Dog Days of Summer

This morning Sal left at 7AM to take the girls to the beach for a weekend rendezvous with their cousins (I will join them via train after work tonight). I have been alone in my home for a solid 2 hours, and still another 1.5 hours to myself before I head to work. After 5.5 months of craving and not getting a moment of solitude, would you believe I already miss them? I can't believe it either, but I do. So here I am, putting off the long overdue garden-maintenance, bathroom cleaning, and so forth that I had scheduled for this morning, and instead I'm updating the blog.

So what's new? Aliya is everywhere at once these days, truly a toddler now. And boy am I exhausted.

Summer is in full swing, so we've been spending most of our time outdoors, of which she never tires. She loves the pool, the playground (where she will plunge headfirst down the slide without a pause) and playing with the neighbors (young and old). Her recoiling-with-shyness phase has ended, and she is now flirting with the public wherever we go. But she's still a mama's girl :-) She is trying to mimic alot of words (and songs -too cute!), but Mama, Papa, Vava (Ava) and Baba (bottle) are the only ones we can consistently understand.

As for Ava, she has lost 2 teeth in the last month, and loves showing off her new smile. She graduated from preschool in June, and had her dance recital the same day, and is about to start kindergarten in September. She's spending her summer days playing out back with her best friend, and while their activities are largely Top Secret, I have gleaned that they are catching bugs and making mud potions and riding their scooters and plotting to beat up Sal in new, creative ways. She's even helping me in the garden from time to time. In true Ava style, she does it all while dressed to the nines and somehow keeps her dresses clean. Truly a modern woman in the making. She seems so grown up at times that it's hard to grasp.




We visited Aunt Ginger in NYC last weekend, thus beginning a mutual love affair between the citizens of Lower Manhattan and Aliya. In particular the gay population of SoHo was completely enamored of her, and fauned over her wherever we went. It seems there's just something about the girl.

And lastly, I enrolled Aliya in 3-day-a-week preschool, to start in September, so that Sal can begin working more of a normal schedule. It made my heart break a little, though all the kids in her room seemed to be having a great time, and Aliya was quite interested in what they were up to. I've never seen a group of 18-month-old kids behave so calmly. Wonder what will happen once the ThunderBall is in their midst!