Rachel loves Grandma and Grandpa!

We had a lovely time with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend -- all except for Grandma's ill health and stomach pain scare that prevented us all from being in one room at the same time. But, hey, we all got to meet at dinner Sunday! At a nice restaurant! Where Rachel was well-behaved! Because she spent most of the time coloring! Kudos to Grandma for being such a good sport when she really would rather have been sleeping off a nasty cold.

Rachel was her usual well-behaved, sweet self, saying "please" and "thank you" to the waitress who took our order at the very chic South Park restaurant right near Mom and Dad's hotel. When I asked her what she was ordering, Rachel said, "noodles, but it's called pasta." She proceeded to eat most of her penne, some cheese from Drew's and my salads, and some focaccia. "Yum, yum!" she said to everything, prompting Dad to urge me not to worry about whether she eats her carrot every night -- she'll discover vegetables soon enough, he says.

When she found out Grandma's favorite color is yellow, Rachel proceeded to color part of a picture in her princess coloring book yellow and then went around the table to show it to her. Then toward the end of dinner, as she was about to give Grandpa a hug, she said, "can you come to my birthday?" (This was after Grandma and Grandpa told her they were leaving Monday and she pouted in a very grown-up way: "awww!"). "We'll try," Grandpa promised, and we reminded Rachel that we were heading to New York for Passover.

It was too short a visit, but Rachel really loves her grandparents. And that's all that matters.

Cute Rachel sayings:

As she carried the Sunday NYT into the house by slinging the blue bag that contained it over her back: "This is like a sack of potatoes!"

And when we weren't quite sure whether we'd meet Grandma and Grandpa for brunch on Sunday but decided to give Rachel some cereal anyway: "This is pre-breakfast," she said. Made sense to us.

Shabbat with Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa are visiting from New York, and tonight we had a lovely Shabbat dinner with them. Rachel insisted on opening the door and greeting them when they arrived, and they brought lovely presents -- candle holders for us, a delicate little sweater and a box of colored pencils for Rachel. She was delighted with both.

Over dinner they asked about Rachel's school, dance class, swim class, etc. And when it came time for the grownups to get caught up on our lives, Rachel very patiently ate her chicken, Mommy's homemade challah and her carrot. She asked very nicely if Grandma was going to get the first slice of pie (really, Rachel wanted to be the one who go the first slice) and seemed gratified when we all told her it was OK for her to get the first one. And then everyone waited to eat dessert until I said it was OK.

Rachel loved the pie. She even tried some whipped cream!

After the grownups resumed talking again, Rachel very politely asked if she could be excused, then got out her princess coloring book and her new colored pencils. Then she colored a picture and showed it to Grandma and Grandpa. Drew was very impressed.

Grandma and Grandpa left while Rachel and Drew were doing Daddy Books. When she came to say good night (I was in the kitchen cleaning up after a long, tiring day of cooking), she started sniffling.

"Grandpa and Grandpa are leaving on Sunday!" she said, and then the tears changed to real crying.
"Why are you sad, sweetie?" I asked.
"Because I don't want them to leave!!" she answered (meanwhile, she had asked at dinner when they were leaving, and I was so embarrassed that I gently told her it was rude to ask guests who'd just arrived how soon they would leave).
"Why don't you want them to leave?" I asked.
"Because I love them!" she whimpered.

I drew her onto my lap and urged her to tell Grandma and Grandpa that when we go to the children's museum tomorrow. Just in case she forgets...you read it here. She also was upset that she forgot to show you something she'd made for them , and I promised to remind her to bring it.

Complex thoughts

Drew was with Rachel at the library last weekend and a little girl asked if she could wear Rachel's purple necklace. "Nooo!" Rachel whimpered.

The little girl was dejected, and Drew gently suggested to Rachel that the little girl really wanted to try on the necklace and that she should share it.

"She's a mischievous girl," Rachel said seriously, "and I'm worried she won't give it back."

