Tomorrow’s the day. After a one-month vacation from her family, Chloe comes home tomorrow. I can’t wait.
The first two weeks of quiet were enjoyable. And although I loved all the one-on-one time we had with Sophie, the second two weeks were a little too quiet. I started to miss the chaos, the badgering and the mess she creates. Having half the usual mess in the house is just not so fun.
My company hosted its annual picnic this evening and Sophie had tons ‘o fun. She particularly liked her caricature. I tried explaining to her that Farrah Fawcett had nothing on her, but she didn’t get it. It’s funny how certain fleeting cultural references, those that resonated so strongly when we were kids, mean absolutely nothing to our children’s generation.
We’re just getting older. With every passing day. Ugh.
Sophie is brave. Very brave. We took her to an indoor rock climbing gym today and she climbed and climbed and climbed. The first wall was easy and she made it to the top (about 25 feet high, mind you) in about one minute.
Sophie spent the last two weeks at the art camp run by our local museum’s school of art. During that time, she created eight small masterpieces, all channeling different abstract artists. The children’s inspirations included Picasso, Klee, Rothko, the designer Marimekko, and others. A pretty cool way to spend the summer, don’t you think?
Sophie is going through one of her waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-which-sucks-big-time-for-her-insomniac-parents phases.
Every few months, she’ll subject us to a multi-day cycle of waking up and then waking us up from a deep sleep (an occurrence thats all too rare these days). Last week, she had an excuse. Her bothersome bloody nose, which tends to have piss-poor timing and manifest itself for several days in a row . This week, however, is another story.
Sophie was very angry with her Papa this evening. She was waiting at the door when I arrived home and I immediately knew something was wrong. She didn’t greet me with her usual jumping and screaming. She greeted me with a pout.
The temporary only-child status is doing wonders for Sophie. She is thoroughly enjoying receiving the totality of her parents’ attention. And never one to shy away from the cameras, she’s happy to indulge us with a big grin as she decides whether she wants some frozen yogurt or a crepe for dessert. Given the temperature outside, she wisely chose the former.
Ever since Chloe left for camp, Sophie has wanted nothing more than to spend as much time as possible with me. From morning until night, except when I’m at work, she is attached to my hip. Like an oversized appendage.
By all accounts, Chloe is having a great time at camp. At least, that’s what she’s telling her Grammy and Sophie. And she looks happy in every single one of the photos the counselors have taken of her.