I often call the kids my greatest DIY project. They’re little non-deterministic balls of noise and cuteness. I love hearing things Pip or I say come out of their mouths. Phrases with our intonation, vocab, etc. But then there are days it’s on a whole new level. There are children’s books Pip and I quote often, and now the kids do too. Like “Do you like my hat?” from Go Dog Go (typically while putting a random object on our head) or “Who needs 16?” from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day (typically when Lorelei is counting and skips one or more numbers). At one point we all memorized Chicken Soup with Rice (a rhyming book of months by Maurice Sendak). But we have easily 100 children’s books and only quote from our favorites. So, back to my point. This morning I was getting a dish from the clean dishwasher when a lunch box shifted and lots of water spilled/splashed out, on Lorelei and the floor. She went and got a rag to clean it up and said, “I did not like that wet kersplat”, which is a direct quote from one of our books. I laughed, a lot, and was blown away. She also told her first joke: “I don't know how monkeys kick because they don't go to taekwondo”. Not quite a knee slapper, but word play and humor make the world fun. Both kids are turning into little people I really like and enjoy hanging out with.
We have a new au pair. His name is Lisandro and he’s from Argentina. We are the first family he’s lived with in the US so his English is less advanced, but he’s very nice and good at art and reading to the kids. He doesn’t like being in the rain. I questioned why he came here, because I was very clear it rains most of the year. Well, he “likes” rain, but through a window? We’re working on getting him into the yard more with the kids when it’s wet. We chose a male au pair this time to give Moriarty a big brother type figure. One evening I heard Moriarty cackling from the other room and peeked in to see Moriarty crouched, holding a cardboard shield over his head, and Lisandro was throwing paper airplanes at him. We brought Lisandro to the WA State Fair and met up with Pip’s sister and her family. The Lafleur kids had never been to a fair either. Moriarty rode tons of rollercoasters, and Lorelei and I rode the sky tram (her top choice) and played some games. We played a dart-the-balloon game and both kids got every shot. Not so much on other games, but they’re dart-throwing prodigies.
The kids are back in school. Lorelei is in a preschool class at the Montessori school Moriarty used to attend. She LOVES school. She made friends the first day and is always happy to go and to tell us about it at night. Moriarty is in 3rd grade now. His teacher is Ms. Collins and she’s very nice. He only has optional homework this year. Optional homework!! Mostly it’s math practice. I asked him one day if he wanted to practice with me and I started quizzing the types of problems and he instantly knew the answers. So, yeah, he doesn’t need to practice. He’s also dropping fun vocab on us, the latest being “neophyte”. Evidently he learned it from a Minecraft novelization, but it still shocks me every time, and he’s not just repeating it in the original context, he’s using it in a new way and can define it if asked. His favorite part of the day is recess where he and his friends have developed an elaborate game with dragons and bases and who knows what else. They get chastised by teachers for playing rough but they wait until the teacher isn’t looking and go back to their game.
They’re growing up. I’ve doing this blog for 8 years. OMG! And I’m so glad because I have this record of their highlights (and some low points). Thanks for reading.
New Photos, password mal
Videos:
Moriarty jumping over a bar at taekwondo
Lorelei doing a firefighter obstacle course
Moriarty drawing power bracelets on Lorelei in marker
Lorelei being lassoed by the rodeo clown at the fair
Moriarty letting Lorelei ride him, and patiently giving her instructions on how to hold on