More notes

Yesterday afternoon as I sat on the couch, Bernadette asked me why I was sitting down.  "My feet hurt," I said.  She knelt down and started prodding them, asking if it hurt in such and such a spot.  Then she put her ear to my right foot and listened.  "What are you listening for, Bernadette?" I asked. "The baby," she said.  "Yes, it's definitely coming down."

Isaiah this afternoon: "Kateri is a sack of sugar.  I am the cake."

We love Mo Willems, and of his Pigeon books we own Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and The Pigeon Needs a Bath!  Tonight Kateri was pulling the picture books off the shelves and chattering to herself.  When she found Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, she sat down on the floor and started turning the pages, saying, "You need baff!  Take a baff, Pigeon!"

Dangling

Happy baptism anniversary, Bernadette.

Notes

Quotable Bernadette as we leave KC:
"There's the sleeping place," in reference to the hotel we sometimes use near Paul and Liz's house.

"The skyscraper is bent over," in reference to a crane, butnot immediately clear because the downtown skyline is also in view.

Building block towers with Kateri is more an act of rebuilding in the face of an ongoing earthquake.

Kateri pulls out the play utensils and we pretend. Me: What are you eating? Kateri: Gum. Me: With a spoon?

Car seat modifications

Bernadette sets it up her own way.

notes

Sunday, doubting my parenting skills after acts of great impatience on my part: I blow bubbles and three girls 4 or younger think the world is magic. Monday, expecting to have my license revoked after losing my temper and yelling too much at one of the kids: We toss pine cones and rocks into Big Indian, ripples from the splashes and the wind colored by the setting sun, and three kids 6 and younger think the world has never been more fun.

Horses

August showers

Fighting fires

Italian tastes

Summer!

Assembly required

Somnolent

Old-school slide

Apparitions

Girl 1

Pasta!

Or, as Kateri calls it, "potta".  Or just "pot."  Whatever it is, she can't seem to get enough of it.

Nightgowns

Direct from Yonkers and Grandma Anne.

Birthday boy

Isaiah turns 6.

The saw is noisy

Words of wisdom

During our religion lesson last week, I was teaching Isaiah and Bernadette about the four evangelists.  After showing them the symbol of St. Matthew, I asked, "Who do we know whose patron saint is St. Matthew?"  After a pause Isaiah exclaimed, "Daddy!"  "That's right," I said.  "St. Matthew has the special job of praying for Daddy because he's Daddy's patron saint."  Bernadette added excitedly, "And yours is St. Mama!"

Isaiah, while listening to the Beatles:
"Love is all you need.  Well, except money."
(During "Love Me Do") "You can't make someone love you just by asking."

Isaiah: "If Snow White had run all the way out of her stepmother's kingdom, she would have been all right.  The Queen only asked the mirror who was the fairest in the land."