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A bit of this and a bit of that....

June 21, 2006

If my last entry described a bit of a bust of a day in terms of our attempt to enjoy some time at the pool, Friday went a long ways toward making up for it. Friday morning I packed up Ava and my swim stuff with the intent of picking her up early from day care and going to my parent's house for a quick dip in their pool. My friend Sandra called when I was on my way out of the office to tell me they were at the CC pool and did we want to meet? We had a ball watching the girls play, enjoying a little happy hour by the pool. Ava was thrilled. I don't think she left the water for more than 30 seconds at a time. And those 30 seconds were to gobble up her ice cream or grab another toy. Oh my sweet girl is such a water baby!

The rest of our weekend was really pretty nice. Saturday evening we got together with Jim, Sandra and Sophia, which was supposed to be a quick drink and what turned into dinner and copious amounts of wine. By far the best part of the evening was when Ava and Sophia took a bath together. Those two have grown up like sisters – a little over a year separates them. To see them in the bath, covered in bubbles and slippery like little seals was so darn cute! Ava was just wired and out waaayy past her bedtime but still managed to chatter non-stop the whole way home.

Saturday afternoon Ava and I went to the Hallmark store to buy Father's Day cards for John and for my dad. Ava was surprisingly intentional about picking out the Father's Day card for John and my dad. She examined almost every card within reach and decided that her daddy would like the 'sparkly princess card' and that Papa Ray would like the 'one with the lion and the flower.' At home she drew circles all over both cards (they're working on that at her school right now) and asked that I write her name. It is so delightful to see her be able to participate in things like this... To see her be purposeful in loving and caring for her family is so sweet to me.

Ava and I got John a shirt – not to be cliché, it was a shirt he really wanted, but wouldn't treat himself to! John, Meghan and Lane have a tradition of going sailing on Father's Day, a tradition I DO NOT want to mess with. We talked about Ava and I joining them this year, but decided there was a distinct possibility the day could begin to revolve around a 3 year old pretty quickly. What if she was scared on the boat? What if she wouldn't wear her life vest? Instead Ava and I enjoyed the afternoon – just us girls. We went to the city's aquatic center, which is a very nice wading pool with rides and toys and fountains. I covered Ava in a blanket of SPF 50 sunscreen, but the sun was so hot out there I soaked her again after about half an hour. I saw a bunch of children at the pool with tans – dark tans, tan lines etc... While I am not as attentive to the sunscreen for myself, I am somewhat over the top cautious with Ava. I read that much of the sun damage that leads to skin cancer actually occurs in childhood. (Did anyone else think it was a good idea to lay out with babyoil when they were 14?) Am I over-reacting? I am certainly capable of it.

Somewhere in the flurry of activity and all this pool time Ava has contracted a pretty nasty head cold. After the first year of her life, which was one long, seemingly unending ear infection, Ava has been pretty healthy. Of course she's had a couple of bouts with typical viruses that tend to affect kids in child care, but she weathers them well. This cold has really thrown her for a loop. Monday night when I got home from rowing she was in the midst of a full on melt down. She was sitting at the dinner table, sobbing, John had apparently done something that was displeasing to her and the tantrum that ensued is like one I have never, ever seen from her. She was clutching on me, sobbing, snot everywhere, coughing. I'm covered in river water and sweat. I took her in to our big easy leather arm chair with her blanket and tried to settle her down. She must have spent ten minutes with her head buried in my chest, clutching my arm, really trying to get it together, but she just couldn't. Finally I suggested that we go take a bath together.

Bath time has always been John's time with Ava. Literally from day one. I don't think I gave Ava a bath until she was six months old and I really only bathe her on nights he's out of town, working late etc... But Monday night there was little doubt that what Ava needed was some skin time with her mama. So into the bath we went and she settled down right away. It just cracked her up that we were in the bath together. For the rest of the night she was stuck to me like glue. She wanted to be held, rocked, read to, sung to, back rubbed.... I felt sorry for her, but was completely relieved when she finally went to bed!

This weekend a good friend of mine gave birth to her second daughter. Her first daughter was born just about six weeks after Ava. We worked together and we were pregnant together the first time around. Visiting her in the hospital on Monday was such a sweet experience. Her new daughter all bundled up like a little burrito. Her oldest daughter glued firmly to her side, but much more interested in her graham crackers than her new little sister. Even though the baby had been with them about 24 hours, they looked so natural, so calm and very, very happy. I was happy for them. Holding the new baby made me think about Ava when she was newly born. There was no way for me to know at the time what a delightful little person she would become. So as I held the new baby, all soft, warm and snoozing I thought about all her potential and how fun it will be to see her grow into it. Simply put, it was awesome.

Thanks for reading—

--Kate

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