ELEVEN

Theodore caught in the act of pounding me with his plate while I'm preparing dinner. It was understandable though, that grilled whole chicken diavolo was perfect. It tasted of summer -which today at 87 degrees doesnt feel too far away. 

2017 week eleven

The next day V asked if she could play with play-doh just before I started to cook dinner. I was initially inclined to say no because I would need to set the table and no one would enjoy eating dinner with their plates sticking to the little pieces of goop on the table. But then I thought, what about the outside table? And voila! They were contentedly busy while I cooked. No one breaking drawers or throwing plates and bowls. I'm looking at you Theodore. 

This morning I decided to put off whatever minutiae usually keeps me "busy" all day and sit in my bed and read while V had a lunch date with her giraffe. She got my scarf as a table cloth and kept bringing out different courses to share with her giraffe. I'm really glad I didn't wipe down the counters instead of watching this.

Theodore and the glorious hair -and well truly, the glorious pear. They were both perfect. 

I got better acquainted with the neighbor girl's grandmother while the little girls played dress up and doll house. And two hours later she brings me a plate full of chicken tamales. I blended up some salsa and they made a fantastic second dinner, and lunch, and snack... etc. When I returned the plate, I had to return the gesture, so I cut two "Matilda-style" slices of chocolate cake. It was the tastiest way I could say "Thank You." And I didn't even need Google Translate. 

Sometimes "Thor" can be a diminutive of Theodore. It fits my son. One of this pre-dinner pillages of my kitchen resulted in completely bending back and irreparably damaging the drawer slider. How does a 17 month old do this? We bent it back as far as we could but the drawer requires two hands and a fair amount of elbow grease to open and close now. I guess this works as a sort of "Baby Proofing." And now that he can't access the kid cups and plates, he's going to be forced to learn dinner patience? 

We didn't get any photos of our St. Patrick's Day dinner with some friends, but I made sure to take a photo of my favorite part of St. Patricks Day festivities: the morning after breakfast. Corned beef hash with leftover soda bread and marmalade and coffee. Too bad corned beef only comes but once a year in this house, because this breakfast is scrumptious. 

On Saturday, our friend and real estate agent rented out a whole showing of Beauty and the Beast. They had glow sticks and ring pops and a real Belle. 

This little one wants a lot more practice sitting still and quietly. At least the theater was full of kids and babies so no one really minded except his parents. 

Quotes:

V -"Mama can I sleep with my Cora Cat tonight?" Wooden carved cat from Jamaica.
Me- "Sure."
V- "I love this cat. I like it when her eyes glow in the dark."
Me- "What?!"
V- "The cat's eyes glow green in the night and I like to see them."
Me- "Are you teasing me? She's made of wood. Wood can't glow. Are you telling me the true thing?"
V- "Yes. When it's really dark and really quiet her eyes start to glow."
Me- "That makes me feel scared."
V- "Not me. I like it."
Me -"I want to believe you. We only tell each other the true things, so please tell me. Are you being honest or are you teasing?"
V- "I'm telling the true thing."
Me- "...Ok. I will believe you."
Five minutes later her door opens and closes and she had thrown the cat into the hallway. In the morning she said she had been teasing but I still couldn't tell if she was being honest with me. It was all very peculiar. 

"Aw. Look at my little tortilla. It looks like the moon."

V- "There is chocolate on him!"
Me- "Yes. I can wipe it down."
V- "Can you wipe it down?"
These nonsensically repetitive conversations happen frequently. 

"Wow. I just had a really sloppy toot."

Me- "I'm so tired today I just want to lie down and watch a movie."
V- "You can do that. That's ok."
5 minutes later
V- "It's really ok if you just want to put on a movie and lay down."
5 minutes later.
V -"It's ok if you want to put on a movie. Why don't you just put on a movie."
1 hour later
V- "Are you going to put on that movie? It's ok if you want to!!!"
Me- "Do you just want me to put on a movie so you can watch it."
V- "Yes."

V likes to have conversations with her friend in the mirror.


"You can hold giraffe so you can remember me. I gave her my love so you can remember me and hear my love in her heart beat."





I forgot to mention that the reason we went to Utah was two-fold. Primarily, Matt was going for a trade show for the company he works for and I wanted to tag along to see my friends. The bonus reason was that the company that is publishing Matt's drawing book had a booth at the same trade show and Matt got to sit in the booth for some of the day to promote his book in a "Meet the Author" role. I'm very proud of him. This it the preview video for his upcoming book.