I was lying next to Henry at naptime and feeling very open and all-loving and just reveling in the deep reverence I feel for being able to participate in the lives of these little beings. I have to say, when I smell Henry’s neck, it is poetry. That baby smell, that rose petal soft skin, pure bliss. I held him close and started to sing a soft sweet lullaby to him. “With a sweet soft voice…” “Momom,” he said, “Stop singing that…
It was a sunny afternoon in 1984 when my mouth dropped open in shock. I was perusing my local bookshop in my little town in Utah when I stumbled upon a calendar full of shirtless men, and as I turned the pages, I screamed when I saw Mr. December. It was my cousin David, wearing only a Santa hat, staring out at me with a mischievous grin on his face. This was Utah, my family was Mormon, and this was…
The other night Henry woke up at 3am, rearin’ to go and play. He insisted George take him to play, but he was being so loud, chitchatting up a storm, that he woke up all of us. A storm came and we listened to the thunder and watched the lightning flash through our bedroom and giggled under the covers. Pure magic. The last thing he did before FINALLY falling back asleep was stare at his thumb and say “Bebe, fumb,…
Oh my, magic everywhere! Today we went to Carly’s house to swim and have dinner. She is so amazing with the kids! She told Annabelle there were all sorts of magical secret places in her house that only kids can go to, no grown-ups. Watching Annabelle and Henry run down the thick green grass pathway surrounded by wildflowers on all sides and towering trees, the storybook house behind us, was like being in a fairy tale. Annabelle was ecstatic. Every…
Today we were swimming at Carly’s wonderland pool, and Annabelle said she had to pee-pee. I suggested she go among the flowers like a puppy so we wouldn’t have to go in the house in our wet suits. She obliged, and when Henry saw what she was up to, he decided he needed to go too. He pattered over the lawn to the flowers and squatted down. “No!” yelled Annabelle. “Henry! You’re a boy! You’re supposed to stand and hold…
We were so tired this morning I wanted to sleep for five more minutes, so when Henry awakened and started puling on my nose, I said, “Annabelle, can you babysit Henry for five minutes?” Then they started wrestling and laughing hysterically. He was rolling on top of her and she yelled, “Mommy! This isn’t babysitting! This is struggling!” She did manage to finally engage him in a book, but I never got my extra five minutes of sleep. Today she…
Driving around the French Quarter in a horse and carriage, I feel so at home with the red leather seats and the rocking motion of the carriage. I know damn well I must have lived in the Quarter in a past life–most likely as a Madame of my own gorgeous bordello. I love everything about it–the wild and intense history, the romantic architecture, the literary inspiration. I’ve been madly in love with the writings of Tennessee Williams since I was…
Woke up this morning to Henry insisting on dressing like an elephant and feeding himself a banana. He got to feed carrots and bananas to the elephants at the zoo the other day, and it’s had a far-reaching effect. Annabelle rolled out of bed and immediately donned her little white kitten costume. She drank her milk out of a saucer and got her nose and chin covered in milk, much to Henry’s delight. We then had circle time and I asked…
A few months ago, Henry and Annabelle became interested in butterflies. They love to watch them flutter around the park. We read The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and decided we would like to see exactly how a caterpillar would become a butterfly. We ordered some caterpillars and put them in a cage. We fed them and watched the miraculous process of growing, cocooning, and becoming Monarch Butterflies. We fed them oranges and set them free. Henry and Annabelle were…