These days...

1. I have a 10 pound bag of braising greens in my fridge. Let's not even get started with how many beets and radishes there are rolling around in there. Bountiful harvest season, indeed. Do you have a CSA?
2. I'm going to be wearing a banana costume and holding a sign that says "Slow down, we cross here" this Friday afternoon.
3. I can't believe this story, about hunting an octopus. I cut it out of the paper and am taking it to my high school kids tomorrow.
4. I got pooped on today. I'm sort of surprised this doesn't happen more often.
5. I also played at the playground today. Like really played. Rode the merry-go-round and everything.
6. I'm planning our first real "kid" birthday party for Laurel. She'll be four in a couple of weeks.
7. I am afraid to make the dentist appointment I really need.
8. We think we need to buy a second car. I want this one.  Also, for carpooling purposes, I really, really want to fit 3 car seats in the back of my Honda Fit. Can it be done?
9. M just ran a 50 mile race. Not to be confused with a 50K. Yes, I am impressed, too. But also, he thinks it's fun to run that far. It energizes him. So, we love that he does it
10. Marko is going to be 9 months old this week. Happy 3/4! He's still the happiest, most chill little baby in the world. He only yells when I take away the paper he is trying to eat or when his sister squishes him.

Baby on the Go!

Where's he going in such a hurry?

Marko has this determined crawl he uses when there are a bunch of kids jumping around and he wants to join in on the fun. He has a sneaky crawl he uses when he spots a speck of paper on the floor across the room and wants to get it without me seeing him. He stands sturdily without holding on to anything, but as soon as he attempts to take a step he crashes down hard. He studies us carefully to see how we do this walking thing. I predict he'll be taking his first steps in the next month.

He calls me mama-umma. Four teeth came down suddenly from his top gum, so now he has 6. He reaches for M's beard. He likes graham crackers. We have taken to putting a gate up in the dining room door so he can play on one side and Laurel sets up on the other. If they are not separated, he does nothing but smash down whatever she has set up and she does nothing but shriek. But put up this mesh gate and they happily chat with each other through it while playing.

Today they both have colds and are happily taking long afternoon naps (that's how you know a 3 year old is actually sick).

In the Quiet

At the end of the evening, the house is suddenly quiet. Children in bed. The table clear of everything except the Bonne Maman jar of dahlias. I feel nourished...by the meal, but also by the company and conversation. I roasted a chicken and Stephanie brought wine. M entertained the 3 year olds with video games, while we watched Marko crawl around the dining room in search of scraps of paper. I have Devendra Banhart playing as I wash the dishes. I'm not even really enjoying this music, but I can't bring myself to turn it off because it reminds me of another dinner party at Lance and Steve's house. There were beets (before beets were trendy) and candles. It's almost a decade old, this memory, but I can remember the feel of a Phoenix evening in November. It's perfect.

I don't have a plan for retirement, or even for my career in five years. My kitchen has peeling vinyl flooring and a refrigerator parked in front of the boarded up door. The bathroom? We're just waiting for the 90 year old plumbing to give up. We'll get to all that, someday. Or not. Because in the meantime, I choose 6am waffles and Friday happy hour with friends. (Is this an apology? Or a declaration? Just know that it is never a bad time for you to stop by for a cup of coffee.)

Today was a mess. I lost my keys, and Marko woke us all up at 5:30 and the car was out of gas and we had no milk. The laundry was stacked up so high in the chute that you could see it from the kitchen. We were all grumpy from lack of sleep, and yelled at each other. M and I made undeliverable threats and other parenting faux-pas all morning. My clothes have baby spit up on them and I did not bother to change.

In the quiet at the end of the evening I can hardly remember that. I mostly think about the chicken and the baby shower tomorrow and how fun it was to talk to Stephanie.