Little Treasures

Tonight I had the pleasure of helping my six year old niece eat a lobster. We "shared" the lobster, but I think she ate a claw, part of the tail and a few of the legs. I didn't starve. At one point she handed me a piece of the tail, told me she didn't like it and asked if I would like it. I choose to ignore that it is very likely she put the piece of lobster in her mouth in the process of deciding she didn't like it.

I also had the pleasure of helping my grandmother who has Alzheimer's Disease work on a word puzzle. It is very much like helping a four-year-old with the same puzzle, but it is a joy to help her and to spend time with her. She has no idea who I am anymore, but to be able to joke with her about a misplaced line or make fun of a word makes it seem like, if only for a moment, that she is still my old grandma and that I am just her granddaughter.

...

Merry Christmas!!!!!

(And Happy Birthday, Andrea!)

I am home.

I am home. I am watching my family's two kittens battle each other. They are adorable.

My trip home was the longest ever and I tried to recount to details in an amusing manor, however each attempt has resulted in a boring description of a very long trip. It had fun moments (laughing with sisters, making stupid directional mistakes and making faces at my adorable niece) and not so much fun ones (trying to maneuver my rental car on not well plowed roads and ending up in a pile a snow on the side of the road without cell phone service). It all turned out well in the end.

My family has already celebrated the gift part of the Christmas season. My brother, his wife and their four children are already gone, off to visit with her family before heading home for the actual Christmas day. Now I have to visit people and enjoy sleeping in and playing with another of my nieces who will be here the whole time I am.

"My baby is bigger than you baby!" and other such silly things.

Yesterday while waiting in line at the Post Office with my little man bundled up in the stroller the lady in line behind me felt compelled to have a conversation with concerning H. She asked several of the usual questions, eventually asking how old he was. When hearing he was ten months old she remarked that her friend's baby was eleven months and was much larger.

These statements make me laugh. The H man is big enough, he's tall enough and he's quite advanced in some areas. Sure, he doesn't feel the need to clap and still doesn't see the point in saying "dada" when "mama" and his old friend the "raspberry" are perfectly dandy ways of communicating. This does not mean he is lacking or failing or any of these things. What do people really expect me to say in response to this? First, he's inherited nothing from me genetically, so nothing he does that is genetic I can take responsibility for (good or bad). And second, I have worked with enough babies that they do what they do when the are ready. I can sing to him and clap hands (with him, for him or showing him) day after day and until he's ready he is not going to take the bate. I just don't understand the need to make statements like that. Especially that he's "small" for his age, because for any of you who have lugged babies around... big isn't better.

But still, the H man is as adorable as ever. He is continuing to explore his world and discover new things. He has figured out that the heating vents on the floor are great for putting your face over, that his nanny's legs are great walkers as long as she doesn't try to walk backwards or to quickly and that just because she is putting her hat on doesn't mean he gets to go outside with her (when I am going home).

My favorite moment of the day (so far) was when he crawled over to the table, used a chair to pull himself to a standing position and reached up to grab his sippy cup off of the table. We had just finished lunch so it was still near the edge and he apparently thought he would just get himself a drink. It was a very nonchalant move, not major effort, just a nice reach up followed by a casual sip. He takes this nonchalance with him as he crawls towards cords and other breakable or dangerous items and is generally quit surprised when I tell him no. I really do adore this kid's personality.

Wall Art

I frequently check up on the Wooster Collective site to check out the random and often amazingly creative (although at times probably illegal) art posted there. Today the link to Santa's Ghetto in Bethlehem caught my eye, but it was really the photos of the art drawn on the wall in Palestine that impressed me. I have heard, from my friend living in Bethlehem, of the emotional impact this wall has on the people living there. I have seen some photos of the wall art before, but I always enjoy seeing more. I love the something so hateful as a dividing wall can be made beautiful (maybe beautiful isn't the right word - endurable), because of the creativity of local artists.

Well, hello Winter!

Winter came all at once today. It was somewhat cold this morning, but while I was eating lunch after my morning of teaching swim lessons, I noticed it was snowing lightly (a tolerable, somewhat pleasant snow). I next got my hair trimmed and during this happening the snow began to descend somewhat more aggressively. Last year this would not have affected me (as I did not have possession of a car or the need to leave campus). Today, however, I was driving my roommates car and was not trilled to be stuck in the car for twice as long as it normally would have taken me to drive home. While on my way home the snow transformed to "ice pellets" or at least that is what the weather site I frequent is calling this current precipitation. According the radio it is likely to turn to rain tonight, potentially turning the slush on the road into a nice layer of ice. Oh, I love winter. (NOT!)