Quick Takes

~1~

We've been adopted by a cat. Or, I should say, K's been adopted by a kitten, which makes it particularly hard to resist. She followed us home from the park this morning, jumped up for a quick snuggle with P while I unfastened the straps in the stroller, and then trotted into the house confidently, just like part of the family. I opened the door and nudged her back out onto the porch. Undaunted, she curled up in the stroller and stayed there, drowsing, through lunch. Now K's back outside with her again. Despite strict instructions not to pick her up or pet her (I have horrible visions of parasites and fleas), K and Climber are becoming fast friends. And honestly, I sort of agree. Climber's a good cat. I'm afraid we're going to keep her. But no, no, no...we can't!

~2~

K's in the middle of a self-imposed TV boycott. I'm thrilled, but also strangely disappointed. I've always limited K's TV time to one short DVD per day, usually during P's nap, but now she hasn't watched anything in weeks. She says she'd rather play with me than watch a boring show and I know that's good: developmentally, emotionally, not watching TV is good. Still, it's exhausting. When K plays upstairs in her room, P & I spend time alone. When P naps, K & I play. At night after the girls go to bed, C & I are eager for time together. Don't misunderstand, I love all these special moments, but when do busy moms find time to be alone? Actually alone. After all, K's not outside being adopted by a kitten every day.

~3~

In August, our summer afternoons are hot. The girls and I barely want to eat. Cooked foods seem like a ridiculous extravagance, so we've been living on yogurts and fruit. We have fresh cherries and nectarines, frozen blueberries, strawberries and grapes. For lunch we eat apple slices spread with sticky almond butter. P likes her sippy cup cold. Night after night, the only meal any of us can tolerate is a light linguini. If you're interested, here's the recipe we use (it's a variation of the Lemon Linguini recipe in Susan Branch's cookbook, Summer):

1 lb. linguini

1 lb. chicken breast

seasoned salt (to taste)

garlic powder (to taste)

1/2 c. good, grassy olive oil (plus extra oil for browning chicken)

zest from 1 lemon

juice from 2 lemons

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

lots of fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

Lightly sprinkle chicken breasts with garlic powder and seasoned salt. Brown chicken in oil. Cool, then cut into pieces. Cook linguini. Combine remaining ingredients (except for cheese) in a large serving bowl. Add pasta and chicken. Mix well. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese to taste. Serve hot or cold. (It's delicious either way.)

~4~

Interesting that a recipe would lead me to this particular story, but it's too funny not to share. K found a book about animals at the library the other day and as we were reading we came across a chapter called Birds of Prey. I wasn't sure if we were ready for a conversation about predators and prey, so I was stalling. K, I asked, do you know what it means to be a bird of prey? She bit her lip. There was a slight wrinkle on her forehead. Well, she said seriously, to pray means to send your thoughts up to heaven, so a bird of prey must be, um, I think, a kind of bird that sends things up to heaven. I thought that description was particularly apt, so we left it at that.

~5~

So yeah, the library: P's becoming a handful there. She toddles up and down the aisles with abandon. She disturbs readers at their reading, e-mailers at their e-mailing, and computer-game-players at their computer game playing. She does it happily, with giggling and smiles, and I hate to tear her away; after all, no one ever seems to mind. Our library is not a place where people bring serious work, and it's hard not to smile at a 14-month-old who's racing toward you with an open smile and outstretched arms, but we irritate the librarian. She glares at us when we walk through the door and as much as I want to fault her for it I can understand why, so I'm afraid our library days might be drawing to a close for awhile. I just can't figure out a way to entertain P and read to K at the same time. Does anyone have experience with this?

~6~

Actually, the solution may be close at hand because K is suddenly learning to read. Out of nowhere, this week she started noticing -at words: cat, rat, bat, mat. She recognizes them in stories and practices writing them on her white board at night. I'm more than a little amazed.

~7~

As for me, I'm taking my camera everywhere these days. I'm not a photographer (I'm not even close to being a photographer) but having my camera along during outings has given me a whole new way to see the world. I'm noticing bright petals on green grass; the sun shining on freshly flooded puddles of mud; insects, iridescent and jointed, crawling along a wall. I like taking pictures. I like the way having my camera slows me down; it focuses my eye and forces me to try to see the world around me. The art of photography is still a mystery, but this is something I'm enjoying--try it, it's fun!

Thanks for reading! If you're looking for more quick takes, check here.