Our funny little bunny, Phoebe Jane, is now 15 months old. She’s still a tiny little birdie, but so full of personality. And a fierce lover of chocolate, just like her Papa. If I had to choose just one word, however, to describe this dear child it would be “sweet.” She just radiates sweetness. She loves to snuggle, hug and kiss her dolls and cuddle up with anything and (almost) anybody. Happy 15 months, lovely lady!
I have such a vivid memory of the time Wren learned to drink from a real cup (instead of a sippy cup). I don’t think I had even considered it, but she was going to enroll in a Montessori school a couple mornings and she had to know how to drink from a cup. I was surprised at how quickly she learned to drink from it and I was thrilled to see how proud she was of herself. It was one of the first times that the basic idea of Montessori hit home: independence promotes confidence.
Now that the second child is here, parenting is a lot more intuitive and involves a lot more watching and learning from her. Phoebe has been putting a cup up to her mouth and drinking in the bath a lot lately, yuck. When she’s in the kitchen, she’ll often reach for a cup and pretend to drink. Today Wren and I decided that she would help Phoebe learn to drink water from her cup. They both were so proud! And wet.
I had an “aha!” moment today with these two. I’ve been struggling to find things the three of us can do together. Usually it involves Phoebe getting into Wren’s stuff (paint, stickers, puzzle, book) and Wren screaming at Phoebe. Fun! And then I listened and watched and quietly directed, but it didn’t take much from me. Voila! Birdie number two begins to drink from a cup, thanks to her sister.
I’m so excited to explore this more: empowering Wren to help Phoebe explore the world in a meaningful way. Nothing is forced, just a natural relationship that needs a bit of nurturing from Mama.
It’s been a little over three years since I started this blog and it’s made me take pause and reflect. Well, reflect as much as you can in very tiny increments of time with two birdies fluttering around. You know, I know you do, yes?
Like almost anything, change is inevitable and so it is with this little corner of Cyberspace too. I’ve written about a lot of different things and places I love, personal experiences like the loss of our first daughter or dieting, and most recently the blog has become more of a journal of my birdies with photographs and a few words here and there. It’s become more of an attempt to savor this fleeting time. Such is life, the ebb and flow.
I’ve dabbled in trying to monetize this space with sponsored posts and I’ve dabbled in writing for other blogs like Design Mom and Punky Brewster. I’ve done giveaways. I’ve also had regular features that have come and gone like Click On or Sunday Confessions. Remember those? I’ve posted about favorite recipes or home renovations, crafts and DIYs.
I’ve started (and stopped) other blogs and I’ve helped other people get into blogging. And I’ve wondered from time to time about starting different blogs based on different interests like gardening for children or an exploration of documenting our children’s lives. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering about the meaning of this space and why I come back here regularly. Blogging is a creative outlet, it inspires me to create, to be a better photographer, to write more clearly and thoughtfully, even to be a better parent. And for whom? It’s for me, it’s for my children and it’s for you: the community that blogs create.
We all know that blogs are not real life, but a carefully-curated snippet of life. Mostly the beautiful, the fun, the things we really want our children to remember or an image of how we want the world to see us. Over the years I’ve tried to temper this reality with more “real” posts about the challenges of raising small children in today’s world and the realities of a somewhat isolated life at home.
I’d love your input in the comments area, please and thank you. How long have you been reading? What keeps you coming back? What kinds of posts do you enjoy most? What other blogs do you enjoy reading? What would you like to see or read more of/less of here? What are some of your favorite blogs to read?
Thank you for being here with me, whether you’ve been clicking in for three years or three minutes. T H A N K Y O U ! T H A N K Y O U ! T H A N K Y O U !
We’re hoping, praying, wishing, waiting for more snow to play in, ski on and catch on our tongues. Yet another January thaw?! Come.On.Already. Oh yeah, and there’s no such thing as climate change, right?
How’s your weekend going?
There are a lot of people doing a weekly portrait series of their children this year, inspired in large part by Jodi and her beautiful, natural portraits of her children. I’m going to try and do a sisters portrait series this year – perhaps more of a challenge for me to get the two together? Are you pushing yourself to do anything different this year with your photography?
Day 1: Sisters at Play
Don’t mind the dirty windows… yes, that’s the sun shining through. Finally! We’ve started our Valentine’s Day crafting. I think it’s one of my favorite kinds of preschool crafting. Hearts don’t get old, do they? Pink! Glitter! Hearts! Yes, Wren is loving it.
I’m pretty sure I’m still finding glitter from our last Valentine’s Day crafting sessions… why not make more messes? The cleaning lady’s coming soon, right?! ha ha ha ha ha ha. Boo hiss.
All by herself (remember “do it SELF!!!”) Wren made a picture for Phoebe “of Phoebe in the sandbox.” I didn’t even know she was doing it until it had already been completed and Wren was giving it to Phoebe. Such a sweet moment. Every day there’s some sweetness. Tempered with Wren screaming at Phoebe, “stop following me!” or “stop looking at me!” or getting really angry because Phoebe’s into all of her stuff. It’s hard living with babies in your stuff! I know.
We had a special afternoon last week when my Kindergarten teacher paid us a visit. We’ve been friends for 30 years now and sharing our girls and our home with her was one of the highlights of Christmas vacation.
Not only was she my first school teacher, but I knew her through our childhood church and the summer camp I went to since I was a wee one. She played the role of Mother Nature at camp and took us on nature tours of the lake via canoe and encouraged us to taste Indian Cucumber, aka tender cattail hearts. She showed us the beauty of the constellations on the dock under starry summer skies, she took us on night hikes to listen for owls and sniff around for the fragrant sassafras with its beautiful, unique leaves. The other campers and I would huddle together through the darkened woods while munching on the spicy stem. I have such vivid memories of those nights and can still clearly see the spot we hiked up to deep in the woods in order to sit still and call for owls and listen to the creatures of the night begin to stir around us.
When I graduated from high school she gave me my first books of Michigan birds and wildflowers. I thumbed through the birds book when looking for names for my children, hence the names we settled on: Wren and Phoebe.
She’s also an incredible storyteller and strong believer in the spirit world. She told some very spooky ghost stories at camp and now she is often invited to people’s homes or buildings to witness the spirits and take photographs of orbs. She is currently working on a book about ghosts in the town of Romeo where I grew up.
I’m so grateful for her presence in my life over the past 30 years and owe her so much for sharing with me such a deep and curious appreciation for nature. It was so special to spend the afternoon with her and have her read meaningful, timeless books and play thoughtfully with the girls, talk about our gardens, hear about her recent travels and spirit encounters in the areas where the Japanese Internment camps were held and see some of the orbs she’s captured with her camera. Her enthusiasm for so many different aspects of life, innate sense of adventure, and desire to share the joy and wonder of children is contagious.
Feeling so grateful and inspired and wishing I could always have my Kindergarten teacher around. So much to glean from so many years of devoted experience with wee ones! It really does take a village, no?
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soule Mama.
