The Big Day Approaches...

Well, the big day is almost upon us. Officially, little Eduardo is expected on the 9th of February. But between now and then, it could happen any time. In the meantime, a few more photos have finally been added to the Flickr link. And, of course, once the big day comes, there will be new pictures as quickly as we can get them up!

Car Talk Redux - Goodbye Cursed Fiat

Well, after many months of continued problems, the haunted car is no more. It has been replaced! And, to my great surprise, not only was it accepted as a trade-in for a newer vehicle, but I was actually offered money in exchange for it! Haha - suckers. At this point, I would have gladly paid them to take it away. The last two weeks spent waiting for the new car to be ready were nail-biting. Would the possessed pile of metal that passed for an engine continue to run? Would it collapse in a heap just before I could get rid of it? Could I drive it around town with the gas tank just a whisker above empty so that I wouldn't have to accidentally give away something of value when I traded it in? (Easier said than done since the gas gauge was broken, too.) But somehow, it held together long enough to send it away. RIP, Fiat Siena. May the auto dealer wise up and give you a decent burial and not try to pass you off on some other unsuspecting owner.

Cause and Effect?

First, I want to wish all of you who keep time by the Gregorian calendar a Happy New Year! Those of you using other calendars can play along if you wish, however. No need to feel left out.

OK, I just wanted to mention a curious fact I noticed recently regarding a 3-year-old's sense of cause and effect. It's not at all similar to an adult's. Whenever something gets spilled or knocked over or broken, Jasmin has learned a new excuse, "it happened by itself." Well, at first, I thought this was just a child attempting to get out of blame by the ol' stand-by: lying about it. But, as it turns out, from her "view of the universe" I think she's actually calling it exactly as it appears to her. She just sees causes and effects differently than we do in our "grown-up world." The two recent examples that have convinced me there is more to this than simple mendacity:

"I didn't break it. I was carrying it across the room and it fell out of my hand and when it hit the floor it broke all by itself."

"I didn't break it. I was just pounding it on the table like this - bam, bam, bam, bam - and then it broke all by itself."

You be the judge.