Reflections from Ana during a morning bike ride

A special treat--just time with Ana and me.  We rode from our house to the fly.

Me: Ana, how are you feeling?
Ana: I feel great.  I feel really good about me.  And you.

**

Mom, I don't get it.  Where does space end?  Sometimes I dream of outerspace, and I'm talking to these wierd people, but we're really
in a box, and around us, there is nothing but white.

**

I wish the bike path never ended...I could ride on and on forever.

**

First Crush?

Ana says to me tonight, eyes gleaming with a well-guarded secret:
I have a friend named Michael at school.  If I tell you something about him, will you promise not to laugh?

With a solid, steely eye, I tell her:
I promise, I won't laugh.

With caution but overwhelming excitement (beans spilling):
You promise, promise???  You won't tell OR laugh??

Eyebrows raised, my most excellent promise:
I promise, promise.  I PINKY promise.

We lock our pinkies, staring into each other's eyes.

Mama, my friend Michael at school, I think he's really....

I think he's really...
(how does one speak the unspeakable?)

He's really.....PEACEFUL.

__

Well, my dear, I clearly did tell-- all of these people in cyberspace, but it's not the secret, or Michael we're smiling about.  It's you, and the way your amazing mind and sweet heart work. 

GIve me the BeeGees

Ana just told me that a dead bug gave her the BeeGees.




I think she meant "Hee-Bee-Gee-Bees," but her version is far better.

Built-in entertainment

Q: What's a stack of white cheddar cheez-its and a straw?

A: Paperwork and a pen, of course!

Q: What do you get when you add a pair of sunglasses and a piece of clay to the bathroom sink?

A: Groucho Marx, of course! (Or, in Ana's words: A funny man)

Think big

On our way home from the library, carrying a really heavy bag, I was waiting for Ana to complain and ask pack-mule me to add the bag to my load...

Me: Just consider this practice for kindergarten, when you can bring home as many books from the library as you can carry.

Ana: As many as I can carry? (This, from the girl who on first site of Harrah's casino asked--"Is that the library?" Talk about a world with skewed values...)

Me: Yes. As many as you can.

Ana: Can you use your mouth?

Me (Laughing): Your mouth? I don't know. I think you'll have to ask the librarian.

Ana: That's the kind of thing I'm not comfortable asking other people. That's just for us.

Fairy Houses

Mine and Ana's backyard fascination now

Fairy houses in the background
Fairy Cafe

Our fairy mailbox (write on leave with sticks)

Name Change

A: Mama, I wish my name was Erin.

Me: Why, baby?

A: Coz I want you to say, "Erin, it's time to run some errands."

Me (LOL): Is that the only reason?

A (nodding): Could you say that to me sometimes?

Mighty Aphrodite

Forget the creationism vs. darwinism debate. Greek Mythology has really captured Ana's imagination. Her decision to be Aphrodite came from a long curly pink wig of mine, and the suggestion that she dress as Medusa. She was completely horrified at the thought. Especially since I've shown her the clip from Clash of the Titans on youtube (remember root canal vs. Medusa?)...

When she pulled out her old Cleopatra costume, those drawings of the goddesses immediately came to mind. She announced she'd be the goddess of love...and got to dressing up...

I thought of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and we found it online. She wanted to draw it. Can you see what it looked like? The shape beneath the feet is the shell. Ana liked hearing that she rose out of the sea...

The Greatest Fan of your Life

I will truly miss
entire conversations
dissecting what
"your crying soda"
might mean,
and why that would be considered a love song.

You're growing so fast, Ana.

Dem rolls

Ana says when goo-goo-ing Ollie, and pinching his chubs:

These biscuits just have too much dough, yes they do!
They are just too much for me, little guy.
I think I need some butta!

So Special

Me: Hey, Ana. I heard you had some questions about Child A (a child with special needs).

Ana: Yes. Is he--um--special? **

Me: Yes, he was born with some challenges. All of us have things we need to work on, some are more obvious than others. Like Ell works on using his left hand. What are some things that are challenging for you (I'm thinking, pottying).