(The little girl had, in fact, been running up and down the bookshelf aisles. He reassured Rachel that he'd be on guard to make sure the little girl wouldn't take the necklace. And, in fact, she didn't. Rachel was very relieved when she got it back!)

***

Grandma and Grandpa are stopping through Portland this weekend and they're coming over for Shabbat dinner tonight. I would have loved to have Rachel help me make challah, since she is extravagant in her praise of it ("I LOVE your challah, Mommy!" she said fiercely the other day. "I LOVE IT.") But we didn't have time, so...I'm taking the day off work to make challah, roast chicken, roasted potatoes, a salad and chocolate silk pie for dessert. Hope it all comes out well and everyone is happy. Rachel has been anticipating this for weeks.

Oh, YEAH!

This is Rachel's newest expression -- perhaps her first ever colloquialism. "Oh YEAH!" she says. She walks around the house saying it in about 10 different ways. Each new way sounds as if she's a teenager talking on the phone with a friend. It's kind of creepy, actually.

***

She's also becoming a more adventurous eater. Her newest fave: Orange marmalade on whole-wheat bread (not toast). AND she likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She regularly eats her carrot every night (she likes them raw, not "mushy carrots.") And at least she's willing to try new things, whereas before she'd just turn up her nose at them.

***

Today was Presidents Day which OF COURSE I did not have off. Drew did -- more accurately, he took a furlough day because Rachel was off from school -- and they had a blast! They took a bus AND a train to the children's museum (Rachel's idea, Drew said), and at the museum they played with clay, Rachel had a good lunch, and she had a great time shopping in the pretend grocery store.

Drew called me at 6:15, when I was getting ready to leave work after a looong day, and Rachel insisted on telling me about the day. "We took a bus AND the train to the museum," she said, sounding eerily grown-up. "You should have been there!"

Yeah, I should have. Next year, sweetie. Next year.

I don't know where she picks this stuff up

We don't make a habit of turning on the TV and placing Rachel in front of it. We let her ask us to let her watch things, and usually they're movies like "Hello Kitty" and "My Little Pony." It's not like we demonize TV; we just don't have time to watch it (with the exception of "Donwton Abbey," "Sherlock" and "Mad Men," all of which I'm addicted to. And I need the down time).

But neither do we preach about the evils of TV, or TV ads. It's just not a big factor in our lives.

So imagine my astonishment when Rachel said the following this morning, totally out of the blue:

"Ads make you have movies that you don't want and your mommy and daddy think you're too little for. That's what ads do."

"Sweetie, who told you that?" I replied, astonished.

"Nobody did," she said. "I just thought of it."

Rachel and Mommy have a talk

Here is what Rachel said to me when I told her to choose stockings and get herself dressed this morning:

"If YOU don't treat ME like a grownup, I won't treat YOU like a grownup."

Well, you can imagine how well that went over with Mommy. Drew came into the room just as I was saying, "I AM a grownup because I'm the Mommy. Don't you ever say that again." Drew backed me up and of course that sent Rachel into a crying tailspin, but I held firm. When Drew left the room I took her into my lap and told her firmly that she couldn't say things like that to Mommy. She sniffled and then cuddled against me.

I thought that was the end of it until tonight, over dinner, when she said, "I'm sorry I said mean things to you, Mommy," with a very sad expression.

"What mean things?" I said, astonished.

"When I said, 'if you don't treat me like a grownup, I won't treat you like a grownup,'" she said. "I'm sorry."

All I could say was, "thank you for apologizing, sweetie."

At that time I also apologized for snapping at her when she called out, "hey Mama!" while I was changing clothes today. She had broken into my thoughts. But that wasn't an excuse for me to bark at her, and she started crying. Whereupon I took her into my lap in the glider and told her I was sorry. I asked for her forgiveness and she said yes.

