Boys and Broomsticks

Today, I pretended to be a witch and carried the boys on my broom (Literally. And it wasn't easy.) to my gingerbread house where I wanted to fatten them up. "What can I tempt you with, my pretty? Will you eat icecream, chocolate chip cookies, a juicy steak?" It didn't matter what I said, Luke said, "No." He understood that I was trying to make him plump for eating. But each time Luke said, "No" or "Uh-uh," Pete quietly and resolutely said, "Yes."

(I'm feeling my first rush of excitement that Christmas is coming!)

Click on the pictures for sources.

In the Rain with Pete

To be in love Is to touch with a lighter hand. In yourself you stretch, you are well.

-Gwendolyn Brooks

Pete and I had an impromptu walk in the rain today. I was supposed to be putting him down for a nap. Instead, we sloshed our flip-flop clad feet through the rivers of water in our neighborhood streets and gutters.

A man in the passenger side of a pickup truck gave me a thumb's up as he passed.

When we got home, we stood on the front porch and held our hands out to catch the water spilling from the roof. I wish I could transmit my memory of his wet skin, his hair plastered down, his laugh when he bent his head down to suck the shirt on my shoulder for a drink, how it felt to hold him on my hip in perfect health and happiness.



Also Gwendolyn Brooks : Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold it will not come Again in this identical guise.

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn

Luke didn't finish his dinner the other night. He ate everything except his salad. I didn't make him finish it because he said he was full. But then he wanted a treat. Our conversation went like this:

C: I think you're too full for a treat.

L: No, I'm not.

C: If you're too full for lettuce, you're too full for a treat.

L: But only the lettuce parts of my stomach are full.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I asked Luke to watch Pete and KEEP HIM SAFE while I took a quick shower. I put the baby gate up and got ready for the day. When I came out, both boys were at the kitchen table, heads bent over in concentration. On the table, there was a full cup of milk, with straw, and a 2-Liter bottle of raspberry soda.

Luke stood up with a sharp knife in his hand, and said, "I'm sorry I got this knife out."

Turns out, he had also retrieved a sharp pair of scissors. He wanted to mix the milk and raspberry drink together to see what it would taste like. He wasn't strong enough to unscrew the top, so he had gathered tools to do the job.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Pete still wacks people on the head and pulls hair and bites and yells and he also screams and pounds on the door of the dressing room when I won't let him out to go walk around Target by himself (making another baby in the dressing room cry.)

As we walked through Target yesterday, Pete was yelling (not crying, just yelling) and everytime Luke would get close enough, Pete would try to pull his hair. Luke was a pretty good sport. He just copied me and kept telling Petey, "You're dangerous."

The other thing we say to Pete is, "Stop hittin' your money-maker!" Because he hits himself in the head to be funny.

Oh yeah, he also has a fake cry that we love. He cries and half-smiles and then looks out of the side of his eyes to see if I'm watching and if it's working. It's not, but it's entertaining.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is Luke at swim lessons this summer. He didn't want to jump off the diving board. I knelt down beside him and gave him a stirring peptalk. "I believe in you!" ("@%^&! I was eloquent!" Name that movie for a date with me.)

Anyway, I was eloquent and he was unmoved.

Then I said, "I'll buy you an ice cream cone if you jump off that diving board." He didn't even hesitate or have to think it over.

Me & Luke at the Silent Wings Museum.

Huck Finn--I mean--Pete. After black beans.

I am in love.

Winning the Germ Jackpot, Winning a Coveted Parenting Award, and An Update on Our Lives

I. Do not read if you are nauseous or have a strong gag reflex.

My little Pete (15 months) loves splashing in the toilet. And he was really having a moment last night. It does not matter that there were poopy streaks left behind by his older brother; he still splash-splash-splashed the water all over the floor, all over himself and when I caught him, he was SUCKING ON HIS FINGERS!

It always completes the experience for him when I catch him and wail, "Noooo! Peeetey, that's disgusting!" He laughs his little head off.

So I pick him up to wash his hands. I'm balancing a wet, wriggling, laughing 15 month old on my knee in front of the sink. I take the soap bottle and the pump top comes out of the bottle and the bottle (full) flies out of my hand and falls to the floor. I yell for my husband who makes his way upstairs as the thick liquid soap starts oozing out onto the floor. Glug, glug.

I'm pretty sure Luke stepped in it. And even though Brandon tried to clean it up, he didn't think about the residue that we've both sinced slipped on. I hope the baby doesn't die of a staff infection or some other feces-related illness. I really am trying to keep bathroom doors closed and my home more clean.

II. And if you are not sure that I'm a qualifying contender for the bad mom awards this summer, let me tell you this. Yesterday we took the kids swimming. Family hours were from noon 'til 3:30. We lathered on sunscreen. But completely forgot to reapply. Luke, thankfully, was in a life jacket. But all the rest of us: Brandon, myself, and the baby have bright lobster-red shoulders. I find myself hoping we'll get a job in the cloudy and wet Northwest.

III. And speaking of the job seach. We are not currently in the job search! It's official. We're staying here for one more year. Brandon will be a Visiting Professor at the Rawls School of Business here at Tech this coming school year. It's a wonderful opportunity for him, especially because he has been and will continue to be working with top researchers in the Entreprenuership and Leadership disciplines in Management. We're grateful for their interest in him and excited because Brandon is really enjoying his new studies. It's also a wonderful opportunity for him because he doesn't have a Business degree. So, he's getting his foot in the business door without needing a second PhD.

AND on the subject of PhDs...he's finally getting his!!!!! Brandon will graduate August 8th. Hallelujah. He's worked so hard and this next year will probably be the toughest yet, but this is still a huge milestone and a big accomplishment! Yea for Brando!!!!!

So, it's my Brag, I mean Blog, and I'll post what I want to.

Words L. has used appropriately:

familiar (as in, "That looks familiar to me.")

surface (while smoothing the sand at the playground, "to make a flat surface.")

predator (reading a book about ducks: the mother duck will hide her babies from enemies. "L, do you know what enemies are?" "They're other animals that would want to hurt you, ya know, like predators.")

dissertation ("Daddy has to work on his dissertation.")

realize ("I'm going to realize my full potential." Hee-hee, just kidding. More like, "I didn't realize that...")

Vocabulary SAT, my kid's gonna kick your trash. (I'm so eloquent, he must get it from me.)

But he's still my baby:

"Mommy did you buy night-night underwear at the store?"

"No."

"Did you forgot?"

I love how he still calls McDonald's, Mickle-Donald's, too.

These pictures were taken back in December. L & P (They sound like a utilities company) wrestling. P. in the tub. L & P with our good friends' baby girl, J.

Hark! I've added a playlist. And big news from the homefront.

It's down at the veeeeeeeeeery bottom of the page and it is so worth the scroll.

And watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY

I love this music video for Her Morning Elegance, Oren Lavie. It's brilliant and you will not feel like you've wasted your three minutes. Promise.

And we have news: Li'l P. can crawl! And he will, if enticed properly with Mommy's glasses or dangling tubing from a nebulizer. His current long-distance record is about 6 feet. I don't think he's quite embraced his freedom yet, but the winds of change are blowing.

7 months old today

Words fail.