Act Three

I’ve been doing some sewing. L is stretching out and so I decided to make him a new winter blanket, this will also free up the smaller blankets for the baby. The point was not to experiment with a complicated design, but to choose something that would get finished. Space is a premium around here so it felt good to use up some scraps , some pieces from my fabric stash and 2 of Lowell’s flannel shirts that he doesn’t wear anymore.

With school starting the Parent drop-in Center is open again. L enjoys playing with all the toys so we have added that to our weekly activities. Inevitably hanging out with that many kids means that we brought home a cold/stuffy nose. This cold has given us some good days and some more lethargic days.

A few weeks ago Lowell introduced L to the computer and mouse function. Now playing games on the computer is as much fun as watching TV; PBS kids actually has some great educational games. Unfortunately for him computer time replaces some TV time. He is actually getting really good at controlling the mouse.

Lowell’s classes are in full swing. He is again feeling the pressure of too few hours in a day. Hopefully once most of the administrative details are worked out for his own course there will be more time for that dissertation.

We celebrated another birthday the other day. With two birthdays so close together, L is now expecting candles on cakes every day.

The new semester starts tomorrow. Ready or not, here we go.

When Aunty I was visiting she was instructed to take lots of pictures of L for Grandma F; so maybe it is time to give an update on L. The past 2 weeks have had some hard days to be 2 years old in them. Mom and Dad insist on continuing with potty training, won’t let L watch as much TV as he would like, nor will we play with him as much as he wants. Last week when I took him to the garden, I carried him kicking and screaming to the car, when we got to the garden he refused to come out of the car. I decided that the car was a safe place to be if he wasn’t with me in my garden plot, it would be within sight and not too far away that I couldn’t hear him call. Thankfully today after the same beginning he cheered up and had lots of fun digging and pulling weeds.

L has rediscovered his LeapPad, interacting with the games instead of just listening to the sounds that different buttons make. When he is not wanting to play toys at least he has found something to entertain himself with. He has also remembered how much fun it is to play with markers and a hand-me-down book that you can wipe clean and redo.

L is loving the corn on the cob again this year; eating and shucking it.

We enjoyed some Moroccan food at a restaurant last night for Lowell’s birthday. However Lowell had to wait to blow out his candles and open his present until today since L fell asleep at the restaurant and slept until 5:30 this morning. Thankfully Lowell was okay with no birthday surprises this year; we had cheesecake yesterday anyway and when L gave Lowell his wrapped present he announced “it is a new watch for you for jogging”. He had already told Lowell on Friday that we had bought him a new watch.

We said goodbye to Aunties I & E today. With all of the excitement over I think the three of us are pretty flat. Yesterday we headed to Vermont and visited the Precision Museum and then watched some glass blowing at Simon Pearce Glassblowing.

On Monday, we loaded our rental–we couldn’t fit all the gear and people into our own car–and headed to the coast. The weather was gorgeous and we took full advantage of it on Salisbury Beach. It was even warm enough to make it necessary to brave the cold waters of the Atlantic to cool off.

On Tuesday, we headed over to Newburyport to do some whale-watching. The weather held out until we got back to camp. We managed to stay mostly dry, but we had to eat our supper under our shade tarp.

On Wednesday, we headed off to Concord and Lexington to take in some history. Here L and I are standing on the bridge where the American militia first fired upon British soldiers just hours after Paul Revere’s famous ride. It’s the site of the famous “shot heard round the world”.

Auntie I and “Auntie” E are visiting from Alberta. Tomorrow we head out to the coast to spend a few days enjoying Boston and the Atlantic Ocean. Today we spent some time closer to home; we stopped by the Montague Bookmill for lunch and then drove over to Deerfield to take in some history.