***

As I was helping her get into what I've told her are my favorite jammies -- princess-themed flannel ones; the top has glittery purple buttons, and, yes, I would get a pair myself if they made them for adults -- we were sitting on her carpet and she said severely, "I hope you realize that you're sitting in my garden." (Her carpet has big flowers on it). "These are tulips and daisies!"

***

"It's hard being a little girl," she said as she got into bed.
"Why?" I asked.
"Sing me 'Babyface,' please," she replied (it's one of the songs my chorus is learning).
"Not until you tell me what's hard about being a little girl," I answered.
"You tell me what dinner we're going to have," she said. "And I want different dinners!"

***

Here's Rachel's version of one-upmanship:

"Mommy, I love you very very very very very very very much," she said at dinner. "I love you as big as the whole school!"
Me: I love you as big as the universe!
Rachel: I love you as big as a flower!
Me: I love you as big as a garden!
Rachel: I love you as big as a teacup!
Me: I love you as big as a plate!
Rachel: I love you as big as my room!
Me: I love you as big as the kitchen!

Pause.

Rachel: I love you as big as a whole BOAT! How about THAT?

Now Drew's sick

Drew's stomach started hurting yesterday, and today he's had the exact same symptoms as I do. We both feel as if there's an alien hatching in our tummies, an alien that likes to slosh around a lot. And take away our appetites. And make us feel three times the size we are.

So, yesterday was Valentine's Day and neither of us ate any dinner. None.

"I'm sorry your tummy hurts, Daddy," Rachel said with concern. "I'm the only healthy person here!"

***

Tonight I still felt crummy but went to chorus rehearsal anyway. Drew told me this when I got home:

As Drew and Rachel were finishing up dinner, Drew was bending down to pick up crumbs and Rachel reached over and very gently stroked his face.

"Oh, sweetie, that's so nice!" Drew exclaimed. "Do you like my face?"

Quick as a wink she said, "Not with a beard on it!"

Drew laughed a little.

Then with a straight face, she said:

"I guess I put you in YOUR place!"

Cue Rachel and Drew's uproarious laughter.

Late-breaking item about Rachel (from Drew)

So after dinner tonight I was cleaning up dishes and Rachel was finishing her chocolate goldfish grahams (having eaten a good enough dinner, carrot included, to merit dessert). When she was done, I asked her, as we do after every meal, to clear her place. She brought over her plate, then scampered down the hall.

"Uh, Rachel? What about the rest of your stuff?"

I heard nothing, then she came back carrying a dustpan and one of our kitchen brooms (which had to be twice as tall as she is). She then proceeded to start sweeping.

"I saw the crumbs and I didn't want us to get ants," she explained.

I thanked her profusely and praised her initiative, and she kept sweeping -- at one point, while trying to reach a crumb under the table, she pretended she was fishing with the broom. After awhile (and after taking a break from clearing the rest of  her place), she said she was tired of sweeping and would go into her room to pick out some books for our pre-bedtime litfest.

I finished the dishes, then remembered I'd promised to read something for Lisa. So I went into Rachel's room and told her I had to do something for Mommy and I'd be right back up.

I went down to our basement office, read Lisa's thing, then came back upstairs. Imagine my amazement when I walked into Rachel's room and found her, quite matter-of-factly, putting away the clean laundry that I'd left on her footstool earlier in the day. And doing quite a good job of it, too -- pajamas in the pajama basket, underwear in the underwear basket, stockings in the sock drawer, &c.

At this rate, Lisa said, she'll be making dinner for us by age 8.

Still sick

Stayed home from work today, although I ended up working anyway. It was nice, however, to be able to sleep in and not start work until 1. I had to get copy in for the magazine, so I ended up working until around 9:30, with a break for dinner. And, of course, for being with Rachel -- poor kid, she hasn't seen her Mommy much these past few days.

As soon as she got home from school, she raced downstairs calling "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" and then she said, "Hey Mommy guess what? For lunch today they had peanut butter and I tried some and it was SO GOOD!" I took her into my lap and said, "Really?! I'm so proud of you for trying peanut butter! Maybe you can eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch!" She ducked her head into my chest but I could tell that she was pleased.

