Two beginnings: to a new week and to a new month. May the rest of the days not follow the lead from this one!
(Beyond the porch: cold and wet)
Sparrow, aka the flying penguin, is completely indifferent to what's outside. He comes in the morning with happy expectations.
Breakfast first! Well, my breakfast. No, sorry Sparrow. I know your cousin started with oatmeal yesterday. You're still a couple of months away from that privilege.
How 'bout you wiggle and giggle on the carpet while I finish the oatmeal that you cannot have? (He is so agreeable!)
We play.
You could say that Sparrow eats books right up!
I wish I could offer you a walk, dear boy, but I can't. This October weather is keeping us all indoors.
But in the afternoon, we do have to go out. It's Snowdrop pickup time!
It really is cold outside.
Cold and stormy. And there are at least two people in the car who hate being out and about in storms. (No, not Sparrow: he is indifferent to thunder.) As we pull into the farmette driveway, I strike a deal: you run like crazy into the farmhouse, I'll bring in Sparrow, and at the end of the game, you can have a cookie plus an Olivia video!
She runs in with ears covered.
Cookies and videos behind us, Snowdrop takes charge of our play. In drawers filled with odd pieces of baby stuff, she finds an old cap that I once used for her when she was a babe visiting the farmhouse. She puts it over Sparrow's head. He looks like a pilot, don't you think?
Snowdrop plunges into her game: we are going to the planet Saturn! She is the chief astronaut, he is the engineer! (Here she is, steering the spaceship.)
(Wait, why is the engineer dissolving in a fit of giggles?)
Toward the end of our time together, Snowdrop always needs moments to herself, with her own plays and characters. I come by to check on her, but she reminds me -- grandma, I'm in the middle of a story.
Why is she in a summer dress? Well, her class had outdoor recess. While I sat here griping abut the weather, the kids were outside playing in the rain and a lot of them got wet and so what? There's always a spare set of clothes to be found.
(Beyond the porch: cold and wet)
Sparrow, aka the flying penguin, is completely indifferent to what's outside. He comes in the morning with happy expectations.
Breakfast first! Well, my breakfast. No, sorry Sparrow. I know your cousin started with oatmeal yesterday. You're still a couple of months away from that privilege.
How 'bout you wiggle and giggle on the carpet while I finish the oatmeal that you cannot have? (He is so agreeable!)
We play.
You could say that Sparrow eats books right up!
I wish I could offer you a walk, dear boy, but I can't. This October weather is keeping us all indoors.
But in the afternoon, we do have to go out. It's Snowdrop pickup time!
It really is cold outside.
Cold and stormy. And there are at least two people in the car who hate being out and about in storms. (No, not Sparrow: he is indifferent to thunder.) As we pull into the farmette driveway, I strike a deal: you run like crazy into the farmhouse, I'll bring in Sparrow, and at the end of the game, you can have a cookie plus an Olivia video!
She runs in with ears covered.
Cookies and videos behind us, Snowdrop takes charge of our play. In drawers filled with odd pieces of baby stuff, she finds an old cap that I once used for her when she was a babe visiting the farmhouse. She puts it over Sparrow's head. He looks like a pilot, don't you think?
Snowdrop plunges into her game: we are going to the planet Saturn! She is the chief astronaut, he is the engineer! (Here she is, steering the spaceship.)
(Wait, why is the engineer dissolving in a fit of giggles?)
Toward the end of our time together, Snowdrop always needs moments to herself, with her own plays and characters. I come by to check on her, but she reminds me -- grandma, I'm in the middle of a story.
Why is she in a summer dress? Well, her class had outdoor recess. While I sat here griping abut the weather, the kids were outside playing in the rain and a lot of them got wet and so what? There's always a spare set of clothes to be found.
