marcus could learn a thing or two from this swan*

we took a trip to the duck pond today.** there were ducks, geese, swans and seagulls. swans are incredibly fierce and protective animals and today there were 2 adult swans and 5 or 6 cignets (one of which had a birth defect and one of its legs was located on top of its back - it only had 2 legs though).

anyway, we were tossing bread to them all the while micah giving the play-by-play. "here, daddy ducky, here's you bread." "look, mommy, he's eatin it." blah, blah, blah, on and on forever...

at one point, even though i hate the vile creatures, i tossed a few pieces directly to a seagull. but as he went to eat it, a swan shot him a look of death and the seagull flew off leaving the bread for the male swan.

about 5 minutes later, we hear this freakish scream-like bird call and look up to see the male swan, wings out wide and flapping, tearing through the water toward the 3 seagulls about 20 feet away. he was on top of them instantly, whapping one of them with his wings and pecking it. lo and behold, as the swan backed away, we could see the body of one of the seagulls overturned in the water.

okay... time to go...

* the title is a reference (and a link) to "about a boy" when the young boy, marcus, throws the entire loaf of bread his mother made at a duck and killed it.

**and of course, i forgot my camera. would have loved to get a shot of that swan. "today, on the nature channel, when animals attack. duhn-dunh-DUHN"

to attend or no to attend

i was not aware of the "mommy wars" until i began reading blogs. or i guess i should say that i was not aware of the term, anyway. one big topic of the m.w. is whether to send one's child to activities and how much and how often and at what age.

micah was in gymnastics. we went every saturday morning from september through april for an hour. some mommies think it's ridiculous to send a 2-year-old to an activity - others have been sending their children since infancy.

for me, it was less a choice of which type of mommy do i want to be and more of a "oh, my god, i have to get this hyperactive child into an activity where she can go nuts in an enviornment that facilitates it because if she climbs up on the gas stove to reach the vitamins in the cabinet above one more time...". micah doesn't stop moving. ever. as in never. ever.

she absolutely loves gymnastics. she talks about it all week long and this past saturday was the first weekend without it. she had a fit. but i just can't afford it any longer so she'll have to deal with the park or something. gymnastics was a good bonding time for us as well. anyway, here's a photo from her final class 2 weeks ago. and another photo of micah being... well, micah.



micah... or tigger?

she's laying on top of milan, telling me to be quiet so that i don't wake him.

AUNTIE ORDINARY!!

my sister-in-law and my brother just had their first baby - a son - NICHOLAS! he was born may 5th at 9:55 am and is 6 lbs 11oz and 20" long. yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i've never known 2 people more ready to be great parents!

an hour old and he's ready to party!!