At dinner Drew and I were talking about something and I said, "I agree."
'What's 'agree' mean?" Rachel asked.
"'Agree' means that you think somebody's right,' I answered. "So if you say, 'I agree,' that means you think the person who said something is right."

A few minutes later Rachel said, "Hey guys, take a piece of challah and dip it into the soup." (We were eating the chicken soup with matzo balls that my mensch husband made because I was too sick to do it). "It's really good," Rachel said.

Drew and I both did so, and said, "You're right, sweetie." I added, "Rachel is such an adventurous eater!"
"I agree!" she answered, with a mischievous grin.

Also at dinner, Rachel started saying silly nonsense words interspersed with real words like "eyebrow" and "nose" and "eyes." So, Drew and I resumed a parlor game we used to play years ago--reciting the poem "Jabberwocky," with each of us alternating words. (I used to do this in high school with David Hochron and Kim Pettit). Drew scolded me for forgetting most of the poem -- "Lednicer, you are WAY out of practice," he said -- and Rachel was intrigued for a while. Then, as we were finishing up, she said, "Oh, STOP IT!" in such a gronwnup tone of voice that we cracked up. Still managed to finish the poem, though.

Rachel takes care of Mommy

Since Friday night I have been laid up with the most awful stomach virus imaginable. I mean AWFUL. I went out on Saturday to do some much-needed errands (oil change, tire rotation, etc. etc.) then came back and have been flat on my back ever since -- when I'm not running to the bathroom. There is literally nothing left in my body to get rid of, but my body doesn't seem to realize that.

Big shout-out to Drew for taking care of me and Rachel for much of the weekend (although he got to sleep in on Saturday and Sunday mornings while The Little Girl and I did puzzles and read books. Thank heaven she's a quiet child in the morning). Rachel, for her part, kept apologizing: "I'm sorry your tummy hurts, Mommy," and making me pretend vitamin cookies to make me feel better. Unfortunately they didn't work.

She woke us up on Saturday and we were grumpy, so I sat her on my lap and told her very seriously to PLEASE LET MOMMY AND DADDY SLEEP ON SUNDAY. And she did! So when I got up around 8:30 (I had woken up at 7:30 and just couldn't get back to sleep), I found: The kitchen cabinets were wide open because she had dragged her little red chair to the counter in an attempt to get out the plates and set the table for breakfast. She realized she couldn't quite reach them, though, so she dragged her chair over to the baseboard heater in the dining room (her favorite place to sit when the heat's on because she claims she's cold all the time) and then dragged her footstool next to the chair. When I came out of the bedroom, she was sitting quietly on her footstool and pretending it was a house.

Result: She got to watch her "My Little Pony" movie for a while, even though it was a lovely sunny day outside. It was the least I could do.

***

"Hey Mommy, you know what?" Rachel asked. "At the medicine place there are so many nail polishes. There's so many that you can't even believe your eyes. There's so many that you can't even decide the one you want!"

(I've gotten accustomed to the pink glitter nail polish Drew let the drugstore clerk put on her yesterday. I think it's kind of cute, actually).

***

"OK. There are two reasons I wake you up," Rachel informed me this morning. "I want to wake Mommy and Daddy up so much because I want to say, 'I love you' and I want to give you a hug. And I want to put my feet against you!"

Rachel charms everyone

Drew got a nice compliment today from Rachel's dance class teacher. At the end of class, Rachel took it upon herself to fold up the mats the kids use. The teacher told Drew, "How old is Rachel?"

Drew answered, "3, 31/2..a little older."

The teacher said, "You know, she's way ahead of the curve."

"Oh really!" Drew said. "In what way?"

The teacher answered, "She listens, she tries everything, and you can tell she's very focused."

