summer memories

Last night, we had our first frost. That's right, frost.

Binbin put on his fluffy fleecy footy pajamas and got all cozy ready for bed. He was a tired little boy, and with good reason. Yesterday was his first official day at preschool, a sure sign of growing up.

On Thursdays and Fridays now, Binbin goes to Bowdoin College's Chidren's Center where he learns and plays alongside up to 14 other 3 and 4 year olds. Yesterday morning, he was nervous and told me that he was shy and that he did NOT like school and the he wanted to go to Miss Donna's for the whole day!! He cried in the car as we pulled into a parking lot that definitely did not resemble Miss Donna's. But after a bit of hugging, Binbin noticed other children making their way with their parents to school. Including his pal Ian Horch.

So, he gladly changed clothes and bravely walked over to school. Fortunately, Ian was there to help smooth the transition. And after Ian kissed his mommy bye-bye, Binbin turned to me to say, I want you to go to work now!

Yesterday, the children were treated to a performance of Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppetry. The children's center preschool posts to another blog, so I'll post the URL here soon.

Meanwhile, with fall upon us, summer his disappeared, leaving us with happy memories.

In this snapshot from June, Binbin resembles my cousin Rich, I think.



Colorful "robots" with "presents" populate the sun room.



Our black raspberry bushes produced a bountiful crop this summer. Delicious!



Binbin sneaks over for more.



Yeye and Nainai paid a visit. Here, Yeye reads from a book (from Bookland, which is about to close its doors, sadly) while Binbin busies himself with a pingpong ball in his mouth.

Stuff other than Corn

It's fall, and Binbin is growing faster and faster. He tells us that, when he grows up, he wants to be a driver. And then, No, No, No. You are not listening. To me. Listen to me.

And then, play with me! Play the Money-Money game (that's Monopoly to the rest of us). The Money-Money game is a variation. Binbin is the banker, the salesman, the change-maker, the boss.

Good books besides "Corn": Poppleton Forever, Skippy John Jones. Read and read again.

corn

Binbin's new favorite book is: Corn. That's right, Corn. A book that describes some of the history of corn cultivation in the Americas, different types of corn (there are four types: sweet corn, popcorn, flint corn, and dent corn), pollination and harvesting, and products that are made from corn. Corn. Not beans, not asparagus, not broccoli. Corn. Read it, Baba, he says. I want nainai and Corn, Mama. Read it.

vintage Happy Birthday to Ah-po

Now that Binbin is growing up, it's harder to capture him on film. So, in honor of Ah-po's birthday, I'm uploading a vintage video. Happy Birthday!



You can see Binbin's cousin Ronan singing on our sister site: kanddsessions.blogspot.com

now this is more like august

This month has been unseasonably cool and unbelievably rainy. You may have caught some of that on the news a week ago, when a piece of Route 125 in Freeport caved in a washed away. The mighty Androscoggin River is running about as high as it was in April after the snowmelt.

We spent two days of the rainy-ness up on Lake Sysladobsis with our friends, Sam and Jane, and their daughters, Sara and Amy. The rent a cabin every summer with some of their post-college pals and party well into the evenings. We had a wonderful, if wettish, time.

After that, Yeye and Nainai came for a week-long visit. Binbin was treated to...well all sorts of treats. We have photos from that visit, but they're on a different camera.

For now, I'm posting snapshots from yesterday, probably the most beautiful day we've enjoyed this month, and we were very lucky to have a sail in a boat captained by Binbin's favorite babysitter, Jess.

Binbin was very brave, and climbed right on in, despite the "wiggliness" of the waves rocking the boat.



He especially enjoyed going in and out of the cabin, which he called "the cave".



I was happy to be in a picture with my little guy...he's getting to be so grown-up!



And, here's a pic of Jack and Jess.



And, just to prove that the sun really does shine in Portland...Isn't this beautiful?! It just about makes up for the other 300 days of snow, slush, mud, clouds, rain, humidity, what-have-you!

weekend update

The long silence is due to De-nin's travels...to see her sister in L.A., where Debbie and Kevin celebrated Ronan's 2nd birthday. (for more on that event, see kanddsessions.blogspot.com) During the week away, Binbin grew by leaps and bounds, it seemed, but he still remains our little guy.

Binbin informed me of one recent change: there are new blocks in the new (read Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick) library! They are *green* and they are rectangles. See!



And here, Binbin tosses a yellow one into the shopping cart. It's that yellowish blur in mid-air.



It wasn't easy on Binbin for Mama to be away for a week. Baba did a terrific job, though, and undoubtedly out-did Mama with trips to Cote's for ice cream. Since I came back on a Monday evening, it was hard the next couple of days going to daycare, but Binbin managed to keep it together until...Saturday! Blessed Saturday, when no one has to go to work.

This past Saturday, Binbin had a "first": His first ride on a horse! The moment was not captured on film (or in digital), but here he is in the stable with a horse named "Jack."



Binbin fed Jack and his equine partner Malachi about a dozen apples, and thus, quickly made friends. Malachi was especially friendly and gentle, constantly nuzzling Binbin and giving him kisses in his hair. Binbin squealed with delight and avidly reached out to pet both Jack and Malachi. The horses belonged to Natalie Rockwell (the midwife who delivered Binbin...probably the first person to hold Binbin), and she was impressed with how confident Binbin was with the horses.

Binbin was so excited that...he insisted that he did NOT need to use the potty. No accidents during this outing, but here is the visible result of having to hold it.



Binbin wasn't happy about leaving the horses behind, but we persuaded him to return home, where oodles of black raspberries needed to be picked in our backyard. Here is a snapshot of our yummy harvest. All other evidence has been eaten!

"No" means I'm growing up

We have gotten pretty used to a generally amiable child over the past year or so. Binbin generally listens and responds to reason, if you explain why something could be dangerous, he'll use as instructed. And, still, he won't insist on eating something if you tell him it has egg or soy or peanut in it. We've also gotten used to a kid who marches to the beat of his own drum, literally and figuratively. If all the other kids are running after a ball, Binbin is content with gazing at vegetables and remarking on the smallest one ("a teeny cucumber" "a baby carrot" "I love it") or the biggest one ("ooh look! it's a big beet"). But nowadays, he is more apt to feel left out. Especially if Coco and Anjali are running through the sprinklers at Miss Donna's, and he isn't keen on exchanging pants for shorts or having water run down his face.

Fortunately, the moodiness passes. But there are days when, if I could have a dollar for every time he said "no," why, I'd be rich! But then I realize that my life is already rich.