Stop N Shop

"From what we get, we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life." -Arthur Ashe, tennis great, AIDS activist.

Johnny is no longer down with being the number two guy. Ever since he started crawling, he's been questioning the hierarchy. He is no longer content to be relegated to the corner in a bouncy seat or a swing or any contraption that confines him in any way. But more significantly, he doesn't want to be ignored. He crawls right up to me and butts his head against my shins until I pick him up.

Today feels like a throwback to two months ago; I woke up and haven't stopped, and don't plan to until I get home from the studio tonight at 10pm and hurl myself into bed. This morning I took Lila to her first dentist appointment. It went well, and she was rewarded with a purple plastic mouth whistle (don't ask) plus a bag full of those mini flossers that resemble tiny wrenches and a brand new pink toothbrush. She was such a big girl, swinging her baggie of goodies and wearing her new (hand-me-down) sneakers with the yellow truck that flashes its lights whenever she stomps. Then we went to the Stop N Shop which should be re-named Temptationland. What a difference from shopping at River Valley Market, our co-op where the most exciting items are the bins of bulk oatmeal! But we needed to pick up the prescription vitamins for Johnny and get some orange juice, and Stop N Shop was across the street from the dentist, so...

First of all, can someone tell me if it's really OK to give these vitamins to my son? They contain fluoride! He doesn't even have teeth! I hear that we all need about five times more vitamin D than we thought we did, and I am down with that. But fluoride? Please inform.

Second, I have been seized recently, as you know, by the urge to draw and paint, and so I was drawn like a magnet to the art supply aisle and ended up buying two full packages of multicolored sharpies, a pack of construction paper, play-dough, and push pins to stick our art up on the kitchen wall. So I obviously didn't set a very good example for Lila who proceeded to pull almost everything off the shelves and attempt to house it in our car cart. The car cart, oy, the car cart! She likes to ride in the car part for about three minutes, at which point she abandons ship and runs free of me while I follow behind in the world's most cumbersome shopping vehicle. Plus in the middle of the store, she announced, "I can't sit down anymore, Mama, because I pooped in my pants." When I said I would need to change her diaper, she ran away from me. At one point, I caught myself saying in my most threatening tone," If you don't come back here right now, I am going to change your diaper!"

NOw it's 9:34 and I am home from our rehearsal. Tomorrow I will post pictures and give a report, but for now, here is a cartoon (Kartoona) Katryna did last week. Patty and Tom watched our kids who played together so sweetly. At one point, Patty asked William when his bedtime was.

"8:30," he answered.

"What time is your bedtime, Lila?"

"Sixteen-thirty," she responded.

I think I left the tops off the play-dough containers.