Monkey Around

Further evidence of climate primate change: the monkey suit proved irresistible for Reed’s parents – we selected it for him over the costume options of banana and pumpkin – and for his sister, as she mugged for this shot with him on our front lawn before their candy-seeking expedition around the neighborhood. The cold night kept the monkey from being out of his cage for too long, but the police officer stayed out on her beat long enough to nab a bucketful of sweets.

Of curious note: I’ve read that Halloween is also celebrated in Canada and the British Isles, but my sense is that the pageantry of our Halloween is distinctly American. And so as I accompanied Olivia and her friends around for trick-or-treating, I couldn’t help but feel coursing throughout my body a surge in national pride, akin in strength to the surge of sugar racing through our daughter’s veins after she’s consumed a third mini candy bar in as many minutes.

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing…

Law and Gourd-er

Officer Olivia patrolled the downtown streets on the eve of the Eve of Allhallows with her pumpkin partner in tow tote.

By the Dawn's Early Light

We start our days by basking in the sonshine.

Undomestic Partnership

Ask, and ye shall receive: Amanda – who, as the Undomestic Goddess, sublimely ruminates on the topics of feminism, food, literature, and pop culture – requested some time ago that her readers, especially the guys, fill out her 10-question interview about feminism. I answered her initial request for volunteers with hare-like speed but was quite the tortoise in completing it. Well, my friends, I’ve finally crossed the finish line, and Amanda’s been kind enough to post my results. (Let me know if you're interested in reading them – I'm happy to pass them along.)

To Serve and Protect (and Trick-or-Treat)

Officer Olivia informed me that I’d not be breaking any laws by providing this early preview of her Halloween getup. We’re not sure what inspired her to request a cop costume, but her mom and I were happy to shell out $30 to encourage her implicit resistance to gendered expectations.

Patch Perfect

Some four years ago, one of the first posts on this blog was about a family visit to a pumpkin patch. Since then, we’ve made it an annual autumnal tradition to visit an apple orchard or pumpkin farm (chronicled here: 2006, 2007, 2008). We checked out a new place this year, one that’s located on the outskirts of town. We were joined by Lucy and her family, and we couldn’t have been bestowed by a more ideal fall day: the sun shined brightly from its perch in the blue-hued sky, the air was as crisp as the apples, the activities available catered to children of all ages, and there were plenty of pumpkins for the picking.

Tongue Spied

We’ve seen a lot more of Reed’s tongue as of late, it having emerged from its normal state to a position of semi-permanence just outside the right corner of his mouth. Is his reptilian brain working overtime? Is he emulating a certain basketball legend from Chicago? Are his lips chapped from the colder weather? Whatever the reason, it’s too cute for words.

If You're Happy and You Know It

Then your face will surely show it: Reed is overjoyed because his daddy is blogging in real-time, meaning that he's not backdating entries for once.

Portrait Estudios

If you examine closely Olivia’s sketch from Spanish class of the members of our family, you’ll realize that young children are not colorblind. (I understand that such an observation is neither new nor profound – I just happened to find it interesting.)

Dedicated to the Ones I Love

Instead of holding baptisms, most Unitarian Universalist congregations have a ceremony of child dedication for their youngsters. On this Sunday, we stood with our children in front of our congregation for a blessing ceremony. Both of the children were blessed with the elements of earth, air, fire (a symbolic flame), and water, as well as with their names. Here’s some of the text that was read aloud during the name-blessing portion:

Olivia Maren
I bless you with your names. Olivia comes from the olive tree, the symbol of fruitfulness, beauty and dignity. An olive branch is a symbol for peace. Maren is a variant of Mary meaning “star of the sea.”

Reed Elian
I bless you with your names. Reed of Old English origin means “red,” and Elian was chosen because it reflected his Puerto Rican, Japanese and American heritage. It is also a form of Elijah.

We want to thank all those in attendance who affirmed that they would lead and nurture our children and their spiritual wanderings and wonderments. Blessed be, indeed.

Conflict of Interest

(Note: In this case, “interest” means “of note,” not “the feeling of a person whose attention is particularly engaged by something.”)

In our capacity as college admissions counselors, Beni and I visit numerous high schools to talk up our respective institutions with students. Recently, I stopped by a Lutheran high school in my recruitment territory, one that holds a daily chapel service. I happened to be visiting during their chapel hour, and was welcomed by the guidance counselor to attend the service because he was going to introduce me to the students at its conclusion as a way to encourage those who were interested in my university to come speak with me.

Upon the counselor’s invitation, I grabbed my book bag – the one carrying my school's promotional materials and Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion, the book I was and am still currently reading – and headed with him to the gym, site of the chapel service. Settling into the bleachers without quite settling in mentally, I endured the singing of hymnals with lyrics such as:

Watch and see lest there be faithless friends to charm thee,
Who but seek to harm thee.

Because that’s what those of us less faith try to do – harm thee with our charming agenda.

Fall Guy (and Gal)

These melt my heart like ice cream on a warm slice of homemade apple pie.

Know-It-Crawl

The little guy is now getting around everywhere army-crawl style, and so our constant vigilance is required to prevent a lemmings-off-the-cliff scenario from our bed. As Beni rightly stated when Olivia first became mobile, our lives are now forever changed.

Right-Hand (Little) Man

Reed reached out to his baby buddy Abram, the newest addition to my friend Becky’s brood. Also present for the play date were the darling Emmy and Addie (Abram’s older sisters), Reed’s older sister, and the adorable children of Charlotte, a mutual friend from college.

Backseat Scriber

Using my iPhone, our photojournalist-in-training got these stellar shots from her perched position in our family vehicle during our errands about town.

Love at First Bite

Rice Rice Baby from chris k on Vimeo.

We’ve just introduced Reed to the world of (semi-) solid foods, starting of course with the oh-so irresistible rice cereal. The above video captures his very first encounter with a food item that is not his mom’s milk, and as you can see, he finds the product and concept of eating quite agreeable.

Family Farm

This afternoon, we toured and attended a potluck at a local organic farm, the one owned by the farmer who provides us with a weekly bounty of veggies for nearly half the year through his community supported agriculture (CSA) outfit. The light rain did little to dampen our enjoyment of the outing – we’ve been members of the CSA since 2001, and so this trek was long overdue and much looked forward to, precipitation be darned.

Field study

Quizzical expression over the quiz


What the kale is this?

The comedy was as fresh as the veggies