Black and Bluegrass

Hank’s back from a weekender with the grandparents. I certainly missed his enthusiastic stomping and hilarious commentary. But man was it peaceful around here this weekend. Felt a little guilty about how much I was enjoying it.

He’s a sweet kid--smart (of course) and funny, but a little pesky these days. He’s been throwing a lot of four-year-old attitude my way lately (I’m still of in disbelief that my firstborn is already four) giving me plenty of lip and instructions on how to conduct my life. And spending a lot of time in his room (smacking little sis around, not listening to mama etc). He’s always had kind of a Dennis the Menace thing going on, into everything with a nose for trouble.

He’s a Leo (Mick Jagger’s birthday—God help us) loves attention and is a bit of a show off. It seems like in the past few months, he’s gone from a little kid to a full on scrappy little boy. We’ve been to a couple of gatherings recently at which there were some boys in the 6-8 year old range. He had a blast and seemed to keep right up with them. He requested a light saber for his birthday and told me he’s looking forward to watching Star Wars next year (he’s determined that 5 is the appropriate age for that material).

Summer reading list includes a bunch of Richard Scarry books (including a 1970 first edition belonging to the old mama), Milne’s (as opposed to Disney’s) Winnie the Pooh and the Railway Series (where all the Thomas merchandise originated). We’ve sort of entered the dinosaur phase but it hasn’t yet become an obsession.

Lately I’ve been letting him watch one or two videos a day (Bob the Builder, Charlie and Lola, Sesame Street). Still no commercial television tho (easy to manage since we don’t have any reception). Anyway for the most part, he’s happiest at the playground running around and hollering. Got quite a shiner this morning falling off a piece of equipment. He was tough about the whole thing. He can be as whiny as the next kid but in the face of adversity, he knows how to suck it up. Kind of like his dad now that I think about it….

Coco and I had a nice, tranquil weekend (with Hank on his road trip and big daddy away working in another state). She is, for the most part, an absolute pleasure, with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her lovely mouth. She’s also 20 months old: curious, demanding and exhausting. I’m always ready to spend a few hours out of her presence when naptime rolls around. And to be honest bedtime never seems to come to soon either. But in between, it’s a pretty good time.

For one thing, the kid has an amazing sense of humor. She always laughs right on cue. Our astrologer friend Colette (one of her namesakes) did her chart at birth and said she was destined for great things. I can believe it. She’s like some kind of Amazon princess: big, beautiful and brilliant. Some four-year-old twins were visiting us the other day, lovely little wispy girls. They had a few inches on her in height but I swear she weighed more than either of them (she’s not a fatty by the way—just healthy). She’s a joyful little thing who’s rarely been out of her mama’s sphere (I’m not necessarily sure that that’s a good thing but it seems to be working in her case).

She’s perfectly happy playing with trains, trucks and bulldozers, but I had to smile when I observed her pretend-feeding her doll the other day. I had heard about, but never experienced, that kind of toddler behavior. (Hank still sleeps with a grubby little lamb he’s had since birth but he’s never fed it.) Anyway, it was pretty damn cute.

When Coco was hanging out in my uterus, I was pretty positive she was going to be a girl, and I was a little apprehensive. The prospect of raising a girl is intimidating for a woman like me, overly conscious of my own inadequacy. But must admit, I’m loving the XX experience. I took her to one of my favorite country fairs on Sunday and she sat quietly and enjoyed some bluegrass with me. (Henry could never be counted to hold still for even ten seconds at this kind of event). It was a lovely breezy late August day. The music was uplifting and her smiles were radiant.
Bliss. Then we had barbecue.