Last week we had a picnic with Jen and Josephine (Joey) at Ault Park. Sophie loved every minute of it, especially playing with Joey. And as an added bonus Sophie’s fear of grass kept her easily contained on the quilt.
“If the rain spoils our picnic, but saves a farmer’s crop, who are we to say it shouldn’t rain?” —Tom Barrett
This year Sophie and I went to the Cincinnati Flower Show twice!
First with Tari, Whitney and Lauren.
Then with my mom.
We saw some beautiful displays …
… but Sophie was most impressed by the ducks.
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” —Iris Murdoch
Rachel and Jason
paper flower in an empty wine bottle
Rachel and Jason’s children—Toby (posing for the camera) and Charlotte (being shy)
Sophie, calm
cake!
A couple weekends ago Rachel and Jason celebrated 10 years of marriage by renewing their vows. Andy was out of town so Sophie and I made the trip alone. Sophie must have been very anxious that evening because every “stranger” who approached us triggered her stranger anxiety and she screamed and screamed and screamed. I got very nervous when I learned that the renewing of vows would be a traditional Quaker service, complete with silent reflection and meditation.
We sat in the back and, thankfully, amazingly, Sophie seemed to sense the importance of the event. She didn’t cry. She didn’t scream. She sat on my lap and ate Cheerios.
Later, with a fire roaring in the the huge stone fireplace and jazz music playing in the background we enjoyed a huge potluck dinner.
And it was beautiful. Every day you hear stories of love ending. Rachel and Jason were the first of my friends to get married. Throughout the years, Rachel has, perhaps unknowingly, offered me great words of wisdom about marriage and, later, children. She never sugar coats, which I find refreshing. And while the picture she paints isn’t always perfect I find it difficult to think of another couple so obviously in love.
Sophie and I left early, as it was already way past her bedtime. And as I pushed her stroller up a big, big hill to the parking lot, she looked at me and then looked at the star studded sky and, for a reason only she knows, laughed and laughed and laughed—the whole way up the hill.
I can only hope she finds such love someday.
“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” —Morrie Schwartz
Last week we met the beautiful Anna Jo Klems. Sophie enjoyed a shoulder rub from Anna’s big sister, Ella. Again, congratulations, Brian and Brittany!
“Babies are such a nice way to start people.” —Don Herrold
A couple Saturdays ago my parents watched Sophie while Andy and I celebrated our good friend Kristin’s birthday at her very swanky “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”-style cocktail party. It was so fun. Angel lent me her grandmother’s beautiful party dress circa the 1950s. I also donned false eyelashes for the event, many thanks to Andy. After a messy and failed attempt, Andy patiently applied them for me—one by one—while I held a squirmy Sophie. Love.
“You can always tell what kind of a person a man really thinks you are by the earrings he gives you.” —Audrey Hepburn
As promised, here are pictures from the zoo! Mom, Aunt Katy and Uncle Tom carried me a lot so I could better see all the animals.
Maybe they know Shane!
Uncle Tom and Aunt Katy
I LOVED the giraffes.
Mom said I couldn’t have a real one. But Aunt Katy and Uncle Tom bought me a little one!
“Life is a zoo in a jungle.” —Peter De Vries
In addition to a football, bath toys and a Greensboro Grasshoppers T-shirt, Aunt Katy and Uncle Tom gave me this beautiful bookmark, which Aunt Katy made.
I loved looking at the birds from their deck.
They introduced me to southern-style BBQ, but I liked my Goldfish crackers better.
These magnets were the best—and right at my height!
We went to Mayberry’s for ice cream. At first I kept saying “no,” “no,” “no,” pushing Mom’s hand away. But eventually she shoved some vanilla ice cream into my mouth and you know what? It was SO good! Then I said “no,” “no,” “no,” every time Mom tried to eat her own ice cream because I wanted to be fed! (As you can see in this picture Aunt Katy also let me play with her cell phone. I love her.)
Here we are in our Greensboro Grasshoppers T-shirts. I’m a big fan. I went to one of their games—last season. (I’m so old I can say things like “last season” now!)
I got to take a bath in a grown-up tub—and play with my new bath toys!
Aunt Katy also read me lots of her books. And aren’t her nails pretty? Uncle Tom watched me while she and Mom got Kirsty Meakin manicures. I hate having my nails clipped so I don’t know why they were so excited about that.
On our last night we drove to downtown Winston-Salem to eat at a pizza place, the Mellow Mushroom. The wait was long and I was impatient and poor Mom had to walk me up and down the streets of Winston-Salem, singing the alphabet and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” The pizza sure was good, though! (Well, so Mom tells me. I refused to eat it opting for delicious crackers instead.)
And then Mom woke me up at 4:30am(!) to get on a plane again. She was pretty sad in the airport when we said goodbye to Aunt Katy and Uncle Tom. She even cried a little. But I hugged her and she felt better.
(We also went to the zoo but more on that, later.)
“A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves—a special kind of double.” —Toni Morrison
(Thanks, Katy, for the great picture—and the great visit!)
“My uncle ordered popovers
from the restaurant’s bill of fare.
And, when they were served,
he regarded them with a penetrating stare.
Then he spoke great words of wisdom
as he sat there on that chair:
“To eat these things,” said my uncle,
“You must exercise great care.
You may swallow down what’s solid,
but you must spit out the air!”
And as you partake of the world’s bill of fare,
that’s darned good advice to follow.
Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.
And be careful what you swallow.” —Theodore Seuss Geisel
“The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose.” —Charles Dickens
Only yesterday did Sophie really start standing on her own, without holding on to anything, for any significant period of time. And today, after lunch and before her nap, she took two small and wobbly sideways steps. Like many firsts, I wasn’t sure if they counted. Just like her first words—”da da,” “dog,” “ma ma,” and “no”—the steps weren’t quite clear. I wasn’t even sure if what I thought had happened, happened. Still, I called Andy. He wisely told me to get the video camera. I did and watched as my baby, my baby!, took five amazing steps toward me.
First steps are so significant. They require such courage. Today, she had to be brave, knowing she might fail, that it might not work out in the way she hoped it would—that, upon taking that first step, she might fall. But she didn’t fall. She stepped and stepped and stepped and I hope, somehow, someway, those first steps remain with her, always—walking excitedly to school on her first day, walking nervously to home plate for her first at bat, walking hand-in-hand with someone she’s hopelessly in love with, walking lost around a campus, walking confident into her first job interview, walking slowly down an aisle and maybe, maybe, walking hand-in-hand with her child someday. And she might fail. She might fall. But I hope she has the courage to try. And I hope she has the tenacity to get up and try again when she does fail, when she does fall. And I hope she knows that no matter where I am I’ll be cheering her on—if not in person, then in spirit.
She walks!
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” —Lao-tzu
