Christmas Costumes!

Yes, it's ridiculous how long I've been away from this blog

I can't properly provide a summary of a month-and-a-half away from updating this, so I will just make this a photographic update.

Merry Christmas (will post again just after the holiday)!

The Blueberry Fairy: Mila's first Halloween party

Mila actually got to dress up as the Blueberry Fairy (her own invention) twice in the past week. First for the Zoo Boo at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore (I missed out on that one), then for a Halloween party at the green space in the Abell neighborhood- where we also did trick or treating for the first time! A great time was had by all. Drew got the coveted chili pepper baby costume.

Graphic Notations by Mila

Mila's skills as an artist are continually developing. It is truly remarkable to see her use lines and shapes in new ways, very conscious about color. In fact, when I ask her about her drawings she mostly just talks about the colors and then makes physical gestures to indicate what she has done with them. They are truly abstract drawings, I think (though she hasn't taken to the word "abstract"). For her birthday she received some oil crayons and a sketchbook. Today as we sat in the Free School, waiting for other kids who never came, she made a series of really remarkable sketches in the book- new kinds of textures I hadn't seen her use before. Here is a sampling of her recent work:

Mila discovers new synth parameters

I'm not sure what she did, but through her exploration of the knobs and buttons on my old M-Audio Radium, hooked up to a Thor soft-synth in Reason, she produced some interesting variations on a loop that she recorded.

Sitting upright

Drew is gaining great upper body strength and balance (maybe from all his time being carried in a wrap?). The other day we introduced Drew to the array of stuffed animals on the top bunk and set up a tent there, while he sat and explored plush surfaces. Now able to sit independently for a little while!

Pictures from Mila's third birthday!