Saturday… in the park… I think it was the 4th of July

06Jul09

This weekend was fantastic. Lots of time playing and cuddling, lots of good food, friends, and family. Time in the pool, time at the park, time spent riding bikes. It was a great weekend.

Maddie remains extremely suspicious of the pool… actually, of any body of water larger than her little blue bathtub. We tried swimming again this weekend, and she just shook and shook while I was holding her in the water. We got in deep enough to get her diaper wet, but she was really not a fan.

However, I will say that the suspicious face is an improvement over the Father’s Day swimming experience, where the pool was met with only wails:

We’re all about the baby steps, people.

However, we may have found the trick to the pool this weekend, when a cousin presented her with a raft. A pink, princess-y raft on which she could ride and play and, you know, basically not mingle with the common folk like her mumma and Aunt Sophie. Then she was all about the pool.

Splashing was suddenly just as hilarious – and surprising – as it is in the bathtub.

It was so awesome to see her enjoying the water, enjoying the pool that was easily one of my favorite places as a child. One of my favorite things about being a parent is the experience of seeing her see everything for the first time – seeing, tasting, feeling, smelling, hearing. It’s all new to her, and new to me all over again.

We barbeque’d with friends that evening, watching the kids run and play and catching up with each other. The food was fantastic and the company was even better… nothing more satisfying than relaxing that way, late in the day, sunburnt and satisfied.

I had hoped that we’d get to show her the fireworks this year, but no such luck. She was sound asleep by the time they started up, so as in years past it was just Jimmy and I on the porch together, watching fireworks from three different neighboring towns light up the sky.

It was a great weekend. How was yours?

Filed under: Jimmy, Madeline, family   |  4 Comments
Tags: fireworks, Fourth of July, Independence Day, parenting, swimming

a dramatic reading, courtesy of Madeline

03Jul09

We’re settled into the chair. She’s sitting at attention on my lap. I open the book and begin.

“A cow says-”

“MOOO!!!” she cries.

“A sheep says-”

“BAA! BAAAA!”

“Right! Three singing pigs say-”

“Lalalalalalalala! La la la…” She speaks this slowly, still giggly at the funny shape of her mouth shaping an L.

I turn the page. “No no!!” she cries.

I pick it up. ” – you say, that isn’t right! The picks say OINK all day and night!”

She turns the page. “Rhinoceroses snort and snuff, and little dogs go-”

“Arf! Arf! Arf!!”

“So smart! Good job! Some other dogs go-”

“Boowoowbowwowwowwow!”

“And cats and kittens say-”

“MEEEEE-OWWW!”

“Right, a kitty! Quack says the duck, a horse says-”

“NAAAAAAY!”

I can’t help but laugh. “It’s quiet now. What do YOU say?”

The book has come to an end. She looks at me expectantly. “Mumma? Mo’?”

“Okay,” I say. “More.”

We open the book to start it over, reading together. Thank you Sandra Boynton, brilliant author of Moo, Baa, La La La, for these fabulous moments.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  4 Comments
Tags: Moo Baa La La La, parenting, reading with children, Sandra Boynton

knee-high by 4th of July

02Jul09

There is a saying that I doubt is local to my area, but I have no idea who to attribute it to other than maybe my dad and grandpa. It’s about the fields, and more specifically the corn in them: “Knee-high by Fourth of July.” If the corn reaches this height in this timeframe, supposedly it will be a good year for the crops.

Well, this year should be an AMAZING one, because the corn this year is already up nearly to my hips. Not that my hips are of an impressive height or anything, but still. The corn, it is tall, ya’ll! Every day when I wake it seems that it must have sprung up another inch or more.

I’ve got corn waiting in the fridge for this weekend, and I cannot wait to make it. It is a Fourth of July must in our house, as is strawberry pie (which I’ve been making obsessively for weeks now anyway, but who’s counting?)

The sweet corn in our (family, Dad, I’m still speaking your ownership) garden is growing rapidly, and I cannot wait to be able to go and pick ears for dinner.

That actually sounds kind of disgusting, but you know what I mean. I think.

:::

We have no plans for this weekend. NO PLANS. It feels really good to have NO PLANS. Other than swimming. And sun. And being outside. We have things we’d like to do, but I think that for the most part we’ll just mosey on through this long weekend, enjoying each other. Oh, and of course enjoying some fireworks. I love me some fireworks.

:::

I’ve been trying, but I can’t particularly remember what we did last 4th of July. I think that we stayed home and cooked out; I remember being so excited to dress Maddie up in her patriotic gear. I wanted to go to the fireworks, but that plan was quickly abandoned on the grounds of insanity. A five-month old has really no business in a crowd of thousands. Luckily, we can see them from our house, just over the trees.

I cannot clearly remember this time, and that frightens me a little. It’s scary how quickly it all falls away, fades into the past, and then suddenly I’m reading the tags and captions for my pictures, wondering what the hell we did a year ago and who is that baby who is clearly struggling to sit up? Who would topple over like a sack of potatoes if left unassisted too long?

And ohmygoodness look at those arms… I hadn’t realized, not really, but all her chubby little rolls of goodness are disappearing.

We watched the Tigers, I remember that – I believe that we all took a nap during that game.

And though I don’t remember, the evidence beneath my eyes suggests that none of us were sleeping all that well at this point.

Last July, I’d probably have laughed at you if you even suggested that these memories would fade. Now instead I hold that knowledge as my own and I take pictures, more pictures than we could ever possibly want or need or print, and I write and write and take notes and jot things in her baby book. I write on the backs of photos and on church bulletins: “You made the couple behind us laugh and laugh through this whole service.” I stow it all away in her memory box and someday… what? It all goes so fast, it’s true. Maybe someday she’ll read this all, see it all and laugh at me for keeping so much, for tracking so much, for sappily recording every move.

Or maybe she’ll see it for what it really is: the expression of all the things I’m afraid I’ll never be able to say just right, never be able to convey.

:::

Lastly… thank you, Laura.

This Fourth of July marks the first day that you are an active part of an exclusive brother- and sisterhood, one that fights for freedom and independence for all whether they deserve it or appreciate it or even recognize your sacrifice.

Thank you for protecting us. Thank you for watching over us. Thank you for leaving everything you knew to take up a life that’s simply not about you. Thank you for your strength, your courage, your faith. Because of you and the thousands upon thousands who serve with you and who have gone before you, I sleep safely each night. I lay my baby girl, your niece, in her crib sound in the knowledge that I will find her safe in the morning. I love you, and I’m so proud of you.

Thank you, Laura. Thank you too to all those currently serving, to those who have served, and those who have given their lives in support of what makes this country great.

Happy Fourth of July!

Filed under: Madeline, family, me, military, parenting   |  7 Comments
Tags: corn on the cob, fireworks, Fourth of July, freedom, independence, parenting, strawberry pie, USAF