Dinner with Ryan, Paige and Parker

On Wednesday (yes, folks, I'm just catching up -- ever wonder what it's like to be a single mom responsible for not only feeding, amusing, dressing, cleaning and putting to bed a 2-year-old and paying the bills and keeping the house running? If these two weeks are any guide, I will be dead of exhaustion by the time Drew's fellowship ends -- but I digress).

ANYWAY.

On Wednesday, we were invited to our friends Paige and Ryan's home in North Portland. They have a 2 1/2 year old son, Parker, who is a very nice kid but didn't say a word the whole time we were there. However, I did note that he ate everything Paige and Ryan gave him, which in our case was cold noodles and pork dressed with green beans, carrots, cucumbers and turnips with a vinaigrette. Really, I'm not doing the meal justice -- it was fantastic.

Rachel picked at the pork (which I, in a brilliant flash of insight, called chicken), tried a carrot and made a face, and proceeded to eat one jar of pureed carrots. This is why she's an air fern, folks. Where she gets the energy to tumble about the way she does, I have no idea. When I looked over to the miniature table and chairs that Paige and Ryan had set up in the kitchen for the kids, she and Parker were playing peek-a-boo. That is, Parker ducked his head under the table and Rachel followed suit, then he popped his head up and Rachel did, too. They were smiling and giggling; it was so cute!

Poor girl was terrified by the dog, Murphy, so they locked him up in a room. Otherwise, we all ended up having a fractured conversation while Rachel and Parker went out onto the porch to play with toys -- mostly kid-sized cars they rode up and down. At the end fo the evening, Rachel reached out to Ryan to hug him, and then she gave him a kiss on the lips.

And then the cutest thing happened: Paige urged Parker to kiss Rachel goodbye -- which he did! On the lips! And then he wrapped his long arms around her and gave her a hug!

As we were walking down the stairs to our car, Rachel said, "I like Parker!"

Maybe in oh, 12 years, they'll be dating??