Apples and Pears

Here are a few pix (and picks) from, I think, Labor Day weekend? Not sure exactly, but not so long ago. Now it's thoroughly turned to fall in the Berkshires, so these pictures feel ancient. There are two old apple trees up there. We don't know what kind they are, but in the past they have both produced lots of puny, bumpy apples that are tart and delicious if you can find a place worth biting. I guess it must be a great year for apples because this year we got tons of delicious, pretty decently sized ones. We have applesauce coming out of our ears. And actually out of our freezer, too, since there is just not enough room in our city freezer for a country bumper crop. My mom once broke her toe when a container of meat fell out of her freezer on to it. I should be careful. (Broke, Mom? Do I have that right?)

Oh, and there's a much newer pear tree, too, that was not to be outdone.

Here's one R took a special liking to:

Overheard

Jason gave Rosie a carrot yesterday. She ate some, then handed it back. He said, "Do you want anymore? If not I'm going to toss it." (This often leads to reconsideration and more bites.) She said no. But then, instead, he took a bite. She said, "Toss it into your mouth?"

And, an unrelated bonus: here's the price I pay for making dinner. A pen-and-torn-paper angel? That used to be one giant piece of paper.

School Report

Three weeks in and Rosemary has already been too sick for school (but not too sick for the playground) two times. Today is one of those times. I take this as a sign of meeting new bugs after a summer of being mostly outdoors, plus me not wanting to press her into going there in these first few weeks, even when she is probably okay to go.

I know. Softy.

It's been fun deducing what they do there by the limited pieces of info we get. Sometimes the toddler snippets are later explained by teacher's daily reports. The other day they explored primary and secondary colors by setting up the kids in pairs with single colors to paint with. Rosemary was working on an easel with another kid (she had yellow, he had blue), and when she ran out to meet me after school she said, "I MADE GREEEEEEN!" I asked her how and she said, more quietly, "I don't know." Her teacher said she and her easel mate got really excited about it, but didn't quite understand how it happened. Then the teacher read Little Yellow and Little Blue, the old Leo Lionni classic. I really love this school so far.

The other day she got Jason, my mom and dad, and I to line up before going outside.

Last Wednesday, she flashed me the two-fingered peace sign and said "That means peace, mom." They apparently do this when they go to the park - to focus attention, I guess. I actually recall doing this at my first grade school. Also, she told me one day "I put you in a box, Mommy," which sounded alarming but yesterday the school sent the lyrics to some of the songs they sing, including:

Oh I wish I had,

A little Red Box, (make box shape with hands)

To put my Mommy in.

I’d take her out,

Go mwah, mwah, mwah (kiss tips of fingers)

And put her back again.

Actually, it still sounds alarming.

An aside: a few times yesterday when I asked her to repeat something I didn't understand, she said, "I can't. That was a one-time story."

Channeling Brett

These glasses continue to be A-list prop around here. Does she remind you of any B-list celebrity?

Weekend of Antics

We are winding down from a wonderful weekend visit from my parents. It was sort of culinary whirlwind culminating in last night's dinner with Jason's parents at Gramercy Tavern (aka "fancy restaurant") where Rosemary behaved incredibly well. Everyone who works there was unbelievably lovely and normal about having a toddler around, and while our super friendly waiter seemed somewhat taken aback when Rosemary told him (some time after he'd brought dessert around), "I'm going to use the potty. I'm not done with my dessert. I'm just taking a break," he rallied pretty quickly.

Jason and Rosemary, matched in pink, on their way to said fancy restaurant:

Wait, did I say it culminated in Gramercy Tavern? There was also the Atlantic Antic today. Best street fair on the planet. It runs along Atlantic Ave, near our house, from Hicks ten blocks down to 4th Avenue. In that span we ate: spinach feta pie, salt cod fritter, salty French fries, Vietnamese tofu sandwich, a second salt cod fritter from a totally different place, Six Points beer, actual sarsparilla, Mexican horchata. And that's not even counting what my parents ate. Lesson of the day: if it is fried, our daughter will eat it. (If it is a Vietnamese tofu sandwich, she will not.)

Leading Questions

R, pointing at counter: What's that?
Me: What's what?
R: That, up there. The shiny things.
Me: Oh, those are your big coins (Two giant plastic dimes are on counter.)
R: No. The squares. The little squares to eat. [Pauses.] Chocolate?
Me: Yes, chocolate. (They are delicious Fiddle Fern Fudge, brought home from the Berkshires
R, all innocent: For me?

Kid Logics

Yesterday Rosemary baffled me by asking for "hamster crackers." She explained she'd had them "yesterday...one week ago...with some O's" and then I finally realized what she was after was oyster crackers.

Also: the other day I was packing up some old clothes and came upon some underpants my parents gave her at last Christmas. Six pairs of the cutest undees you've ever seen (owls, peace signs, puffy clouds), all tucked away during the summer of potty training after a wise neighborhood mom friend suggested using the old-school thicker training underwear. I asked Rosemary to try on the owl undees and she said, "NOOOOOO!" and backed away like she was a vampire and I had a fistful of garlic. I asked her why and she calmly said, "Those are my winter underpants."

Duh, mama.

In other news, school's going well. This morning (her second full day) she basically ditched me in the coatroom. I was left trying to kiss her cheek as she turned to head into class with a teacher. Right on. I think each day's a little different, especially as these first-timers start to figure out this is an ongoing event. The other day after I explained R had two more days of school that week, she said to me, "And then that's it?" But I think she likes it and likes explaining to me how things are done.

This morning she reiterated to me that, on the topic of the TV show Yo Gabba Gabba (often my morning crutch so I can get her to sit still while I put hair into ponytails, etc.) she is "pretty much over this." I asked why and she said, "Because I'm bigger." For now she's into "The Red Balloon" instead. I watched this many times as a kid, and recalled it as being 100% bo-ring. (Actually, I think it was something they made us watch on substitute teacher days? Was this ubiquitous or just Candalaria Elementary School?) Anyhow, now it's quite charming. 1950s Paris, how could it not be? We've got an old red balloon here and she likes to sit it down beside her as she watches.