Tonight at dinner, Kai did something mildly hurtful to Nina. Nate talked about "do unto others as you would have done to you," or "treat others as you want to be treated," if you're not in a biblical frame of mind.
Kai said, "Elias sometimes says hurtful things." (He really does. I've witnessed it) "But really he only said one hurtful thing." (Nothing Elias could do (or Zane or Sam) could ever diminish Kai's love for him.)
I then reminded Kai of Mrs. Gardner's talk last week, when she wore a paper heart on her chest. She asked another pre-K teacher, "Do you like my cookies?" and Mrs. Pounds said, "No, not really." Mrs. Gardner crumpled that heart a little bit. Then Mrs. Gardner said, "Do you like my dress? I made it!" And Mrs. Pounds said, "No, not really." And she crumpled it more. When Mrs. Pounds said sorry, the heart straightened out as much as it could, but it was still a little crumply.
So after I reminded Kai of this metaphor, he said,
"Mom, my heart is REALLY, REALLY SMOOTH!"
It's hard to break this kid's spirit.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
A picture perfect day with Nina
Nina and I had a great day on Monday. It was a beautiful, breezy day and Nina wanted to take her friends on a picnic...to our backyard. She was fun, sweet, and giggly as you can see. She brought her friends, some wipes, some lunch, snowshoes, and a few toys. We loaded and unloaded several times. Then we went to the front yard and did her new favorite thing - she stands on the drainpipe, throws a flower or leaf in the water, then does a "trick" - puts her leg in the air, jumps, or does a curtsy.
Some things I don't want to forget about Nina:
how she has always loved to clip everything - carseats, highchairs
how she loves to tie things up - and be tied up (the other day at the pool, playing doctor with our pretend "tools", she said "You forgot to tie me up! Here's my box of ropes!"
how she says, "Guess what, mom? I love you." and hugs me tight
how she says "girl" "I'm a guuul."
how she talks whenever Kai is talking - so we hear her voice too
how she looks when she's walking into her school, so proud and happy to be holding the hands of her teachers
how she wants us to hold her hand as she's falling asleep
how she stands on her tippie-toes - "twinkle toes"
Monday, April 11, 2011
pastimes
During those rare moments where the kids are entertaining themselves, Nina can most often be found with glue and scissors and little pieces of paper. Kai is almost always at the keyboard, experimenting with sounds and trying to learn the Imperial March, CeLo Green, and Led Zepplin.
cousins
Tibo, Mambo and Matt came over to our shore saturday afternoon. At one point Kai raced inside to change his clothes that would match Tibo's. Tibo looks like little Sara in these pictures.
french quarter festival
Taking the kids to french quarter festival was actually not the smartest thing we've ever done. It was 90 degrees, crowded, and the kids were not digging it.
What may have made it worth it: the Orleans Brass Band (the only music we saw!), Nate's plate of chicken livers, greens and rice, crepes with strawberries and chocolate, the insectarium exhibit where we saw a live bird-eating tarantula, relatives of the toe biter-waterbug, assassin bugs, and a giant katydid.
We got home, put on our suits and raced over to Franco's for a dip in the pool. That place will save us this summer.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
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