April 20: Andrew spent much of yesterday hunting for worms. He calls earth worms inch worms, despite somewhat lengthy description of why earth worms are called earth worms.
We did a lot of gardening yesterday, and Andrew’s role was to find worms. Bryan got out a jar, and Andrew put dozens of worms in it. They marveled and remarked at each worm, often bringing them to me when they were particularly cool. Andrew’s face was glowing with excitement and discovery as each new worm was unearthed.
Later, Andrew discovered that some puddles in the street in front of our house contained lots of worms. The problem? They were all dead.
Andrew didn’t seem to recognize this. He said that they were “swimming in the ocean.” He spent about an hour picking up the worms, holding their grayish, gooey bodies (“They are long and thin, Mommy!”), and moving them from the “ocean” to the pavement. “Touch them, Mommy!” I have a pretty big tolerance for dirt and decay and the general grossness of biology, but I admit to having a bit of a gag reflex when Andrew tried to set one of his very slimy, very dead worms on my knee.
this morning, Andrew woke up and nearly immediately started clamoring to go outside to see the worms:)
April 20: Maretta and Kyle’s wedding is coming up in only one month and four days! They’ve been engaged for over two years, so it’s kind of hard to believe that the wedding time is nearly upon us. Maretta is graduating with a degree in theater (acting) from the College of St. Catherine’s on May 18, moving out of her dorm, and heading down to Madison for a week of preparation. The wedding is on Saturday, May 24, and after that, Maretta and Kyle will be heading back to St. Paul. Kyle is a PhD student at the UM, and he has a few years left in his program. Maretta will look for work and hopefully get some acting roles in the Minneapolis/St. Paul theater scene.
April 7: Mom’s 56th birthday is today. It’s the first birthday she’s ever skipped in her whole life. And it feels weird. A real reminder that she’s not here with us anymore. Instead of feeling sad (which is pretty easy to do), I’ve been trying to think of using her birthday as an opportunity to celebrate Mom. So family members who are here in Madison are going out to dinner tonight at the Mariner’s Inn. I think I’ll order lobster. It’s Mom’s favorite. And mine:)
April 7: It’s a miracle! Both kids are asleep. I just snuck out of the bed after lying down next to Sylvia for almost an hour. She really only likes to nap either on my lap on next to me in bed. Occasionally over the last hour, her eyes would flicker open, and a brief smile would spread across her face as she noted that I was still next to her. What sweetness. But then she seemed more lax, more asleep, and I snuck away to have a few moments in a room by myself before the next round of parenting starts. Andrew is sleeping this afternoon too. After spending the morning at Alivia’s house, he came home quiet tired. And happily, today (as opposed to the last couple days) he took a nap.
April 2: I’m amazed that I’m having a moment to log on to the computer mid-morning. Sylvia went down for a nap almost an hour ago, and despite waking up and nursing briefly, she’s still sleeping. Alivia is spending the morning at our house, and she and Andrew built a cool fort made of blankets and chairs in the sun room. They have flashlights, and pillows, and they have informed me that Spooky (our cat) is a monster from whom they are hiding.