lunchtime

 

Charlie has been really big into shadows ("jaddows") recently so this one was for him.

 

 

 

In keeping with trying to find minor new experiences in the midst of common ones, we decided to picnic outdoors with reasonable success.  The white cocoon is Schuyler.  And they ate pretty well - probably better than indoors on a normal day.  It just added enough change to make even lunch a bit exciting again (for all of us!).

morning around the pool

Practising kicking.

 

 

A tired pookie.

Papa and Charlie inspecting shadows in the pool.

 

big kid stuff

A quotation from Schuyler this morning:
"I wish I could just skip all of that big kid stuff because it is so hard."
I get that.  I understand.  Schuyler, right now, most things for you are still relatively new.  And that's a good thing.  One of the reasons you are so excited about waking up in this world is that so many things are still new.  Your brother is even newer to this world so he still gets excited when his pants have pockets.  But you both get pretty darn excited about so many things because the world is still an adventure.  Keep it that way.  Sometimes you get bored of something and remind me that we've done it a hundred times.  Well, that's a big challenge in life: Staying excited about it.  A lot of people - maybe most people - slowly become dulled to life over time and stop finding joy in it.  And that's the way humans are built - we're built to tire of experiences we've done several times.  It's takes some hard mental work to reawaken to the joys of experiences you've had a lot but every time you experience something, there's a newness to that one time that you can find.  Having said that, there is no substitute for simply discovering new things.  It might be crazy like hang gliding or keeping your brain exercised with new knowledge.  Or it might be simple like trying sushi for the first time or branching out of your wardrobe comfort zone or getting the courage to ask a new friend to lunch.  Either way, sweetheart, there's no way to skip the big kid stuff.  It is hard but it is also inevitable and how you face the challenges of the big kid stuff will define your character.  The good news is that it's mostly up to you to determine who you will become.  The bad news is that it's mostly up to you to determine who you will become.  But if you bring that little kid sense of wonder and adventure to the big kid stuff, you'll be unstoppable.

wild swimmers

 

 

 

We try to impress upon our offspring just how lucky they are to have a pool.  They don't get it.  They can't get it.  They're three and five years old - how could they?  But nonetheless they are lucky.  And boy are we getting the most of it now that the summer weather has more or less permanently installed itself.  Last summer, Schuyler was stuck in arm-bands.  She wouldn't go in without them.  She would occasionally just wear one arm band but that was rare.  Now she can swim laps (width wise) of the pool, do a half dive, swim underwater, and jump in on her own and swim back to the stairs.  Sure, she still clearly needs someone on safety patrol but it's been so good to see her improve.  And this is one area where she actually seems to listen to our instruction.  And she just loves it.  She trembles with uncontainable joy when we tell her we're going for "dips in the pool" after dinner most nights.  And she doesn't stop smiling the whole time.  That kind of joy is a precious resources.  And Charlie thinks he can swim.  Last summer, he would just be mad at us the whole time for doing annoying things like preventing his drowning - he just wanted to swim on his own despite lacking any skills yet in that departments.  Now, he adores leaping from the side of the pool into someone's arms and he's like a wind up toy once he's in the water:  You put him in the water and his legs just start kicking like crazy.  He doesn't fear the water.  He doesn't fear the cold.  He doesn't fear drowning.  The only thing he (pretends to) fear is... The Mummy Shark!  When Liz is swimming laps, her return lap is greeted with shrieks of glee from Charlie (and then his sister will join in):  "Can't catch me, Mummy! Daddy, it's a Mummy Shark!  She come get me!"   And he couldn't be happier.

summer

 

 

Leilani and Charlie bond over a bucket of water.

Eli assists as Charlie stands knee deep in a bucket.

 

 

We're on vacation without leaving home!

Schuyler makes herself at home.

 

Bundle of Schuyler.

Storm clouds gathering.

 

well occupied

 

I can't remember the name of this toy that Kim and Wardy Baby got Schuyler a while ago but it is basically a kind of sophisticated Leggo made of stylized turtles that allow you to build dodecahedrons or scale models of plasma.  It's pretty complicated.  But with some diagrams in the instruction manual, she sat down and built various intermediate shapes and then covered them with a blanket so she could reveal them to her Mama.

Charlie decides to give his dog a bath.

 

 

 

Hard at work on a puzzle, taking the degree of difficulty up a couple of notches by completing it while still seated on the puzzle itself.

the donut deal

The handover.

 

 

 

On special days, we take a trip to a favourite destination: The Gas Station.  This is because the Gas Station is (a) open at 6am most days i.e. around when the kids get up and (b) because they sell coffee, egg sandwiches, and (most importantly) doughnuts!  The kids are obviously pretty keen on the latter.   So we arrive at the Gas Station where we are either the only ones in the store or have to navigate a sea of construction workers and other people who work a lot harder than I do to make a living.  The deal is that they have to agree on one doughnut to share which causes the inevitable battle between the Chocolate Sprinkle Camp (Schuyler) and the Rainbow Sprinkle Camp (Charlie).  But they have to agree.  So someone gives in (usually Schuyler because she's the only one of the duo who understands the concept of compromise and that if they don't decide they get none).  Next comes the battle over who gets to carry the bag.  It was Schuyler's turn but Charlie was having none of it and threw a tantrum in the store.  I was paying, inured to the wailing of my child, when suddenly the wailing stopped.  I looked and Schuyler was beaming and Charlie was quiet.  She'd given him the bag to hold.   Sweet move, Schuyler!  Then getting out of the car, it should have been Schuyler's turn to hold the bag but she decided to share the honour once again with her little brother (see above).  Thank you, Schuyler!

the ballet performance

 

Schuyler Young in her first credited performance as a "Sea Anemone".

 

That's our Sean Anemone, centre stage in yellow to the left of the main dancer.

 

 

$15 a ticket.  Seems reasonable.  You would expect such an event would draw a handful of parents and direct relatives but this place was packed!  There were maybe two hundred people and standing room only around the edges.  We had, shall we say, low expectations but, once again, it turned out to be so much more enjoyable than expected.  The story was something about a girl who meets a mermaid who takes her under the sea and then to a market and then the whole things turns out to be a dream.  It was the underwater bit that sucked us in as the tiny dancers strutted their stuff as various sea creatures flocking around their unlikely guest.  Watching these kids was actually inspiring.  The sheer determination, joy, and energy they put into executing the sequence of their dance was something to behold and learn from.  Most of them were so focused on remembering what to do next, they forgot there was a daunting, huge audience out there taking in their every move.  We bought our little dancer some flowers to congratulate her on her performance.  The whole thing lasted until about 9pm or so which is WAY past Schuyler's bedtime so she was a little crazy and haphazard after the show but it was all good.  Charlie was happily ensconced in his bed with Ms. Tina on watch duty so all was well when we got home.  We scrubbed off make-up and went to sleep dreaming of mermaids and sea creatures.

tucked in

Charlie has a baby.  An unlikely baby.  A glow worm baby that lights up and plays brief lullabies.  And he loves it.  He loves it so much that he decided the little glow worm needed a nap and tucked him into his bed perfectly.