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.

allergy update

Binbin had his annual round of allergy testing yesterday. He's much more aware of those prickly needles on his back and not at all happy about the itchy discomfort that must be endured for 15 minutes, but all in all, he was very brave.

It looks like he is definitely *not* allergic to melons or corn...hurray! And, he seems to have outgrown his allergy to oats. Cheerios...here we come.

The egg yolk allergy and the soy allergy may not be quite as severe, but we await more results from blood testing.

This morning, I took him to the lab to have blood drawn for confirming the skin test results. And again, he was not too happy about that needle going into his arm. He cried and wimpered, and seemed terribly injured. But by the time we headed back to the car, he told me it didn't hurt, and he quietly studied the two spider-man stickers the phlebotomist gave to him as a reward.

the machines and all you need

According to Binbin:

The red machine is hot. The blue machine is not hot. The red machine, it has saws. Look, here and here and here and here and here. They are all saws. The saws cut wood. That one cuts pasts. And that one cuts wood. This machine goes. Look. Watch. From here to here and here. They are all saws. This one cuts carrots. and this one makes bread. It makes little breads and big breads. That one is hot. This one is not hot. Look. I can stick them together. Oops. Sorry. It broke. I can snap it together. These are the machines.

[He brought them to the Kopper Kettle for breakfast on Saturday]



We celebrated out tenth anniversary in June, a few weeks back, and received from the Klines this Beetles card. Binbin recognizes John, Paul, Ringo, and George. And one day, he decided to find all the ancient jade and bronze magnets and surround the message: All you need is love.

It's true, isn't it?

friends

Yesterday, we went to visit Binbin's new friend, Coco, and her family. Anjali and her family came, too. The three toddlers had a blast, running through the house, playing with Coco's kitchen, throwing red balloons at each other. They also played a sleeptime game in between jumping on Coco's bed. Here, they pretend to be sleepy bugs.

First, the album cover:



Now, the snapshot:



All three kiddies go to Miss Donna's daycare, where it's beginning to look like post-United Colors of Benetton.