matching tracksuits

fun in threes, sometimes fours

the girl

Babcia’s Arrival

Sunday 13 December 2009 | 3 Comments

Going to the airport for an international arrival is a game of waiting.

We stood at the end of a long corridor and wait as the passengers trickle out, one by one, two by two, a group here and a group there. With three simultaneous international arrivals, it makes for a long process.

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We saw several lovely reunions as we anticipate our own. An uncle arrived from Italy to a niece and nephew running to him full speed. A father returned to a mother and smiling baby. A sister came from German for a visit.

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Finally, it was our turn. L ran to meet Babcia, who scooped her up and gave her a long hug.

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K joined them for a three-generation, all-mother-daughter group hug. It caught the attention of others, just as earlier reunions brought smiles to our face,

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More hugs followed.

Now L just has to start speaking Polish…

Balance

Saturday 12 December 2009 | 0 Comments

"Shhh! There's a monster in there!" says L as we walk toward her room. She's at that age where she sees monsters, tigers, and bears everywhere. A "smoky, smoky dragon" is a common visitor at night, and right after a bath, an alligator -- simply named Alligator -- comes looking for her as she hides under her big bath towel. Saturday mornings she likes to jump in our bed (even if it's made up -- she'll willingly unmake it) and hide under the covers.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh!" she'll proclaim. "Monster's coming!"

I play along sometimes, but it creates a problem: she gets genuinely scared sometimes, and it's because there's an alligator under her bed or a dragon right over there, in the corner. I reassure here that there's no such thing is monsters, but it's difficult to do if I've just been playing along with her imagination earlier in the evening.

It's difficult to balance her developing imagination with her developing fear.

Will she learn there's no such thing as dragons before she learns Santa doesn't exist? I'm helping create both illusions, feeling slight pangs of guilt about it, and wondering if it's all avoidable.

Memorex

Saturday 05 December 2009 | 0 Comments

L has an absolutely astounding memory. She can “read” many, many books — at least fifteen, I would say — from memory. She turns the page and quotes almost verbatim the text on the page.

And she corrects me.

“‘That’s what you said yesterday,’ shouted elephant,” I read from one of L’s favorite books, Goose Goofs Off.

“No, Tata! Elephant snorted!” comes the reply.

Fairy Tale

Thursday 03 December 2009 | 1 Comment

Emptiness

Wednesday 02 December 2009 | 1 Comment

Emptiness inspires dancing — the echo of footsteps is always impressive.

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With the sofa and love seat sold and the remaining furniture stowed throughout the house, we now have a ballroom.

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Conversely, the acoustics inspired music making, with L taking the lead.

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Fourth Thursday

Friday 27 November 2009 | 1 Comment

With a three-year old and no travel plans for Thanksgiving, we planned dinner around her nap. That gave us the whole morning to work around the house. As L grows, she's increasingly eager to help.

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1/200, f/7.1, 20 mm

It's impossible to put beans into the coffee grinder or tea into the infuser without L calling, "I want to do it! I want to help!" When I stir something in the sauce pan, when K sweeps the kitchen, L is there, ready to help.

Indeed, if we don't let her help (either intentionally or accidentally), it sometimes leads to a mini-meltdown.

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1/200, f/7.1, 10 mm

When we arrived at Nana and Papa's for turkey and the fixings, they had a surprise for L.

"We're tired of making a tent for her," Nana explained earlier in the week when I dropped by. It was, I would imagine, a well-established ritual: ottomans pushed together, with a blanket spread over it to create a small space for L to wallow in.

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1/60, f/5.0, 11.5 mm

As planned, it kept the Girl busy while everyone helped out with the final stages of dinner.

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1/60, f/5.0, 10 mm

Turkey with dressing and giblet gravy, with sides of rice, casserole, and cranberry sauce. What could be more American? Indeed, as I ate dinner, I remembered when, living with a host family in Poland, I was asked to create a typical American meal. I mentioned the Thanksgiving feast; I was relieved when told (this was 1996) that getting a whole turkey would be, at best, difficult.

