A Face I Love

Ruby's Brain

One of my favorite things about Ruby is that she has an on/off switch like no other person I've ever met.  She can go from a deep sleep to a thoughtful, minutes-long monologue about horses in under a second.  She is asleep, the switch is turned on, and she's got some deep thoughts to share.  It's both fascinating and hysterical all at the same time. 

And now, here are some random thoughts that recently spilled out of her little brain:

Her suggestion for what one could tell a person with a booger in their nose:  "There is a limo in the tunnel."

After being served buckwheat crepes filled with a delicious potato and kale mixture and topped with a lovingly homemade red pepper sauce:  "The crepe looks like the bottom of a swimming pool."

On how one falls asleep: "You just think and think and think and then you conk out."

 And then you wake up again and begin anew...

Five Words

School is back in session and we're filling out paperwork fast and furious.  Cecilia's teacher sent home a "Help Me Get to Know Your Child" sheet to fill out, and this morning I spent some time writing about my daughter.  What an interesting exercise!  I think it can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day business of parenting (brush your teeth, do your homework, practice your instrument, how was your day?), that there isn't a ton of time left over for reflection.  I just had to consider what motivates my child, what upsets my child, her strengths, some challenges, etc.  I appreciated the opportunity to stop and think about these things, because it's also a great reminder that my daughter - while practically perfect in every way - is also a developing person and the star of her own life, not just a character in mine.  You know, like a whole person who will someday be an adult.  (I think she's going to be an amazing adult, because she's already one helluva kid.)

In a fun, college-application-type exercise, I was asked to list five words that best describe my child's character.  This is what I came up with: earnest, thoughtful, empathetic, hilarious, and sensitive.

But she's also so much more.

Spaghetti Will Never Be The Same

The scene: I am sitting on my bed working on the laptop.  Ruby comes tearing into the room all in a tizzy.

Ruby:  Mom!  You will NEVER guess what's in the toilet!

Me [looking up, wearily]:  Um, poop?

Ruby: No!

Me:  Pee?

Ruby: No!

Me: I have no idea, Rubes.

Ruby [very animatedly]: A MEATBALL!

Then a small group convened around the toilet (minus me) and had an involved conversation about what someone had ... deposited.  And I have to wonder - is this what it's like in other families?

Butterfly In The Sky

The girls recently experienced their first ever camping trip, complete with fishing, canoeing, s'more-making, and sleeping bags in a tent.  By most accounts it was a success, though I think some of us came home more exhausted than others...

The state park we camped at offered a variety of activities, and on Saturday there was "Monarch butterfly tagging" offered at the trail center.  This is exactly the kind of thing the girls get excited about, so I brought them over to check it out.  Turns out that this state park partners with the University of Kansas to tag Monarchs and track their migratory patterns to Mexico.  It began with the DNR lady doing a little talk about the Monarch butterfly. 

Now, I should mention here that Cecilia is a serious nature-lover, and she's watched more than her fair share of nature programming on PBS, in addition to receiving various nature magazines for children over the years.  And she is a voracious reader of pretty much anything.  So then.

The DNR lady incorporated a number of questions for the audience in her presentation, and Cecilia - without exception - answered every single one of them (she raised her hand first, of course).  Life cycle of the Monarch?  She knew it.  What do they eat?  Why, milkweed of course! How long do they live?  Where do the migrate to?  What's the difference between a chrysalis and a cocoon?  She answered all of these correctly, much to the surprise and amusement of all the adults in attendance.  At one point an older gentleman said, "Maybe she should be the one giving the presentation!"  And then, after the DNR lady handed out the butterfly nets and encouraged everyone to move quietly and carefully through the prairie, all the kids took off like bats out of hell, tearing through the prairie and wildly swinging their butterfly nets.  But not my Cecilia, oh no.  She moved stealthily along the edge of the pine trees where the forest met the prairie, following the instructions to a tee.

Want to guess who came back with the first Monarch in their net? 

Fishing in the St. Croix river.

Memories...

It's that time of year again: I bought school supplies and pulled out the tubs of clothes that were put away for the summer.  Anyone who has seen Cecilia in the last month knows that the child experienced a monster growth spurt this summer, so I was worried about what clothes would still fit.  Turns out, none.  So I went looking for a photo of her little face so that I could remember what she looked like before she turned into a giant 5th-grader.  I found this:

Veg Out

Next weekend the girls will be going on their first, official camping trip. They've done some "lite" camping - sleeping in Grandma and Grandpa's pop-up trailer and sitting around a campfire - but this is the real deal.  Tents, sleeping bags, fishing for dinner, etc.  They're pretty excited, and the other night I asked them what they'd like to cook over the fire for meals.  Cecilia didn't think too long before deciding, "Hot dogs!"  When I turned to Rubes and asked what she might like to cook on the camping trip she thought for a moment or two and then proclaimed, "Veggie burgers!" 

Classic.