Change is in the air

Do you want to see something that makes me smile?

You can either watch with sound, if you're in the mood for some remixed dance number, or you can watch on mute. Either way, Luca steals the show.

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

I heart this graphic.

Fort Mia

Tents, playhouses, forts....they are all the rage here in the "Pellygreenoooos" house (as Mia calls us). Here she is telling me to bring snacks and drinks "quick!".

God I wish I had a personal servant to cater to my every need as well.

I'm accepting applications.

Bilingual Snowmen

Meet Uno and Dos. Mia spent the afternoon building snowmen. She named the big one, Uno, and the little one, Dos.

Luca spent his day crawling from one dangerous object to the next.

Hot chocolate was had, a few head bonks too, and now a major clean up is in order. V and I spent the whole day playing and the house looks like a crew of three year olds just swept through, not just one.

Happy week to all.

I would so ace preschool

V said I'll probably get an A on the Star of the Week poster I created for Mia's preschool. I took it a bit too seriously. She's my first. What can I say?

Friends

They do this a lot, lay side by side and communicate in some bizarre language that I don't know. He is mesmerized by her, and she is enchanted with him. They are beginning to create a relationship and it's amazing to watch. Right now, she is the protector. She proudly puts her arm around him and mimics his position, just like the photo. She shows him things and tells him stories. (Brace yourself Luca, the talking NEVER stops.) I'm waiting for the day when they can flip in and out of that protector role. I'm excited for the day when he's big enough to put his arm around her, help her.

To you Luca and Mia.....cherish one another. Take care of each other. Support each other. You are the keepers of each other's memories, the eyes for each other, as well as the ears. You are each other's first true friend. Be loyal to that.

Love

I love hats on babies. Especially on this baby.

The other night, Luca woke up at 3:30 in the morning and was crying. V and I stared at each other in the dark of our room and contemplated getting him. The conversation went something like this...

"He needs to learn to put himself back to sleep."

"Yes, I know. But what if he's wet? What if he's cold? I wouldn't expect you to put yourself back to sleep in wet clothes."

"He's probably not wet. I think he's just so used to you going in to rescue him. Let him cry a bit."

The second hand ticked by and V and I stared at the ceiling. I knew Luca was wet but I didn't say anything. We continued to lay there, quietly anticipating quiet. We should have been using the time to discuss the things that we never really have time to discuss. Weighty issues. Like whether or not we should go whole hog and embrace vegetarianism openly (excuse the hog reference, I couldn't help it.) We don't really eat meat at home but we haven't begun to explore the option beyond our house, beyond our own conversations. I would do it. But would V? We could have used the time to discuss the real reason we would consider private schools. Is it religion? Is it because it is what we know? Is it because we somehow fear that our children will be like everyone else if they don't have an education that somehow makes them unique? I think I know what I believe. But what does V believe? We could have discussed our jobs - what's going well, what we would change. We were silent though, watching the clock. It was the dead of night and it somehow felt odd to embark on real conversation.

V finally broke and went to fetch our hollering baby. He was gone for a bit so I pulled myself out of bed and walked the well worn path, following the dim light coming from Luca's room. Both V and Luca were on the floor, shadows of themselves, illuminated only by a nightlight. Luca was naked and V was too tired to wrangle him into a dry set of pajamas (I knew I was right.)

Luca was in the crawl position and smiled when he saw me enter the room. I squatted down next to him and picked him up. Naked and warm. He curled into me, the way he does, and V smiled.

"God he's a cute kid" V said.

"Yeah."

The three of us sat there, in the middle of the night, on the floor just for a few minutes. I feel like a lot was exchanged between V and me in that space though. I learned more than I would have had I pursued actual conversation earlier in our bed, when we were waiting for some kind of magical shift to occur in Luca's room, waiting for noisy cries to turn into silent slumber.

While I still don't know if V is ready, or even willing, to try being openly vegetarian or if he fears raising our children differently from the way we were raised in regards to their education, I do know one thing from our quiet non conversation at 3:30 a.m.

We're on the same page. There may be some differences. Some meaty ones. Some bookish ones. But, all in all, he and I are so in sync with what's important.

I took over and put the warm pjs on and Luca fell promptly back to sleep.

As did we.