Archive | 52 project

The 52 Project: A portrait of my children once a week + every week in 2014.

Lena: The puzzle-making continues, as do the interesting choices in fashion! I’ve been taking photos recently of things that she and I do during Gil’s morning nap together, and I’ll do a post soon with some ideas. I’m not the best at craft projects — and I welcome any ideas you might have! — but she loves anything we do together, no matter how simple the idea.

She and I also took a trip to our garage in the middle of town last week, where she was playing with her little wooden bike. We share the garage with some of the props (like this huge painting) for our town’s summer medieval festival. I loved the contrast between that painting and the girl on her bike.

Gil: Elliott’s been gone a lot lately; last week he was at a conference in Germany for six days. We talk to him on Skype whenever we can, and Gil and Lena always get so excited to see their daddy. Needless to say, I’m so glad he’s home now and we can focus together on moving this month.

The second photo is from yesterday after a long day at the beach. I think it had something to do with the fact that we met up with a family (blog readers from Germany… hi, Michelle!) that had two boys, and so he had little playmate. Gil was actually happy all day long in the sand — a breakthrough! — and then passed out in the car within minutes. My tired little Superman.

The 52 Project: A portrait of my children once a week + every week in 2014.
See the whole project here.

Lena: Three years old is a challenging age for me as a parent. (Am I alone in feeling that way??) Lena is a super-interactive child, and she’s never been very good at entertaining herself for more than a few minutes at a time. These past couple of weeks I tried to encourage that more by setting her up with some craft projects (requiring first my initiative and creativity… two things that don’t come easily to me!), painting, puzzles, and a bucket of soapy water in the shower stall more times than I can remember. But then she turns around and surprises me with independence in other ways, like insisting on dressing herself and putting on her shoes (she’s getting really good!), brushing her teeth, and putting together this puzzle a couple of times a day all by herself. I know she’s finished it again when I hear her gleeful giggle and turn around to see her sparkling eyes and mile-wide smile, waiting like only a three-year-old can for her mama’s praise.

Gil: He’s always been more content to amuse himself than Lena is, although at 16 months he takes my full attention on playgrounds and walks to keep him from breaking his neck! This week he started saying “cracker,” and “diaper,” “Siena,” “Lena,” and even “poo-poo” (oh joy) have become regular parts of his vocabulary. Over Memorial Day weekend we went to the Aeolian Islands, and we snapped this photo of him enjoying a very local meal: Caprese salad, fried sardines, an apricot, and bread dipped in olive oil.  He stuffed his face and wanted more and more. But then who wouldn’t with a makeshift high chair made out of pillows and that view of the beach behind you?!

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In other news, our Memorial Day “beach vacation” unfortunately involved a lot of rain, but the sun finally came out at the end. Elliott and I did a lot of book writing and book reading (respectively), and the kids napped and played in between excursions to the rocky beach. What were you up to for Memorial Day?

The 52 Project: A portrait of my children once a week + every week in 2014.
See the whole series here.

Lena: This isn’t the greatest photo (her face is in shadow), but it captured so much about her these days that I decided to include it anyway. These days she wants to climb on anything and everything, fearlessly hang on right side up or upside down, and then jump off or down if she possibly can. The photo also captures her crazy hair, which she no longer allows me to touch without a serious battle of the wills. And it captures her determination to dress herself, and to wear whatever she picked, even if I make a case that things should match. She goes through full wardrobe changes at least three times a day, emerging with all kinds of crazy combinations of clothes, with usually everything on backwards. How does she do that? Shouldn’t there be a 50/50 chance that it will go on the right way? But it’s so cute and innocent, and she’s so determined and comfortable, so… we let it lie.

Gil: I took this right as he spotted a stranger crossing the playground, and his face immediately changed from disinterest to curiosity and then a sweet, shy smile. He’s so personable these days, walking up to people in the airport and holding out a hand in greeting, sharing his toys with any diners near us in a restaurant, content to sit on anyone’s lap after church to see if they’ll feed him. (“Donuts only, please, and none of that fruit stuff. I know the diff.”) And his blond curls and blue eyes will pretty much get him whatever he wants, especially here in Italy. He charms the socks right off his mama most of the time, too, which is unfortunate because he happens to also be developing a strong will and a well-timed burst of tears whenever he doesn’t get what he wants. Amiable baby no more, folks; we have a determined toddler on our hands. Greeeeat…

And finally, random quotes from Lena:

“I did that when I was eight years old.” (She is three.)

“I am sad today because my sister went to fool [school] without me.” (She doesn’t have a sister.)

While staring down at the baby pool on the porch that I was dutifully filling up: “Why did you peel off my paper wrapping? Now I’m naaaaked.” (Took me a minute. She was quoting this.)

While I weigh vegetables and stick labels on them at the grocery store: “We guys want a sticker.”