Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Camera store trip was a bust

But it is not the worst bit of technological news I have for the day. About half an hour ago I failed miserably at getting the video recorder to work so I could record the best example of baby dancing I have ever seen.

Simon was not just dancing- oh no- he made up a routine to "Here Comes Your Man" by the Pixies.* It included this very slow butt bounce while snapping with both hands, and at appropriate intervals walking around in a circle with exaggerated nods. MAN. It was awesome. I tried to at least webcam it to Mat, but by then Simon had lost interest and only wanted to fix "peanut butter (sandwiches for) dada." Oh well.

He also for the first time today pretended his diaper wasn't poopy when it was, a reliable indicator of ability to manipulate consequences(if I say "no," I don't have to get my diaper changed). Sniff. They grow up so fast.

Off to a pro-choice rally downtown, assuming I can get Claire Helen up and navigate the bus system, which are both pretty big assumptions. She sleeps away the afternoon, lately. I think she must be growing.

* FINALLY, a child who shares my music tastes! Claire Helen's girly music gets a little old, much as I love the Indigo Girls.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

I'm taking the camera to the camera store today, I promise.

Just as soon as I tell you all about Mister Just Like Big Sister.

Simon is currently sitting in his high chair, eating a bowl of puffins*. This is after rejecting MIGHTILY first dry puffins on the tray, then dry puffins in a bowl, then puffins with a little bit of milk, then puffins with a bit more milk, then puffins with the (wrong) metal spoon, and finally, puffins in a bowl with the right spoon with Simon not as tall as his sister. I get a feeling I am going to be spending the next 16 years explaining that fair does not mean exactly the same. To the molecule.

His favorite thing to do after a meal lately is climb up on Claire Helen's chair, pick at her (not yet cleared, ahem) leftovers, and generally preen and Be Big. I have been trying to focus on getting him some friends his own age, but he completely eschews baby playdates in an effort to reach his life's goal, Twoness.

Claire Helen is in the middle of week two of preschool spring break. I admit we entered it with some trepidation, but it's gone very well. Except that despite having total control over my own schedule, I did not leave the house at all from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday morning, because of hosting playdates and playgroups and friends for dinner. All lovely reasons for hanging around my own (non-gravel! Non-coated in shards of glass! Grass! That we can PLAY in!)backyard, but we were all a little squirrelly by the time it was over. Claire Helen quite literally since what she does all day lately is pretend to be animals. This is wicked cute, but I have to tell you I am not really that familiar with the eating habits of a porcupine or the noise a lemur makes, so she may be getting misinformation along the way. Hopefully she'll get a good biology teacher to set her straight.

Off to the camera store. Hopefully it will get fixed in time to memorialize cousin Greta's ballet debut this evening. The kids are very excited, and have been preparing for the last two days by putting on my old dance costumes(why oh why don't I have two of each one?) and demanding I sing for them, so they can bounce and spin in time.

*a hippy kids' cereal, not some furtive way of telling you all we have gone carnivore on you.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Camera still haywire

I walked into the playroom a minute ago to find 17 stuffed animals on 17 dishtowels having, apparently, their first "yoga lesson," taught by Claire Helen, yoga instructor, extraordinaire. After leaving to get her brother out of his crib, I came back to find the stuffed animals replaced by bunnies and bunny like objects, for participation in a specialized, Easter Bunny yoga class.

This morning we went downtown to drop Mat off at work, and stayed for a little adventure and the Central Library storytime. It was all relatively smooth, except that Simon is completely fixated on escalators, desiring apparently to hurl himself off the top of them at full speed or stick his fingers in the moving parts. I am beginning to think downtown is made only of escalators. Poor little guy. He was like a diabetic in a candy store, so forlorn and lonely for his deadly escalator play.