Catching Up

I know, I know. It's been a long time since I've been diligent about this blog. It's the same old excuse about time and energy.

School is out and we are all trying to transition into the summer mindset. I was telling Paul recently that I never knew how much I loved spring and summer until I had children. Especially after these long, grey Pennsylvania winters, the warm (or even warmish) weather is such a lift. We are back to getting to the park every day and have been working in the garden nearly every weekend. (I'll post pics of that later.)

The kids are really fun right now, especially with each other. Josephine's language is exploding all over the place and it's delightful. She can say bye, hi, mama (finally!), papa, Rudy, juice, cow....lots of others, too. She is still and always the climber and we've finally just piled pillows and soft blankets on the floor beneath the red chair because if we can't stop her from jumping off, at least we can break her fall! Parenthood is full of these kinds of negotiations.

Rudy has really left almost all vestiges of babyhood behind at this point. It's odd and a little sad to see, but also so exciting to watch him gather new skills and understanding of the world. He knows his way around a computer (PBS Kids site), can do some very simple math, can write his name (with a little help) and many other letters, and is beginning to be able to actually read them. It's just amazing. He is also finally making headway with potty learning. (we have stopped saying "training" because really, this has all been up to him. We learned early on that pushing him only made him more obstinate.) These days, he is mostly diaper free all day and has recently developed an enduring fascination with public bathrooms and urinals. Paul, take it away!

He is also making friends of his own accord on the playground and becoming better at cooperative play over all. Some of the pictures here show him with Gabe and Nat, who (along with their parents Kathy & Mike) have become a constant in our lives.

We are also getting ready to say goodbye to our longtime sitter, Megan, whose parents we finally got to meet over graduation weekend. We had a nice visit and the kids really charmed them, I think. We are going to miss Megan fiercely: she has been here since Rudy was 5 months old and has been a wonderful energy to have around. We wish her well as she moves to Baltimore and starts her nursing career!

So beyond all of that, I am getting ready to leave on Monday for a two week fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and am feeling excited but already heartsick at the fact of being away from these guys for so long. I hope I can clear my head quickly to get the most out of my writing time there. And I hope my cell phone signal is strong because I know I will be on it a lot. Especially at bedtime!

So below are a bunch of recent pictures, including one with Megan and her mom, Eileen, at the bottom. (not sure why the formatting on this post is so weird...)

Enjoy!