A Happy Dada Day

On Children

Millie and I had our final parent-child playgroup at the Waldorf school last week. We will be returning to the 2-3 year-old group in the Fall, but her play mates will all be moving on to the nursery class (she is the youngest). I snuck a couple of photos before we left the room. We are so grateful for this space. Our Thursday mornings have been filled with peace, joy, beauty, fun, movement, singing, playing, friends, comfort, happy thoughts, and so much intellectual and spiritual reflection. A truly shining example of the wonders that early childhood can hold (for the child and the parent). We will miss it so much over the summer.
Our lovely teacher left this poem in our cubby. I've read it so many times in the past week, I think I almost have it memorized.

On Children

Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children 

as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might

that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Up up up

MRI update

Millie says: there's more than one way to consume a milkshake!

We have scheduled Millie's yearly MRI check-up for June 23rd. This time Dr. Wisoff has requested a double-header: a full thoracic spine and lumbar spine image. It will be nice to see that everything is in order all the way up to her neck. We will likely have an early morning appointment at NYU (the nurses call a day ahead to tell us what time), then we will meet with Dr. Wisoff at his office later in the day while he reviews the images. He will be checking on the growth of her spine, looking at the scar tissue, and assessing the excess fluid at the base of her spine (which is hopefully the same or less than it was last year).

Last June Millie wasn't even walking yet, so it will be exciting to update her chart with all the progress she has made this past year: she has completed daytime and nighttime potty learning 100%... She can run up and down hills, climb rocks and slides, hike for more than an hour... Her little toes wiggle all around while I try to clip her nails (or "kitty claws" as we call them).

Yes indeed we are proud of our sweet Minky, and forever grateful for her mobility. We are feeling very hopeful that these next 8 years of MRIs will just be routine check-ups, a little bit of parent bragging (one day Millie will be showing Dr. Wisoff her dance recital photos!), and a lot of thankfulness.

Summer time!

Right now I'm laying on the couch drinking sun tea. My husband is in the kitchen cooking dinner. My newly minted two-year-old is sitting on the potty flipping through a book. Enjoying my last week in my 20s... Life is good.

Art update

This week Millie was surprised and very impressed to learn that Teta Annie is also an artist (in addition to herself).

Brady and I reorganized Millie's art space last weekend and also added some print- making tools that she can access at all times. She loves it!

On Monday morning she experimented with the new tools and some paint at her easel. She put a pillow on the floor and invited me to watch her ("Mama! Down down down!"). While she was working I commented something like "how fun is this!?", and she laughed and gave me a BIG hug around the neck. I squeezed her and said "You are a real artist, just like your Teta" (which I've said before). She grew silent and held onto my shoulders at arms' length, staring into my eyes like she was waiting for me to say something else. I said "You know that... your Teta is an artist." Her eyes grew big and I wasn't sure what she was thinking, so I just said "Teta Annie..."

She gazed off towards her painting and said in a very exaggerated voice: "WOW.. Teta..."

Oh my gosh it was priceless. So Teta, if you're reading this, color us impressed!!

Some easel work

Last week Millie had some birthday money from Grandma that was burning a hole in her pocket. We made a special trip to Dick Blick Art Supplies to pick out some goodies.

She picked out a sketch pad with ducks on the cover, a blue paint stick, and a sea sponge. I chose the squeeze bottles for doing messy paint, and the little jar to hold our homemade glue.

Modified sketch book :)

Working on the green collage. Just yellow and orange to go and then we'll hang them on the wall. So exciting!! I'll do a project update soon.

New drawer with re-purposed materials for print-making

The friendly kitty

I'm so proud of my girl for being kind to animals. We met this friendly "yellow" kitty at the garden center yesterday and Millie could hardly contain her excitement. The kitty was pretty excited too! Millie remembered all the steps to greet a cat:

1. Call her over with "kitty kisses" (by making kissy noises)

2. Offer your hand for her to sniff

3. If she accepts, pet her gently down the back

We got sandpaper tongue kisses all over our hands. Millie was in heaven.