wingaersheek

We went to Wingaersheek Beach today, with Marte and Yair (J. worked, poor guy, having taken most of the past 3 days off). We had never been there before but had heard lots of good things. It was sunny and relatively warm (ca. 50 F) and after a series of cold rainy (or at least overcast) days, with a lot of indoor time, we were all itching to be outdoors.

It was low tide, and there was a big stretch of hard wet sand to run on



with funky wavy patterns in some of it.



The flat sand was good for writing on.



There were lots of big rocks to climb



and jump between



and jump off



with lots of tide pools to explore around and between the rocks.

Sam had a blast.



He fell asleep for most of the ride home (about an hour), and when he woke up, he said, "I really loved the beach. My favorite part was all the rocks."

The Bean slept the whole time, snug in a thick fleece bunting inside the ergo carrier. She woke up when we got back to the car, nursed, and promptly fell back to sleep for the car ride home.

In short: everything I'd hoped for. We have to go back soon with J.

recent pics

First, two of Beanie, since there haven't been any for a little while:



Thanksgiving:



And then Sam, on Thanksgiving:



Gratuitous pretty salad photo:



And from a playdate a couple weekends ago (with his piano lesson buddies, formerly preschool buddies). They were mysteriously quiet and occupied, with regular forays into the dining and living rooms from Sam's bedroom, for a long time, giggling and announcing that they were "stealers":

nanny

We have a new nanny! She is warm and loving and smart and experienced and chatty, and I think she will be great. She started this week with just a couple of mornings, and I'm going to work from home for most of next week to ease the transition. I still don't feel entirely ready to go back to work full-time, but having had 3 months of paid leave is more than most people get in this country, so I'm grateful to have had that. And I'm ready to start thinking and working again... I just wish I could do it for, say, 25 or 30 hours/week. I have enjoyed spending time with Sam after school, and getting a few projects done around the house that there won't be time for once I'm in the midst of analyzing data and designing stimuli and writing papers and coordinating research assistants. I'm still planning to duck out of work a couple hours early one day a week to do something special with Sam, and to work from home one morning a week to get a little solo time with Frida, so we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime Frida is grudgingly getting used to taking bottles (she's had about one a week from J., but has never been too thrilled about them) and going to sleep some way other than nursing.

F. and S.'s Grandma and Grandpa are arriving tomorrow morning to spend Thanksgiving in town (Aunt Sara and Uncle Dan are hosting); Aunt Liz is arriving tomorrow night. We're excited to see them! And I'm ready to start the winter holiday season... it gets dark shortly after 4 already, and I'm having a hard time facing the fact that the days will be getting shorter for another month before they start getting longer again. So being reminded, first, of gratitude, is a good way to head into the season.

Another email quote from Karla (Sam's babysitter)-- they have been spending a lot of afternoons in the Natural History Museum, when it's too dark or cold or rainy to hang out outside: When we grow up, Sam's going to be a paleontologist, and I'm going to be a lepidopterist/singer. We're going to go to conferences and he's going to present the dinosaur bones he's dug up; I get to sing about them. ("T-Reeeexxxx") Kids would be allowed into the conferences, but not dogs. The dogs may confuse the dinosaur bones with chew toys, and that's not good. Sam is learning to pronounce lepidopterist, slowly but surely :)

more re. Karla and veterans' day

Karla told me that Sam was very impressed with her hairstyle when she watched him this past Wednesday (bun/hairband combo); he said he likes to be able to see her face. Apparently he said: "I think your hair looks different because it's a holiday. Did you do it for today's holiday?"

veterans

according to Sam, veterans are "when you get in a fight, and you don't die."

I have no idea where he got this, and in a sense it's not incorrect, so for now I have let it be.

childcare

Sam's awesome babysitter Karla sent me this picture of them from the other afternoon:

her caption: "three monsters doing what monsters do best: making scary faces at the camera"
She picks him up two afternoons a week so I can run longer errands, get some work done, and/or just not subject Frida to the car (though she's getting a bit better about that, and only screams 25-ish % of the time). Sam adores her; she is one of few adults, and I think the only non-teacher, non-family-member, for whom he's performed the entire "peanut butter and jelly" song, enthusiastically, all 3 verses. (I'm hoping to videotape this soon, so stay tuned...)

We're beginning the process of interviewing potential nannies for Frida. I hope I can find someone as good as Karla... but she's a full-time undergrad and isn't looking for a full-time childcare position, sadly for us.

Omi was here most of last week... and so the basement is nearly tidy (other than the pile of stuff to get rid of; Craig's List seems to be chipping away at that, though) and the filing in the study is all caught up, and as always after her visits the house and garden look better all around. Most of the leaves are off the trees, except the Japanese maple outside the study windows... which is consequently getting extra light for its gorgeous red leaves to glow in.

I keep trying to get a picture of Frida's supersweet crinkly-eyed smile, but this is the closest I've come so far:

writing and laughing

Sam is writing. This afternoon he wrote this and showed it to me with the proudest smile, then asked if he spelled it right. This is always a tricky question, because sometimes he gets very upset if he's wrong. I told him it was right for "shoo, fly" and close for the kind of shoe that you wear, then told him that was spelled s-h-o-e. He filed this information but then apparently forgot it and illustrated the shoo (those are laces, by the way, viewed from the side so you just see them as dots):



Then this evening he was working intently on something while Omi and I were making dinner. This is what he came up with (the masking taped used to correct errors):



(in case you are puzzled: "I wish I had a dog.")

Again he asked if it was right. I said it was fantastic and a great sentence and very good writing, and that he was just missing an A and a D. He then tried again... and again... and again... and kept getting stuck on various bits, especially the repeated "A-D-A-D" (which makes sense as a place to get stuck). He was ENORMOUSLY frustrated. There were tears. He refused all gentle suggestions (e.g. to just squeeze a letter in between). He finally, with a bit of help from Omi, got it. And was enormously proud.



So, Sam is a perfectionist. This is related to him not wanting to draw for much of the past year because he couldn't make things come out "right". And I'm torn: I don't ever point out spelling errors unless he asks, but when he specifically asks if it's right? should I lie? I feel like I shouldn't, but pitching the tone of the feedback is tricky.

Frida-wise: she laughed for the first time last night when J. was nuzzling her belly alternating with saying an exaggerated "hi!!". So, like a superstitious pigeon, J. kept nuzzling and calling "hi!!" for the next 15 minutes, during which she "heh heh'd" at random intervals until it wore out (and he kept going for another several minutes of extinction). I'll try to post some video soon...