Friendship, cooking, sleep, twins’ and big sister’s accomplishments, breath class benefits

This afternoon I posted, at his request, info on my friend’s wall letting friends know that he’s in jail. The response has warmed my heart. He has a lot of caring friends. Somehow we have to, as a society, learn to communicate better and more reliably with each other, to value asking for help as well as independence, to check in with each other, to speak about how we’re doing and what we need. Most human beings are not meant to live in isolation, whether in a crowd or in a cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We can’t save one another, but we can help each other.

Tonight I’ve been prepping for our mountain cabin trip by cooking. There is or soon will be roasted cauliflower in two varieties (olive oil & lime juice, olive oil & turmeric & paprika); sautéed chard and spinach with onions and apples; meatloaf; stew; steamed green beans. I think we’ll have enough food.

I shall be experimenting with both cameras and all lenses while on the mountain. Here come 5,389 photos of trees. Whee! Oh, and maybe a few people too. 🙂

Emily has gone down reasonably easily for two nights in a row now. Two nights ago it was our nanny C who accomplished it; tonight it was Ted. Here’s hoping/praying/deliriously yearning for/wishing with all our collective might that this will be a trend that continues for at least some time. please, please, please, please, please, please….

Joanna has started calling Emily, “Emmy”. My cute nodule explodes in delight whenever I hear her say that. She’s also able to climb the big stairs at the bottom of the slides at our local park now, and do the endless circle of delight going down the slide and up the stairs.

Content Note for what follows: I will be talking about potty training, for those of you who don’t wish to read about it.

Emily has begun to potty train herself. Ted has them both sit on the potties when they come down in the morning, and now they are both discovering that those little green plastic things in the bathroom are not only fun toys but have a function. And this afternoon before nap Emily said she wanted to go potty, so I took her diaper off for her. Then I went into the yellow room to see if Joanna wanted to too, only to find her fast asleep on the couch. I came back into the bathroom to find Emily in the middle of standing over the potty and pooping. It’s exciting, because she’s developing a new important skill pretty much on her own. I washed it out, and we both celebrated, grinning and giggling.

When Emily wants to go potty, have her diaper changed, or stall at bedtime, she says, “Poooopy! Messssy!”

Tomorrow is Hazel’s last morning of summer school. It has gone so well. All the older kids in her class are gentle and encouraging with her. They’ve been speaking Spanish longer than she has, and I think their example and the way they are with her has inspired her to be braver with it, to speak more, and understand more. I am very pleased with how she’s doing.

The breath class we took yesterday has helped me amazingly. I feel so much better, so much more like my regular self. I have energy back, positivity and hope. Tonight Ted and I will end our evening’s activities by meditating for 5 minutes together. And then, maybe just maybe, we’ll all sleep for a good chunk of the night.

Gardening, neighbors, kid bike, Spanish, Paleo-friendly dessert

The kids and I went outside to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine after nap. While they played I started pulling weeds, which I got down to in earnest once Ted was home to keep a steady eye on the small fry. We spent quite a while outside, talking with neighbors as they came by on their way home from work, going out for a run, or just to chat. I kept on plugging. Our teenaged neighbor came over and started weeding with me. By the time we all went inside to have dinner the front garden looked like an actual garden, as opposed to a weed farm with a few accidental roses.

The moment of hilarity came when we referred to the weed mound on the tree lawn as such and our neighbor, with a straight face said, “Really, those are weeds? But it looks so pretty!” Either he’s incredibly good at telling tall tales, or we have generous neighbors. I think it’s the latter. Nonetheless, Ted and I are looking forward to getting rid of it this weekend. We’re going to make a small mini-patio on that section of tree-lawn onto which we can put a picnic table for meals outdoors. And on the other side, which is currently hosting a cherry tree, very long grass, hidden sod-lumps and as-yet-unused pieces of flagstone, we’ll plant the two roses that are still languishing in their store pressed cardboard planters. We’ll get a few more annuals to fill in spaces that could use it, and a few more groundcover plants to speed the process. And I’m sure we’ll weed some more.

Hazel did a bit of weeding, and Emily wanted to dig, too. I think no matter what we wind up doing with our garden, there needs to be a place the kids can dig and play.

The last few days Emily has been trying hard to get Hazel’s (very heavy) bike upright. Tonight when the bike was lying on its side, Emily got up on the wheel and was standing there when I looked over at my neighbor’s gasp, perfectly balanced, grinning and giggling. She wants to ride. I think it might be time to get her a balance bike, even though she won’t be able to ride it properly yet (she’s so little!). The Skuut balance bike we had for Hazel (which is currently out on loan to friends) is so light that Emily could at least push it around without running the risk of seriously squashing herself. I think we’ll get another one, because of course, twins means two of everything! By the time Joanna’s ready to try too we’ll be getting the first one back, so it’ll all work out.

This afternoon, when I asked Hazel if she wanted more beets, she said, “Mas, por favor.” I think that’s the first instance that she’s used Spanish with me at home. It made me happy. I said, “Mas, por favor?” She happily corrected my pronunciation. I’m glad she’ll be doing a Spanish program this summer, even if she doesn’t get into the elementary school with the Spanish program in the fall. The longer she does it the longer it’ll remain in her brain.

After dinner tonight we put two pint containers of strawberries, a mango, and a can of coconut milk in the blender to make a dessert smoothie. It was inhaled by all five of us, with yum-sounds and giggles from every member of the family.