Baby's first drag ball!

How's my hair? And from this side? Is it OK? But I'm still not sure about the overalls. I'm just not sure...

The merry trio

Adorable photos by Rebecca of our girls in the backyard on a recent summer night in Medford. Scott had it absolutely right when he said that Bethiah looks just like a young Debbie Harry in that last picture.

Overheard: The New Mother Cous-Cous

See if you can spot the contemporary twist in this recitation from Audrey:

"Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman! Be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his coffee to make my bread!"

And here, she takes the back-talk to a new level. Unfortunately, her logic is pretty sound:

Me: Audrey, I didn't want to take the sippy cup from you but you didn't give me a choice because you were using it to water the rug with milk.

Audrey: Yes I DID give you a choice! If you don't want to take it from me then DON'T!!!!

Did you hear that? That was me, heaving a big, deep sigh.

Calvin at table

Don't try to feed this kid without giving him a spoon of his own, or he will take the spoon you're trying to use, and beat you about the head and shoulders with it. He will do it his way. Or. No. Way. At. All.

Doesn't he stun you with this darling look? He could be a very successful pick-pocket: zap them with the big blue eyes, then grab the wallet! Crawl away!

A day of birthday parties

This Sunday we went to not one but TWO birthday parties-- a veritable feast of frosting. The evening found us celebrating around the bouncy house with our good friends in Medford. Happy 3rd Birthday, Bethiah! Audrey now reminds me daily that her birthday is "coming up soon."

The artist at work

Isn't it a fine moment in everyone's life when we learn to give a really big, frozen smile to the camera? I won't say this smile is a fake-- no, it's real, but it's also a response to having her picture taken and it makes her look so much older to me.

The fading days of summer...

The expression on Audrey's face has both the sweetness and the impishness of her at this very moment of summer, on the cusp of three.

Old Mother Couscous

Last night Audrey asked me if I would read her the Old Mother Couscous poems. Her catch-phrases of the week are, "Well, surely we can!" (cheerful response to "no" in any form) and "Well, if you say so." (grudging acquiescence to parental authority).

We’ve been reading a book about the management of the strong-willed preschooler, and as so often happens with books like this, we are evangelists of The Method, because we haven’t actually applied it for more than a day. In this case, the method is all about making “attending statements” instead of badgering your child with questions and directions. I will say that when I really stopped to pay attention to this, it did seem that I was constantly hectoring Audrey with my directions and queries, even when we were trying to play together. Attending statements are just observations, to make your child feel that you are really paying attention, and to emphasize your interest in what she does. Scott offers this helpful example:

WRONG WAY: Audrey, where are you going with that gun in your hand?

RIGHT WAY: Wow! It looks like you are walking around the house with a firearm. I wonder what you’ll do. You sure do seem to know how to use it!

Cruisin'

Calvin and I have our mother-son time first thing in the morning, which is all right with me especially on mornings like this one when he slept all the way through the night-- and by the way, "through the night" means 7-7, not this five hour nonsense that parenting books define. Who considers 5 hours a full night of sleep? Not I.

Calvin likes to get up around 5:30, about an hour and a half before his sister and his dad, so we come downstairs together and I sit on the living room floor attempting to read and drink lukewarm coffee while Calvin uses me for a climbing wall.

Last week we said he could crawl, and stand. Now, he will not remain seated. He's working on cruising now, the inching crab-walk supported by furniture, but he's still a little bit perplexed about the role that his feet are supposed to play. He holds on tight to the couch and looks down at his feet and you can see him thinking: Go. Go. GO!!!

More from Year of the Tadpole

Photos taken at Audrey's nursery school, with apologies to the unidentified children who appear here without their parents' permission. Lucky for me this blog has a readership of about three, so I'm unlikely to be sued.

And a' kick and a' kick and step-ball-change, slide, slide!

None of the other kids liked the Mardi Gras beads-- at least, I hope not because Audrey hogged all of them, every day.

Tuition payments will be reduced if your child shovels off the outdoor play area before class.

Ah, this picture makes me long for the first day of fleece vests in the fall!

Hide the electronics! Again!

How is that we baby-proofed our house once already but it seems to be full of the fragile and dangerous and delectably chewy, all over again?

And now watch this cool trick: