Week of July 2, 2003


"I want outside!"

We got to daycare on Monday and Diane reported that Owen spent the day happily playing with Eloise. This is a departure from his usual toddler behavior, when playing near someone is about as much interaction as he wants to invest. Eloise and Owen have been happy to torment one another, at times, when trapped inside. Eloise would hold a train in front of Owen, then snatch it out of his reach. Owen would torture Eloise in turn, by withholding the play phone (her preferred toy). I'm sure Owen was willing to punctuate his frustrations with pokes and tugs, expressing his displeasure and jealousy with physical outbursts. It's hard to be a toddler.

Yesterday, Eloise was apparently holding his hand, leading him over to the sprinkler set up in the yard and encouraging him to try it. Owen has been conservative with the sprinkler, circling the perimeter and letting just his limbs get wet. Even on the hottest days, he was skeptical. Eloise is mothering him, I think. Trying to show him the pleasure of the sprinkler - just the thought of them holding hands fills me with good humor. What could be cuter? We've already caught them on the swing-for two together, and while Owen leaped over to greet me as soon as he saw me coming, he was very cute for the nanosecond I could enjoy it. They spent a bit of yesterday also side by side chatting in chairs.

The heat has broken, somewhat, but it's still rather unpleasant between 10 and 3. And the sun is so darn bright in the summer! Scott and I are pale by nature, and with skin cancer in the family, I've never had a big urge to spend time outside when the sun is brightest. My family always hit the beach around 4, and that seemed about right. Better to be there at the end of the day, as the sun sinks lower in the sky. At midday, I feel a bit like I'm in a reactor getting radiation exposure with a tag about to signal a warning. Owen would like to be outside all the time, however. The problem is that he's as sensitive to sun and heat as we are, so though he wants to be outside, he gets tuckered and whiny after a short while.

We're all dressed in our summer gear (Owen's uniform: a t shirt, shorts and sandals), decked out with sunscreen. I've overcome my aversion to lotions and salves to the extent that I can at least put goo on Owen, and on myself in essential areas. I feel grateful that Owen is so patient to my ministrations, it would be so much harder overcoming his aversion on top of my own. I still have more color than I could wish - pale and fishlike is a victory in the summer. Light as I am, it's the darkest shade of pale that I can remember having. Scott at least turned brown and nutlike during his National Guard days, at least up to the top of his shirt sleeves.

Owen had his 2 year appointment last week. He's moved to the 75th percentile for height, and 90th for weight. He's a muscular little boy, strong and energetic. He's the largest child at daycare, I think, outstripping the little 4 year old girl (okay, she's tiny). He's surpassed Eloise, who was large for her age. He's not a moose, he's just a tall toddler. It seemed like it took him forever to move into 2T, finally "arriving" there in the last month or two. Now some of his 3T clothing is getting short! Yikes. I thought I was insane buying some 4T summer items (as did Scott). Now I'm grateful. We're using up our supply of 5 diapers so we can move on to 6. How is it that when Vivian's daughter was young, only 4 or 5 years ago, size 6 didn't' even exist. What did parents do? Use duct tape?

We had a small trauma this past weekend, Rao's was closed for 4 days! Our routine was completely disrupted. We tried every muffin in the area, and Owen rejected them all (admittedly, we thought them inferior too). I didn't find an entirely satisfactory Iced Coffee substitute either (though Black Sheep has a certain appeal). All of us were grateful when Monday rolled around again. How can something so trivial create so much morning misery?

This is a strange week at UMass. The layoffs will start to be announced on Thursday ("here's your paycheck, sorry, your job is ending"). There's a hideous pall on campus that sucking the life out of the community. I feel we're collectively holding our breath.

We're heading to Bernardston for the 4th, to do our requisite visiting with the grandparents. Saturday we're having Vivian and Laura visit for an overnight, although they're smartly staying in a motel. Alas, our apartment is small, and it requires all visitors to be up by 5:15. This will provide some alone time for Vivian and her daughter, which eases my guilt very slightly. We're hoping for good weather, though I envision yet another grueling afternoon of sunshine ahead.

It would be easier to look forward to a long weekend, if we weren't facing the dismantling of our livelihood. Even if we endure, and are lucky enough to have survivor's guilt, UMass has been a lifelong friend and we are sad with every blow she takes. We were once very proud of her, now I feel like our address is Sunset Boulevard.

On more positive fronts, Owen's language continues to take off. He's using more 3 and 4 word sentences, and mimics almost everything we say. ("Chives!") He's also been really imitating the Wiggles songs, laughing if I sing them. I love watching him try to do "Hot potato," and watching him flap his arms like a chicken, going "cack, cack."

I wish I'd written more things down as he says them, but here are a few:


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