Offered Without Comment

Between the Bookends

Well, every rose has its thorn, or so the poet laureate of Pennsylvania once crooned. Yesterday was pretty much perfect; the kind of day where you say jokingly to your husband, "On days like this, we could do six kids." (And then your husband looks at you, frozen in terror, to make sure you are in fact just kidding.) Today's been a mixed bag so far. If by mixed I mean the kind of bag that might usefully double as a noose. For me, of course. Little Miss Mary has been quite contrary, and tried on an hour-long tantrum for size this morning, thereby losing our Monday trip to Moms' Group. I wasn't that sad, though, because it was a perfect morning to be at the playground. As soon as she shut it, we spent a happy hour there. Cody, in particular, has been practicing his big brother skills, and has been doing an awfully good job. (I deleted the photo where the arm-around-the-shoulders looks much more like a headlock.)

For some reason, Cordelia wanted no part of sliding down herself today. Probably she was just testing Cody to see how much she could make him do her bidding.

 We have our answer.

In case you were wondering, another tantrum happened once we got home. It's pretty much been going on all day. But again, this is why we have digital cameras--they help us in the all-important and sanity-protecting work of selectively remembering our children's childhoods. 

She's a Lady

Maria Montessori was definitely onto something when she observed that if given the choice between baubles and toys and adult "work," children nearly always choose work. Just on their scale. Hence, our mini-garden, which adjoins mine but has only dirt. Well, it has lots of seeds at this point, but they have no chance...you can see why. Anyway, the kids spent a half hour with sponges and buckets, scrubbing and rinsing (repeatedly) their dirty, disgusting, mud-encrusted yard/beach toys. The next hour was devoted to "turning over the soil in the garden" (and, at one point, "building a manger," though I'm not really sure what that was about). As Cody put it, "we are doing some really, seriously tough work here." This was just before he accidentally overturned a shovelful of dirt on Cordelia's hair. Let's not even talk about how much fun that was in the shower. 

 

Highlights from the pre-shower:

 But boy, she sure does clean up okay, doesn't she? 

Happy Sunday

On Thursday afternoon, my relatively new laptop began making what Cody would call "a really ominous sound." After a mild freakout, my tech-savvy husband assured me it was no biggie, and dropped it off at the Apple store in Arlington on his way to work Friday. As predicted, it was ready yesterday, and so we decided to make an outing of it. We went to early Mass at St. Matthew's, where we sat in our old pew by the organ and the kids were transfixed anew. (They were also fascinated by the bathrooms, which we visited four times during Mass -- twice for each. So we didn't really get to enjoy the homily, per se, but it was still lovely being home.) We visited with the John Paul statue ("That's his nose! Those are his cheeks! I will kiss them. His nose is very big! He is kind." narrated Cordelia). And then they wanted to just hang out "in the spot where you got married, with Mary!"

And they had a happy reunion with Msgr. Jameson, who could hardly believe how huge and well-spoken they are, and who was tickled pink to get bushels of hugs. 

After that, we went to a great little bakery in Arlington, where Daddy secretly ordered these powdered-sugar concoctions that were (obviously) a huge hit. After checking out the bathrooms there, too, we walked down to the Apple store, outside of which is an awesome playground, and better still, several fountains. By the time we left, they looked as though they'd been in the sea. All in all, a wonderful morning...and they are now both passed out. And my computer is no longer buzzing angrily! Ahhh.

Best Daddy Ever

Happy Father's Day to the best ever. Period. 

Ain't No Sunshine

Looking over this blog, it might appear these kids are all sunshine and puppy dogs. (Baseball! Zoo! Ice pops! Easy potty training! Bikes! Singing! Hugs!)

They're not.

I blog the highlights. It's the same principle as choosing to be cheerful. The stretches of days with nothing? Well, most of the time they're just too darned busy. Or filled with stuff that's really not even that interesting to me -- even Granny would yawn. And sometimes, there is just nothing worth telling. Because do you really want to know that right now, I'm trying to decide whether to go tame the eighth terrible-two-tantrum of the day or stay by the stove, listening to her scream, so that dinner doesn't burn? And how I'm wondering if someday when she herself is in front of a stove, trying to decide between comforting a raving you-know-what and saving supper,  she will look back on the abandonment and distress she's feeling and understand that these things are always more difficult than they seem fro her side right now? Nah. The details of how we got here are even less interesting than the other seven times today alone -- of her tantrums, I mean. Let's not even talk about his, which have been even more defeating, because he is, well, four, and should know better. His are, if possible, louder. And these days, often in public. Go figure.

So this is just for the record, Cody and Cordelia. I hope when you read this someday you'll have proof of how much I love you. You can print this blog out and bring it to your therapist, who, if she's a mother, will at least tell you we tried awfully hard to give you a great childhood before helping you deconstruct our many flaws and give voice to your suspicion that really, we sucked at the whole thing. You'll see all the cool stuff we do, and the everyday stuff too, and how much pleasure I take in it, and in you, even when I'm beaten down. I hope, too, that you'll be able to read between the lines and know that some days, like today, when you've left me basically catatonic, I love you so damn much that I'm still willing to shield everyone else from knowing about your "charms." And I don't take pictures of your red, puffy faces and streaming eyes and runny noses. And not because I'd be embarrassed...I'm past that, kiddos. We'll just save the sharing for a happier day.

Crap. The zucchini is scorching.

Cody Celebration Day

To celebrate Cody's great first year at preschool, we designated last Sunday "Cody Celebration Day." On Sunday, we went to our first baseball game as a family -- Cordelia's first game ever!

Cody was given a caught ball by the daddy of one of the P-Nats players, who happened to be sitting behind us. So exciting!

 That evening, we went to a new pizza place for dinner. Everyone was on great behavior. Cody practiced writing his name with the crayons, and Cordelia stuffed her face with pasta.

 Then, out for ice cream!

 The celebration continued the next morning. We haven't gotten to go on a garbage truck hunt since the fall, since Cody has been in school on Mondays. It was just as awesome as they remembered. Not so much for me, though, since they now weigh about 70 pounds together. Kind of hard to pull that wagon uphill. 

We topped off the weekend with homemade apple juice ice pops. Yum!

Animal House

The last week of school, I had the fun of accompanying Cody on his school trip to...the National Zoo! We left Cordelia with a sitter to just have some Mommy-Cody time, and it was fantastic. Below are some highlights...

Cody waiting excitedly with some of his school friends.

At the zoo! (That's the lovely Ms. Leavesley in the background--we sat right behind her on the bus, to Cody's intense delight.)

I'm sparing you the many photos of the animals...mostly Cody wanted to bond with the statues. Below, reunited with his beloved otters! And he remembered (of course he did) that I had told him the next time we came to the zoo, he could bring an otter home...more on that later. 

 

Here's my little gorilla, contemplating the other gorilla.

 

And his favorite tortoises...

 ...and, the best of all -- the Zoo Police! Cody pronounced, "Come out, with your paws up!"

 To Cody, the best exhibit of all was this:

"MOM! I hear an impact hammer! I see an excavator!!!" I explained to him that the zoo was building a new home for the elephants. When asked about his favorite part of the zoo trip, he'll tell everyone, "The construction site! They are building a new habitat for the elephants! There was so much equipment -- it was amazing!"

Above, the end of a long day of walking...with a new friend in hand. Meet "Leavesley," Cody's new otter. : )

This was Cody, about 10 minutes after we boarded the bus for home. Never mind the fact that the Muppet movie was blasting and the kids were singing and shrieking...he was toast. A great, great day.