Sibling comfort

Max slipped while climbing [something he shouldn't have been climbing] and bonked his head. Alix was sitting on the floor comforting him when Kira walked over, leaned close to Max, and said, "Okay?" Then she gave him a big kiss. Sometimes, when Max is upset, the last thing he wants is attention from his sister...but yesterday he decided maybe it was okay after all.

Max giggled, so Kira happily gave him lots more kisses. Finally, Max gave Kira a big hug, and said, "I loved her kisses so I gave her a hug!"

Chewy oatmeal chocolate chip coconut cookies

I made this with Max the day he was home sick.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup shredded coconut

To prepare

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture until well blended. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips. walnuts and coconut until evenly distributed. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven for a chewy cookie or 14 minutes for a firmer cookie.
4. Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet and then remove to wire rack. Cool completely and then store in tightly sealed container.

From allrecipes.com.

Kira's Excellent Adventure

Alix, Katy, Kira and I went on a walk this afternoon that turned into quite an adventure. We put Kira in a stroller and wandered over to a nearby field (apparently a former landfill). We first wanted to take a look at a nearby pond, so we had to get Kira out of the stroller because the path was to narrow. We wandered down the path a little bit but it soon became too muddy, so we went back to the field where the stroller was parked. Kira spotted the hills in front of us and immediately decided that she had a mission -- she headed off into the hills, calling, "come! come! climb!", so we followed after her.

Other than some low hills, the field was easy walking, which worked out well for Kira -- she seemed to prefer the ability to wander arbitrarily about the field over being constrained along a linear path. She immediately spotted the first of two boggy areas and made a beeline towards it; we had to dissuade her from trying to jump in it. She thought maybe we didn't understand what she wanted to do, so she jumped up and down ("jump! jump!") while pointing at the water.

Having been successfully diverted from the water, Kira spotted the next hill some ways across the field, so we all went walking off for the next climb. Upon reaching the summit, she said, "hill again!". Then she spotted the mountains in the distance, and we thought maybe it was time to start heading home :).

Here's our walk:

View Amherst Walk in a larger map

Google adds bicycle directions

Google has just added bicycle directions to Google Maps...and more than just directions; they've added a new layer of data that provides information about the "bikability" of roads.

I haven't much of a chance to experiment with the service yet, but it does have the major local bike paths on it.

Three days of sun and happiness

It's been 50F or higher for the past few days without a cloud in the sky, and we've been having tons of fun.

I

We had an open house at Max's coop Sunday morning. I'd signed us up for the early (10:00am) shift (because the coffee and donuts are fresh, of course), but when our time was up an hour later the kids and I ended up staying -- we were all having so much fun! The weather was gorgeous, several of Max's preschool friends were there, too, and the kids were variously giving each other "bus rides" on the double trike and playing hide-and-seek. Kira spent a lot of time in the playhouse on the playground, making sand cupcakes and serving them to me.

The grownups were hanging out on the benches, drinking coffee, snacking, and chatting away; the kids were occupied and happy -- it was great!

When I finally decided it was really time to go, I started gathering up coats and things to put in the trailer. I let Max know we'd be leaving soon, fully expecting a major fuss and manual extraction from the playground car he was riding around in. Much to my surprise, he immediately got out and said, "I'm getting out because I promised". Which he had, earlier. Max, you are awesome!

II

We have a pair of books by Canadian author Robert Munch that have enjoyed a brief run as favorite books for both Max and Kira. One of the stories involves a girl who climbs to the top of a tree and sings, "I'm the king of the castle! Papa's a dirty rascal!" (and a similar verse for mom, too). Max is highly amused by this and likes to give us impromptu renditions of it throughout the day.

This evening we were playing outside in the driveway. Max and Kira went to explore the neighbors' bushes, and as Kira tried to climb up a particularly sturdy bush I heard her start singing: "Papa <mumble> castle, papa <mumble> castle".

III

At one of Max's Music Together classes (what seems like ages ago, now), the teacher sang a lullaby that was very pretty, and I've been singing a modified version of it to both kids ever since then:

Like a ship in the harbor

like a father and child

like a light in the darkness

I'll hold you awhile

We'll rock on the water

I'll cradle you deep

I'll hold you and softly

sing you to sleep

Kira often asks for this at bedtime ("boat song!"), and when I sang it tonight she tried to sing it with me...with her cheek pressed up against mine and she sang softly into my ear. As I put her to bed she was singing happily "sing you to sleep".