Two Days with Clementine

Josie's first day of her last year of preschool:

We realized a little too late that C had a week off between preschool and kindergarten and Luke's Texas bandmates would be in town, either gigging or rehearsing or recording. She went to my parents' house for two days and I was able to take off two days to spend with her.

Mall for a Nordstrom return and hey why not, a visit to Hanna Andersson.

Lunch at the Bistro. My mom bought Clem a watch and she is beginning to grasp the hour hand.

New boots or as C calls them, "high heels".

Monkey's Joe's for jumping, sliding, and air hockey.

Wednesday: breakfast at the Clover and the Bee.

Clem keeps mentioning the Eiffel Tower (from Leap and the Aristocats) so we went to the library to check out some books about or set in France. With the librarian's help we found Madame Martine Breaks the Rules. I browsed while C made a beeline for the computer in the kids' area - when I joined her I was shocked to see she had typed her name into the Player 1 field of whatever game was on the computer - had no idea she could type her name.

I came across Margaret Wise Brown's The Dead Bird which I recalled slightly from the marvelous Wild Things: the joy of reading children's literature as an adult. It is a stunning book - MWB really gets to the marrow of things.

Off to the art museum to see a Degas like Olivia.

"I don't want to look at any more things... I want to jump on things!"

I bought that striped dress several weeks ago and C found the matching bow at the store on Wednesday. People complimented her on her dress - bow combo all day and she remarked, "My bow ... people LOVE it!"

The groovy midcentury door of the tennis club where we stopped to enroll in lessons.

Playground.

Kindergarten meet and greet!

Clem met her teacher and explored her classroom and settled into art corner, amassing paper, scissors, crayons, and a glue stick. She drew a X from one corner to another, colored it a bit (scalloped lines for shingles, I think), and cut the X in two. She glued the triangles to another piece of paper to make two houses. After drawing windows, a door, and some hearts for good measure, she took one to her new teacher and told me we were taking the other one home for Daddy.

Who is this creature?

What is Supposed to Happen, Naomi Shihab Nye

When you were small,
we watched you sleeping,
waves of breath
filling your chest.
Sometimes we hid behind
the wall of baby, soft cradle
of baby needs.
I loved carrying you between
my own body and the world.

Now you are sharpening pencils,
entering the forest of
lunch boxes, little desks.
People I never saw before
call out your name
and you wave.

This loss I feel,
this shrinking,
as your field of roses
grows and grows….

Now I understand history.
Now I understand my mother’s
ancient eyes.