"Turtles do not need underwear."

Life has been pretty much the usual around here for the past two weeks. Nothing very exciting has happened. Rowan ate Cheerios for the very first time, which was quite exciting to him. He hasn't quite got the whole pincher grasp thing down yet, so he tries to grip as many Cheerios as he can in his little fist and then attempts to cram said Cheerios into his mouth. Sometimes he actually gets one in, but usually they all fall out of his hand and end up on his shirt. He has taken to sticking out his neck and opening his mouth like a little bird, and making "ugh, ugh" noises. Someone usually notices this and will kindly place a Cheerio on his outstretched tongue, which quickly disappears into his happy little mouth.

Lola, too, has experienced a new food for the first time. Wil and I were discussing junk food the other day, and the conversation turned to Twinkies. I haven't had a Twinkie since my college days, when a Twinkie represented a meal on the run. I just don't like to eat something that can outlast cockroaches in the event of nuclear winter. Anyway, Wil bought a pack of Twinkies at Winco, and we decided that it was time for our daughter to experience snack cake nirvana.

Lola was informed that she was about to receive a special treat. She grabbed a towel (she has to have a towel for ice cream, so I assume she was expecting some delicious frozen goodie) and climbed into her chair. Her eyes gleamed with anticipation as Wil made a show of unwrapping the Twinkie, releasing its yellow snack cake goodness. He handed the Twinkie to Lola.

"What IS this?" she asked, clearly dumbfounded, and disappointed that it wasn't ice cream

"It's a Twinkie," Wil answered "it's really good!"

........

"You take a bite" she said.

My daughter thinks that we have poisoned every bit of unfamiliar food we hand to her. The same kid will happily chow down on cat food, but won't eat a Twinkie.

Wil took a bite, showing Lola that no bodily harm would occur upon ingestion of the Twinkie. She stared at it, not quite convinced.

"Look, Lola" I said "It has whipped cream in it!"

Lola is a whipped cream fiend. I poked my finger into the wounded Twinkie and licked off the whipped cream. Finally interested, she tentatively reached out a finger and scooped up a microscopic ammount of Twinkie innerds. She slowly put it in her mouth.

"Mmmmm, I LOVE Twinkies!" Lola declared. She proceeded to happily eat half the Twinkie, generously donating the other half to Daddy.

Tonight I got Lola out of the tub and was drying her off, when she collapsed into a little ball on the bathroom floor. This is a normal routine for her.

"I'm a tiny turtle" she said.

"Ok, tiny turtle, put on your undies" I said, holding out her princess panties.

"Turtles do NOT need underwear." Lola informed me seriously.

"OK" I replied, "Then just pretend that turtles need undies."

"OK" Lola agreed, "but Mommy, turtles really don't wear underwear."

Wow. What a day. What a day. Twinkies and turtles, life doesn't get sweeter than this!