Why It's Nice to Be the Youngest

We're looking forward to a visit from Grandma in a couple of days, and are waiting as eagerly as in this picture.

So, today I was noticing some of the very nice things for Owen about being the youngest child in our family.

1. Starting school will not be nearly as mysterious as it has been for Sam. Even Owen understands what the bell means. In the morning, the boys play on the playground. When the school bell rings, Owen stops and calls "Time for cool!" and runs to where Sam waits in line for his teacher.
2. He has more than just annoyed old Mom to help him along. Walking home from school, Owen stopped a few times (normal) and laid down on the sidewalk to sob (not normal). My strategy is to sit and wait for him. If I go back to get him, it's a game that never ends. Today Sam waited with me for a minute, then walked back to Owen to pick him up and hold his hand. Cute, cute, cute!
3. Learning by osmosis. I don't think I've tried to teach Owen colors and shapes, but he knows them because I talk about them with Jude and Sam. What a great way to learn stuff.

Thank you to my older siblings for doing all these nice things for me.

Oldish Photos

Ben finally downloaded pictures from his cell phone to my computer. There are equal parts cool pics of the boys and (to me) pointless pics from shows he's seen. How many fuzzy pictures of a stranger playing guitar do you need?

Rainy day on vacation

His pirate future is so bright...

Check out Jude's sunglasses. He almost always wears them like that.

Food Commentary

Sam has been very enthusiastic about my cooking this week. On Monday night I made pancakes, one of his favorite meals. He left the table after dinner and came back a few minutes later announcing that he had a song to perform. He sang for me about how much he loves pancakes and thank you for making them. It was awesome.

Another night, I made a meal about which he is considerably more skeptical: sweet potato quesadillas. It's pretty kid-friendly -- grated sweet potatoes sauteed with onions, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt & pepper, then baked inside tortillas with some cheese. Sam always thinks he will not like them, and then takes a bite and discovers he does like them. Before dinner, he was complaining about the menu and I told him about the conversion I'd witnessed with this meal in the past.

Dinnertime comes. Faced with a quesadilla, Sam takes one bite. He smiles. "I thought this was going to be yucky, then I took a bite and SURPRISE! Yummy!"

On Pet Ownership

Sam has been talking quite a bit about wanting a pet. Most of the time he wants a dog, which we will never have because 1) I don't want any more bodily waste clean-up responsibilities than I already have and 2) Ben is allergic. I always cite reason #2 as the explanation for not getting a dog (sorry, Ben). Sam is a creative little person, and designed a plan to accommodate everyone's needs: "I know! When Dad is dead, then I will get a dog." I thought this was funny and kind of smart, but Ben was not so zen when Sam greeted him at the door with this idea.

On vacation Sam befriended a ladybug who like crawling on his hands and arms (above). He named it Sweetie. They bonded for a quite a while and Sam asked if he could keep it for a pet. I think we agreed, though we predicted the ladybug would die soon if we put it in a container for keeping. Sweetie is still living free on Lake Superior.

What They Say

• Jude has graduated to underwear and is doing a great job learning to use the bathroom. He is good at anticipating when he needs to go, and I told him I was very proud that he was doing such a good job listening to his body. He repeated this to Ben later: "I'm doing a good job listening to my bottom!"
• We've entered a phase of enthusiastic knock-knock joke telling. None of the boys understands how to tell one that makes sense to a grown-up, but they do crack themselves up. The primary formula is "stinky" + any other word. The guaranteed successful punchline is "stinky eyeballs." Even Owen tells that one. At dinner, however, I do not allow use of the word stinky. It just doesn't go well with food. It's quite a challenge to come up with a different funny line. They will name everything on the table in an effort to come up with something funny: Knock, knock. Who's there? Juice. Juice who? Juice toast. And rice. In my cup. Ha ha!

Sam's First Day

School started two weeks ago, and I think Sam is starting to warm up to it. A new teacher, being at school all day -- it's a lot of change for a little guy. Here he is on the first day, pulling Jude and Owen in the wagon. Sometimes he asks to ride in the wagon, but an incredulous "I don't think kindergarteners ride in wagons!" usually takes care of it. It's fun to see how proud he is to be big.

Adoption Nightmare

Usually I strive for sweet and charming on this blog, but this essay by an adoptive mom who decided to terminate her son's adoption is heart-wrenching.

There was a time when I had nightmares about having to relinquish my children. I think I was identifying with the difficulty our sons' birthparents faced in making a decision that strikes me as both impossible and profoundly loving.

I am thankful that I have never been in the crisis that the author faced, but I can imagine it, it makes me furious, and I sympathize.

North Shore

We had a great vacation with Ben's family at the end of August. We spent a week together on Lake Superior, just north of Duluth. These photos are from our day in Duluth, where we saw big ships and trains, which was very exciting. We got to see an Army Corps of Engineers crane adding boulders to the breakwater, and then the tugboats came out to push the crane-bearing-barge back through the canal. Owen was more interested in jumping off a small rock a few dozen times (above).

Dread Pirates Squires

Pirate Jude (scary)

Pirate Jude (friendly)


Pirate Sam

School Starts

My computer is in the shop, so I can't get to all the great pictures I want to post of our vacation (awesome! relaxing!) on Lake Superior with Ben's family, or Sam's first-day-of-kindergarten pictures. Soon, I hope.

Sam seems very pleased with school. He needs a LOT of time to think before he tells about things, so we've heard only a little. We can usually find out what he ate for lunch and that he played on the playground. Last night he made a point of telling train-lover Owen about a train book he'd read at school. It was very sweet.

Jude, Owen and I visited a new playground in our neighborhood on Wed. It's pretty cool, with different play equipment than we've seen elsewhere. Jude is obsessed with this playground. Ben has taken them for the third morning in a row today.

Last weekend, Sam asked me, "Why does the globe float in space?" (It sounded like: "Why does the gwobe fwoat in pace?" Took me a few tries to translate correctly.) I think Interplanet Janet of Schoolhouse Rock fame may have inspired this fascinating line of inquiry. I like Janet.