when we were camping, i took carter into the tent for 10 minutes or so, so he could nurse in a bug-free environment, and i told ava that she needed to be in a spot where i could see her from the tent. which gave her a lot of latitude, and excluded basically only the road leading to the campsite. she puttered around a bit, then without any prompting whatsoever walked over to the fire pit (no fire in it) and got one of the little kid-chairs positioned around it. she then walked with it down a little path that led to the water's edge and put the chair down facing the water, and conveniently, the sunset. then she sat down and watched the water and the sky. silently. for the entire time--at least 10 minutes.

i cannot imagine a bigger incentive to take your kids camping.

when i asked her what she was watching, she started telling me about the ripples on the water and how she was trying to figure out what they might be--fish or bugs or the wind--she was not sure. but she thought they were fish.

yesterday as i was trying to plant the last of the seedlings that we got from the franklin county soil and something or other conservation project, she started telling me a story about some coyotes that she was going to hunt and when she got them she was going to take care of them because they were puppies and their mother was dead because a bad hunter got her but she was a good hunter and now she had six puppies and they were right there do you see them mommy aren't they cute? and they need to be taken care of and fed and watered and (insert 15 minutes of more of the same) and now their mother has been deading (her verb use is still evolving) for six years but now she is alive and she did not turn into dirt, can you believe that and now she can take care of her coyote puppies..

meanwhile, carter busied himself with shoveling dirt into neat piles all over the yard.

i keep trying to not worry about his talking or lack thereof, but every once in a while i get concerned. but then i think about the complexity of his gestures, and i am pretty certain his language development is just fine. problem is, i am fluent in his gestures--i know the difference between medicine and helicopter, though they both involve frantic zooming of his index finger. medicine is held down low, because you smear diaper rash medicine on one's bottom, and helicopter is held up high, because, well, duh. today he was looking at his picture dictionary and he pointed to an iron. i asked him what it was, and he held up a lock of his hair. "that's right!" i said, because to him, an iron is what mom uses to straighten her hair. the fact that he does not know it is usually used on clothes, particularly the ones with the shape that was illustrated in the book, is testament to my particular brand of domesticity. he has all sorts of different ways of communicating, and my personal favorite is when he has a hair in his mouth. he opens his mouth, sticks his tongue out, says "eeehhhhhhhhhhh" and then points to his hair, then his mouth. today in the car i said something and then said "yes" --and got out of the car to get them. just as i was getting out, i SWEAR he said "yes" -- i poked my head back in and said "what did you say?" and ava said "he said yes!" and i asked him again and i could have sworn he blushed and he just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. could it possibly be performance anxiety?

Carter has always loved books--first they tasted great, and then they we so interestingly constructed, and now he loves to actually look at the contents. At least once a day, he can be found sitting on the bed, flipping through a favorite. If it is Goodnight Moon, he will say "hush" at the lady in the rocking chair, and if it is Snuggle Puppy, he will say "OOOOOOOOOOOO!" when the letters get really big. But it does not have to be a board book. Often the answer to "where's Carter?" is "In the bedroom reading a magazine." He does not discriminate really, and it does not even have to have pictures--I have come in and found him flipping through "Medical Statistics" -- completely absorbed. Recently, his new favorite is the phone book. Perhaps it is the texture of the paper--I don't know. One day he spent a half hour paging though my Russell Banks book of short stories (a Very Depressing book...), slowly turning the pages, one at a time, looking for all the world like he was truly reading it.

We have had a lot of adventures--Ava caught her first fish, she got a new bike, and the kids and I went camping. The fish was ENORMOUS--seventeen inches. She and Da were standing on the stairs leading to the pond at Corey's (Nana and Da's house), having gone down there to distract her from the fact that Carter was taking an extra long time in the swing, and with the first cast she managed to nail a giant fish. The problem is, seventeen inches is now her standard. I am not sure how a little ol' 10 inch trout is going to pass muster.

The bike is purple and has sparkly tassles on the handle bars, and it is a definite elbow cruncher. But she practices, and we are going to go to the local high school track to get some miles in. She is very proud of it.

