Houdini She Ain't.

Many of you know that Ruby came down with pneumonia this week, possibly after contact with some germs that were swirling around and impacting members of the K---- family during our recent holiday visit there. (Cecilia has been sick about a grand total of four times since she was born, and rarely with anything worse than a cold. Ruby, on the other hand, sometimes seems to think she's in training for some sort of Medical Emergency-Off at next year's State Fair.)

But after a visit to Urgent Care on Wednesday, she began antibiotic and nebulizer treatments and almost immediately rebounded to full speed. This includes the usual shenanigans at bedtime - lots of footsteps on the upper level after tuck-in time, multiple requests for essential sleeping prerequisites like shoes and bread, etc.

But last night's adventure took the cake. We had had some friends and relatives over for dinner, and Cici and Ruby were eventually put to bed. After a good deal of nonsense from both of them, they seemed finally to be settling down . . . and when we heard Ruby shout "Dad! I have to go potty!", it seemed safe enough to yell back, "Okay, honey, go ahead and go!" While Number Two is still something of a challenge for her - she usually goes and hides in an inconspicuous place when she has to go - Number One has been more or less mastered, and she doesn't need the least assistance from us anymore in successful negotiating most bathroom experiences.

Or so we thought. Ruby went into the bathroom and closed the door, and a very short time later we heard, "Dad! I can't get out!"

Dadam went up alone at first to check on things, but almost immediately after he had established that yes, it was true, she couldn't get out, the entire company assembled in the upstairs hallway outside the locked room like characters in a theatrical farce. The expected mayhem soon ensued. Cici, who as it turned out was not yet asleep, began wailing from offstage that Ruby would be stuck in the bathroom forever and would never be seen again. Momlissa and Dadam demonstrated their typically different approaches to crisis management, with Momlissa laughing to herself over the whole situation and speaking encouragingly to Ruby through the door, and Dadam screeching "I don't even know what the lock looks like!" and eventually needing to be ordered downstairs to grind his teeth where he wouldn't bother anyone else. The gallery provided many suggestions of helpful intent, if not always a practical nature, ranging from breaking the door down, to picking the lock with a tiny elbow wrench, to unscrewing the doorknob plate and thus getting the lock to magically disengage (no burglar ever thought of this one before, I'm sure), to calling in the county sheriff's office for a private consultation.

As for Ruby herself, despite her inability to grasp what was fundamentally required of her to actually unlock the door, she appeared to be delighted by her predicament, and except for excusing herself briefly to stand on the toilet and turn the sink on (and leave it on), responded with a uniformly positive attitude to all suggestions, usually shouting "Oh!" as if the solution to the problem had been suddenly and simply revealed to her, and she had been very silly not to see it herself in the first place. Here's an example of how it went:

MOMLISSA: Okay, Ruby, right underneath the doorknob there's a button. Do you see it?

RUBY: Yeah!

MOMLISSA: Can you put your hand on it, please?

RUBY: Okay!

MOMLISSA: Now, all you need to do to unlock the door is just twist it.

RUBY [as if understanding perfectly]: Oh!

MOMLISSA: Okay, twist it!

[RUBY's hand appears under the door and gropes the floor inside the hallway.]

Variations on this theme continued for some time. And, long story short, she got out. It was actually the suggestion of Auntie Landi that did it - we ultimately unscrewed the hinges of the door and took the whole thing off its frame. As she was released from captivity, Ruby laughed and smiled as if the experience had been specially designed to fulfill the recreational expectations of the American two-year-old and she not only had gotten her money's worth but would definitely recommend the attraction to all her friends. Cici, for all her initial concern and distress, had actually fallen asleep about five minutes into the entire ordeal, and would have to wait until this morning to find out how it all came out. The rest of the company retired downstairs for games and beverages.

And Ruby went back to bed, only calling for things about five more times before konking out once and for all.