some things about the world that I'm trying to teach Lilah, with varying degrees of success

--If you're planning on cleaning the walls ("cean!"), a Clif Bar is probably not the best tool for the job, though I'll admit, if you squint and the lighting isn't great, it does sort of look like a sponge (which itself is probably not the best tool for the job, but let's cross that bridge when we come to it).

--Cats are pretty good at cleaning themselves and don't really need any help from us.

--The potty is not a yoga prop. (She sits down on it and bends way forward so her head is almost lined up with her feet--that's some sort of asana, I just know it--and then says, "Yook! Loga!")

--Older brothers are definitely tough, but they still bleed when you maul them. (I heard Levi screaming from the playroom and ran in to find him bleeding from three separate spots on his cheek. Ezra explained: "She scratched him with her sharp baby claws.")

--Library books are not for practicing origami.

--That big blue car with the battery that won't die and the buttons on the back, one of which plays 12 seconds of serious rock-and-roll, dude, at a deafening volume? It's possible to push that button so many times that even your brothers will start to complain.

--Many objects break when you throw them.