STUCK

ETUDE FOR GRANNY

In honor of her birthday, Roan has composed a little something for Granny Joss.

LULA'S BAUBLES

My friend Elizabeth is super - multi talented.  She has a full time job, a full time personal business, and she's mom to Charlie who I commonly refer to as the third twin since all the kids were due on the same day (mine and hers).  She's been busting her butt on her incredible jewelry collection this year and, like every mother I know can't seem to find the hours in the day to get everything done.  Somehow, however, she found time to be this thoughtful.  She sent me this note the other day:

I've named a new collection after little Lula - inspired by the little flower she was

Lula earrings

Lula headband

 
Lula is acquiring a brilliant collection of honoraries, no?

LULA'S BUBBLES

While Extreme Kids is saving the lions share of donations made in Lula's name for a future space, they couldn't resist buying something amazing on her behalf.  It's a sensory bubble tube, and the kids absolutely love it.  It's calming and gives off a lovely light and a gentle hum. It changes color and bubbles away like a teapot.  Lula would have totally loved it.

DIRT DON'T HURT

It's refreshing that in the controlled and concrete fields of NYC playgrounds one can still find dirt.  I took Roan to Underwood Park which is a huge three part playground rife with multitiered climbing frames and herds of swings. It's one of the best in the hood, but incredibly the choice spot of the day was a side patch of worn grass to which all the kids were drawn.

Diggers

They all worked in tandem with studied concentration for longer than I have ever seen with Roan before. The parents all stood around in amusement and horror at the extreme laundering we knew was in our futures.

Roan actually in the hole

As Sam said later, Roan looked like something out of a Walker Evans - Farm Security Administration portrait from the dust bowl.  Minus the robots.

SPRINGTIME

A glorious spring is already pushing it's way into summer in New York, which has led to the most incredible extended blossoming season in recent memory. The trees have been like this for weeks:

Fort Greene Park flora

Warmth leads to rebirth leads to renewal leads to new shoes leads to shopping.  I find myself perusing.   Perusing leads to things like this:

I have never been a huge shopper for the kids - I got so many hand-me-downs I really didn't need anything - but seeing a lovely dress that I might have bought for Lula somehow solidifies in very tangible terms how gone she is.  I so miss dressing her.  Apart from needing access to her g-tube nothing mitigated the fun of it.

Choo train pinafore

Buying clothes for Roan doesn't offset that one bit, partly because boys clothes tend to be so utilitarian or even downright frat boy-esque.  I have decided that I am going to do my best to channel a little of Lula's whimsical style into Roan's outfits, so I bought him aqua Thai fisherman's pants and gold sandals.  He digs it.

TA DA!

A spring in his step!

In honor of Spring Roan bought the love of his life (aka Ana) some flowers and insisted on carrying them home all by himself.

Here's to Spring: a new beginning.

TO DO TODAY

NON-SECULAR

We got hoodwinked in to going to church for Easter by my mother. I haven't been to a service in years and years but all that "free" babysitting had to catch up with me eventually and mom called in her chips for Easter.  Plus, who doesn't love an easter egg hunt?

Roan lasted approximately 4 minutes into the service before he became impossible, which was pretty much what we were hoping for.  Sam and I took him out to the bucolic garden for the rest of the service where he ran around and chatted with a homeless lady named Mary who was reading the paper on a bench.

 

Towards the end of the of the service my mom came out, rallied the egg hiding crew, and took Roan back in to the church.  She came out ten minutes later and casually said, "Well, Roan just had communion.  I don't know how that happened!"  She handed Roan his easter egg basket, and continued, "He just got handed a wafer and then stuck his hand in the wine and the priest said 'have him lick his fingers' and that was that!" Oy.  There is no such thing as free babysitting.  We moved on to egg hunting.

We had a lovely day but I think that's enough religion to last us for a while.

ZOOTOPIA

My mom and I took Roan to the Prospect Park Zoo this week. It's not very grand but it's perfect for a toddler. We fed sheep, ogled turtles, and stared down meerkats. Last time we were there Lula had a bonding moment with an alpaca so I went and said hi to them.

We stumbled on some sort of training session with the handlers who were herding two Cape Baron Geese down a path. Ethel and Roan took a distinct interest in each other.

LAUNDRY BLUES

Lest you think that we are training Roan to be on a chain gang in "O Brother Where Art Thou?", I will have you know that we have no idea how that got there. 

Video courtesy of Sam