"it's my fave'rit present i ever heard!"

it happened just as i expected: Little Owly woke up 3 years old and TA DA! the mantle is upon her. it's been a glorious day so far. no whining, no screaming, no sign of 2 anywhere. nothing but please & thank you from now on.

for a morning snack (after special birthday cereal) she ate oatmeal like it was the best thing she had ever tasted in her life. probably it was, since didn't eat anything yesterday.

the decision to have a family-only party this year turns out to have been inspired. Little and i were flattened monday and tuesday with a stomach virus and wouldn't have attended any party that wasn't within running distance of the lou. how glad i was to see the color back in her cheeks this morning.

Little requested a purple birthday and we'd been planning accordingly...until i got sick. bless him, Bim carried out my plans for decorating after i went to bed {fell in a heap on the bed, to be exact}. when i woke up with Wee in the morning, i saw the living room & thought it must be my birthday. he had cleaned up our sick-day mess and added several sweet touches.

tonight there will be purple cake and purple pancakes. but no eggs {maybe ever again}.

this girl is a tiger--her words. she gave me a very tender hug just now and informed me that we are both tigers. what a charming package of traits she has: she is a fighter and a lover. her teachers at pre-school say she is usually first on the scene when her friends are sad, offering drinks of water and hugs. she is the tallest and it's very sweet to watch her put her arm around another child's neck and put her face right in their face to give comfort.

she's no fool, neither. Bim and i sometimes threaten to pinch her buns if she doesn't hurry and put her underpants on. to preempt this she now presents her little bum to us, asking for a "soft, soft pinch." still better than wearing underpants, i guess.

it seems perverse in some way to ask a 3 year-old what she wants for her birthday {welcome to materialism, baby!} but then you get answers like, "purple" and remember that you are over-thinking again. this birthday is about saying, "sure!" as much as i possibly can, and just being there with her, untied from obligations to produce something. excuse me now, as i have a hot air balloon to ride in.

a few closing words from the Birthday Girl:

lclkxklkoadakdddsk;dkdsds;[sppddsopdsdpsssssspskkkfkkf,vmvvvvvmm vvmslshshhshhshsh

= "i love you to have your birthday."

Little's song

music overheard today:

"My birthday is Wednesday. But I said 'No, it's not.' But my Dad said my birthday is Wednesday. But NO, it's not!"

{proving that perception is not reality since 2006}

our day so far

dear allyn,

today you sang me an awesome potty song using only the lyrics, "pee pee" and "poop." later you stripped off all your clothes and used your underpants first as a hat and then wedged between your cheeks as a tail.

scissors across the wall. scissors across the room. scissors on the rug.

two hundred seventy-five times i have been asked for "kipper the dog watch" and 275 times i have said, "is it 5 o'clock yet?" but seriously, "IS IT FIVE O'CLOCK YET?!" i came THIS close to winding all the clocks ahead.

wailing, screaming, crying, flailing, repeating.

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

marker on the wall. marker on the box i need to return. marker on your body.

right now you're sitting buck naked at a barstool pouring salt into your palm, licking it, coughing, and pouring again. no girl of mine is going to develop a goiter.

i understand why my mom sometimes locked herself in the bathroom when we were naughty. she did it so that she wouldn't hurt us. and i'm grateful. and metaphorically, i'm writing this from the bathroom. please don't hurt Liv while i'm hiding out.

we did have fun at the library today and you did so many things that made me laugh. for the most part, Liv's naps are keeping us housebound.you are using the opportunity of close quarters to test each and every limit...basically doing your job. well done, you! and if anyone is reading this, i don't want you to feel sorry for me or for her. we are both getting exactly what we need.

guess what?! it's FIVE O'CLOCK right ... NOW!

if she doesn't learn another thing

at least she shares my love of tape. a joy and a bond forever.

reminds me of my second favorite New Yorker cartoon, by Sam Gross.

{here's my favorite}

and if tomorrow i'm an apple seller too

i don't need anything but you.

as of tonight the apples are officially out of our house and out of our lives. it's been an experience to remember & learn from. and i am so grateful to all of you who joined in the fun.

{we made a lot of applesauce}

{and apple pie}

{and made a large delivery to the Los Angeles food bank}

{and just snacked and snacked on those tasty buggers}

there is nothing like a bountiful harvest to lead into the thanksgiving season. and yet. i declare december the month of oranges.

the {relative} peace of wild things

i'm sorry, did you need something? i can't see you because of this giant pile of laundry.

this morning i attempted to break the cycle of laziness and gluttony that made me a less than average mom this week.
no, that's being kind. i was just a turd out there.

bim just replaced our burgled tv and we have made up for a summer without it in about two days.

i know i said a couple of posts back that halloween candy is wonderful and i stand by that. but it also slows me down considerable, and makes me stupid and squishy and sleepy. compounding the problem, Wee attempted to eat all the crayons in the house and i had to eat them myself before she could hurt herself.

a couple of weeks ago while suffering from a brief spasm of energy, i made this quick dress for Little out of fabric scraps and dishtowels. it still has a safety pin for a button and there is not now, nor will there ever be, a hem {so i guess there wasn't exactly a surfeit of energy}. she wore it asleep and awake for days and at no time during that standoff did a comb touch a hair of her head.

there have been words exchanged that i'm sure Little would like to take back. i'm sure i would {if i were her}.

which brings me to this morning. the heat seems to have broken, both literally and metaphorically. in celebration, i got up 15 minutes earlier to walk up our street alone before bim left for work. it's not ambitious, folks, but it's a start. {or a one-time thing i can look back on reverentially.} and the bomb in my brain reset to explode another day. we made it through breakfast, second breakfast, nap, second nap, a lull for self-loathing/reflection, lunch and then... {wait for it} i pulled it together and took the girls to the park. it was almost chilly. friends were there. she ran and ran and ran.

and that has made all the difference.

i hope you all have time to do a little thing that lifts you, be it ever so slightly, this week/end.
i'd love to hear about it.

threats & warnings

Little to me: "I'm gonna put you in the SKY and you're gonna SIT on a CLOUD!"

that'll teach me.

oft-heard phraseology: "I! DON'T! LIKE! THOSE! CHOICES!" & "Get out of my way!" & a personal favorite, "DON'T! PINCH! MY! BONO!"

that last one may have been legit. still, does anyone have any good recommendations for toddler charm school? i would pay money to see any old lady try to put white gloves on my miss. she is...how shall i put it? AWESOME.