so, we got our second butterfly. 20% success rate now. we have one more chrysalis, and so we are anxiously awaiting the emergence of our third, making it a whopping 30%. (though the fact that i smashed one inadvertently makes me want to remove that one from our statistical analysis, but i decided to leave it in, because it was a casualty of captivity and more to the point, it makes an even 10 caterpillars, making the math a lot easier).

both are boy caterpillars. this has been a very important observation for ava.

she has done fabulously at school. apparently my concerns about her ability to weather the separation from mom are not warranted. to note, i have not yet left her there on her own, but today i might as well have been a light fixture for all the attention she paid me. i am very excited for her. she loves nearly everything there and appears to be quite comfortable with the teachers. today we lined up to go outside, and she parked herself squarely on the very tippy end of the red tape that was on the ground, perfectly balanced at the end, and waited with baited breath to be released. when they started walking out the door and down the hall, she leaped forward and ran up to the girl in front and leaned in to ask "do you want to hold my hand?" and with that the 2 of them walked out the door, hand in hand.

so adorable.

we are really looking forward to all of the fall activities--swim class, movement class, tumbling, but especially a new development: play group at green pond! it is only the 4th monday of every month, but i think it will be very good for her given her sudden preoccupation with friends.

carter continues to be all boy. he is obsessed with rocks and his feet. as for the latter, i think he is so amazed that they provide him with locomotion and he is just overwhelmed with gratitude for them. it is as if he wakes up and looks at them in sheer joy that they are still there.

today he sat in the sandbox for the longest time, dousing himself with it. he knows he is not supposed to eat it, so every once in a while he will look at me and practically wink as he tosses a fistful into his mouth, as if to say "HAH! Watch this!" and then he laughs and goes "blaaaahhhhhhhh" with his tongue out. for the life of me i cannot get him to recognize that the sand prohibition is strictly for the benefit to his quality of life.

the only negative thing that happened today was in the parking lot in lake placid. i was clearly jumping through mommy hurdles to appease 2 antsy and sort of fussy kids: diapers, sippy cups, where are my keys, oh sure, here is the ball, don't throw it in the car, ok, here is your book, do you want a banana? how about a cookie? raisins? ok, raisins. now, where are my keys? as i shut the door to carter's door and went to walk around to my side, i turned to the guy standing next to his car, 2 spots down and said "it takes an hour to get a cup of coffee!" -- now, this was in no way a complaint about having kids--it was strictly reality, and i still am astonished by the complexity of the simplest of tasks, and it was a little "can you believe this" sort of comment to this guy as he had watched the entire scene. in response he looks at me and says "you're lucky you have one." presumably he meant the child, not the cup of coffee. i was so astonished by his sweeping judgment of me, i smiled and said, "yes, i am, very lucky." but in my mind i was steaming. why is it that when a mother simply makes an off-hand comment about the very real management issues inherent in having 2 small children everyone has to leap down her throat and accuse her of being ungrateful? there is nothing ungrateful in what i said, as a matter of fact, i was smiling when i said it. it made me so mad. you do it for a day, mister smarty pants, and tell me what you think.

my recent experiences have really led me to be rather cynical regarding humanity's capacity for goodness.