Geography Chats

Lately, Evelyn and I have at least a couple of conversations involving maps, directions, and arrows each day.  She loves to look at our planned routes on the car's navigation system:  "Mom, can I see where the park is?  And where are we now?"  As we drive, Evelyn points out all of the signs and arrows she sees.  She has had our street name memorized for a little while now, so it seems she'd like to expand her mental map.  On the plus side, I'm learning the actual names of some of the streets we frequent (they're almost exclusively numbered, which is harder for me to remember having grown up in a historic town with actual names for each street). 

She has recently figured out that "right" and "left" exist (as opposed to "this way" and "that way").  This discovery is certainly a nice step toward increasing clarity in our conversations.  Perhaps the most exciting (and slightly confusing) discovery she's made, though, is the turning lane in the middle of the road.  There are two opposing arrows.  Which way are we supposed to go?  We could ponder this for days.     

Children Get Older



Over the weekend, we attended an alumni event with the kids.  The picnic coincided with Sea Fair weekend festivities, taking advantage of the amazing views from the hosts' home.  We all had a great time, though the Blue Angels were a bit too loud for Henry's liking (and nap time was approaching) toward the end of the shin-dig.  I'm glad we made it this year, as the previous three years we've been unable to make it-- apparently we've been quite busy with newborn, then summer travels, then another newborn.  Whew! 



And, if you (parents) ever want to throw your mind into a real tail spin, write your child's name followed by their potential year of graduation.  It was just a cute little addition to the name sticker, class of '32, but it was crazy to think about my little ones all grown up and in college. . . of course, being "double legacies," they'll either really love our alma matter or they'll be really sick of hearing about it.  Only time will tell!

A Little Muffin With Her Jam

Evelyn ordered a bran muffin for lunch (it was huge!) at a cafe out in the country today.  It was upstaged by the two cups of jam and the butter pad though.  She spent the majority of lunch licking jam from her fingers (and the knife, when I wasn't looking).  I'm glad she enjoyed it so much, but I'm even happier that she didn't stain her new little dress! 

Snapshot: The Fun Zone

Saltwater Air

Have you had moments with your family which make you think to yourself, I am going to look back on this-- years from now-- and I will desperately miss this time?  I've been lucky enough to have a few of those moments this weekend. 

The easy smiles on my children's sun-kissed faces and the laughter between my husband and me as we dug our toes into the sand and admired the mountains across the Sound. . . I wish I could bottle that kind of happiness.

Henry: Thirteen Months

At thirteen months, Henry can successfully climb any step he encounters and most ladders, too.  Though his upward mobility, so to speak, is improving everyday, his main mode of transport is still crawling-- at lightening speed.  He can stand on his own.  He's been crusing for months.  He walks if he has a hand to hold, but that's where he's drawn the line.  It seems that Henry realizes he can get from point A to point B very quickly and very reliably when he crawls and this is satisfactory. 

Henry has just recently learned to twist tops off of bottles and jars.  He has opened my mascara, foundation, most of our markers, our dot paints, and an empty vitamin bottle in the recycling.  Sometimes it feels like we have a little pick-pocket in our midst as Henry rifles through the drawers and bins around the house.  Fortunately, we keep all of the dangerous things high out of reach.  Unfortunately, toy stores do not always follow this protocal.  Henry opened a tiny lincoln logs jar and was seconds away from dumping its contents all over the shop floor when I noticed what he was about to do. 

Henry has also built upon some of his vocabulary.  He'll now say simple sentences such as "Go walk" or "Go out."  Also, I have no video proof, but I swear he's tried to say "I love you."  If so, right back at you, Henry!

Snapshot: Summer "Harvest"

This is the second year we've planted peas behind the house and Evelyn is enjoying them again!  Fortunately, there are still plenty of flowers on the plants so we should see more pea pods soon.