PT captures his niece, Bernadette, at her most photogenic.

Mama's Little Helper

Pulling out of the Price Chopper parking lot this afternoon, I was reflecting on how blessed I am to have a little guy who is easy to shop with. He has his requests--get a Larabar, visit the lobsters, visit the trucks--but he has never thrown a tantrum requiring me to leave the store or anything like that. Most of the time it's just fun to shop with him; today, for instance, he sat in the cart and belted a Kenny Chesney song at the top of his lungs, making me grin from ear-to-ear as I picked out our bread and peanut butter. And as I backed out of our parking space, counting these blessings, from the back seat of the car a voice piped up: "You want me to drive?"

Notes

Isaiah: "Daddy, can we play catch each other's shadow?"
Me: "No, the sun is behind the clouds."
Isaiah: "Can we play?"
Me: "OK." 

With no visible shadows the rules of the game are nebulous, at best, but we ran around each other, stomping. Then it turned into run in circles and Can you catch me/I'm gonna catch you.

Watching ants, walking in the rain, fighting over a rubber spoon: Who's having more fun? Bernadette or her dad?

One big guy, one little lick the beaters after mixing up chocolate chip cookies in our house.

Need some waffles chewed and spit out as mush? Bernadette is available to process small portions.

 magic: a broken blue egg, a snail without a shell, raindrops; music: a flat fragment of steel kicked along the street

My job some days: Sentences cohabitating under the same period.

  

With sun comes shade.

 Chasing a cat. Chasing a toad (Bernadette thought it was interesting, too). Feeding fish and letting them nibble on your finger. Riding in a boat. Hanging out with friends. Not a bad Saturday.

I believe there's an iconic photo of Paul and I looking for toads or rats or some other creature in garbage cans at a park. Add Isaiah to the list of curious Friedrichs boys.

Get your veggies here! Bernadette is not willing to fully endorse green, leafy food, but she doesn't mind chewing on a bit of lettuce.

 Playing horseshoes in Kansas City.

"Daddy, trucks with flat tires can't go through mud. Only video trucks can do that." 

-- Isaiah in bed

"Way out west in Kansas"
Performed by  International Novelty Orchestra. Composed by Carson Robison. Conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret. Tenor vocal: Ed Smalle , Billy Murray.

Recorded 1924-08-25 in New York, N.Y.

Folks don't stay up very late
Way out west in Kansas
They talk the sidewalks in at 8
Way out west in Kansas ...

These Days

First, kudos to Bernadette for crawling! This weekend at P. and M.'s, she decided she simply must have my mug of tea, which was on the floor a few feet away from her. It just took the right motivation, I guess. (Mean Mama moved the tea just as she reached it, but then the spectators burst into applause. I think she was too confused to cry.)

Saturday evening, after a long day that included seeing Christopher Robin Milne's toys at the NY Public Library (more exciting for me than anyone else) and visiting the Natural History Museum (where we saw a shark named "Uncle Pete"), I was trying to keep Isaiah out of Pete and Magda's room, where M. was Skyping with her mother. I offered to give Isaiah a cookie and read "Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing", one of his favorite stories right now. Isaiah took the cookie and said to me while trotting toward the forbidden room, "OK, Mama, I will eat a cookie with Magda and then come back to read 'Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing' with you. OK? Yes. Tootle-oo!"

When his dad called from California, Isaiah was very busy loading Kashi cereal into his front-end loader. When asked if he wanted to talk to Daddy on the phone, Isaiah replied, "But Mama, I'm not finished putting food in the loader's bucket yet."

And on Monday, Isaiah picked up his stuffed rabbit and crooned, "Come here; I've got you" while cuddling him close. Isaiah then announced, "I'm going to nurse him" and held Rabbit to his chest. "Are you nursing him?" I asked. Isaiah held Rabbit upright and said, "No, I can't. He doesn't have a mouth!"

On Saturday night, Sophie, left, and Olivia dolled up Luke. Zach seemed amused, too.

The confirmands during the service.

 

Olivia, Karen, Sophie and Fred after confirmation.

Sleep, water

Isaiah 

He wakes in bed beside me this morning and says, "You want to do that again?" Then he goes back to sleep, breathing deeply.

Bernadette

Last night at the YMCA, she was less enthusiastic about the pool than previous trips. 20 minutes in, still wet she falls asleep in my arms and sleeps through the noise, the splashes and the light until Marian arrives 40 minutes later.

Last week she fell near the end of our stint in the water and was completely immersed. I picked her up, and she looked surprised, but did not cry. Isaiah remains wary of submersion. 

Dozing on a different day at the K.C. airport.

Oops, trying to fix tags and reposted.

 Clare, Bernadette, Grandma Tascio and Isaiah enjoy Mother's Day in the park.

More from the Yonkers barbecue (Pete makes some great steak).

 The Easter egg hunt. Daniel and Isaiah, with a lot of cheering and coaching, made quick work of Paul's crafty hiding.

 The four of us on Easter (with a special guest appearance by Daniel in the background).

Our lovely hosts in K.C.

The Easter princess.