***

Later, when Drew took Rachel to the drugstore to buy me some medicine (I've been fighting some kind of stomach ailment for the past week, and a friend recommended I take fiber capsules or probiotics), and Drew was checking out near the cosmetics counter when Rachel noticed the nail polish. The sales clerk leaned over and said, "Do you like those?"

"Yes," Rachel said shyly.

"Would you like to give me a sample?" she said in her distinctive West Indian accent.

Rachel looked at Drew, who said, "yes, sweetie. If she offers it, it's OK."

"Yes, please," Rachel said politely.

The sales clerk told her to pick a color, and Rachel instantly went for...wait for it...purple glitter.

I had to admire it, it really does look pretty on her fingers. And when she was heading to bed, Rachel said, "I think next time, I want polish on my toes, too."

Yes, we have a little girl in our house.

Rachel's impressions of chorus

Well, apparently she had a big time last night. The takeaway, though, was when Ryan, our director, told us to enunciate a "p" so forcefully that he wanted to feel it on his glasses. Gross! But it made an impression on Rachel, who was highly amused. At dinner tonight I told her that she and Daddy will be coming with me to Denver this fall to compete at the Sweet Adelines international competition (we are saving a boatload of money bunking with another chorus member. Not exactly a family vacation, but Drew is really looking forward to taking Rachel around the Mile High City while I rehearse. And he is REALLY looking forward to having Rachel watch Mommy dress up in costume and makeup and listen to me sing).

"Wasn't it funny when Ryan said 'I want my glasses wet?'" she asked at dinner tonight. "I want to stand right next to YOU!"

"And Daddy will be in the audience," I said.

"Daddy will be in the audience," she repeated. "And I'll listen to Ryan!"

Ryan will be so happy to hear this...

***

"Will you love me even though I'll go away to college?" Rachel asked, also at dinner.

"I'll love you even when you go to college and get married and have babies," I said.

"Will you love me even when I get old?" she said.

"Yes," I answered. "Will you love me even when I get old?"

"Yes. Just like we we love Grandma and Grandpa because they're old," she said. (Mom and Dad, are you listening??)

"Yes," I agreed.

"Will you never stop loving me?" she asked plaintively.

"I'll NEVER stop loving you," I said firmly.

"OK," she sniffled, and that was that.

***

"I love you, Mommy!" she said as I was preparing to give her a pink frosted cupcake for dessert tonight (I had snagged it from the Willamette cafeteria, where they were giving the cupcakes out for free the other day).

"I love you so much," she continued. "I love you as, like...as, like...as big as a whole house!"

Rachel comes to see Mommy at chorus!

Rachel has been expressing some interest lately in watching me sing. She asks me to sing every chorus song I know on the occasions that I put her to bed at night, so tonight Drew brought her to rehearsal.

It was wonderful having her there. They arrived just as we were finishing up warmup exercises and working some songs in our rep -- including at least one we'll be taking to Denver for internationals this fall. Drew said although Rachel was a little scared at the beginning because we were so loud, she really got into it. He pointed me out to her (I'm on the third row, stage left) and she spent the rest of the time watching us, munching on some chicken he'd brought her for dinner, and occasionally trying to catch my eye by waving at me. I blew kisses at her and she blew kisses back at me. It was beyond adorable.

Speaking of adorable, that's how at least 10 of my fellow chorus members described her after she and Drew left when she started drifting off into sleepyland. "She's so ADORABLE!" "She's so beautiful!" She's gotten so big!" "She's so well-behaved!" were some of the compliments I got. (I also got two compliments about Drew's looks. He was not impressed).

He said that toward the end she was trying to mouth some of the words and waving her arms in the air trying to follow us when we did choreography for our uptune. And then on the way home, she sang all the verses to "Clementine." Drew, darn him, followed up with, "On top of spaghetti." I'm going to pretend I don't know how to sing it if she requests it tomorrow night while he's in Seattle. He tends to do this sort of thing right before he blows town for a couple of days.

