July!

Oh, work - why must you always get in the way of me writing about my kids?  Don't you know what it REALLY TRULY important?! Well, fortunately I do and while not as big as other posts, I do have stuff to report.

Matteo continues to show us just what turning one is all about.  He's mastered the pincher grasp, which always cracks me up as he tends to stare at his fingers very intently while using his index finger and thumb as though they were tweezers.  He completely abandons this method, though, when it comes to unravelling the toilet paper.  For this task, he makes a beeline to the toilet and smacks the roll with abandon.  The outcome is always the same, yet he revels in it as though the cloud of paper was the newest, the best, in fact greatest invention EVER.  Oh, and he's finally holding his own bottle.  Don't get me wrong, he still prefers to lounge in your lap and be catered to, but left to his own devices he can manage just fine. 

Miss Lily had an exciting adventure of her own this month.  A while back she found a huge crystal in Mary and Guillaume's yard.  It's probably glass and part of some long-forgotten craft project, but to her it was treasure.  She recently rediscovered it when we were cleaning her room and got it stuck in her head that it was extremely valuable and should be sold for a tidy profit.  Knowing no one would pay anything for it, I sent a note to our neighborhood google group asking if anyone wanted to pretend to be a gemologist and buy it from her for $5.  What happened next was more than I could have hoped for.

Our neighbors Tanya and Paul answered my note, and Lily rushed to the bathroom to carefully wash her treasure and we headed over.  Tanya opened her door and very seriously asked Lily to come in, they'd been expecting her and were excited to examine her find.  They had a little chair pulled up to the coffee table for her and several books on rocks and gems laid out as well as a tray of stones for comparison.  Scott, a plumber, put on his work goggles, whipped out his laser level and began doing "tests" on the crystal, showing Lily the "readings" while Tanya cross-referenced them in the books.  They then had a sidebar and announced that yes, they were very interested, but there was a crack at the base - would she be interested in selling for $5?  Lily was THRILLED, but understood the gravity of the transaction and solemnly nodded, accepted the cash, thanked them, then pranced into the street to tell her friends.  Truly a magical childhood moment and I am so grateful to my wonderful neighbors.  Of course Lily then wanted to sell more things to other houses, but that aside it was great.

While Lily has been learning about commerce, Matteo has made huge strides in mobility.  He's up to walking about 5 steps on his own, but is climbing everything he can.  He goes up ladders and stools with ease, waiting for one of us to rescue and bring him down before climbing all over again.  A clever little man, he will bring his Winnie the Pooh riding toy over to tables to use as climbing leverage and will even try to use his tricycle for leverage.  Stairs are a particular fascination.  He dearly loves to crawl up them rapid-fire, then walk down with one hand on the wall and the other in mine.  He gets he can't walk down on his own and will toddle over to the kitchen door and hold his wee hand out to me with an expectant expression.  It's achingly sweet.

And the Julyisms....what will this kid think of next?

- Lily: Where's mommy?  Chris: Sleeping Lily: Oh. I'm supposed to go snuggle with her Chris: Ok you do that
- While waiting for the Ballard Bridge: "I know how the bridge goes up. There are giant hands that push it up. But the arms are small. That makes sense to me"
- Watching the Tour De France with Chris, seeing an aerial view of a countryside castle "I wonder if a princess lives there?"
- Me: Lily, are you made of sugar, spice and everything nice?  Lily: No.  Me: What are you made of?
Lily: Body
- Me: Why did you leave your light on?  Lily: It's for Paco so he won't be in the dark
- Chris: Who's in charge?  Lily: MAMA! Chris: Damn, you're right.

Well, my sweet, it often doesn't feel that way, but I do love the challenge.