6/16/08 Gabriel's new hobby

I took all 3 to their respective locations this morning....except as I was just about to drop Julian off, I decided to take him to Katrina's last music class instead! The teacher remembers him, and said she loves his story: that he was motionless in class, but that he remembered the songs and sang them on the way home from class, and often talked in song.

Not much has changed, he mostly sat and stared just like he did when he was a toddler.


Katrina clopped around in Julian's sandals for most of the class.


I'm not sure why I clicked the camera at this exact moment, but I unwittingly caught a moment that was notable, sort of. When kids put objects away (scarves in this case) there is usually at least one kid who goes around collecting every object they see, even if another kid is holding it. Nothing mean or aggressive, just eager. One almost 2-year-old girl was one of these uber-helpers today, and attempted to help Katrina put away a scarf.

Katrina's reaction stopped all traffic for a moment: one of her ear-splitting hair-raising eye-popping screeches, in which her whole body tenses up, face turns red, veins push out, and it looks like she's about to explode. My goodness, the offense! I was as stunned by the excessive force of her reaction as everyone else for a moment, but once I regained my wits she was easily redirected.


Julian had fun at the class, and when I asked him later if he liked the teacher, he said, "Oh, YEAH!". Mary Lynne really is exceptional, and I will certainly find a way to take Katrina to another Music Together session.

When I picked Gabriel up from the CDC today, he was once again in the knitting corner, studiously crocheting a pretty nice little chain, amidst other kids (and one grownup directing it all) knitting. He really wanted to do more crocheting at home, so I took him to Michael's tonight to get him his own crochet hook and yarn and knitting needles (my knitting stuff is buried deep in a box somewhere). He's really excited about it!

I don't know how long this phase will last -- there's a good chance it'll end the first time some macho-boy informs him that crocheting is for girls. My mother, my sister and myself all knit, and my sister even started her own business with her own unique and charming crochet designs, so I'm happy to nurture this. This will be a great airplane activity for him, and he's looking forward to getting pointers from Aunt Stephanie.

Big steps backward in night-training, no dryness the past few nights.

Little progress unpacking too, it's really becoming odious.

Beautiful old fir floor in house beyond repair -- in fact, some of the newer plywood subfloor also beyond repair. Now the house not only has no floor, but no subfloor either. I should get a photo just to show people who still think we could have lived there during construction!!

6/16/08