Nuts and bolts and flights of fancy

- Noah, struggling to pull the plug out of Ray’s bath tub, said “Damn. I can’t do it.”
- Ray is totally rolling, slithering and sitting up. And of course as a result he had his first roll off the bed. He managed to survive with little else than a bruise – and the same can be said for Mark who left Ray on the bed.
- Noah was making a frowny face when I buckled him into his carseat before school. “Is something wrong?” “You know my friend Annie.” “Yes.” (She’s imaginary.) “Well she is very old and today when we were coloring in the kitchen she died.” “Oh… I’m very sorry. It’s very hard to lose a friend.”
- Noah informed me that some day he and Ray will be floating together in space. He was heartbroken when I told him he won’t be able to make that a reality in the near future. But later seem placated with the idea of going to a space museum. I told him there was one in DC, but that it was three times as long as the trip to Grandma’s. He said “I’m sure I can be patient if you bring a lot of snacks.” However I was a bit irritated when he started insisting we go to DC NOW. So I took him to The Franklin Institute thinking they had some lunar landers or something to look at. Unfortunately they didn’t. Their space command section is made to look like mission control but you don’t actually see any space gear. Bummer. The museum is geared for older kids but Noah really enjoyed a handful of things – the Imax movie on the space station, the train and of course walking through the heart. The heart was a favorite of mine too. This time however I felt panicky and claustrophobic. I was an amazon woman with a 20 lb. baby strapped to my front and a large shoulder bag flung across my back and I was certain I was going to get stuck. Somehow we made it through. TWICE.
- Noah told me recently he wanted to be a Daddy when he grew up but a few days later said he wanted to be an astronaut instead. After watching the Space Station movie he thought better of it and said “I want to be a Daddy when I get big. A Daddy is a better thing. I don’t want to do all that astronaut stuff. That’s a lot.”
- In mid-December I was way overdue for a hair appointment and then we were sick and I had to cancel my hair appointment. So I was REALLY overdue for the cut I finally got yesterday. Earlier in the week I was lamenting to Noah about my hair and he comforted me with “You look nice even when your hair is bad.”
- So yesterday was haircut day. Thank God. Me and the boys took the subway to see our stylist and Mark met us there. Noah sat on my lap and got shorn while Mark wrangled Ray. Then Mark handled both boys while I got my cut. Then we hiked it a few blocks to have a truckload of dumplings at our new favorite Chinese place. It was an exhausting evening - Ray was fussy and by the end of the night Noah was exhausted. Occasionally going out with the kids is more work than it is fun – and it’s rarely relaxing. But it’s SO very necessary. We need to get out and be a part of the world and the kids need to see the world and be reminded how to operate within it. My Dad always commented that kids that never get taken out to dinner don’t know how to act out and I firmly believe that and make sure we get out fairly often. But sheesh - last night there was a moment where I was like "ABORT MISSION! ABORT! Return to the station at once!"
- And the most blogworthy thing going on in our house is that for the last three days Noah has been pretending to be his “new” 5 year old girl cousin Jordan. And that isn’t all – he has decided that Mark is Jordan’s sister Sammy and I am “Jordan’s Mama” though I have tried to explain to him that Jordan wouldn’t call her Mama “Jordan’s Mama.” Oh and Ray is cousin Chase. So when I slip up and call Noah by his given name I get “I’m not Noah.” I told him I missed Noah and he informed me that he WAS Noah, that he was just pretending. So I asked when he would be done pretending and he said “When the story is over.” Yesterday he told me it was over and half an hour later was looking glum. I inquired about his mood and he told me he was sad he wasn’t Jordan anymore. I told him he could still be Jordan if he wanted to – and we were back on story. Ahh… three, it’s an imaginative age.