Looking up

 Isaiah is starting to clamber and climb on all types of playground equipment taller than him. He no longer looks at something and says "I can't do it." That comes after he tries to climb and gets frustrated. He reached the top of this one by himself, although getting down wasn't as easy.

Notes from the past month

Isaiah sings in the bath: sink, sink, sink your ship, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily ...

What we learned about truck biology this morning. The snack truck is the Land Rover's mother. Marian: Does she nurse him? Isaiah: No. She doesn't have nipples.

Twilight playground trip, last fringe of pink in the west, perfect temp, dew on the grass. And the mosquitoes knew it was one of their last great nights, too.

Morning-misted hair: this is my walk, not a shampoo ad.

When you're 3, sometimes the best way to get from one room to another is to roll across the floor and down the hall. In 1-year-old news, Bernadette can get off the two-foot bed and onto the floor by herself.

Isaiah narrates when he plays by himself. "The car crashed into the truck and burst into flames," summarized one collision between a fire chief's car and a much larger towtruck.

Isaiah steps outside into the storm and tries to outrun the wind and raindrops

Bernadette dances in place from her knees, bouncing and and moving both arms symmetrically up and down. But when she gets really excited, she swings her head from side to side and flaps her left arm (or should I say flipper?).

"We're snuggling in the hayloft."

-- Isaiah as all four of us lounge on the bed on a Saturday morning; we've been reading a lot of farm stories sent along by Grandma Friedrichs

 Lobsters with Kat, Dan, Rod and Martha. Isaiah even tried a bite.

 Isaiah plays with Aunt Martha and Uncle Rod.

Isaiah and Friends

Isaiah has been playing with a little boy named Dylan at the Y. When I picked him up on Friday after my workout, Isaiah stopped at the playroom gate and called to Dylan, who was still playing in a far corner of the room, "Dylan! Bye! Say bye, Dylan! Dylan, say bye!!" Not receiving a response, Isaiah ran off. I couldn't see the part of the room where he had gone to seek Dylan, but the other adults who were watching suddenly cracked up, and I heard Dylan shriek, "No kissing!" Yes, one of the babysitters confirmed for me, Isaiah had given Dylan a smooch good-bye.

Later that same day at the playground, Isaiah shared his trucks with another little boy named Thomas. I played nearby with Bernadette, who suddenly caught Thomas' eye. He asked Isaiah, "What's your baby's name?" Isaiah, who has been assigning us to different species lately, said of his sister, "It's Baby Colt." There was a slight pause. The only reply Thomas could find was, "I have two coats on." The truck driving continued in silence.

Bathtime wisdom from Isaiah: You can't paint with a shark.

The background: A red paintbrush was playing the role of the shark. I brushed water onto Isaiah's arm right before he started an intricate story involving three boats and the "shark."

Bernadette and Isaiah at the playground in August.

I have a backlog of videos. This one is from a free concert in Hartford in July.

 Grandma Tascio shares these pictures of Isaiah driving an old tractor.

Magda and Bernadette at the Polish festival in Bristol.

Fun cocktail: I put four ice cubes in a glass. I set it on the floor. Tired Bernadette amused herself and me for almost 20 minutes.

 The bonfire at Ruth and Chris' house.

 Isaiah wakes to his truck after his first night spent in a tent (and away from Mamma).

The campsite in the Pass' back yard.

First Comes Love...

Isaiah was watching me wrap a book for Lorin Seeley's bridal shower and wanted to know what the book was called.

I told him, "By Love Refined". His follow-up question: "Is it about breastfeeding?"

Good to Know...

Isaiah (speaking of his sister and demonstrating): She likes being pounded on the head.

 Uncle Pete entertains the tired siblings during a fun Labor Day weekend.

Isaiah drives his trucks while two diggers and a loader dismantle a flood-damaged building and load their dump trucks with rubble.

At the Green Chimneys picnic.

Do we really need description here?