May 2018

At the very end of April, our California cousins came to visit to celebrate Aunt Mary's 93rd birthday, and then Mona and Carlos arrived after they left. Starting off with a bang, May has been a full and happy month. Helen is speaking in sentences now, telling us "Helen hiccup!" "More cookie now" "Samantha night-night" "No Daddy working now" and many more exciting things. She is in a bit of a sports-announcer stage, so when she's home with me and I'm doing things around the house she offers a running commentary on what I'm doing, what got wet, where the water went, whether or not the oven is hot, etc. It's pretty charming. Samantha and Marcus are doing great, and T-ball and baseball, respectively, have been the themes for this month. Robert's mother Judy came out for a long-weekend visit around Mother's Day, which was nice, and we've managed to stay busy all around.

We enjoyed visiting with the cousins:

Samantha went to Naveen's rock-climbing birthday party:

Marcus turned 9 and 3/4, so we rigged up a brick wall (curtain) for him to walk through in the morning, and the owl post brought him post cards from family and friends:

Samantha Grace "Michael" had a jungle scene (mixed media) in an art exhibit at a local community center:

Ice cream, legos, puddles, subway music installments, playgrounds, and bikes--not all at the same time--provided some low-key moments of joy:

Spring finally arrived!

Helen had her last day at her first baby school (daycare)--we will miss Mrs. Ortiz, Lydia (Yiddya), Louisa (Wheeza), Benny (Bennn), Jules, and all her other friends, but hope to see the babies around the neighborhood. Meanwhile Helen will be home with me this summer, then start at the Center where Marcus and Samantha went in September and stay there until kindergarten. This was her last day--sad to say goodbye!

The school orchestra had an open rehearsal day, and Helen has open rehearsals at least once a week in the playroom (that's her cello, in case you're wondering). Also, if you ever wondered how to get a cellist lugging their instrument around the streets of Boston to stop, turn around, and break into the biggest smile ever, just be carrying a two-year-old who yells "CELLO!" with obvious excitement at the sight of them.

Girl Scouts continues, including learning more about the Girl Scout Law and getting some fun swag for selling cookies:

Helen manages to keep busy and stay cute:

T ball has practices on Thursday nights and games on Saturdays, plus some fun playtime after the games:

Helen and I tried out a Tinkergarten class ("nature lite," as I came to think of it):

The boy up the block got a bird he named Mango, and he walks it outside once a day, so we often get to interact with it. Also, Helen loves to eat mangoes (the fruit) and will yell "MAY-MO!" at the top of her lungs when she either sees the fruit or (now) sees this bird.

We had a beautiful day for Wake Up the Earth, the 40th anniversary of the festival and the 15th that we've been to. The musical area, the cardboard slide, the parade, the Indian food, the yarn craft booth, tree-climbing, and Marcus's opportunity to demonstrate silk-climbing at the circus area were all highlights. Of course, running into everyone we know was the real highlight--the kids found friends they knew from karate, from church, from woodworking classes, and we chatted with a steady stream of parents we know as well, and just enjoyed the sunshine.

Sarah and Sean had a May the Fourth (be with you) party a couple days late. Helen used a decoy controller quite intently and the bigger kids, including Roman and Garrison, played Lego Star Wars in two different rooms. Helen is fascinated with Evie (now just 10 days shy of 6 months old) as long as somone else is holding her, and often asks for Evie (she enunciates her name perfectly) and "Dawn" (Sean, not so perfectly enunciated), and then, as an afterthought "Evie mommy" (Sarah, but why even bother learning her name, really?). What Helen doesn't like is when I hold Evie--she starts screaming "No! Mine mommy! Mine mommy! Mommy up! Mommy sling! Mommy Helen sling now!" At right below is the happiest Helen ever was when I touched Evie in her presence: I thought I'd try once Helen was already up in the sling, and it definitely made a difference--see how pleased she looks?

We enjoyed Judy's visit--her friend Nancy came over for dinner and some one-on-two Connect Four, she connected briefly with Sarah and Evie, and we even got to see Stuart Little at the Wheelock Family Theatre on Mother's Day afternoon.

The highlight of Mother's Day weekend was Duckling Day on the Common and the parade over into the Garden. Helen utterly refused to wear her duck body, but she wore her hat and feet a lot longer than anyone had expected, and Samantha received many compliments on her sparkly ducky outfit. The magician, swag bags, and games were great, though the chilly, drizzly weather was not ideal.