OK, so I think the last few posts have been a tad - ummm - positive. Let me tell you about yesterday. Yesterday, before the first cup of coffee was even consumed, Théa informed us that she had painted her lips with lipstick. OK, I thought groggily, except... I don't own lipstick. I went to the bathroom and immediately caught the scent - nail polish. Yup, she had painted purple nail polish all over her face, and the top of the toilet, too. I stood there, so bewildered by the questions - what do I do? Laugh? Cry? How do I get it off? Do I use more toxic stuff on that delicate skin or just leave it there? I pondered.
What I did was lecture her. Then, as it turned out, her face was already so greasy from breakfast that the polish came off pretty easily. Awesome. Except, she's been doing stuff like that pretty consistently for several days now. We were over at my friend Dave's house Friday night shelling a motherload of crab - ohhh so good - and Liam was off collecting raspberries and Théa was playing happily, and quiet ... too quiet. I looked over and she had found Dave's flour container and was happily white-washing the kitchen. Marvelous.
On the other hand, I also noticed that night that these children are finally getting to the point where they are comfortable in a wide variety of settings with new faces and experiences. Liam hadn't been to Dave's yurt before, though they had met, but quite happily stayed and picked berries and helped him make a pie while I went and got Théa from daycare. And even Théa, who is shy at first, quite quickly makes herself at home plenty of places. I love that. Consistency is good and important, and more often than not we eat seated around the same table with the same grace chant and the same candle routine, but it's also great to have kids who are flexible. Probably owe quite a bit of that to more communal dinners with my friends Jennifer and Mike at their homes this summer, but there are just so many new experiences happening all around those two - and I think it's to their benefit.
We had an amazing weekend on the social front. Thursday was dinner at Mike's, Friday was Dave's thanks to a big haul on the boat that day, and Saturday, after a morning cutting wood with Jennifer and Indigo, we had a party to attend for Sam Banks, Liam's buddy, which was held at the bowling alley. Liam, as it turns out, from the reports of parents who were not chasing a 2-year-old from bowline lanes, was actually very good at it - exhibiting flourishing form, they said. Hmm.
That night, Liam went to Sam's for the night, and Théa and I went home for a night of relative rest. But the next day, it was another bout of chaos - out to Sam's to pick up Liam, then home for lunch, then back into town for the second party - a skating party. Théa hadn't gotten a very good nap and was nutty from moment one, and Liam was grumpy about it all, but I dug out all our winter stuff (had to be done, anyway) and threw it all in a laundry basket and a blanket or two and off we went. Liam had never skated before (there was an incident with the zamboni years ago and he wasn't too enthusiastic after he saw it gobbling the ice....), so I wasn't sure how it was all going to go, but you never know until you try, and that was never more clear than Sunday. I put Théa in the basket all bundled up, and gave her some gum (bribes) and headed to the ice. Liam was so sure he was going to be a rock star on the ice, and I was afraid he'd be disappointed by the reality of how challenging it was, but he really surprised me. First he was all over the place, but Théa was really content in her basket and Liam started to notice the other kids whizzing around him and he got that gleam in his eye. Every time he'd fall down he'd spring back up off the ice like an electric poker was under him, and off he went. So pretty soon he was trying a few steps on his own, and splat, and he'd get right back up and go. And then a friend started working with him and a few other people came by and gave him some tips and before I knew it, he was doing better not holding on to me. Amazing. So I took Thea on a few laps, then pawned her off on a few friends in the warm dressing room and got in a few laps on my own, which felt, quite frankly, like flying. Oh the glee - I can go skating with my kid this winter.
Good stuff. Proud. Hugely proud.
no pics. sorry. maybe someone has some???
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