presents!

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

One year.

There will be reflections to come, but this morning, while Molly naps and papà shaves, mama is listening to the Woody Guthrie cd, preparing polenta and mushrooms for the nonni and feeling very, very, VERY blessed and happy.

brooms

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

Of course, we have a broom for Molly.

And while it’s not the beautiful wooden broom with natural bristles (bristles?) I wanted, neither is mine, you know? Our brooms are similar. And hers cost all of 1.50 euro. Oi.

It’s funny because I was reading the other two posts I did on “practical life” in our house and I realized one could be very misled by the lack of detail. VERY.

Such as, for example, Molly has yet to hang another peice of laundry the way she did that one day.

Or, the crackers and bits of cereal strewn about the kitchen.

Or, related to the brooms, Molly sitting in my pile of dust, little broom in one hand and picking up crumbs from the pile and eating them.

So let’s just keep this all in perpective, shall we? Amalia is participating in her own way. She is (almost) one year old, and the important thing is my efforts are to welcome her into our house work in whatever way she is able.

It’s more about an attitude than anything else.
And it’s this attitude that makes our day fun, and my house work a collaborative game that is really truly pleasurable.

Molly’s drawer

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

A drawer filled with:

-jars of snack food (dried apples, crackers, breadsticks, cereal flakes). They are the old-school IKEA jars and Molly can pull the lids off pretty easily and fit them back on.

-a plastic container with a red lid that always has fresh fruit in it.

- a plastic mixing bowl.

- stainless steel stackable mixing cups.

- a little plastic bucket

- plastic stacking picnic cups

- some spoons

- a stainless steel play pot and lid

And now the tops of my cabinets are covered with all my other, bigger jars- I have to stand on a stool to reach them, but at least I’m not trying to sort the pasta out from the rice at the end of each day, or keep Molly from eating the peanuts…

hanging laundry

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

This is the proud face of a baby who has just hung her first bit of wet laundry up to dry. See it there? The wrinkled little brown and white hankie draped carefully over the rack?

Laundry is one of the most time-consuming chores I have in my home, second only to cooking, and it’s pretty close at that.

I don’t have a dryer.
Amalia wears cloth diapers.
And I suppose our washer is on the small side, by American standards.

Almost every day I hang up a load first thing in the morning, and frequently there are more during the day.

And Amalia has been with me at it since the beginning- first in a sling, then pulling the laundry out of the basket and scattering it about, then passing me the laundry, then passing also the clothespins, and now, yesterday, contributing her own effort at the actual hanging.

So easy, so natural.
So beautiful.

bed

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

the wool blankets are out on the bed and the throws on the couch
the sun casts long shadows all day, even at noon
the crazy wind blew all the pollution away last week
we ate roasted chestnuts last night
and the heat is on this morning!

at the park

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

She eats with a spoon (messily)
She walks with her cart (all the time)
She loves cats (desperately)
She has six teeth
She has a tiny baby doll
She has a teddy bear
She cuddles with teddy and papà in EXACTLY the same way
She spends some time alone with her grandparents
She carries the laundry basket out to the balcony with her cart
She helps hang the laundry
She opens doors and takes things out
She loves to look at books
She eats just about anything,
but she LOVES her mama’s milk!

corn

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

i know it’s autumn because the corn harvest is happening,
leaving kernels all over,
the roar of tractors up and down the road all day,
and the smell of burning husks in the evening. . .

garden

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

Made compost bins
Planted cabbage
Planted onions
Planted leeks
Planted lettuce
Dug out quack grass
Manured beds
Mulched beds

Marigolds still going strong. . .
Chicory and parsley, too.

Putting in

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

Reaching and taking, from us, from a basket, from the shelf has been going on in various forms for months.

A few weeks ago there were the first hesitant attempts to put things in, and then last week she began giving to us. And in these last days, an explosion of purposeful collection and sharing.

Who has really delved into the differences involved in these two gestures, giving and taking? What fundamental piece of human social life has sharpened into clarity for her?

The significance of these developments seems so huge, and yet I’ve never come across a mention of them in all of the child development I’ve read and studied.

To have your child take something you offer her is exciting; to watch her unload her toys from her basket a thrill. . . but to have her carefully collect the clothespins and put them on top of the chair and scoot around with them all?

To take the clean, wet diaper or the morsel of food offered you from her hand?

And the two together, gathering the acorns at the park and carefully passing each one to you?

Those are beautiful, heart-stopping moments

last bit of summer

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

the melancholy of autumn. . .

we have eaten the last little bits of summer in the form of cherry tomatoes and eggplants.

getting my garden beds laid out and put to rest for the winter, when i wont be working but the worms will. and there are lots of them (worms i mean) a dramatic improvement to the absolute lack in the spring. yey for organic matter!

plans for a sandbox and fenced off area for Molly.

plans, plans and more plans. . .