Wednesday Bits

Last weekend was our block party, which was a lot of fun. It’s pretty elaborate—everyone donates money, brings food, etc. Some people play music. And the organizers always rent a bounce house for all the kids. When we arrived, of course the bounce house was the first thing Lucia noticed. It was full of shouting, bouncing kids. I was certain we’d go nowhere near the bounce house this year—most of the kids on our street are school-age—but Lucia immediately declared that she wanted to go into the bounce house. I took off her shoes, and then she crawled up the ramp and squeezed into the bounce house, where she jumped a few times with a huge grin before scrambling back out. She did this a few times, testing the waters, and that was that: she was in for good, and we nearly couldn’t get her home. She bounced; she held hands with another little girl and bounced; she did somersaults. She screamed and squealed. It was mania in there, but she loved it.

Greta continues to be an insanely good eater. Lately, we’ve been finishing off a hearty lunch or dinner with an entire banana. She easily eats double what Lucia eats during the day. And yet she’s not chubby: she’s tall and lean. She just…loves…food.

Lucia and Greta have been playing “duets” on the piano. Whenever Lucia sits down to play, Greta hurries over, pulls up, and starts playing too. Fortunately, Lucia loves this, and often calls out for Greta to join her. Then she immediately asks me to take a picture of them playing. Sometimes she will then get off the bench and take a bow. Little ham.

Andrew’s dad was here for a long weekend, which was great, especially because Andrew got deathly ill Saturday night and was incapacitated all day Sunday. Then Robert got sick. Lucia had been sick earlier last week, and Greta has been battling a cold and—of course!—not sleeping. Despite not sleeping for three nights while a) Greta woke up every hour or so because she couldn’t breathe, or b) Andrew ran to the bathroom, I am the only one still fully standing. Knock wood…

A friend from Brooklyn and her two boys came for a visit this morning. We had lots of fun. Lucia and the older boy ran circles through the house, while Greta tried to take toys from the baby (he’s three weeks older) and then screamed bloody murder when I gave them back.

Lucia has gotten the idea that milk for Greta comes from my tummy. Sometimes she’ll “nurse” Dolly while I’m nursing Greta by lifting up her shirt and pressing Dolly’s face to her stomach.