Our adorable kid

Last night I went back to chorus for my first rehearsal in, oh, more than a year. The members all cheered and clapped when Ryan, our director, announced I was on the risers. It was a welcome antidote to the bad news about the job I'd wanted.

Drew had told Rachel that morning that Mommy would be going to chorus and they'd be on their own for dinner. So on the way home from preschool, Rachel said:

"Is Mommy at chorus?"
"Yes, sweetie," Drew replied.
"Are we on our own for dinner tonight?"
"Yes," Drew replied.
"Is chorus at the synagogue?" Rachel asked.
"No, sweetie, it's at a church," Drew said.
Pause.
"Does the chorus have a rabbi?" Rachel asked.
"No," Drew said. "But it has a funny little man called the director." And anyone who knows Ryan, the director of my chorus, knows how apt a description that is!

***

Drew and I were deep into a discussion of today's board meeting of the Oregon Area Jewish Committee, which I attended during a lunchtime break from working at home. Rachel said she wanted to say something, and Drew told her to wait until Mommy was finished.

Without a word, Rachel slid off her chair and started walking sadly away (at least, it seemed sad to me; now I think she was just tired).

"Want to cuddle against Mommy?" I asked. She didn't say anything but just went into her room. We finished our conversation, then Drew went in to her bedroom to do Daddy Books -- and found her on her chair reading out of the fairy tale book! (the one Richard gave her earlier this year when he came to visit us while Drew was at Columbia).

She also plays a lot with words these days; she invents rhyming games and invites us to join her, which we always do because it's fun, and a challenge. Drew told me tonight that when kids get to that level of sophisticated thinking about language, they're just about ready to read. I told him I wouldn't be surprised if Rachel can read by age 4. "I hope so!" he replied.

***

Speaking of cuddling....I slept late this morning while Drew was showering. Since I was working from home I could take my time getting dressed.

While my eyes were closed, I heard Rachel pad into the bedroom, hoist herself onto the bed and give me a wet kiss on the lips. "I want to cuddle with you while Daddy finishes his cereal," she said, and I gladly pulled her next to me under the covers, tucked her head under my chin, and kept giving her little kisses on her forehead and hair. She was almost asleep when Drew came in and told her she needed to get up for breakfast. She whined and kicked and said, "I wanna cuddle with MOMMY!" but Drew was firm. She needed to be at school by 9 to go on a field trip to see a play called "Pinkalicious," about a girl who wears so much pink that her daddy tells her she needs to eat brussels sprouts to even out her coloring.

Later, as she was pulling on her boots, she told me, "I wanted to cuddle with you a lot longer." I promised her she could do that when the weekend comes.