A couple weekends ago Sofia took a helium filled balloon outside and promptly cut the string. Up, up and away it went. Down, down, down came the tears. Grandpa tried to console her and said that it was heading up to Heaven. She seemed okay with that, and after a bit forgot all about that balloon.
Cut to this past weekend on the coast. Ajay was out packing the car and Sofia and I came out just in time to see the balloon she had gotten at the local Pig n Pancake float out of the car and up into the sky. I braced myself for screams, pouts… tears at least. I slowly turned to Sofia and she just shrugged her shoulders. “That’s okay, it is going to see Kevin”. Um, what? “Ya, just like my other balloon with Grandpa. It floated up to Kevin.” Yea… Kevin.
“Mama? Can I be a prince?”
“Well, usually girls are princesses and boys are the princes”
“Oh”
“So, what would you be?”
“A princess”
“And what would Sebastian be?”
“A prince!”
“Right! And Georgia?”
“A princess”
“And Noah?”
“A princess, just like me and Georgia”
“Uh, okay. And Eloise?”
“The magic witch”
Happy father’s day to all you Dads, Papas, Nonnos and Dadus. We wouldn’t be who we are today without you in our lives. Love you all!
Shake your popo mambo is a dance we do every day in our house.
Bean’s been watching so much World Cup Soccer that during the NBA Finals last night she kept yelling “GOOOOOAAALLLL!” whenever the Lakers scored.
Pop songs are a big hit in our house. On the repeat cycle are Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas, Selena Gomez and BOB, plus a handful of hindi pop songs as well. Is there anything cuter than a toddler dancing around singing “Bulletproof”? Maybe a toddler dancing around singing “Bulletproof” while holding a kitten. Otherwise I don’t think so.
Movie star is still the someday occupation. At her recent graduation (which I’ll post movies of later) Bean again affirmed when she grows up she wants to be a movie star. She’s already preparing for auditions. She’ll rewind the movie she is watching over and over again to get the dialogue and scenes just right. We are in trouble.
Food items that you will always find in our house: bananas, bubble water, popsicles and oatmeal. And chocolate chips. Always have to have those on hand. And wine. Have you met Bean? Oy.
We are at the edge of toddlerhood, with Bean testing her boundaries and pushing her will every day. It is exciting to see and watch this small bean of ours evolve into a legume, but a little bittersweet at the same time. Even though our life is full of I’ll do it myself’s and go away I’m not talking to you’s, when the sun sets and the stars come out, there is still hand holding and watching a movie in my pocket. At least she still wants to snuggle.
I recently told my mom “Now I know why you were so cranky when we were growing up”. The minute I said it I regretted it. That isn’t what I meant. It came out all wrong. Of course I don’t look back on my childhood thinking that my mom was always cranky. Most of my childhood memories are of laughter and smiles, but I do remember the feeling of thinking to myself “geesh Mom, I was only asking…” and wondering why I didn’t always get an answer with a smile. If we could rewind life to that moment you would see me walking into a room where my mom was trying to cook dinner, clean the house, keep track of my younger sisters and asking her something like “can you take me to my friends house right at this very minute since you have nothing else to do?”. Sofia asked me the other day why I was always so angry. At first I was a bit surprised, but now that I think about it that is usually what she hears. I told her I am not angry, just frustrated she doesn’t listen to me. The other day she asked why I had to yell, and I said I wouldn’t have to yell if she would listen to me when I was talking to her. She only seems to pay attention to what I am saying if I am saying it loudly.
One of the meetup groups we belong to went to CHAP (Children’s Healing Art Project) for an hour of painting and crafts. They really should call it the Children and Parent’s Healing Art Project. You walk in, put on a smock and can pretty much paint anything you see. It was nice to just be with Sofia and not have to tell her no, don’t touch, put that down, can you please just calm your body for two seconds before I freak the s@#$! out. We painted, we glued, we glittered and collaged. I didn’t have to yell, didn’t need to yell, didn’t want to yell. It was an hour of peace and fun, laughter and smiles. I am hoping it is something she always remembers. I know I will. What I am choosing to forget is when I told Sofia it was time to go home and she smacked me in the face with a hand covered in glue and glitter. There was whisper yelling and threats of timeouts when we got home. But hey, it is all what we choose to remember right?