Ana: Oh yeah. That's easy. Like Jumprope.

Me: Yeah, like jumprope.

___
**Re: terminology...I've grown into using "child with special needs" (vs. "typically developing"). We don't use the term "special," and I generally shirk to its usage, particularly because it's used in a casual/drerogatory way as in "her haircut sure is 'special')...Ana's just putting her on words on what she's observed. That these kids tend to stand out a little bit because they are different. Or maybe she's noticed the extra dose of love El seems to have, and that, is indeed, special.

Voracious Reader

I loved the irony of coming home from a date finding Ana asleep with this book.

Who've YOU been talkin' to?

My daughter says to me yesterday:
When I grow up, I'm not going to have a job.
I'm going to exercise, and eat healthy, and do yoga.

Well, how will you get the money you need to live, I say.

My husband. He'll go to work, and I'll do yoga.

Ana the Professional

Her first answer to What do you want to be when you Grow Up?
Mail Carrier

Since then, she's stated at random moments, being an archaelogist and surfer.

My favorite: An Inch Looker, after measuring something an inch long (namely a cut on her aunt Gigi's foot).

And tonight: She'll have Three jobs. She'll go to one on Friday, one on Sunday and the other on Friday (yes again on Friday). They are:
A scientist
A jungle swinger (just like her mama(-;)
A teacher

Love it!

The Last Mo

When confronted with a multitude of choices, problem-solving Ana's solution, every time:

Let's see who's the Last Mo?

As in Eeny, Meanie, Miny, Mo.

Hope that helps you tackle a problem today.

Lucky me

Mama, do you know how much I love you?
I love you wrapped around the moon, and all the way through space.
And through a door, and a hundred doors, to the edge of the world,
and to the end of the world.

On the way to school today

Listening to NPR, Ana asks, "Mama, what is a glass ceiling?"

I have yet to answer.

Suggestions welcome, but I guess you have to know Ana to know that the idea "that girls can't do certain things" and "aren't always treated fairly" isn't going to fly.

I'm also wondering if it will switch her allegiance from Obama to Hillary...

Story Words

When Ana struggles with sleep, sometimes I'll "put a dream in her head" by giving her a series of words, touching her forehead after each one, like purple walrus, smooth stone, jelly donut, and pirogue. Sometimes I tell her I'll meet her in the dream. It works about half of the time.

Tonight at story time, I asked her to tell me the story. She refused, but said she'd give me the words. I loved looking over at her large brown eyes in the dark, as she thought of the words, and touched her small fingers to my forehead:

a red bowl of cherries
a glitterfish, red and blue
a golden mermaid
Tora Lora and Maybelline walking in the woods
a pink princess
a handsome prince with a sword

Yes, I struggled with those theme-laden words at the end, but the power was in my hands to create a story with elements of feminine power and choice, social justice, and kindness, and it came together nicely.

I love my daughter's creative mind, and ideas. I'm ever-amazed by how she puts together ideas, and language, and wish I was disciplined enough to capture it all.

Other bits:

• I loved her identifying the "dot" in Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever as a speckle.
• I was excited that she chose a job not on the "When I grow up" page: archaeologist.
• Despite our pleas that she not hold those grizzly green caterpillars that sting, she's already discovered that they don't sting your hand if you pick them up, and was adamant to continue making pets of these loathsome creatures. Today, I learned from another parent that they hurt on softer skin in other areas, but not if you handle them with your palm. I respect her belief in her own scientific method.

I'm always learning from you, Ana, and I'm so grateful for each moment with you.

Big Questions, Little Person

Ana, at bedtime tonight:

Momma, sometimes I wonder if God is good or bad.

If he's good, then why do I have the dreams with the bad guys in them, and fits and stuff?

That's what I'm trying to figure out. How do I figure that out, if God is good or bad?

Ana on Slurping

Mama, a slurp really has two parts:

A suck and a kiss.

See? ***sluuuuuurp******

Yes, dear. I can find a kiss in most of your imaginings.