There's a "family chorus" that sings at international, and I am going to make sure we're part of it. She's already asking Drew if she can come onstage and sing with Mommy.

***

Last night at the dinner table, Rachel asked Drew, "What did YOU do today, Daddy?"
Drew answered, "I worked with numbers." (he was crunching some data for an upcoming story).
Rachel: "Like, 4?"
Drew: "Yes, sweetie."
Rachel: Like, 11?"
Drew: "Like a MILLION."
Rachel: "You mean, a jillion? Or a skadillion?" while laughing the whole time.

Weekend with the aunties!

We had a terrific time with Amanda and Jenn, who arrived on Friday night and left after brunch this morning.

On Saturday we stopped at Kitchen Kaboodle and admired a tea-making machine, the Rolls Royce of such machines, as Jenn said. Then we all went to Forest Park and took a lovely hike through the woods. It has been 50 degrees and sunny throughout, and I'm sure that contributed to how relaxed everyone was. I didn't get to start dinner until 5:30 -- an hour later than I'd planned -- but it turned out well. I made lamb shoulder instead of rack of lamb and it was fabulous; Drew has told me it's a keeper. Rachel gobbled up the meat like she couldn't get enough, and when we reminded her she had to eat her carrot before getting dessert, she scarfed it down.

This morning Drew, Rachel and I get up and were showered and dressed by 9:30. Rachel had some oatmeal (dried; I don't understand how she stands the stuff) and we headed to Kenny & Zuke's for brunch. Rachel was extremely well-behaved; she colored until her meal came and ate half a bagel and some fruit. We said goodbye, then Drew took Rachel to the park while I did some reading for class. (Outside, I may add; it was so warm that I leaned against one of the cherry trees in our backyard and read about integrated marketing communications). All in all, not a bad way to get homework done!

Now I am upstairs trying to refine a story pitch and not having much success. Rachel is watching a My Little Pony movie for the 398th time with Drew next to her ("I know more about the history, mythology and social structure of Ponyville than I ever thought possible. And the suburbs of Breezy Blossom and Unicornia"), and I'm heading downstairs to make Mom's recipe for cornish game hens (which Rachel calls "chicken hens"). We'll have it with couscous, salad and the rest of the fig cake for dessert.

She's...unbelieveable sometimes

This morning Rachel was dressed in her new princess jammies (warm top and bottom in pink, with princesses) when she came to my bathroom door while I was drying my hair. She had her shoes on.

"Why are your shoes on, sweetie?" I asked.

"I want to get the paper all by myself," she answered.

I was so startled that I said, "Okay!" and then opened the front door for her. I watched as she walked very carefully down the steps of our driveway, retrieved the NY Times in its blue bag, and carried it carefully back up the stairs, balancing it like a tray in both hands.

"THANK YOU, sweetie!" I exclaimed. "You really helped Mommy out!'

But it was what she said next that really stunned me.

"I was looking out the window and I saw the newspaper," she said. "And I thought, 'how can I help so you don't have to do all the work?'"

***

As I was dropping Rachel off at school this morning, one of the teachers (not Rachel's regular one), commented on how big she's getting. Then she added, totally unbidden, "and she has a PHENOMENAL mind!"

I could only smile.

***

Amanda and Jenn arrived tonight just as I was putting Rachel to bed. We're celebrating Amanda's 40th with a home-cooked meal tomorrow night. I was telling Rachel how we have to celebrate Auntie Amanda's birthday because it happened on New Year's Day and she wasn't here for us to do so (she and Jenn were in England).

Then we began talking about Rachel's birthday. She has decided she wants Daddy to make steak, and for side dishes she wants cherries and apples. And I'm supposed to make her a chocolate cake with a picture of her on a pony on top. And the cake has to have chocolate chips and pieces of apple, cherries and oranges.

I told her I'd work on that.

