As You Like It

For the last week I have had a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich for lunch almost every day. Except yesterday, because we were out of bread. And I thought about just having peanut butter and Nutella with no bread, but that seemed a little desperate and sad.

No, I am not pregnant.

No, the kids do not get to eat peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches. They have almond butter on Ezekiel bread with some raspberries on the side. Or something similarly healthy and decidedly not infused with hazelnut chocolate spread. We have, as a family, been going to Paciugo for gelato once a week for the past three weeks. It is the kids' first taste of ice cream that isn't soy or rice-based. They are, as you can imagine, Big Fans. Both Hudson and Harper have chosen chocolate (or "chot-yet" in Hudson-ease)each time, and Helena has had mango.

I saw "As You Like It" in London many years ago. Outdoors in a park. It's a silly play. Confusing. A girl pretends to be a boy for some very complicated reason that I can't recall. But I do like the names Rosalind AND Celia, and remember presenting them to the husband as possibilities when we were naming Helena. I believe he gave them both a resounding NO, for some very complicated reasons that I can't recall.

Speaking of comedy that isn't particularly comedic, the kids are in the phase of taking normal words and pretending they are hilarious. A few weeks ago it was the word 'toe'. I would say, "Hudson, what would you like for lunch?" and he would answer, "An almond butter TOE sandwich!!" and he and Harper would just about pass out with the laughing. The hysteria-inducing phrase for this week is "NOBODY NOWHERE!!" Harper will say, "Hudson, you are NOBODY NOWHERE!!" and he will say, "There is a NOBODY NOWHERE in the bathroom!!!" and then there will be giggles a million and I will sigh because it is so loud.

I've just finished The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham, and for the first time ever, I think the movie might be better than the book. The book isn't bad, it just isn't as deeply redemptive as I found the movie to be. I like restoration. I need restoration.

The husband has been watching "Man vs. Wild" with Harper and Hudson, and yesterday I had to tell Hudson, "Yes, but when Bear Grylls is home with his family and not trying to Survive In The Wild, I am CERTAIN he puts his pee-pee in the potty and NOT on the ground." I thought it was really cute that Hudson introduced himself to a new friend as "Hudson Bear" on Monday. And then they chased balls around and tried to figure out who was taller.

Harper was trying to get Hudson to help her pick up a few days ago and she said, "Hudson! Use your BIG MUSCLES to go put the blocks up in your room!" I did not teach her that. It worked, incidentally. He's also gotten pretty good at feeding Helena her yogurt:


To celebrate the last day of summer, we went swimming this morning. It's supposedly going to get a bit cooler here this weekend, so this may be our last splash of the year.

We've had Sasha for around 8 months now, and for 8 months she has slept in her little crate in our room. And in the past month, for unknown reasons, she decided this was a wholly unsatisfying state of affairs and had begun to whine. So we got a water bottle and squirted her in the face when she whined. Which she found unpleasant, but not enough so that she stopped whining. And I found groping for the spray bottle at 4 am to be quite frustrating. So I did something I said I would NEVER DO. I gave her a Silkwood-style scrub down and then, can you guess? We have a dog in our bed. Actually, after the first night when I slept very little because Sasha seemed to think that curled up in the general area of my womb was her own personal heaven, I insisted she stay on the husband's side. And now she does. She and the husband are quite pleased with themselves.