Camping was outstanding. I had not set up my tent in over 5 years (the horror!), and it was as exciting for me as it was for the kids. We found a gorgeous site literally 1/2 a mile away from our house and were joined by 3 other moms and 5 more kids. Ava and Carter were amazed that they were allowed to live outside for almost 24 hours--not only that, but there was a beach to wade in and out of whenever the mood struck (often), even during dinner. The dirt was unbelievable. We went on a nature hike and found salamanders under logs, and now carter wants me to roll every downed tree he finds, no matter how big it is. Ava could not wait to roast marshmallows, and even though she did not like the taste of them cooked, she was happy to eat them raw by the fire. After finally convincing her that sleeping was worth it, she fell asleep looking at the stars through the skylight of the tent, wrapped up in her sleeping bag and then never moved until 6:30 the next morning. Carter and I did not sleep as well, since we had to share a bag, but no matter, it was still worth it to see the look on his face when he woke up and realized that he was outside already. No need to even ask. It will not be hard to convince them to go again.

ava went in green pond today. and she did not just dip her feet in. she jumped in. not over her head (that is where i drew the line), but deep enough that when she hit the water, she was thoroughly wet. she paused, sucked in her breath and then said "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and she swam/walked as fast as she could to the steps to get back on the dock. i laughed and said "i TOLD you so!"

carter put his legs in, and got his pants wet, and promptly decided this was the dumbest idea his big sister had ever had. smart kid. the water is probably 50 degrees.

to her credit, she laughed all the way back to the house, teeth chattering, and waited patiently while i stripped both of them before allowing them to traipse water and mud everywhere, and then called everyone she could think of to let them know that she had won. she was the first.

the remarkable part about it is that this is the 3rd year in a row that she has attained that particular distinction.

Ava: Do you want to hear a story, Mom?
Mom: Sure
Ava: So, the other day, I was in China…
Mom: China! Wow. That is pretty far!
Ava: No. The OTHER China. There’s two. This one is much closer.

Ava: Mom, do you remember when you were telling me not to touch your bike, and when you were really mad that I did?
Mom: Yes, I do.
Ava: Well, the reason I did it anyway is because you were not speaking in English, and I could not understand your language.
Mom: Oh. What language was I speaking?
Ava: I don’t know. I could not understand you.

Ava: Do you know the language they speak in NYC?
Mom: No, Ava, what language?
Ava: Jalalallaaaa. And you say hello like ShaMAte.
Mom: SHAmate?
Ava: NO! Sha-MA-te.
Mom: Sha-MA-te?
Ava: yes!

Carter: A-Va! A-Va! A-Va! Mama! Maaaaaaaaaama! Mama. Mama?
Mom: Yes?
Carter: Night-night.

Ava: Do you want to hear a story, Mom?
Mom: Sure
Ava: So, the other day, I was in China…
Mom: China! Wow. That is pretty far!
Ava: No. The OTHER China. There’s two. This one is much closer.

Ava: Mom, do you remember when you were telling me not to touch your bike, and when you were really mad that I did?
Mom: Yes, I do.
Ava: Well, the reason I did it anyway is because you were not speaking in English, and I could not understand your language.
Mom: Oh. What language was I speaking?
Ava: I don’t know. I could not understand you.

Ava: Do you know the language they speak in NYC?
Mom: No, Ava, what language?
Ava: Jalalallaaaa. And you say hello like ShaMAte.
Mom: SHAmate?
Ava: NO! Sha-MA-te.
Mom: Sha-MA-te?
Ava: yes!

