Another Trip to the Heartland

Clio and I headed to Minnesota (yes, just the two of us), for a long weekend necessitated by the application process at Lake Country Montessori, which called for a classroom visit last Friday. My parents were in Arizona, so Clio and I stayed with Brian, Maud, Finn, and Lucia, and while I must admit it was bizarre not to see my parents, it was fun to get another perspective on life in the Twin Cities, and Clio was thrilled to have so much time with her cousins.

She has her fist sleepover, staying on a cot in Lucia's room (until Lucia went into Brian and Maud's room in the middle of the first night to report that Clio was crying; Clio spent the rest of the night in bed with me, draping her legs over my body and getting her stinky thumb as close to my face as possible)


She enjoyed a double bubble bath (and wound up terrified by the jacuzzi jets)



And spent a lot of time simulating the joys of a three-child family, whether with Finn and Lucia or Lucia and Brooke, the next door neighbor/best friend/permanent fixture in the house (Clio enjoyed this much more than her expression in these photos might lead you to believe: the first was taken on Sunday, when she woke up with a fever; in the second, I believe she is attempting to pick her nose in peace.)



Clio also generally takes pleasure in trying out other people's stuff; Friday afternoon we had the house to ourselves, and she gave Lucia's hat, slippers, and baby stroller a test run. Again, my picture-taking was, apparently, disturbing the peace.


We did also slip away for one morning to visit Scarlett and her mom Rebecca, an expat member of my Brooklyn mom's group; in the trying-out-other-people's-stuff category, Clio had a grand time with Scarlett's dollhouse and kitchen, refusing to join the rest of us for lunch, and similarly enjoyed Scarlett's books and sliding down the seats of these classic Eames chairs. Scarlett was much more agreeable to the whole documentation plan than my own little angel.


In addition to this photo-journal, I have a few verbal developments to report. Clio always picks up quirky little sayings or behaviors when we travel, and this time was no exception:

She began calling me "Mother" (which I hate)

She confused Brooke, Lucia's aforementioned best friend, and Brooklyn, the place where we live, and insisted on calling each by the other's name

She added "that's disgusting" to her recent litany of inappropriate, oddly teen-like phrases (such as "that's nasty" and "you said butts"), all of which I was convinced she would use with some regularity at her "interview" for school; if she doesn't get in, I will remain convinced that this is the reason

She continued to use the expression "I don't want to do that plan," as in, when I told her that we were leaving for home the next day. Instead, she suggested that "now we stay here. In Minnesota." And for that, I blame Brian and Maud for being such excellent hosts, and myself, for allowing such treats as juice, ice cream, a movie, and really late bedtimes.