Jelly Face

Whirligig

Every April an organization sets up their huge inflatable jumpy houses and slides at the Seattle Center. This is the first year we've made it out for the fun and Will truly loves it. Here he is with his friend Lane.

Trout

I remember in PNG the kids would always clamour for different animal parts at mealtimes. Paul and I were never too sure if chicken feet, waddles, heads, and other parts were actually delicious or if it was the sheer novelty and humor in eating chicken toes that the kids enjoyed.

But today we saw a little bit of PNG in Will as he found a whole trout at the grocery store and insisted that he wanted to eat the eyes. Paul brought it home and showed him how to prepare it, grill it and then eventually eat it avoiding bones and skin. Will did, in fact, try the eye but he said it was not very delicious.

Paul and I realized tonight how much more valuable this experience is for Will to eat things in their whole form and/or to see where his food comes from. I don't think I'll ever forget my own food experiences eating freshly caught eels (from a night excursion to trap them), eating tiny anchovies I had only just seen fly over the wooden dugout canoe moments before, watching pigs slaughtered and roasted, watching a cow cut up in a river and mumu'd, and a whole host of other things. At least for now the best we can do for Will is to show him that not all fish comes gutted, cleaned, fileted and wrapped in plastic.

photos to come

Shaving

Pink Robe

My grandma and mom are longstanding collectors of robes and slippers. I've finally succombed to my heritage this Christmas and had Santa bring me a fluffy pink robe. Of course now I see their lure... the warmth, comfort and overall fluffiness. All this and more is also attractive to one very large cat who can sense warmth and fluffiness from great distances. If we are ever looking for Mandarin all we need to do these days is to locate the pink robe.

Scolded

Today Will came storming into the kitchen saying to me, "I don't think you understand: you have made a terrible mess out here in the garden!"

Have We Overdone It?

So tonight Will was cuddling Mandarin and he said under his breath, "You're going to die in five years." We did talk about "lifetimes" and that Mandarin's lifetime is shorter than a human being. He might live for another five or so years, maybe until twenty years old. It is hysterical to me that Will tried to inform him of this tonight.

I wouldn't say that he's obsessed or anything but he definitely seems to be working this out. He told me in the car one day awhile back that when Mandarin dies and goes back to the store he wants to get a dog. So there is a problem here in that he thinks that all things come from and go to a store. I'd like to see how Paul, Mr. Philosopher, handles this one.