All Hallows

Happy Halloween!

Dee-cisions Dee-cisions

In which the pumpkins were inspected, rejected, and selected.

The good part of my day--

The Indian woman who prevented Cheeks McGoo have a meltdown on an overcrowded metro train. She was a one woman baby hypnotist, quieting her royal Cheeks-ness's shrieks of protest at the fact that the metro doors had malfunctioned and zee train was stuck on the platform. (Ever had to listen to "Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Doors clo-sing!" for more than five minute straight? And the conductor was yelling at the passengers over the intercom. But I digress.) The kind woman entertained my daughter until the train got underway again and then for 6 stops after that. We chatted a little and it turned out that she had a 22 month year old son. I am thankful for the fellowship of mothers everywhere.

The other good part of my day was eating salmon chowder at my mother's house. It was the perfect meal for a cold rainy night, hot soup paired with steaming cornbread, with apple turnovers for dessert. It was a good day to be a little bit spoiled.

In Romania

this time of year the sheep are coming down from their summer pastures high in the mountainsr with the shepherds, the "ciobani."

The cliffs are so steep in parts you wonder how they do it without falling, scrambling down the rockfalls, urged on by the shepherds, herded into line by the sheepdogs.

Have you ever seen a shepherd drive a flock of sheep across a road? They never seem to hurry. There is no sense in rushing the sheep as they will only startle and scatter. Instead, it's a balletic, almost slow motion event. A woolly parade.

I always loved when we were driving in the Romanian countryside and had to stop the car to allow a flock of sheep to surge by. It was like stepping back in time.

No whining

I cannot even venture a guess as to how many times a day I remind Miss Bee of the above. Whhyyyy is three going on four such a tough age? One minute, my darling firstborn is little miss helpful, baking cookies and helping me walk the dog. Two minutes later, it's meltdown central. I can understand whining on the weeknights--the poor child has to behave at daycare all day, and that's a lot to ask. But whining on the weekends? Come on! There's too much to do, no time for drama.

On Friday afternoon I finally got around to sorting through the nice pile of mail that had accumulated in my entryway. I found a small envelope addressed to me that surprisingly didn't look like junk mail. I opened it up and found a cork inside. Puzzled, I took a closer look. The cork had a web address and it took me here. My little cousin, who is not so little anymore, in fact he is quite grown up, is starting out in the wine business. And his wine, unlike whining, is fantastic.

Three Quarters One Year

Dear Cheeks McGoo,

You are nine months old today. You celebrated by staying up way past your bedtime and practiced your latest baby milestone--sticking out your tongue. You shrieked with joy every time I mimicked you. We must have looked like a couple of fools.

Cheeks, you are such a funny, sensitive baby, and the ultimate Mama's girl. You ride the metro and make friends with complete strangers, yet you cry when I leave you at daycare. Every. Single. Time. You can crawl, but only backwards. You go wild for paper, any kind. You wake me up at 3:30 every morning, but I don't mind--much.

I love you Peanut.

You have utterly stolen my heart,

Mama

Definitions

I was out walking the dog tonight with Cheeks McGoo and Miss Bee in tow.

Bee is very proud that she can read the words "stop" and "no." As we walked, I pointed out various other signs and words.

We came across a sign that had the word "emergency." Out of curiosity, I asked Bee, "Do you know what emergency means?"

"Yes," she replied, "An emergency is like if you pee your pants."

Indeed!