Our favorite hydrocarbon

A few weeks ago, in a bold leap of faith, we agreed in advance to buy a batch of prints of Diesel's school picture. Our expectations were low; you know how school pictures go, especially among the young and restless. On Picture Day (protecting our investment as best we could) we made sure he wore a clean shirt; washed his hair just before breakfast (to try and tamp down his chronic conic bedhead); and hoped for the best.

Well, last week the pictures came back and wow! Hats off to the photographer (ASAP Worldwide Productions, Lanham, MD, whose copyright goons are no doubt headed this way right now) and a hearty high-five to Diesel. The final portrait crops out the best part -- those carefully folded hands -- but it's quite a shot even without them.

As he hurtles towards his third birthday, Diesel's in a very entertaining linguistic stage, in which his Ls, Rs, and Ws all sound very similar to our untrained ears. So once or twice a day he worries that he's lost his "Boing-Boing McQueen." And shifting his celestial affinities, he declared today that "Pwuto is not my favwite pwanet; it's not a pwanet. I wike Saturn."