Weekend Getaways

Because we are smug Prius owners who pooh-pooh skyrocketing gas prices, we hauled the kids up to Owl's Head for the weekend to avoid the projected 90 degree weather here in Massachusetts. We sure managed to avoid it, since it peaked at maybe 55 degrees on Saturday where we were on the coast. I had to hobble warm clothes together for Avery from stuff I found at a consignment store in Rockland. All lovely pieces separately, but together not so much. A bit of a fashion disaster.



Here's Nate running around in the neighbor's foggy yard. Is he wearing long shorts or short longs? Discuss.




I have been thinking lately about the terms of endearment we use on our children. When I was a girl my mother routinely called me ‘pumpkin’, and I guess that in the back of my mind I assumed that I would at some point be calling my own children ‘pumpkin’ just as naturally as mom did. But it doesn’t seem to work that way. I’ve found pet-naming to be an organically developed process, and that you can’t force it. For example, Chris calls Nate ‘knucks’, which is shortened from ‘knucklehead’ (used affectionately). This was not planned, but a direct result of actually getting to know Nate over time. With Avery, I catch myself calling her ‘Bavey’ (rhymes with Navy). Bavey is a shortened version of ‘Baby Avery’, which is what Nate called her when she was born. Too cute by half, I know.