Recently, we went to a birthday party. There was a musician at the party and lots of the kids were on the “stage” dancing to the music. Fi, who was eating an apple at the time, asked John “Why are all the children up there dancing?” John said “Fi, they’re just up there having fun. You can go up there too.” So she handed him the apple and joined the other kids. It occurred to me that Fi might not identify herself as being a child or as having the quality of childhood in common with her little friends. I think she thinks that she is just a short person who will someday be taller. Or something like that. I think she is a pretty typical kid, but maybe she doesn’t think she is a kid. I don’t know.
At any rate, here are some photos of her:
Here is another photo of her after getting rings in the pool. It was taken by a friend of mine whose daughter is also in the class.
Here is our veggie haul for today:
The zucchini on the left was regular sized two days ago, small even. The melon is our first cantaloupe. There are many more in the garden, but they are not yet ripe. The tomatoes are a mix of roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and Mr. Stripey tomatoes that are like candy, they are so sweet. I think they are my new favorite tomato since the San Marzano haven’t produced in a couple of years and my cooking is different that it was when we did have a lot of those. I am really loving the garden harvest. There is nothing like the quality of homegrown fruits and vegetables. The produce at the supermarket does not come close to comparing, and even the fruits and veggies at the farmer’s market are not quite as good as straight off the vine. I think every year during the winter I forget how good the garden is. The eggplant we got was great, but the plants are on their way out (some creature is eating them) and even the lettuce was tasty. The garden is one of my favorite things about living here, in this house, in this town.
I am not a big fan of cantaloupe (I don’t love it, I don’t hate it, sort of indifferent, will eat it if given to me, but don’t ask for it specially), but oh boy was this one good! So sweet and tender. It was delicious. I think Fi and I ate almost half of it right after I sliced it. And speaking of slicing, the knife went through like butter. I may never be able to eat restaurant or supermarket melon again. I guess the plant’s hostile takeover of our garden was worth it. I’m so excited for the rest of the cantaloupes and for the watermelons to ripen. Lots of those growing in our front yard now.
Here are John and Fi in John’s office today:
Fi was typing in a word document and couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t getting web pages or photos of tigers when typing their names. We had lunch and visited John for probably the last time this summer. This is our third visit since summer vacation started. The receptionist at the visitor center recognized us when we walked in. Well, she recognized Fi. No one notices the mommy.
Fi is potty training her dolls. Depending on the day, they either all poop in the potty, or they all need their diapers changed every few minutes. In this photo, they are sitting on the toilet, reading their books:
Eventually she gave them something else but I don’t remember what it was and by that time, I put the camera away.
Here is Fi, having a tea party in the sandbox with a little birdy:
Here she is buried under blankets:
Ever since we cut out watching videos on youtube, she is back to putting together puzzles and reading many books every day, or sometimes the same books over and over. And pretending that there are chickens in Chinchi’s room and cows in her room a mommy, a daddy, and a baby). The cows each had their own water bottle that we had to dump out and rinse (because they were getting moldy). We let the cows out last night so they could graze in the backyard, and today Fi gave me some grass to feed them. I guess they are happy back there because I haven’t heard any complaints from them and Fi hasn’t mentioned them much today (other than feeding them the grass).
I can’t believe that preschool starts again next week. Fi and I have spent every day together for last two months. I feel closer to her than I ever have before and I love our little conversations and all the stories and songs she makes up and the farm animals that are roaming around everywhere (note: just in case, no real farm animals are here, they are all in Fi’s imagination, but I love playing along). She has been so happy the last few weeks and her behavior has been much better than it was a couple of months ago, when I started to think I didn’t like three year olds very much and wondered how I was going to get through this age without tearing my hair out. I’m going to be sad to see her go, but I officially start back to work the following week (I say “officially” because I have already been working and planning, and have met with coworkers), and so all good things must come to an end. Fi’s last two swim lessons are tomorrow and Thursday.
Here are some photos of her taken on my phone, from the fair and from home:
My sweet Fi, I hope even if you don’t always remember this summer, that you remember the feeling of excitement and joy you had. I’m glad I have this blog to help me remember it too.
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