We decided to skip the Ballard downtown Halloween bash for a saner holiday at home. The night was clear, but cold. I came home late from work which set the evening on a later bent. We got ready and costumes were donned reluctantly by the bovine and excitedly by the fairy.
Sara was so excited to show off her costume to our neighbors. She quickly remembered how to get candy. She was a little slow to say "trick or treat" at every house, but was intrepid in the acquisition of candy. At one point, she insisted on going to a house by herself. We walked to Jon and Claire's to visit. I was surprised by two facts: 1) no one trick or treats in the interior of Ballard and 2) lots of people have candy. We got hailed 2-3 time to take candy. It's a gold mine waiting to be discovered. The downtown bash takes lots of treaters away from the neighborhood.
Laura got her second wind and was happy to participate as long as she was on my shoulders and moving.
She was fairly cold by the time we got back to the house. We quickly put the girls to bed and shuttled over to Erica’s house for our traditional “beer and candy” evening while handing out candy. Our street still holds it’s own in attracting treaters. In fact, our section of the street is very popular. I think it’s mostly because of Erica’s house. People remember that there’s good candy there. It’s still not as many treaters as the early days (70-80 versus 30-40 kids now) and the kids are noticeably older. We even had an 80 yo woman ask for candy (and not in costume). Our other next door neighbors were marked as “cool” by the middle school treaters for wearing matching blue Totoro sweat shirts.
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If you hadn’t figured it out, this blog is my scrapbook, my journal, my recording of ordinary events, and my memory. I revel in ordinary events. I love to think about the small things in life, notice them, and record them. While the events in Sara’s life aren’t as life shattering as starting to walk, they are complex and fascinating in their own way.
This is the third week Sara has started swim lessons. Our lives are so busy, I’m reluctant to schedule too much regular “events” during the part of the week I have the girls alone. Sara approaches four and is not in preschool. In my mind, the 16 hours a week she already spends with kids and learning letters at daycare is enough. I don’t need another “event” to occupy her time. I want to be that event. I also read a book called Breathe: Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life during my Mom’s group. It’s been one of the most helpful books for me to guide me to be intentional for how I spend my time.
That said, I did sign us up for swim lessons. I mean both Laura and Sara. Sara was taking lesson briefly at our club for the two months prior to Laura’s birth. They had lessons during the summer, but requiring a commitment of 5 days in a row. Also, we were so busy over the summer between traveling and visitors it made lessons impractical. So now I have the time. Sara begins the line up with a group lesson. The kids are not much older, but seem to know each other in that giggling girl sort of way. They also know how to swim without any assistance. The first time Sara went, this dynamic didn’t seem to be a problem. When we went this Thursday, she decided to sit by the edge of the pull and pass on her swim lesson. Sara decided to swim with me and Laura. She wears a vest to keep her afloat while I have Laura in the water also. The next class is Parent/Toddler class for Laura taught by the same instructor. It is essentially a music class while in the water. Laura likes it alot. Interestingly, Sara likes it a lot. She get a toy and when we throw the toys, she tries to steal her sister’s toy.
This is an example of Sara’s typing:
s67ag5ugtytgvy6yyfyyfhyfyggfaaaasdfgh jkkkkkk sssssssssssqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqwwwwwwwwwwwwwqwwwwwwwwwwwwwsffffffffggggggwwwwww5h75derhjgkrtdt
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I’ve been noticing that I play the same games with Laura that I did with Sara. My current one is “body parts”. I point out body parts while doing something silly. It was one of the earliest ways Sara and I communicated. She would touch my nose or ear when I’d say the word. At this age, Laura is fascinated with my face. She loves to stick her hand in my mouth. I gum her hand like a dog shaking a toy. She giggles hysterically at this. Laura is communicating in other ways. After 2 months of signs, she’s started to use “more” with her favorite food. She’s been telling me she wants “more” in Laura language for a while. She’ll look at me intensely when I have any piece of fruit in my hand. She’ll kick her legs against her highchair and start to yell. That means “more” in Laura-ese. “All done” is signified by blowing bubbles with her food or dropping the food on the floor or swatting her hands around her face like she’s being attached by a bunch of hornets. She alerts me to hunger by crying or crawling toward her highchair.
Another game I’m repeating is water play. If water spills on Laura’s tray, she’ll play with it intensely. She’s attracted to the sink. She’ll climb up on the stool while Sara is standing on it brushing her teeth or washing her hands and cling to Sara’s clothes precariously while trying to strike a position where she can play with the water. Our upstairs sink is lower so she can now reach it with a step stool now that she’s walking. I’ll let the faucet drip. She can only reach the water with her hands so she can’t get her sleeves wet. I can let her play contentedly for 15 minutes.
Did you catch that? Laura is walking. I figured she would repeat Sara’s performance and walk while I was away and Nana would get to see her first steps (Shirley observed Sara’s first steps). Then I thought she’d do it while I was in Boston. She’s been standing up in the middle of the room for several weeks now. She’s been taking what I’d call falling steps (1-2 steps to outstretched arms or an object ofr over 3 weeks). She’s been pushing a walker car by herself for several weeks. But no independent steps. The first one’s happened last week. She practiced over at Audra’s house last Friday. I’ve now seen her walk about 7 steps in a row. She’s even tried turns. It’s amazing how much she practices. Sara’s gotten in on the act by leading her around everywhere. It’s the second most popular sister game after wrestling on the floor.
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We had to say goodbye to Comet today. He had started to slow down a bit recently and had not eaten well for the past few days. I was excited to see him interested in breakfast (for the first time in awhile), but I quickly realized it would be his last meal as he shuffled outside and had trouble walking. Fortunately he went to his favorite spot under our willow tree to rest.
He chose to adopt us shortly after we moved to Seattle. Our neighbors in the house behind us had picked him up as a stray. We never really knew how old he was, but he loved to jump through the windows and into our old rental house to say hi. He was the best cat you could hope for. Always playful, excellent mouser, fought off the evil raccoons numerous times (even up until two days ago!). He was always excellent around the girls and never bit, scratched or even hissed — which is amazing given how much they pulled, poked, and prodded him as they grew. I will really miss his morning routine of begging for breakfast as we came downstairs every morning. He never liked to be held, but every once in awhile would choose you for the honor of being able to hold him in your lap. He was great at getting folks in the neighborhood to talk to one another as well. I am certain more folks on the blocks around our house know Comet better than they do us.
Godspeed Comet, we will miss you.
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