A puzzling demonstration...........

When you're 19 months old, a puzzle for kids ages 3 and up can be extremely challenging. But Kali 1.7 threatens to break the mold for 19 month old kids!

She has incredible determination.......

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The ability to smile when the going gets tough.......

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The understanding to give the letter 'M' its proper recognition........

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And make sure that the letter 'M' finds its proper place in the grand scheme of things......

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Folks, this is no ordinary mortal we speak of in this instance..........

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She has the will to succeed........

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The letter 'B' is no match for her calculating mind........

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It's no wonder that the letter 'T' quivers in her presense.......

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With a nimble mind and looks like these..........

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It's clear that this is no ordinary woman. This is KALI THE PUZZLE MASTER!!!!!!!!

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Kali 1.7 picture blowout!!!!!

Evidently, sitting on a piano playing with an empty bottle is quite a bit of fun........

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Snack time in Daddy's old chair.........

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Here's how a big girl eats her pudding......

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I think someone is trying to avoid the paparazzi by wearing a baseball cap.......

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I really like this picture........

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Playtime with cousin Gwen............

Gwen 1.4 and Kali 1.7 climb up the slide........

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Down the slide comes Kali!

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Gwen, you're sliding down backwards!

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Breaking News! Two children trapped in a school bus! Reportedly, at least one of them is not happy about the situation!

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Aunt Meghan is on the scene to assist the trapped victims!

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Limelicker parties with college-age girls........

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a 'date party' with Mrs. Lime. She's the alumni advisor in her sorority and she was supposed to go to the party to keep things in order. I tagged along to help out with checking the guys for any contraband (i.e alcohol).

We went over to the sorority house, where the kids would be boarding the bus to go to the party. Of course, most of the kids showed up relatively drunk. They had a pre-party at another location and drank alcohol over there before they even showed up. Also, some of them were drinking on the way over to the party, though I do think that they did a pretty good job of having sober drivers from what I saw.

When the kids got on the bus, Mrs. Lime was checking the purses for any alcohol while I was patting down the guys to make sure they didn't have anything they were sneaking in their pockets. Predictably, I didn't find much of anything and Mrs. Lime only found a couple of things. After everyone was loaded on the bus, we quickly realized why. There were half-empty beer cans and alcohol bottles scattered all over the yard where the line to get on the bus had been. Everyone saw the searches going on at the bus, so they drank what they could and tossed the alcohol aside before they got to the front of the line.

One note I did make as I was patting the guys down was that it seemed like every one of them had a monstrous phone/PDA in their pocket. I don't think there's a single college kid who doesn't text message on a regular basis. The cell phone companies must be making a killing on that stuff.

When we got to the bar, it looked like an old Elks' lodge bar. Run down décor from the 70s with a few tables. The DJ had set everything up and the parquet floor was ready to go. The already-drunk kids were ready to go. I saw things on that dance floor that would have made 95% of their parents blush. I honestly don't remember doing anything like that at a dance, but it should be noted that I only went to one dance before college, so I likely wasn't the party veteran that most of these kids are.

For most of the party, I stood back in the back of the room and just observed. There was one point where a couple had a blatent disregard for the fact that people were all around them when they were engaging in a moment of pretty passionate kissing/grabbing. I could see that there were a lot of wide eyes at the tables surrounding them, making for a pretty funny moment.

At another point, I noticed a girl that came back and grabbed her bag. She was smiling awfully big and gave a glance at another girl who was following her around. The second girl smiled back and followed her towards the bathrooms. My people-reading radar popped up right away. I went over to Mrs. Lime and told her that I thought she should keep an eye on those two and that they were up to something. Mrs. Lime watched them go outside initially and didn't think much of it. After they were outside for a minute or two, they went into the bathroom. Mrs. Lime followed them in just in time to see the girl with the bag handing out small bottles of booze to a couple of her underage sorority sisters. Mrs. Lime dumped out all of the booze, much to their disapproval, and sent them back to the party. Mrs. Lime came back to enquire about how I knew that they were up to something. Thank God for my poker people-reading skills. That poor girl likely thought she was unlucky to have an advisor walk in, not knowing that her hubby tipped her off on the scheme.

After three hours at the party, we herded the loud bunch back onto the buses and took them back to the sorority house. Mrs. Lime spent a bit of time checking on a couple of party casulties and then we headed back home, having stayed up WELL past our bedtime.

Self-indictment.........

Last night, Mrs. Lime and I headed out to eat with her dad and Kali 1.7. When we got to the restaurant, Mrs. Lime went to put Kali in the high chair. Kali balked and wanted Mrs. Lime to hold her. She sat down with Kali in her lap rather than putting her in the high chair.

Immediately after that, Mrs. Lime said, "I can't figure out why she wants to be close to me. All I did was cuddle with her all day."

A broad smile came over my face and Mrs. Lime began to smile a bit as well as though she knew that I was about to point out the obvious. It didn't take much mental match to do 1+1=2.

"Ever think that might be the reason?", I said.

Mrs. Lime dismissed my comment and we went on with the meal. Later on when the main course came out, Mrs. Lime again went to put Kali in the chair and Kali started to throw a fit. Mrs. Lime initially moved to pull her back, but I mentioned that she needed to be put in the chair. Kali threw a crying fit for a couple of minutes (though Mrs. Lime likely felt like it was for an hour) and then she stopped and began eating as though nothing adverse had taken place.

God bless moms. They always are concerned about the welfare of their child at each and every moment. But someone forgot to tell the 19 month old child that love shouldn't include taking advantage of the mom's emotions. Kali doesn't care that she's tugging on the emotions of Mrs. Lime when she throws a crying fit. She's got one thing in mind and that's getting what she wants. It's relatively innocent right now, but I'm sure the manipulation attempts will increase in quantity and quality in the years to come. I'm guessing that Mrs. Lime will become less and less concerned when the tactic starts being abused. It will soon become Kali crying 'Wolf!'.