" after each stab. After a couple of seconds watching this macabre scene with my mouth gaping, I asked the HCTD what the heck was going on:

"HCTD! What the heck is going on?!"

She paused and smiled sweetly. (Of course Bitty grinned ... this is how she puts her victims at ease).

"Baby has an owie ..."
"No lie! You're stabbing her with a pencil!"
"No ... no ... no!" and she shook her head like boy, you're dumb, Mom, "She's sick and had to go to the doctors and get SHOT-ed!"

Ohhh ... ok. I get it. I had just rung yesterday and made appointments for all four of them with Dr. Clemson and had explained to a very upset Boy how he would, indeed, have to get some shots. The HCTD was in the room at the time.

She was playing like she was the doctor and Bitty was her nurse ('cause, you never know when the doctor will need a Duplo and a brown crayon in the middle of a proceedure) and the unfortunate baby doll was their patient. I'm up to speed now.

It still creeped me out. Here are the medical personnnel looking innocent:

Would you trust these two with a pencil?