Patooey!

Today, my son spit on another child at school. Low, low, low. This marked the first time the teacher actually called during the school day to talk about behavior. She asked me to talk to Isaac on the spot for a minute, and I did. Strict consequences followed at home (no getting to play with the friend who came over for a playdate), and sadness all around. Stark contrast to yesterday's extravagant fun-daddy-times (an entire afternoon spent on a hiking adventure to Lake Powhatan) and this morning's lazy we'll-watch-the-paving-machines-and-be-late-to-school-because-after-all-they're-theoretically-blocking-the-driveway-or-at-least-they-said-they-would-be event. Perhaps all the extravagance lent to the disastrous behavior today. It's the end of the school year. Our child is growing and changing. One thing's for sure, though--sugar was not to blame, as there was none in evidence today. Oh well.

I'm so glad for:
* a husband who mostly sees eye-to-eye with me on disciplining our son and is a wonderful leader of a father and husband
* Pies in Disguise
* fuzzy baby noggin under my chin as we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and examine the holes in the pages
* the little ones' art group and lovely messy paint!
* my beautiful supportive friends who jump for me when I need to change plans at the last minute
* grace to parent well on hard days
* difficult conversations about religion

Girly Girl

Cora is a Girl. She loves to crawl around in the grass outside and get good and dirty, and the sandbox is a favorite spot. But her primary focus when we're outside seems to be: flowers. The first yellow dandelions of the season were here first victims. She would point and giggle that fast low giggle of hers and then -pluck!- and into the mouth and shaken around and pulled apart piece by piece. Clover, daisies, and many others have met the same fate.

And how in the world did that child just seem to know that she could brush her own hair. I mean she barely has any! Except for the two sparse tufts that stick up in a way reminiscent of great horned owls, she just has fuzz really. But long ago (maybe she was 10 months old?), I stroked her head with a soft brush just a couple of times, and she was instantly an expert. She grabbed that thing and went to it on her own head. We haven't had many more brush experiences (what's the point?), but I got out the brush tonight, and she brushed her own hair and also enjoyed brushing the "fur" of the animals in her feel-and-read picture book.

Last evidence of the girliness of my girly girl? Jewelry. Already. (Side note: I like the word "bling," but I feel like it's over-used. Hence, it is banished from this entry. I do NOT like the word "blog.") Anyway, I'm being a little exaggerated here on the girl thing--I do remember that Isaac learned very early on to put on and take off necklaces and such and really seemed to enjoy it. But it's just comical to see a child so tiny - not even walking yet - pick up a belt or other long cord of some kind and try to "put it on." Over that big ol' head with those short little arms. Cora has been be-jeweling herself with my nylon belt for the past couple of weeks, so today I braided her a red, blue, and gold "necklace" out of some fabric scraps and sewed it together at the ends. Perfect bling for my beautiful little girl!

Spring around Asheville

The leaves are starting to appear!


Short sleeves! Yippee!


Fancy Easter duds.


First team soccer experiences!

Cora discovered a new game today. After a fussy dinner time, she was excited, as usual, to get into the bath. But I've never seen her do this: after slapping the water a bit, she sat still for a moment, contemplating, and then she lunged into action, sliding and spinning herself around super fast on her butt. It was really funny, and a little scary. She came pretty close to the sharp metal faucet, so here we come, rubber faucet cover! She was giggling like a maniac, and I so so love her delight and no-holding-back splashing in the water. I'm looking forward to seeing what she thinks of the beach in a few weeks!

The past few weeks have seen some exciting learning. Cora has now taken 3 steps on separate occasions, one at home long ago, one in music class a couple of weeks ago and one today. She always takes them sort of falling forward towards her target, and when she really wants to get somewhere or something, she immediately drops to crawl. She's a quick crawler. Thank Goodness, she has been sleeping mostly through the night the past couple of months. She goes down at 6 or 6:15, and she almost always makes it to 5 AM or later. Then, she'll go back down, or if it's close to 6, I'll keep her up and put her down earlier for her morning nap. That's helpful on Monday mornings when I need to take her to MT class with me.

About two weeks ago, she started saying "flower," and it sounds like "fwowhuh." A lot like "water" which she also learned recently: "wahwuh." When we go on walks, we have to stop and look at (and pick, if she gets her way) all the fwowhuhs we see. And pet the "tadts." I LOVE the way she says "mow," more for her flat matter-of-fact inflection (or lack of) rather than the pronunciation.