Extended Rachel sayings

I didn't manage to write down half the great stuff she said recently, but here's a sampling of the things I did remember:

"You make the best banana bread in the whole wide world!" she called out from the kitchen yesterday while I was getting dressed. I silently told Drew to just hand her the car keys now...

"Mommy, can I say the Shabbat prayers even though it's not Shabbat?" she said Wednesday. Go right ahead, I told her. Folks, she can say all the Shabbat prayers in a recognizable way. As Drew says, she'll be the top student in Hebrew school...

"Thank you for making the soup, Mommy," Rachel said Monday night (I had made a pasta, tomato and Italian sausage soup). "It was yummy as a big cake as big as our house!"

Tonight:

Rachel: How big is the world?
Me: SOO big.
Rachel (insistently) HOW big? Like, 30 miles?
Me: No. More like...a million miles. I really don't know.
Rachel: A million! A jillion! A killion!

If Drew were here he'd be able to answer so much more accurately...

***

"Wouldn't it be really funny if a rabbit hopped by and it was a chocolate bunny?" Rachel said during dinner. "I want a tomato cake for my birthday (laughing). A brocoli blueberry cake -- GROSS, Mommy! GROSS!"

***

Rachel: Mommy, I really wish I were a grownup right now.
Me: Why?
Rachel: 'Cause I wanna drink wine. And wear a bra. I want to be really pretty.
Me (firmly): You ARE pretty!
Rachel: I want to be really pretty for chorus!

***

Rachel: Wouldn't it be funny if when I was a grownup I had a little baby bra?
Me: Why are you so obsessed with bras?
Rachel: Because I like breasts.
Me: Why do you like breasts?
Rachel: Because I like to feed babies!

***

Rachel: My nipples are full when I have my own babies. I can feed them.
Me (startled): Yes. Who told you that?
Rachel: Daddy.

***

After I told Rachel that the Hebrew name for Mommy is "Ima" and Daddy is "Abba," (which is about all the Hebrew I know besides "shalom"), Rachel started quizzing me.

Rachel: Do you know how to say "this is a turtle?"
Me: No, sweetie.
Rachel: Do you know to say "this is Rachel's bunny?"
Me: Uh, no.
Rachel: Do you know how to say "Grandma and Grandpa?"
Me: No.

Think I better take some Hebrew lessons -- fast. Can't keep up with my kid!

Sorry we've been out of touch...

Work and non-work life has been a little hectic these days. Your Faithful Correspondent promises to be, um, more faithful.

Rachel of course continues to be delightful. Her latest thing is to "spell" out letters by using utensils -- forks, knives, spoons -- to make "h" and "a" and so forth. Don't know what we'll do when she gets to "w." Or, for that matter, "i."

Drew has been reading some of the Beatrix Potter books to her lately and it's amazing how, um, British they are. I have to explain every 2nd or 3rd word. And some of the tales are sort of disturbing -- Tom Thumb's temper tantrum and Squirrel Nutkin almost getting skinned by Old Brown, the owl. Rachel, of course, does not appear to be disturbed by any of this.

As you all know, I'm taking a marketing class in the business school on Tuesdays and I sing in chorus on Wednesdays, so for two nights I don't see Rachel at all. We've been missing each other, and tonight we talked about it while we cuddled in her bed.

Me: I miss you when I'm at chorus.
Rachel: I miss you too, but it helps me.
Me: Why?
Rachel: Because I love your singing and I can hear you sing all the way from chorus!

We've been talking a lot about chorus lately -- Drew has promised to bring Rachel to a rehearsal (possibly as soon as next week), and Rachel keeps asking if she'll be able to get on stage "with all the other kids." I haven't had the heart to tell her that it's all grown women and that we'd crash into her while we do our choreography and sing at the same time. Tonight she said again that she wanted to sing on stage with me.

"And Ryan (the director) will be so proud of me that he'll give me a treat!" she said. "Like jellybeans! I love jellybeans!"

I could only laugh.