Monday, February 25, 2008

Well, internet, it’s been 2 months. If any of you read our blog as closely as some segments of the population read the Harry Potter books, you have certainly already figured out what this means.

Right? You all know, right? Nobody here would just read for pictures, right? You’re not the type to just get the New Yorker for the cartoons, are you?

We’re going for the threepeat, people. We looked around, noticed we had things like free time and brain space not devoted to the gastrointestinal situation of people under 4 feet tall, and decided to remedy that state of affairs. The Bird is due sometime in August, and we are thrilled to bits. Well, except for the part where we probably need a new car. I do detest the car buying process. But the kid part is going to be very fun- I really feel the best thing I have ever given Claire Helen and Simon is each other I've never seen two kids so close and so thrilled to be around each other all of the time. To have decided that we have the energy and time to give even more of that to them is a really elating feeling.


For pretty much all of January I was a mess(being the one biologically in charge of reproduction BITES), but I saved up enough energy all week for us to go to the snow a few weekends. Claire Helen was an awesome sledder. The first weekend, though, Simon was not snow's biggest fan. He had an okay time, but any time the snow touched him he'd wilt and wail. The no body fat problem, again.

The next weekend, though, we took the kids up with some friends to see what they'd think of skiing. Simon apparently was born to ski. Mat would set him up on the little skis, balance him in a tuck position, and Simon would bomb down, full speed ahead. He didn't pause, look back, catch an edge, or anything else. And even as he slowed down he'd start shouting "More ski! Ski again!"


Claire Helen thinks exactly what you would think she thinks of putting giant wooden sticks on her feet and hurling herself down an icy abyss.



Vancouver, for my birthday. I was still a little green to appreciate the whole thing, but I did perk up long enough to eat dessert from the coolest chocolatier in the world. Why don't they have more of these? And we stuck the kids in what appeared to be a giant hamster cage- 2 stories of slides, ball pits, and nets to climb, which we found while wandering around their farmer's markets. Oh, those wacky Canadians.

Random Claire Helen picture. For a little while she had decided to name the new baby Solatta, but has now changed her mind to Dorothy Lightning. These are both options for a boy, in case you were wondering; she's not interviewing for a little sister. She's having a great time at preschool these days, and lately seems to enjoy playing "architect," where she makes blueprints and then carries them out with construction paper and pipe cleaners. That's my little long term planner. We've recently started both kids in soccer, and while it's fun to see both of them running around out there, it's especially heartwarming to see Claire Helen so confident with a physical activity. She's a natural at it- who knew? And really seems to have a good time kicking around the ball. It's an hour, and she runs flat out for 55 minutes of it. Awesome.

Simon has also recently started preschool- the same little mommy and me co-op Claire Helen and I participated in lo these many moons ago. It's very fun to do this with another child, and I think Simon is getting a lot out of an activity that's Just For Him. He is an incredibly inquisitive little dude, "Where that noise comin' from? What those people doin'? What that bird doin'?" and I can see the Why phase coming at us fast. His most favorite thing right now is to break into his sister's room while she's at preschool and play with the babydolls she has artfully arranged and left just so. Good little brother. We have had an epidemic of crayon drawing showing up on walls, but overall I'm enjoying 2 and 3.5.