Hiatus

My unintentional lengthy break is at an end. There was a lot of living to do in the interim, and I wouldn't even know where to start backtracking. So - onward.

Sunday was one of those days where everyone just needs to relax and make it through the day. The dew point was hovering around 70 degrees with the relative humidity peaking at...100%. I know, I looked it up online. Yuck.

And everyone was doing a whole lot of nothing. Jason and Stella ate lunch companionably in the mudroom.


Violet slept in the car.


I wandered around the yard taking pictures of my favorite things. I really love the yard when I look at things up close. Weeds. My questionably thriving vegetables. Who can find the radish?



I'm sure no one would walk by and say "Now that's a flourishing yard." But it is. I'm so fascinated by the way things pop up when we stop mowing. Sweetfern. Milkweed. Blueberries. Daisies.





When we moved in 6 years ago our yard was a flat plop of grass. Not nice grass either. Not an impeccably kept lawn that we feel guilty about destroying.


Now it is a haven for under appreciated plants and animals of all sorts. Though actually we would be just as happy if Waifer didn't appreciate the company of the groundhogs quite so much.


I think this one was injured. A couple days after I took this picture Violet and her friend Evan told me "and we petted the hedgehog..." It only occurred to me later, as I tripped over the unfortunate creature, that it actually had stood still long enough to be petted. Waifer: 3 Groundhogs: O

Thankfully, Waifer has yet to make friends with the tads, who are finally turning into frogs. I think this is the first frog. See him? Cute little feet and everything. *sniff* They're growing up so fast.


And occasionally we do plant something quite intentionally. Jason's pear tree has 18 pears at last count. And this is our first sunflower just burgeoning.



And a self portrait.


Next time, adorable pictures of our little urchins. Promise.

Portraits

I'm so behind. Here are a few pictures I have been meaning to post.





I can't believe my kids are this old already. Violet - such a self-possessed little imp. And Stella - such an independent and gregarious little imp.

Oh, and the helmet? 8 days it stayed on. Eight days.

Hiking. Erm, Friends.

I haven't blogged about my dear friend Dorothy and her family's adventures in adoption. Suffice to say, after a very long complex process, Stella's new best friend Isabel just came home to Kennebunk. That's "Ee-sah-bel" with the stress on the last syllable, Isabel being from Peru and all.


This week we all went hiking at the Rachel Carson preserve in Wells. Here is Dorothy with Stella and Isabel. Dorothy and I have coordinating Ergos, but Stella and Isabel had coordinating attitudes about wanting to hike on their own two feet. Four feet.


Not only do Dorothy and I get along fantastically, and not only has she recently provided Stella with a BFF, she also kindly provided Violet with her BFF. Violet and Evan have been friends since Violet was 3 weeks old and Evan was 4 months old.


People have mistaken them for siblings because they act so much like siblings. Playing, fighting, and, well, the talking on the phone is something I wasn't expecting till much later.

(from an actual conversation)
"Evan! Are you finished from Peru?!"
"Yup. Do you want to come play construction in my dirt?"

Ah, friends. I'm so glad we know Dorothy and her crew.

Toddlerhood

It's official. Stella is no longer a baby. She is a strong-willed, independent toddler with a mind that is definitely all her own.

It all started before dinner one night. She spotted her helmet in the mudroom and demanded it in her wordless-yet-unmistakable way, complete with head patting. So she wore her helmet to dinner (egg rolls dipped in ketchup, though she was just as partial to the fantastic ginger dipping sauce that was sooo easy to make).


And after dinner she watched a little Old School Sesame Street in the helmet.


Breakfast the next morning? You've got the idea.

This is her absolute favorite outfit. In fact, she might also forgo the diaper if I let her.


Playing in the yard with Mama. Be sure to notice the stompin' boots she also insists on. Not quite baby Docs, but seriously close.


Riding her quadricycle in the kitchen. That's a tiny red bowl of frozen chickpeas she's carrying around with her to snack on.

Sadly when we had to get in the car to pick Violet up from school her mean old Mama wouldn't let her wear her helmet in the car. (Isn't there such a thing as being too safe?)


But it all turned out okay, because all she had to do was screech for her helmet when we get to school, and her mean old mama suddenly relented.


We took Violet to OT and Speech, and Stella had fun on her favorite toy. Since I won't let her near our dilapidated stairs at home, Stella thinks this is a blast.


And not that it has anything to do with her helmet: Here is Stella talking to her friend Molly. We see Molly every week while we wait for Violet and she and Stella have gotten to be kind of chummy. And it's very interesting because Molly does not talk at all. In fact, she makes noises that could very well be scary to a toddler. And Stella only has a couple words, but Molly wouldn't really care even if she had more. Molly's aide, Kathleen, has told me that Molly generally doesn't like small children, but slowly over the winter Molly has gotten used to Stella. Now she generally sits on the floor with Stella (and Kathleen and I!) while she waits.

And what I love best is the kindness and empathy that is already blossoming in Stella's personality. She never goes too fast with Molly, she is never loud or aggressive. Maybe she needs time to get reaquainted every week as well. But it is an amazing and wonderful thing to see. Kathleen once told me Stella could be an ambassador when she grew up. Because she is so incredibly engaging and utterly open. I just love that she and Molly are friends.

Pals

Apparently they have something going that I'm not in on. Stella brought Waifer's dish out to the middle room today and threw handfuls of food out for him to eat. And even more amazing, he actually ate it. Come to think of it, Stella is the one who discovered that Waifer likes his dry food wet and mushy these days. She kept putting his dry food into his water, and he kept eating it up. We eventually had a taste test against the dry kibble and Waifer was clear about his preference for mush. I'm glad they're becoming buds, though.

Fences make for good...family?

Waifer has never been fond of Violet. He has slowly come to a grudging acceptance of her, but you never would have seen anything like this between them. Not even with a fence between them.


And when Waifer walked away...

And a couple more - just because they're so darn cute.

Two big milestones

I don't have much to say about this. I think the pictures tell it all. This is Violet's first bike, and in moving up to a bike, she has abandoned her trike to Stella. Needless to say, they are both thrilled. And please take note of how immensely cool Violet's bike truly is. All we added were the tassels and the training wheels. And the license plate, of course.


Violet helped Stella with her seatbelt. She is quite the adoring big sister most of the time.


Isn't this totally the picture of childhood?


Stella was happiest when she was going really, really fast (as was Violet). It was just hard to get a picture of them in their rapture. Here's one of Stella.


And here's one of Violet. Zoomed in and cropped with everything I've got.


This picture is notable in that it shows off one of Stella's new talents: pointing. Jason had finally caught up with Violet and Stella was pointing to them.


And I had to make sure you got a really good look at Stella's boots. She adores them, but they don't stay on very well. This was taken after her ride and she was a trifle exhausted if you can't tell.