She loves balls and finds it constantly delightful that they get rolled back to her when she pushes them away. She is starting to figure out the "No" concept, and she'll say "nuh nuh" as she watches us to see if we're going to take away the computer cord or cactus plant or whatever contraband item she's grabbed. Another of her very favorite activities--maybe her top fave--is to drum on things...with hands, with sticks, you name it. She's quite good with her hands, and today, I saw her turn a mallet so that the correct end of it was striking the drum.

Favorite books these days: Grouchy Ladybug, because she enjoys flipping the pages super fast, and she likes the silly animal sounds. That's about all one has time to do as she flips the pages! Also, she has been enjoying Tortillerias de Mama. She'll touch the picture of the prickly pear and say "ahchy!" (ouchy)

We think she's got her "eat" and "all done" signs mixed up. I don't remember who told me they thought that her "all done" actually seemed to mean "more," but I think that's the root of the problem. The one thing that is truly apparent is that when she's feeling well (she's just getting over a yucky cold), she can out-eat Isaac by a long shot. Though he's wanting to snack all the time. Meals are small, but snacks are numerous. I'm hoping to get eating times more structured this summer. Ha, on reflection, THAT doesn't seem likely!

Cora's down to 1 nap a day about a third of the time. I am torn about losing the morning nap. I think she still needs it most of the time, and I like having the extra time to work, but I also like the freedom of having the whole morning open if I need to take her along with me. Now that Matthew's out of school for the summer, we can be a lot more flexible anyway. What a shock it is, to have him say, "Well, why don't you just leave her with me?" I'm so accustomed to planning things for myself and the littles almost entirely without Matthew in the schedule picture that I have a hard time wrapping my mind around being able to leave By Myself! It kind of makes me sad, actually. Cora is my little travel buddy.

Speaking of travel, the kids and I enjoyed a wonderful hike up to Black Balsam Knob last weekend. The nearly-1-hour-drive, however, was not very fun. I'm cringing at the thought of taking that restless baby on a long drive to get to the beach in a few weeks. It's looking like a 2-part drive is going to be the best plan. But still, 3 to 4 hours a day in the car for 2 days? Both ways? Hmmm. I must make plans.

Other things we're doing...Isaac and Matthew building block towers for Cora to knock down ("Booh!" is her way of saying "Boom!") with great gusto. Ooh, and building marble runs: Just this past week, Cora started standing up to put marbles into the little funnel at the top of the marble run. And then she'll applaud herself and say "yay!" But we seem to be starting to exit the stage of her automatically putting EVERYTHING in her mouth. There's still some of that, but not as much. She IS attracted to all things chokable or sharp - coins, marbles, the stick-and-ball building set that Matthew has, straight pins, etc.

I've gotten some sewing done recently, much to my surprise. I was suddenly addicted to it, and I made a couple of pairs of pants for Cora, worked on an outfit I had originally started for Isaac but that will now be for her, nearly finished a pair of pants for Isaac. It's been super fun, and I'm hoping I can find a way to finish these projects and continue to clear out some fabric. I organized my stash, and I have lots of ideas...unfortunately, it's now time to do the Summer Music Together crunch, and I'm just not in the mood.

Lastly, I am reading Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts and much much enjoying it. It'll need a couple of re-reads, but mostly, I'm trying to get in the habit of noticing and speaking aloud and writing down the abundant gifts I am given every day!

Today's list:
Isaac's goofy noises (and the exercise of not letting them drive me up the wall)
Giggly babies
Fluffy pastel-colored diapers seen wobbling out of sight as the crawling baby trucks it out of the room
Isaac's beautiful singing, and his seeming inability NOT to join in
A summery day and a nice thunderstorm at Isaac's bedtime to help me cozy in for an evening on my computer
leaves dripping pitter patter and cricket song
Ann Voskamp and her beautiful thought-provoking re-readable book
being SO appreciated for my triangle skills at church...and having Matthew at home offering to keep Cora as she was still asleep when we needed to leave for church
Isaac's surprised declaration as we got back in the car: "I actually enjoyed ALL of church today!" (after he started to complain but realized he didn't have anything to fuss about)
God as my refuge and strength - the mystery of exposure to temptation but God's protection from evil
My continued struggle with food and friends who ask me about it
Humility and being shaken awake