nipping at your nose

we went to the jack frost winter festival. while forest was practicing skating with jenny, i took soleil up the hill to the ice slides. after the first forty times down the slide i lost count. both children are very proud of their accomplishments.



the indoor part of the festival wasn't quite as exciting, but forest had a life altering experience at "super hero training camp" which consisted of doing an obstacle course, learning kung fu poses and endless bouts with the punching bag.

what's gonna work? teamwork!

new scripted event in the house.

it's time for a diaper change. as i walk over to the dresser to pull out the change pad, diaper, cover and cloths, soleil runs to forest and shrieks "keep me safe! keep me safe! keep me safe!" dutifully, yet with great exuberance, he jumps on top of her, and they lay there, insolently, her entire body covered with his. undaunted, i set everything out. forest then leaps into action once more, picking up everything and throwing it in several directions at once. i attempt to regather supplies while fending off various determined attacks as soleil runs in circles, screaming, or wedges herself behind the freezer.

on a good day, i can play along for quite some time and then come up with some clever plan or distraction to make sure the deed gets done. yet the hidden-camera documentary will reveal some less-than-zen responses. for some reason, the throwing of soiled underthings really gets to me. same with actually-successful attacks, like falling victim to forest's inside-leg-trip and then having soleil jump on my neck while yelling "do the hammerlock!"

the reader writes the story

soleil continues her experiments with sleep-resistance and food-resistance, with negative consequences for everyone. this morning jenny and faz are all but cowering in terror. she retreats to a corner, picks up "katie the kitten fairy" and begins to read out loud to herself.

"and then kitty the HATE fairy was really angry and she was hitting the goblins and kristy and marshall, kitty the HATE fairy. . ."

after some peanut butter toast and yogurt, she returns to reading.

"mama. . . maybe it's kitty the love fairy."

hooray for food.

===========

forest often asks questions he knows the answer to as a way to introduce his thoughts on a topic. here we are in the van, driving to beavers.

radio - why does it always rain on me / even when the sun is shining / i can't avoid the lightning
faz - daddy, what is this song about?
daddy (disingenuously) - some sort of strange weather pattern. seems like every time he steps outside, there is a sudden change in the atmosphere.
faz - no, daddy. it's about being sad. you see, sometimes in songs when they talk about rain it actually means sadness. thunder and lightning can mean sad too. or scared.
daddy - wow, forest. you are way ahead of the game.
[long discussion about metaphor]
[big pause]
faz - why does it always shine on me? sometimes i WANT to be sad.
daddy - i guess your life is just too good right now.
faz - yes it is. sometimes i wish i wasn't a circus ghost. maybe i could somehow be a human for a while.
daddy - oops. i didn't realize you were in character, forest.
faz - who is forest?

love me tender

evening. in bed.

i'm sitting on the edge of the bed, praying. jenny laying beside me, nursing soleil before i take her and put her to sleep. forest is snuggling soleil, obviously perturbed. perhaps because of birthday-christmas overload, he's been genuinely burdened with the realization that having more stuff isn't making him any more happy. beside us on the nightstand is a tiny lego star wars droid. it's time to say goodnight.

josh - goodnight fazzy bear.
forest (choking back emotion) - now that i got the 'battle of naboo' set with all those droids, my original droid just. . .isn't as special anymore.
jenny - you love your droid. it's very special.
forest - (gulp) but i can't even tell which one it is anymore! (sobbing) maybe. . .(sniff) it . . . i know it had a tiny scratch on the back. . .
josh - (unsure) don't worry. we'll figure it out in the morning.
jenny - (with empathy) oh forest boy, you are so sad. . .
soleil (suddenly rolling over to face forest) - oh my buhbuh. i'm so worried about you. (with great compassion) there's real tears on your cute cheeks. (kissing and caressing his face) i love you buhbuh. it's okay.
forest (whimpering) - okay, daedae.

reading over it now, it certainly comes across as at least somewhat laughable. but in the context of earnest struggle, the air was thick with importance. it was a holy moment.

chocolate santa

we hope all of you had a wonderful christmas.

here is soleil spreading yuletide cheer. and chocolate. nice beard.



ps. almond bark is fun to eat. but more fun to make.