Yay, family day!

And especially, yay, family day when it is warm and sunny and spring has sprung! The tulips and daffodils and hyacinth are out, the forsythia has hit its peak, and the canopy of trees along the curve at the bottom of Alexander Road are in fully frothy white splendor. And it was 75 degrees before noon. We had a great day.


For Edith it was a Big Girl Day filled with happenings and accomplishments that made her "feel four," she said at one point. It started with the very mature fact of her sleeping in. In fact, we all slept until nearly 9:30. How glorious!

Then, when Tom glanced at the thermometer and mentioned it was warm outside, Edith burst out the door without waiting for us, to go see if the tulip that has popped up in the front had opened. She stayed out there to examine the dandelions and violets and to play imaginary games in the sunshine. She later told me she thought she was old enough now to go outside by herself, and I agreed, as long as she stays in our yard.

It's worth mentioning that yesterday I took advantage of a Gymboree sale to stock up on spring and summer clothes for the girls. I spent a good deal of time trying to balance the search for deeply discounted items with the compilation of outfits that would match, while also trying to remember to get Edith's tops long and bottoms shorter and Alice's tops small and bottoms larger and keeping in mind which things each most needed. When Edith got home from school, I showed her the items I'd gotten her and was gratified when she expressed satisfaction with them. She's had a drawer full of jeans, khakis, and corduroys this winter but has been frustrated by a relative lack of soft knit pants, which she much prefers.

Her satisfaction with the clothes translated into her having opinions about her outfit this morning, also a relatively rare thing around here thus far. She told me she wanted to wear stripes, and I put a pale pink-and-yellow striped T-shirt on her with a pink skirt. She looked in the mirror, frowned, and said she wanted the striped bike shorts I'd gotten her. These were a vivid magenta, green, and orange that did not exactly harmonize with the shirt. Knowing her father's proclivity for "boring clothes," she was giggling when she went to show him her revised outfit. "Shall I help you get socks?" he asked. "Purple?" Oblivious to his sarcasm, she agreed to lavendar knee-highs. They finished it off with blue Ariel sneakers with flashing lights, and she was a sight. Note to self: Carefully chosen new clothes may indeed inspire your child to take an interest in dressing herself, but not in the ways you imagined when selecting them.

Alice is still perfectly amenable to coordinated outfits

Once we left the house for the day, our first stop was the post office, where Edith and I waited in line together to choose the prettiest stamps for her birthday invitations. Unfortunately, all they had were bells and flags, because it turns out they're due for a rate increase (44-cent stamps coming soon to a post office near you, exactly double the cost of the first stamps I remember using). Edith chose the bells and asked why there's a crack in them. I don't actually know the story of the Liberty Bell (anyone?) but said we could go see it in Philadelphia and learn about it.

Having been told in the past that she couldn't play with stamps because they're not like other stickers, Edith was surprised and pleased when I said she could help me stamp the envelopes. Once done she put them all in the slot. In fact, I told her to go put them in the slot "furthest to the left," and she chose the correct one of three slots without hesitating. It turns out she knows left and right perfectly.



After the post office we went to the pool, where I sat in the car in the sunshine and graded exams, with sleeping Alice for company, while Tom and Edith went swimming. When they came out, they told me they had a surprise for me. They were going to write it down on a slip of paper when we got home and tape it to Edith's door, where I could read it for myself.


First, we went to Whole Foods for lunch (E: "It's my favorite store in the world"; ed.: We suspect it's the gelato), then to the softball field for church softball practice. That's right, Tom's not content with two softball teams but has been involved in starting what for him will be a third team this summer. Good thing Edith pronounced the softball field also one of her favorite places, because she's going to be spending a lot of the summertime there. I dropped her and Tom off so they'd be on time, then Alice and I went to church to pick up the brand-new balls and bases and brought them back to the field. The team looked decent; tomorrow is the first game, and we'll find out for sure. I hope to play some, too, though the need for kid-tending on the sidelines means someone in the family is going to play a compromised game, and I suspect it will be the one who can feed the baby rather than the one who can crush the ball.

Tom was hoping to fit in the wedding of one of his former colleagues from the bookstore, who is also the son of our former pastor and Tom's former mentor, before leading a small group meeting in the evening. But the schedule got too tight, so he came home and watched some Sesame Street with Edith while Alice slept and I graded more exams. Oh, and they posted a note on Edith's door that read "EDITH swam in the seminary pool today by herself." She was so proud! Tom confirmed that she paddled through the deep water without a flotation device or parental assistance, remembering to hold her breath while her face was underwater. Maybe that distractable mermaid learned something in the winter morning sessions at the YWCA after all.

Alice tries out the Jolly Jumper for the first time; she seems most intent on eating the ring

Then Tom headed out to small group, and Edith and I enjoyed some tofu and vegetables with korma sauce, which she actually ate, before playing dominoes and reading several books. Alice was up by this time, and I was interested to see that she stared at the pages of the picture books as we read, something Edith never did at this age, when she was so intent on moving.

Tom arrived home to find us at the kitchen table having crackers and telling the story of Heidi, a new one for Edith. We finished the day by all piling onto Edith's bed for a chapter of Emily's Runaway Imagination. Edith, who must have hit a growth spurt, then wanted a banana and some milk. Afterwards she put toothpaste on her own toothbrush, the kind you actually have to spit out, and managed to brush and spit appropriately, a new endeavor for her. A few songs, and she was out. We put Alice in her crib, and that tractable child dropped off, too.


Back to the exams.

A spring scene from yesterday's daycare trike-a-thon