Overdue Pics and Post

My friend N. took some shots of Morgen and Lillian outside of Morgen's Junior Kindergarten class last week...and since these photos weren't then trapped on my broken camera, or mysteriously warped by my quirky computer, I've been able to post them here.

The little Lovett Hammel girls are getting bigger every day.

 

 

 

To the lost crew of the Intrepid Tank

God speed.

Or, as Morgen says "Awww. That's ok. Now we have a nice bowl of water to look at."

Time to clean and test the water again, and then ready our hearts for the rookie crew.

But first...does this seem suspicious to anyone else? When we purchased our first three, healthy looking platies, the pet store guaranteed them for 14 days.  One died while we were on vacation...and so, feeling guilty, we didn't pursue a replacement. Two went belly up on day 15. Coincidence? Evil plot? Or am I simply a very bad fish whisperer?

Complete my survey, if you dare.

The "Poor-Substitute-for-a-Pony" Tank

Before Gavin and I were married, I moved into a bungalo in Mimico and bought, of all things, a very small fishtank. I called it my "three gallons of liquid happiness." I filled it with beige stones, a plant, and seven neon cardinal tetras that I named after the Borg (one-of-seven, two-of-seven, three-of-seven...you get it).

If we were speaking in person, this is where I would tell you to stop me if I'd already told you the story about the tank's evolution from "three gallons of liquid happiness" to "three gallons of liquid deathtrap." And this is also where I'll stop telling that story now, and tell you the one I logged in to write about.

Ever since my friend shared the news on his blog about his son's idyllic daycare, where they have hamsters and fish, and bring in actual ponies to entertain and enlighten the children, I've been stewing about the lack of animals in the otherwise nurturing, empowering, and safe daycare that my children attend and for which we are very grateful.  (I mean, COME ON! Is it fair to the rest of the pony-starved children for some to get rides at preschool, and not others? I'm happy for him, I really am...but the sheer number of animals at that preschool was amazing to me.) I started asking other parents whether they have pets in their preschool classrooms.

And eventually I decided that our daycare needed a fish tank. Or to be more accurate, I decided that it needed a second fish tank. One for fish. The preschool room already has a tank, but it is filled with plants.

I did a bunch of reading about what kinds of aquariums are good for an educational setting. I asked a teacher in the toddler room if she would care for some fish if I provided the tank. I weighed the benefits of really big tanks (harder to kill fish) with the benefits of really small tanks (easier to fit into small spaces). This morning I brought my donation into daycare, while Morgen and Lillian bounced around begging the teacher if they could take it out of the box and play with it. It's shatterproof, of a medium-to-small size, and soon, once we've washed it and filled it with faux river rocks and water plants, and waited for the good tank bugs to grow, we'll introduce a few, hopefully hardy, fish into the environment....

While we were picking out our daycare's new tank, we also bought a new tank for our living room.  I'm not sure what to call it yet. Maybe the "Intrepid." Or maybe we'll call it the "Poor-substitute-for-a-pony Tank." Thanks for the inspiration, friends with children in super-cool daycare programs...and please wish those daycare fish luck.

Sister Pics

 

At the zoo, posing for a sister pic.

 

Good habits start early?

 

Stickers together. 

 

This is what it looks like when Lillian decides she needs to sit on "My Morgen," and Morgen decides to let her.

What you might have overheard at swim class

[In the gender neutral echo chamber they call a family change room]

Lillian: I see your belly button!!! I see your....NIPPLES!
Me: You've seen it all before, sweetie. Use your inside voice please.
Morgen: MOM, WHY ARE YOUR BREASTS FLAT LIKE PANCAKES? THEY'RE FLAT LIKE PANCAKES MOM!!!
Me: [pause]
Lillian: HA!

I confess I had no witty come back.

Quiet on the virtual front...but loud loud loud in real life.

If this picture doesn't say it all, I don't know what does. We've been busy.

I passed my major field exam, but still have an ethics protocol, committee selection, and language examination between me and the ever-elusive "ABD" designation. Gavin has been busy in the archives of his office, preserving history and marvelling at corporate enterprise. Lillian has had her first hair cut, and is busy telling everyone to remember their hat and "suncream" now that it's hot outside. Morgen has turned 4, and of course that means she doesn't need to nap any more.  For real.

For Lillian

- castles -

(my youngest daughter

pointing to the turrets)

- High Park -

high in her stroller,

watching fast flights of people

chasing health

we live in a basement apartment

pay the rent

neglect the upkeep

place plants on window sills

watch water disappear

we mop paint from the walls

scrape the table after meals

toss toys into buckets

and smile over the way

she yells at us

one of the small ones

she sings and sings

she should be sleeping

but

- no -

never still

my youngest waves like catgrass

winds her watcher

and points

says she wants to go in

- in -

to the castles.

Eating or Escaping: two takes on the same car ride.

This morning's conversation in the car went something like this.

Lillian: [stops singing to herself. Pauses.] I wanna see Gramma!

Me: Grandma is not here, sweetie.

Lillian: I wanna see Gramma!

Morgen: [snickers]

Me: should we ask Grandma to come for a visit?

Lillian: [pause] I want a muffin!

Me: [???]

Gavin: I think she means timbit. She thinks muffin means timbit.

Morgen: [smiles and giggles]

Me: Morgen, are you smiling because your sister is so funny?

Morgen: No, I'm smiling because I'm thinking about going far away from here! On a SPACE SHIP! To OUTER SPACE! hahaha.

Twenty minutes before, I'd been trying to teach the kids the lyrics to "Born to be Wild," because that is what my dad always played for us when we went somewhere fun in the car...and then I gave up because it wasn't making much of an impression. Three days ago Grandma and Grandpa Lovett came by with a big box of timbits...it takes a lot of recall and a certain amount of free association to keep up with the little Lovett-Hammels' conversations these days. But if you get lost, a good rule of thumb is this: Lillian is usually thinking about food, and Morgen is usually thinking about escape.

Happy New Year! In the past month, Morgen has discovered a love of wrapping presents, and Lillian has learned to take off her shirt all by herself. "There is always one," says her daycare worker.

We've learned and grown so much over the past year...bring on 2012.