This and That

• I had to laugh at this study that ranked happiness in households based upon number and gender of children combinations. The study ranked kid combos from 1-12 and discovered that households with two girls were happiest but households with four girls ranked dead last. The reason: Too much DRAMA. As a household with two girls, I can only imagine the drama of four.

• Ben: "Mom, you're so old you're history." When I asked why he thought I was old he said it was because I was born before the 2000s. That made me feel a little better. Anyone older than 11 is old. 

•  Kyri has taken to getting Everleigh out of her crib. Around 6:15am. This is not cool. Meanwhile, Kyri wants to play when she goes to bed in the evening because it is still light enough to see. Everleigh has cried profusely several nights because she wants to sleep and can't. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. We need a bigger house already.  

• The Way Back is an amazing movie. Man and woman alike will find the story of prisoners who escaped a Siberian gulag during World War II moving. I found it all so disconcerting and amazing that I just checked out the book called "The Long Walk," that the movie is based upon. Whether it is true or not (and there is not evidence to support it), it is an amazing story. The extras about making it are entirely worth watching to. 

• And on the topic of movies, Letters to Father Jaakob is a Finnish film that is a beautiful picture of Christ's forgiveness. We watched it with my parents last weekend and Ben couldn't sleep and so joined us. Poor Mike had to stay up with him while he talked it through. The next morning he said, "That movie really disturbed me. Dad had to comfort me." I didn't find it disturbing, but it was very thought-provoking.

• Ben's naturopathic allergist told me long ago that firstborns are the most allergy prone because all the toxins from the mother are released through the placenta. There is less time for build-up between pregnancies. (Also, older mothers are more likely to have an allergy-prone firstborn. Sigh.) Today I read a study out of Japan that concluded that the number of kids suffering from "hay fever, allergic eye inflammation and food allergies decreased based on birth order." Lucky Everleigh. Of course, there is another study that shows that dementia increases the further down in birth order you are. So it all balances out I suppose. 

• After years of entering contests to no avail, I have won tickets to Seattle Children's Theatre to watch Jackie & Me, based on the life of Jackie Robinson. Ben and I hope to sneak away to watch it some time this weekend.