25 months!

It's the end of the month ...that means Ben & Maddie are another month older. It's just amazing.

Today I noticed Maddie starting to use two-word phrases. She said "my shoes" and then as we were driving up to our house coming back from the YMCA she said "our house." Amazing.

Both are getting a lot better at using words when they are asking for something rather than the whiny "ugh, ugh, ugh" that we are so sick of.

Lately they've been a lot more vocal about their desires and wanting to do things on their own -- or just defying whatever we want them to do. Getting them dressed and/or diaper changed is usually a big ordeal these days.

Naps are also getting problematic, especially for Ben. There have been 3 or 4 days recently when he either didn't nap at all or slept for a very short period of time. All of them seem to be days where he poops right after we put him down -- and even if we change him and put him back, he doesn't seem to want to go back to sleep.

That's what happened today, but I left him in the pack-n-play after changing him, hoping he'd fall asleep. AFter awhile I didn't hear him, so I assumed he went to sleep. Maybe he did, but maybe not. About 45 minutes later I heard him and I went up to check on him. He was trying to push his shirt down his legs -- he had gotten it off his shoulders. Then I noticed that his diaper was off to the side and of course, it was a poopy one. Not sure how he got the diaper off, since he had a onesie shirt with snaps in the crotch and the snaps were still shut. Needless to say, he went straight into the bathtub and everything else went into the wash machine. Oh such fun.

Here are a couple pics from today...

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And here's one that's been on the camera for a few days. Maddie, wearing her Dad's socks. Doesn't she look like a future fashion model?

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Lanlords project ...recap

I meant to come back and post links to parts 2 and 3 of my recent project on a couple of local landlords, but I guess I forgot.

The reaction we had to the stories was phenomenal. Lots of phone messages, emails, online comments, even a couple letters to the editor that got published. Almost all of them were praising us for giving "voice to the voiceless." It was a wonderful feeling.

But just as we were reveling in that joy, the executive editor at the paper announced he was resigning to take a job elsewhere. It was a huge blow to our newsroom. We really loved him --- he's largely the reason I've been able to be so autonomous and do the kind of work I really want to do. So who knows what will happen when somebody new comes along.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing what I love. For the near future, it's going to be pretty much all Denny Hecker. He's getting sentenced in less than two weeks and all his cronies are also up for their sentencings. It'll be busy!

Here are links to parts 2 and 3 of the landlords project:
Part 2

Part 3

Bad landlords project

A big investigative project that I've been working on for the past three months -- that has nothing to do with Denny Hecker! --- is now finally done! The story is about a pair of brothers who neglect their rental properties.

Part 1 is going in Sunday's paper, but is already online here:

http://www.twincities.com/ci_17101427

There is also a sidebar to part one that is here:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_17101426

Parts 2 and 3 will be in the Monday and Tuesday papers (and I will post links then)

I really enjoyed working on this largely because this is the kind of work that I like most, and also because I teamed up with a young reporter (who had never done a project) and a large part of it was teaching her how to "fish" so to speak. My editor had previously given me the green light to make this the lion's share of my job, especially once I'm done covering Hecker (which will hopefully be soon!). So I'm hoping this will be a good example for other young reporters in the newsroom and compel them to come to me with a good idea.

Birthday party

We celebrated Ben & Maddie 2nd birthday today with a few of our close friends and their kids (all about the same age) -- kind of a playdate thing, but with food and cake.

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