Carter: A-Va! A-Va! A-Va! Mama! Maaaaaaaaaama! Mama. Mama?
Mom: Yes?
Carter: Night-night.

today ava asked me to get a bouquet of flowers at the grocery store. we got some purple-ish daisy-ish type flowers, and ava nominated herself as caretaker. we got home and she helped me put them in a vase, then asked for one flower for herself. and a glass please too. so, she wandered around the house, with the flower in a glass, very happy with it, then went to the porch where she got 2 kid-size chairs and placed them so that they were facing each other. then she put the flower on one, sat down in the other, and read her flower a story. i witnessed this through the closed sliding glass door, so there was no sound, only the image. it was both the funniest and the cutest thing i have seen in a while.

today we had a playdate at simon's house--we have been looking forward to this for almost a whole year, since ava knows where he lives and we have to drive by every day on our way anywhere. she perpetually asks "when are we going to simon's house?" and i perpetually say "when they invite us, honey." but simon's mom just had child #2, and i have not dared to bug her. so, it was great when they showed up at playgroup here on monday morning. (they were the ONLY ones to show up at playgroup on monday morning, because even though playgroup has been scheduled among the playgroup mothers since september: "april 23: erin's house," another mother scheduled her own competing playgroup when no one heard from me by sunday afternoon. i sent the "come one! come all!" email on sunday evening, but it was too late. playgroup was usurped. i was so ticked. anyway, since this mom only invited SOME of the playgroup moms, and i had invited ALL of the playgroup moms, this left me stuck at home, having to clean the house and cancel carter's tumbling and prepare a snack, just in case some of the mothers invited to my house but not to the other playgroup happened to stop by. which is what happened, and it all turned out ok because it was simon, and we had wanted to see them anyway, and a private playdate with them was probably better). so, we were invited to their house. when we got there, i said to ava "wow, their house is really nice" and she said "and it's BIG too!" then she paused and said "mommy, is this house the size of the house we have to have for me to get a kitty?" (the standard response to the 'can i have a kitty?' question is that our house is too small--carter also asks, but he just says "meoooowww" and points to his palm--ie "i would like a cat right here, in my hands, please.") i laughed and said yes.

we had a lot of fun at simon's house, particularly because a second girl arrived and the three preschoolers managed to actually play together. however, it took a while for them to warm up to each other. ava brought all of her horses in shoeboxes, and when lisse said "ava, let's play with your horses," ava was completely flummoxed. she went through a little nervous monologue about them, coupled with intensely awkward hand motions, basically relegating them to life forever in their shoeboxes. she gets SO NERVOUS and when she has to talk, she speaks incredibly fast and laughs loudly, almost like the silliest parody of a shy person that has ever been done in hollywood. i intervened, and started to translate for lisse and then suggested some play-possibilities, and slowly, ever so slowly, ava opened up to the possibility. when i suggested that the box top be a paddock for the horses, ava immediately told me it was unacceptable, because they all had to stay together, and that it was too small, etc etc. so i made a fence out of some blocks, and she started to get into it, and finally simon, bless his soul, said "OH! I have a fence!" and then he went rummaging in his closet and appeared with a barn and a fence. and finally we reached the energy of activation and play began. all this time, carter was playing with a little train that would only move if you said "go" into a little microphone. HA! i looked at him and said "you HAVE to talk to make this go." he hemmed and hawed, and then finally put the thing right on his mouth and said "UH" --and it went. talk about self satisfied. he never said "go" per se, but he got pretty close. fortunately it was not as sensitive as the voice activated phone line at United Airlines.

later today, he confirmed that the song he sings while sitting in the sandbox is actually "ava ava ava ava ava ava ava ava ava va va va va ava ava ava va va va va..."he did this by pointing to her towel and saying clear as day "ah-va!" then i exploded with praise, and so he pointed to her and said it again. i have been suspicious, but was not entirely sure.

he is even prouder of the fact that he can jump from a standstill now. two feet up, pop! right into the air. it is so cute. he does it over and over and over.

ava made the mistake of crawling under a clear plastic bin (to be with her new pet ladybugs, in their new fancy home) and he saw her, got an absolute belly laugh out of it and immediately crawled on top of it. pretty much like the cat in Benjamin Bunny. For those that have forgotten their Beatrix Potter, essentially, Ava was now trapped. But she could see her tormenter, and he could see her. He was triumphant. She was desperate. I was hysterical. I knew she had air, as the bottom was not sealed, and I intervened before she got claustrophobic, a significant risk for her, but I did allow her to come to a full realization of her error before doing so.