brood

“have you seen my cat?”

“this is my cat!!”

okay, so now i’ve spoiled the ending of Eric Carle’s book “Have you seen my cat?” i’d be spoiling the whole book if I told you that the entire thing consists of basically 3 sentences, repeated over and over – one per page. for a while it was levi’s very favorite book. he says “kah,” for cat. it’s really adorable. he also says “kah” when he gets excited about seeing one of his favorite furry ones – our elderly cat, steve, for example. steve has an amazing threshold for abuse from our little caveman. we try to stop him, and give him the example of “gentle” by softly stroking steve then softly stroking levi’s head, but it is clear that this doesn’t get through. for now, we are all happy with “kah.” this word now rests along side with “bah” for bye (including the hand wave!), or ball (he absolutely loves balls); “mom mom mom” or just “mah” for mom and “dah dah dah” and dad. in fact, today in the with both of us in the car he blurted out “mah mah, dah dah” as if to recognize the togetherness of our family.

speaking of today… spring seems to officially be saying it’s farewell. it will reach 90, easy. the sun will be raw and more ozone than is healthy will be born in the air. it makes one think toward the peak of the Central Texas summer when all of this is even more intense. now, i’m not entirely dismayed by the inevitable heat, because it simply means there is more of an excuse to seek refuge in water. of course, there will be worries about the sun and it’s deleterious effect on a young one’s sensitive skin. then the opposing worry about the deleterious effect of sun screen on the same. so, assuming you can’t win, we’ll just have to use our heads, avoid peak hours and do like the Texans: seek the shade.

honestly, anything i say about the mid-90 degree weather this week will be a complaint. i was just trying to make the best of it.

i wonder if levi will become sheepish around water like his friend ezra has. he seems to love it very much right now, and splashes with the greatest vigor. he laughs and giggles when we make waves with him. water is a fine thing. all children should have it. our friends have a pool and we just got back from a playdate at their house. it was a marvelous cacophony of little boysand one girl. eight little ones in total, except one, all under 2 years old. at one point levi and his momma had to retreat from the madness. eight little ones this age creates a kind of dynamic that is hard to keep up wiht. perhaps it is because levi is the youngest at 11 months, or maybe he’s just a quiet soul. ladyjoanna thought that she might share his need for calm, because she found herself needing the quiet as well.

it would be unfair to focus on the chaos, and forget the endless marvels and wonder involved as our child interacted in this rich and alive space filled with little beings and their trappings. this seemed like a great stomping ground for him – so many creative things being done with objects… throwing stones in a large pot of water, digging through ice in a cooler, playing/eating/throwing musical instruments, discovering toys and puzzles etc. it was a gas. moreover, it was exhausting, especially for him. he went down in just a couple of minutes after i got him into his pj’s.

this week has been insane as we all are now finally recovered from the viral gastroenteritis that plagued us last week-end. what a nightmare. i mean, obviously things could be way worse, and we’re a very lucky and fairly healthy family, but the feeling of nausea and gastric distress is basically the worst. so, we are excited for this weekend and what it will bring as we are all healthy again and ready for some family action and hijinks.

levi has some new tricks too. he waves goodbye now. it’s very special. he kind of waves at himself. he also uses a similar sign in asking for moma’s milk.

on the floor, he’s very close to stacking blocks, and it seems like he may start clapping soon.

he’s a master cross-crawler, and remains in ever hot pursuit of his favorite friend, our dog Pearl. i’m wondering if that is where he learned the act of giving toys. he tries to give the toys to Pearl so she’ll play with him. whenever she does – although she does so skittishly – he laughs heartily. but now he also gives us toys for various reasons. he gives us books because he wants us to read them. he gives us certain toys that he can’t quite work yet, like the top, or this annoying electronic cube which has animals that sing songs when you touch it. (i hate the cube, but… i can’t say he feels the same way about it.)

so that’s levi… and really what else is there?