Pictures from the summer

Finally, here are five of my favorite summer pictures of Slane, in backwards order. There are more pictures on my phone, which always seems to be at hand more than the camera. Enjoy!

Slane playing tetherball at camp while a group of campers stand oblivious.

Slane "swimming" in Lake Erie.

Slane in the pond at Aunt Sharie's in Cleveland.

Slane and Ella with Epa at the cabin in Backbone State Park.

At least one of them is happy about it.

This is at a lock and dam near Dubuque. Slane is taking a break from the action.

Reactive

When the school year started we had a pretty good family rhythm going. We planned meals ahead of time, we planned activities ahead of time, and we talked through our schedules. We came home from work at a consistent time and kept mostly to a routine.

The last two weeks have been grueling for us. We have gone through a lot physically, emotionally, and mentally. Our routine has been tossed about and we are not ahead of the bowling ball anymore, we are stuck in the thumb hole and trying not to get smashed. We are reactive, no longer proactive.

I think last night it all came to a head. Q is ready for a break at work, and came home late. I don't start dinner until he gets home (lessons learned the hard way). I had no idea what we were having for dinner anyway. I never did get dinner. Q got home and we decided to go for a bike ride to get dinner (after playing outside with Slane for a long time). We should have been folding laundry, mowing the lawn, putting things away in the kitchen, etc. So we go biking but I don't know what I want, just that I need to eat now, and he doesn't want anything. We find ourselves at McNally's wandering the isle. Slane sees bananas and asks for one, so we get her a banana, which she eats most of and then squishes the rest all over the cart. We decide to buy a block of cheese. We pay and leave, but now it is dark and we can't bike because we don't have a headlight, so we have to walk. While we are figuring this out, Slane decides she wants to eat the cheese, so Q runs back inside and buys a cheesestick. We try to leave again, successfully this time, and we walk home, singing Slane's version of the ABC's (now I know my, now I know my, now I know my abc's). I eventually had a bowl of cereal that Slane insisted I share with her.

After this weekend, I think there is a chance we can get caught up again. Q's big work events will be over, my issues are almost over, and conferences time at school means I have 6.5 hours after school to get caught up there. Q and Slane are taking a vacation soon, and maybe they can chill for a while.

Home videos

"Most family home videos are boring.  You film your kid doing something, like tying his shoes for the first time.  It seems really exciting the first time, but years later you’ve seen your kid do that every day for years.  The better videos are of things that are boring now because you currently do them all the time. Someday you will no longer be doing them and the video will bring back memories." - Jeff Ely, Cheap Talk

I keep meaning to capture more of the mundane moments of our family - daily photos, audio, video. It's a dilemma - living fully in the moment or documenting the moment for posterity? Lately, by necessity and by inattention, we have taken fewer pictures and recorded less. I'm okay with this, except when I'm not. MamaCue and I feel like this commercial is a glimpse into our future:

Poopie

Slane is becoming obsessed with the potty. She tells us when she goes poopie (any action in that area is considered poopie), and gets her little toilet seat and insists on sitting there. Saturday she was there for a half hour, just hanging out. She insisted on using mass amounts of toilet paper, so now we tell her that she can only use it if she goes. She did go Saturday while sitting on her little seat, and got upset everytime I tried to take her off. It is super cute, but takes lots of patience, because she wants to sit there all the time.

I guess she is growing into a big girl.

"What does this animal say?" "Baa."

While Slane continues to say that all animals speak sheep, there are signs that her thoughts on the matter are changing. We have a baby animal peek-a-boo book. In that book, the kitten says "Meow" and the penguin chicks go "Peep peep." (What do penguin chicks say, anyway?) Her bear cub growl is both cute and ferocious. But when you ask what the bear says without the book in hand, the bear says "Baa."

All of this reminds me of a very funny song from Sesame Street, "The Question Song." A girl muppet sings to Grover a question. The answer is supposed to begin with the letter Q, but Grover gets stuck on a bovine theme:

Girl (sung):
Now here is a question,
A question for you.
Remember, the answer
Will start with a "Q".
Just think of a duck,
Be it white, brown, or black.
What sound does it make?
Why, a duckie goes...

Grover (spoken):
Mooooooooooo!

At our house, the duckie goes "Baa!"

PS: Sesame Street now has a Tumblr, with video clips!

Video: Slane the climber, the animal talker

Slane likes going for rides. Sometimes she'll just climb into the stroller like this:



She's working on her animal sounds. Usually every animal says "Baa." Not this time.

internet coming soon, and cute things Slane does

We are getting internet next week, and that means pictures! The wait is almost over.

And now, cute things Slane does.

She feeds her stuffed animals bananas and her babies "bottles." She answers questions with yes and no. Last night she pushed me away from her crib because she was ready for bed. Sunday, we were at a picnic, and another small child spilled his plate. Slane picked up a chip from the ground and force-fed it to him. I think she was trying to be helpful. She climbs into her stroller and asks for a ride when she wants to go for a walk. She insisted Grover sit in a booster seat next to her high chair while eating dinner the other night.