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After dinner was play time (until the turkey overwhelmed Papa and he began his post-dinner, in-seat nap).

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1/60, f/5.0, 10 mm

It was the first Thanksgiving without any extended family at all. No traveling; no sleeping in strange beds; no absolute dread if it was a rainy day in South Carolina, requiring us all to stay inside with four generations of smokers. It was Thanksgiving without any of the negatives. It also lacked some of the positives that certainly accompany large family gatherings.

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1/60, f/4.2, 11 mm

Yet, for one of the first Thanksgivings L will probably remember (at least for a few years), it was perfect. Especially the Mlenmorangie Papa brought out after dinner.

Little Drummer Girl

Sunday 22 November 2009 | 2 Comments

Happy accidents are part of growing up. Today, L discovered that my old Lincoln Log set makes a fairly good drum.

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Add an old chocolate tin and a tub for totting Play Doe and you have an entire kit.

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Scat Cat

Tuesday 10 November 2009 | 0 Comments

It’s still a cliche love-hate relationship: L still loves, the cat still hates. Or perhaps “the cat fears” would be more accurate.

In my pre-parenthood thoughts of what fatherhood would be like, I never realized that literally everything must be taught — even how to show love. It’s a given when we look at the dysfunctional relationships that are everywhere (most commonly on the covers of magazines in the checkout line). Still, I thought that if we taught by example, L would learn how to express affection.

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We teach by example; we illustrate by experience (“See? We’re gentle with the cat and she comes to us.”); we instruct directly (“Hitting the cat is not a good way to show affection.”). Sometimes it works. Generally, Bida continues to head the other way whenever L enters the room.

Guard Duty

Monday 09 November 2009 | 0 Comments

Alligator is after L. She tells me that he starts lurking about around bath time. When we're getting her out of the bath, Alligator starts looking for her in earnest. I tell him he should look in the backyard. It buys us a little time. We get the Girl dressed, brush her teeth, and to her room, but by then, L is worried. It doesn't take that long to search the backyard, and Alligator might come back any moment.

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10 seconds, f/5.6, 20 mm

Fortunately, Crocodile is available to stand watch.

Fall Sunday

Sunday 08 November 2009 | 0 Comments

Living this far south has its advantages: we’re still getting tomatoes from our backyard vines. More importantly, it makes getting out as a family easier, and the usual field trips continue.

Today, it is a trip to the zoo. L has been so many times that she has the sequence of animals memorized. The elephants get everything started — appropriate, because “they’re my favorite,” L declares.

The monkeys are next, followed by the reptiles. Usually L breezes through, barely glancing at the cold-blooded, slow-moving creatures. Today, though, they were unusually active, especially the rattlesnakes.

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Once we get to the giraffes (who are right after the reptiles), though, L decides she’s had enough. “I want to go to the big playground,” she says, and we rush to the playground, stopping only long enough to get a picture with Bear.

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The playground also has its routine. Swings are always first. Afterward, perhaps the slides, or maybe the huge jungle gym complete with music stations.

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With the bright sun and warmth, we’re hardly the only ones out today. Everyone seems to realize that this could be the last truly warm weekend.

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Then again, who would any of us be kidding?

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Christmas could be almost this warm.

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The problem is that the warmth is unpredictable. Planning birthday parties at the park — we’d love to have L’s at the park — becomes impractical because it might just turn cold that weekend. For this birthday group, though, the weather was on their side.

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As we’re leaving, L surprises us by wanting to try a few new stations. This park has some truly innovated toys, though the first one L wants is a new twist on an old torture.

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Nearby, though, is a track-based activity that is almost always broken: it seems to attract everyone, even teenagers who are much too heavy for it. Luckily, L’s interest coincides with a period of functionality. Next week it will almost certainly be broken again.

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We return home and finish the day with a game of Candy Land. L quickly grasps the idea behind the game, but the multiple colors combined with the element of chance are too much for her. The fact that she might not get her favorite color — blue — is overwhelming, and so we make a new rule: L gets a blue card to begin with. Period.

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With blue in hand, L happily goes along with just about anything.