go faster, maybe, mama?

Some of you may be thinking that I have run out of things to write about? I haven't had any postings in July and the ones in late June were pretty lame, right? I have plenty to say, in fact, too much to really even attempt to truly catch up... It has been so busy around here.

Grandma, Astrid somehow snuck your ducky into the diaper bag on the way out.  We'll send him back after a couple more trips to the top of Sentinel with us.  This photo:  A sweaty me is a happy me... Astrid is happy if she has a ducky in her hand, and this hat on her head.

The Summer, so far, has been filled tons and tons of things including: hikes on Sentinel, bike rides, swimming, bird watching and flower identifying, almost every weekend at the lake, kayaking, knitting (although it has tapered a bit since my last dragon puppet frenzy), reading, traveling, time with family and friends, and watching Astrid grow and learn, learn, learn.

We went to see Grandma and Grandpa over the 4th of July.


A first ferry ride for Astrid ~ from Mukilteo WA to Whidbey Island.




We went to Whidbey to see these two characters Patsy and Barb and Patsy's husband, Norman...all old college friends Jeff hadn't seen in years.


Norman and Jeff brought these back for dinner that night.




Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house.


Bangin' on our friend Scott's drumset.


We're back in Montana, now....Astrid loves to help Daddy refill the bird feeders each time we go up to the lake.


This past weekend Jeff worked on clearing the trees Missoula Electric Co-op had taken down near the power line.

Having lunch with one of her buddies, Ro-Ro (Roisin-Marie) yesterday.

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Astrid is currently enjoying telling me exactly what she is doing on a moment to moment basis.  Instead of talking about herself in the third person (like, Attie do this or Attie do that) she loves to say "I".  "I walk up stairs," "I read a book," "I go outside," "I go simmin' (swimming)," and my favorite: "I do self, Mama."

This last month or so my language comes under the microscope.  I have a toddler who formulates sentences reflecting my grammar and some of it I find completely irritating (sounds good coming from her mouth, but it irritates me when I realize I sound like a hick!).

Some of the recent findings in my poor grammar include the word "Guy", "Sorry" "Yeah and Yup".  "Yeah" was the first real wakeup call, but I find Astrid uses the word "guy" for everything in the world, and now that I'm listening to myself, I see where she gets it.  "I need that guy" (pointing to something across the room.) (Guy in this sentence could refer to a teddy bear, her father, a skirt, a yogurt pop, a book.  I knooooooow).

No one ever told me I was such an apologetic person either.  I found out these last few weeks just how "sorry" it sounds to say sorry all the time.  For example, when I am moving my legs around to make myself more comfortable at a table and I hit someone by mistake, I usually say "sorry" (in that Northern Maine accent which can be confused with a Canadian accent).  What I should be saying is "excuse me".  For some reason it just sounds so sad coming out of my child's mouth.  "Sowwy, Mama."  (makes me want to cry when it is relating to potty training, since the last thing I want Astrid to feel is sorry or ashamed of making a mistake.)


We spend a lot of time in the bathroom these days, so today we made it fun by bringing in my guitar and a ukelele for Astrid!  We made up a potty song.

Another thing that she said today was "I. Love. Peoples."  This might be my new favorite thing she says, well, it might be tied with "Go faster, maybe, mama?" (the sentence climbing higher and higher in pitch and lower in volume and ending sounding like a tiny little mouse...).  She says this near the top of Sentinel almost every time.  We are usually on our way down.

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Today, I'm feeling quite the opposite of how I used to feel in the Summers as a child.  Sometimes I wish there was a pause button.  Life goes faster and faster the older and older I get.  There are so many things on this growing and endless list of to-do's (that expand with Summer and the ability to work on something without the snow or cold as a factor).  Most of these are things I put on myself.  No one else cares if they get done.  Most of the time I feel like it doesn't matter either, but today I'm feeling like I could enjoy all the "fun" times even more if I could just ________ (fill in the blank here; weed that front landscaping, mow the lawn, clean the kitchen, do the dishes, advertise my business, call and make that appointment, write those thank you notes, complete that website, order that part, repaint those two spots in the bathroom, write the bills).  I think these feelings of being overwhelmed are more a testament to the amount of sleep I have had than any one thing.  I know this because sometimes have too many things on my plate that I want to accomplish and find myself completely paralized and having the opposite effect (i.e. I cannot even manage to get one of these items crossed off my list)...  I have a flight response.  This is the moment I walk away from the list, turn up the music and dance around the living room (or escape to my blog, which, as you guessed, I am doing now).

A two to three hour window in the afternoon (while Astrid is taking her nap) flies by if I don't have an organized plan of attack once she hits the sheets.  And, today was not a productive day, folks...  There's always tomorrow!

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This morning we had sort of a rocky morning.  As I described to a friend it was as if Astrid and I were like pin balls around the house tripping over Skagit, books, toys and other scattered items, butting heads (she has this kicking habit when I try to put pull ups on her - and she nearly breaks my nose with the force of her kick), feeling cooped up.  Once we were ejected outside our spirit changed.  We ran some errands and on our way to meet a friend for lunch we stopped by the post office and found the most amazing gift EVER!  My dearest friend "Auntie" Ann knows of Astrid's fondness (obsession) with duckies and she sent these beautifully painted canvases to Astrid.  I just had to show you.  They are 4 inch square canvases and they are beyond amazing!  Astrid is bonkers about them.


We are greedily packing in as much fun this Summer as we can.  We are looking forward to a mother-daughter backpacking trip we are in the midst of planning with some friends!!  Astrid will be in the backpack and everything else sort of hanging/attached to it (somehow?) ...  Not sure exactly how this is going to work, but I'm excited about a different kind of adventure in the backcountry (one that includes my girl).

Parting Shot:

These are the 6 Friendly Dragon Puppet friends that live with us.  I have made and given away most of the 16 of these guys/gals...but these ones remain with me.

In birth order:  Clarence, Penelope, Rafael, Poppy, Violet and Otis.  I'm teaching a class on How to make a Friendly Dragon Puppet at Loopy in September!