Tree is Broken

Last Friday, the 100+ year old oak in our backyard came crashing down, demolishing the swing set but fortunately nothing else.  T & I were at a friends house but the sitter filled us in when we called to check in.  The next day, the neighbors reported hearing the loud crack and the swooshing sound--which sound like someone on their roofs or patios--but they couldn't see anything in our backyard in the darkness.  So they were a bit surprised at the source of the sound the next morning (or later that night as T posted to Facebook).  There was no storm to knock it over (so the insurance company can avoid contributing to the clean up), just old age.  The inside had rotted at the base and the large canopy finally became too heavy to hold up.  It's still surprising that the heavy thunderstorms the week before didn't blow it down.  They caused tornados across NC, including in Raleigh where I had to hole up in the bunker of the state legislative office building with the North Carolina Student Legislature.

C and M spent a lot of time out there, esp now that the weather is warm.  M in particular asks "outside?  shoes?  jacket?" and loves to swing. But she has taken the disaster quite well.  In fact, several mornings in a row, she asked for the blinds to be open so she could point out and tell me or C, "Tree is broken; swing is broken."  This morning, when Ellie and T entered the room, she announced, "Ellie my sister."

Mischief of One Kind And Another

Last night we were reading Peter Rabbit as a bedtime story.  Early in the book, Peter is described as getting into mischief.  When I read that line, M made a very odd facial expression--sort of exasperated disgust that the author would make such an unprovoked accusation.  I asked her, "Mena, do you get into mischief?"  Without delay, she replied assertively, "Yes, daddy!"  And there you have it...

C asked another adoption question out of the blue at dinner the other night.  He turned to T and asked, "If I wasn't in your tummy when I was a baby, does that mean I have another family?"  Gulp!  Fortunately T is always prepared with an answer in these situations, and replied, "Another woman carried you in her tummy.  She is your birth mother but you are part of our family.  Ba and I wanted to have a family and didn't think we could have children so we adopted you into our family."  He then moved on to another topic so was apparently satisfied.  But you still have to wonder how long that question--and the reasoning behind it--had been stewing around in his head before he asked it.

Ellie just had her 4 month appt and is 11 lbs 10 oz and 24.5 inches.  She is very close to rolling over so we've moved her into her crib in the pink room which she and M now share.  She's sleeping less during the day, but is doing well at night; generally waking up once or sometimes twice to feed then going back to sleep immediately.  She smiles alot and prefers to be held and kept moving constantly.  She'll "talk" with you a bit.  She does not suck on her thumb, generally preferring all of her fingers instead.