Fall continues in all her glory here in Berkeley. As does Lilit while she gnaws on dried mango, aka the Bay Area's candy.
Leeor and I finally decided Avi's diet of pasta, bread and cheese needed some greener additions. Aside from Superfood. So far we've made zucchini bread and had him choose between broccoli and carrots as his
veg du jour with his pasta.
I think it'll turn out okay.
I haven't mentioned lately how much I love my Monday mornings with Lulu. She asked to go the "castle parque," and we had a nice chat while we sat side by side in the sunshine about our time together. Lulu has become quite talkative and astute lately.
We were talking about names; eg, she is Lilit, but calls herself Lulu (let's be clear; out of her mouth, it sounds like "Wee-weet" and "Wu-wu"). She said something about her name being inside of her and I had one of those did-my-kid-just-say-something-profound? moments and practically punched Leeor in the arm for recognition. She repeated herself, "My name is inside me, me!" as she pointed to her chest.
She also likes to pose for photos, which is nice for us parental types. Lulu behind the wheel at the castle parque.
Then we picked up Avi from school and ran into a mama who was in a pinch for afternoon childcare; I told her to just drop off her boys. It's great to feel expansive like that sometimes. It was a treat to play with these brothers, especially because Mikeyah is now in kindergarten and Avi doesn't get to play with them together like he used to. They made a Sukkah in the backyard.
At one point I was doing "airplane" for all 3 of them, which dissolved quickly into a dogpile and I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Kids are so freaking awesome and fun!
Their sukkah was pretty sweet, too.
The boys had their own snacks thoughtfully provided by mama Ora, but I offered them dried mango anyway, and the eldest inquired, "Is it organic and kosher?"
Avi had the time of his life while Lilit snoozed away inside.
Tomorrow is Kol Nidrei, the first night of Yom Kippur. Things are suddenly flowing around here and it feels timely. It's a new year, a beautiful, extremely full fall season. Next week is October already and there's a lot going on.
I am teaching pre-natal yoga at the downtown Y and loving it! Suddenly I want to take care of all pregnant women; I think it's partly a way to satisfy my own wish to have more babies because I just don't think I'm up for it. I love to nurture mamas to be, though; there isn't enough nurturing.
And every time I take care of other kids, I feel so wonderfully purposeful. It's just so fun to be wholly present with these vibrant, developing little people.
Our two are blossoming. Avi is so skinny and hungry all the time; he is growing and changing rapidly. He informed me that he "reads quietly to himself" a lot; that he didn't always need me to read him books. His second cold of the new school year has him coughing at night and finding his way to our bed, where he snuggles in deep and whacks my cheek for a few hours. I complain in the morning about being tired but there's a part of me that truly doesn't mind.
Lilit is just so delicious. I love her syntax and diction, the way she emphasizes certain syllables (I washed my hands ALL-red-dee!) in true toddler exuberance. She's fun and easy until she rears up her 2 yo dogma and then yells and screams. But I realized how much more time I spent with Avi at this age, especially attending to his feelings. We were in Monterey over the weekend with a quick trip to Santa Inez for my nephew Andrew's baptism, and I got to hold my other newborn nephew, Kai. Sweet Lilit was so jealous!
We talked about it today. She mentioned that I was holding Kai and we talked about how it was kind of hard for her. It's during these moments of true intimacy with the kids that I feel good in this parenting journey. The house is a mess, we missed a Fiona Apple concert earlier this month (seriously, are we that disorganized?), but the kids seems are alright. And we are evolving, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment