Kisses & Bites

Puck was always learning new things. He had figured out how to give kisses since the previous afternoon. Mom practiced with him.
“Kiss the baby, Puck,” she said, holding out a little rubber cupid baby doll. “Kiss the baby, Puck.”
Puck took the baby, thought about it, and then shucked it to the floor.
“No, Puck!” Collette laughed, giving it back to him. “Kiss it.”
She held it up to his face.
Puck took the baby and began to gnaw on it. Clearly, the idea was not yet established.
The morning was set aside for Trader Joe’s. Linnea’s ear still hurt from the previous week, so she stayed home. But Puck took a ride around the store in the shopping cart and was rewarded with a pink balloon at the end.
“If Mom says that’s OK,” said the checker, the man who had been cheerfully bagging groceries for decades. “We’re out of everything but pink unless you want to custom order one.”
Collette consented. Puck looked warily at the balloon on the ride home. He batted it away from him.
“I guess he doesn’t like pink after all,” said Mom.
Collette couldn’t help but think that this was probably a good thing. And before leaving, she bought a small tub of chocolate pudding for OLeif amongst the groceries. He liked that.
That afternoon, Linnea was looking at her arms.
“I have 54 bug bites,” she said.
Collette saw her arm. “It kind of looks like the Little Dipper,” she said.
“I have constellations on me,” said Linnea with a smile.
In more Olympic news over root beer floats that night, the American men swept the medals in the 400m hurdles.