Cousin Time

I daresay the girls are about as thrilled to live near their cousins as they would be to live in the same town as anyone on earth (I stipulate because Clio would likely overthrow anyone for the Disney Princesses, were they real). So far, they've been to our house, we got to go to their club for a fabulous end-of-summer pool party, and last weekend we had a double header. Apple Days in the morning and a party for my brother's birthday in the evening.

I love the ribbon crowns we got for the big girls


Eating apples, natch

Some double and triple decker stroller action


And dress up at the cousin's house.


Looking forward to many more activities to come.

Lucia

This is Lucia.

Lucia is Clio's 4-year-old cousin, who she adores.

Cousin Lucia is really into things that are sparkly, fancy, or "big girl" including Polly Pockets (here she is showing Clio how to play with one)


and, especially Fair Hair, which she can be seen sporting in many of these pictures. This is a special beauty treatment that you can get at the Minnesota State Fair. Lucia thought Clio should have her hair done with fluorescent colors and glitter too, but after hearing Lucia's mom describe the process of de-Fairing the Hair, I passed on Clio's behalf.

Lucia, being two years older than Clio, also has a way of introducing Clio to new things. Like delicious snacks.

After enjoying a whole bowl of chips together, Lucia got them each an ice cream sandwich. Clio doesn't eat ice cream, especially right before bed, so we intercepted hers. But being such a generous and helpful girl, Lucia shared half of her own.

She also introduced Clio to the art of driving. Yes, driving. Lucia has this awesome tractor, and not only did she take Clio for a ride,


But she insisted Clio take it for a spin on her own. Thank goodness for helmets!



I like to think of her relationship with Lucia as Clio's chance to be a little sister- something that, since Eleri's arrival, she is quite desperate to try. Like most little sisters, Clio really wants to emulate Lucia.


No shirt for Lucia? No shirt for Clio. No problem.

Here she is, looking to see what to do next,

And doing as Lucia does.


While I was taking pictures of my Granddad holding Eleri (his littlest great-grandbaby for a few more months), Lucia taught Clio another important lesson: how to take back some of the spotlight for yourself!

Family Ties

Of course, our vacation was also really about the people.

For me, it was great to introduce the eldest member of our clan to the youngest,

To introduce Liz, a friend since we were babies, and Rebecca, a friend since we had babies, and to have all those babies interact.

For my kids, it was fabulous to hang out with aunts and uncles,

Play and explore with cousins,


Share many meals with grandparents,

And have some down time with Mommy and Daddy.

We also celebrated my second cousin Amy, who recently got married, had a baby, and moved in to her Uncle Brian's old hous; saw the progress on my Aunt Eileen's gorgeous house; checked out my aunt Molly's newly completed Montessori training center and school, a vision 5 years in the making; hosted my mom's cousin Jamie for an afternoon pool party and figured out that his kids and my kids are second cousins once removed; and took a tour of my elementary school, which lasted an hour and a half because I was stopped and hugged in every classroom by teachers who are still there and remember me, though I graduated from the Junior High there 20 years ago.

While there is much to be said for the independence of building your own life in a place like New York City, there are times when nothing beats being surrounded by your own history. For me, this is one such time.

Summer Vacation

We have just returned home from more than a week in Minnesota, and I realize this is the longest hiatus I have taken from the blog since it began in May 2007. As with so many things, our trip passed quickly, yet when I think back a whole week to my nephew Finn's 7 1/2 birthday party, or Monday's trip to the State Fair with cousins, Tuesday's pool party with moms Rebecca and Liz and kids Scarlett, Laila, and Owen; Wednesday's underwater exploration at the Mall of America's giant underground aquarium; or even Friday's visit to a playground deemed "chutes and ladders" for it's maze of rope ladders and twisting slides, it all feels light years away. I do know that in our time away, I learned of one engagement and three pregnancies (including my sister-in-law, Nicole's!), and one dear friend gave birth to her first child, a son (mazel tov, Sara and Roy!), showing just how much life can happen in a short span of time.

Such a busy week away also creates a blogger's nightmare: finding yourself way behind, with dozens of photos and anecdotes to share. My pictures are a little spotty, too: one of the drawbacks of having two kids is that you never seem to have a free hand. (Clio is quite a mimic these days, and this notion is confirmed by the fact that she is now always telling me "I have my hands full." I wonder where she hears these things?)

Hopefully several of these outings and stories will get their due over the coming days. We'll see. This trip truly felt like summer vacation, and this week we all go back to school: Clio begins the twos program at Brooklyn Heights Montessori on Thursday, Eleri gives day care a try for a day, and Wednesday evening, I debut my playacting as a "professor" with a class I'm teaching for Creative Time at NYU. Between these new adventures and the demands of a 7-week-old, who knows how frequently I'll find time to escape to the basement to share my musings on parenthood (and gain a little peace of mind)? What I do know is that it feels like we packed some of the best of summer vacation into one short week, and, happily, I was too busy enjoying it to document those ephemeral favorites like fires in the fire pit, sitting out under the deck late into the night eating ice cream and talking with family, or spinning my daughter round and round in a great expanse of suburban lawn until we both fell down laughing in the late afternoon sun.

I believe that true summer is about being outside as much as possible, and being near the water. Like so many things, my daughter seems to have inherited this belief, too.

Happy Birthday from the Duggans

Brian and Maud really know how to do birthdays. Not only did they send Clio an adorable wood cradle for her baby Stella (great for a 2 year old, perfect for a 2 year old about to become a big sister), they also left a message singing happy birthday. I put it on speaker phone and it completely delighted miss Clio.

Then, to add to the fun, they emailed us a "making of" video.

Here's Brian, Maud, and cousins Finn and Lucia making their birthday tribute.

Lucia's Pajamas

In the last batch of hand-me-downs from Cousin Lucia, we got a pair of pink flannel pajamas covered in ballerinas, with a matching robe. Clio has become very interested in choosing her clothes, and all of a sudden the distinction between blue and green sleepers or a cat or reindeer pattern is just not enough; so it's perfect timing to have two-piece pajamas to offer another choice in style.

Or maybe she loves them simply because they once belonged to Lucia. Every time we put them on, she says "Lucia's 'jamas?" And when we confirm that yes, these were once Lucia's pajamas, she then says "Clio's 'jamas."

She's definitely grasping the concept of "ownership": all weekend long, whenever we encountered strangers who said hello to us, Clio would grab the leg of the nearest parents and say "My Mommy. My Daddy." At home, she likes to indentify Mommy's Chair and Daddy's chair. And she likes to identify everything she wants to have as "Clio's." She's already figured out that old saying that possession is 9/10th of the law.