Tonight was Lindsin Tuesday. We Lindsed around the U District and revisited the Quad. Cherry blossoms! Bonus! Again! What a lovely scene to re-experience. This evening there were petals falling like snow. And littering the grounds. It was beautiful. Lake was delighted. Apparently these iconic trees have been gracing the Quad since 1962 and are around 80 years old. We say thank you very much! Vielen Dank! Or as Michael aptly says, “Feelin’ Donkey!”  

Jo says to me as I head out the door for yoga this morning…

Have fun!

This is a really common send-off in Germany to say have a good time, viel spaß! It makes sense that she’s said this to me several times now. I just wouldn’t expect it in English typically. Have a good time, maybe, but…

Have fun at yoga, Tolle!

So, it’s starting to make an impact on me. She’s making an impression. I don’t typically associate yoga sessions with fun, per se. Health and relaxation and exercise and strength and flexibility of body and mind, but not fun, exactly. Jo, however, was working her weekend on my behalf so that I might go to this yoga session. Therefore I thought I’d try it out at least out of respect to her giving me this gift of a morning for hot yoga. Have fun at yoga, Tolle. 

So I went to hot yoga and gosh, if I didn’t have Fun! I smiled at myself gleefully in the mirror. I smiled a lot. I laughed when the teacher made a joke. I laughed when I lost my balance. I laughed when I found inner strength and kept my balance. I experienced the poses with a sense of humor. I explored the sensations with a sense of fun. Levity. Curiosity. Mirth. An open mind. Another smile! Ninety minutes of hot yoga fun…

It worked. I had fun! Why not? It’s my morning. My time to myself. My every moment that comprises my life, after all! I can have some fun with it. Or a a lot of fun even! We invite you too…

Viel spaß!

Lake shared his apple slice with me last week. And this Monday morning he discovered the “wave goodbye” and did so with exuberance and with glee. Then when I blew some kisses he giggled each time with delight. Now, all week he’s been practicing his wave. Lake’s so friendly!

Lake’s a friend who loves connecting with people. 

Even while he’s asleep, he loves to be surrounded by his friends. I get the feeling he watches over them, not the other way around. So empathetic!

Lake’s grandma Julie gave me a book recently that I’m very slowly devouring. The Danish Way of Parenting: what the happiest people in the world know about raising confident, capable kids by Jessica Joelle Alexander and Iben Dissing Sandhal. It’s good… resonant and instructive. The topics are:

Play

Authenticity

Reframing

Empathy

No Ultimatums 

Togetherness and Hygge

Hygge is coziness. I love it. That was the first word we taught Jo, I think, because we didn’t realize it, but we were constantly using the word cozy! And empathy seems to be Lake’s instinct. We are simply here to support his development on that innate trajectory. And to provide lots of opportunities for coziness as well. What a blessing! A perfect day (week)… I’m glad I spent it with you dear friend!

Spring is officially here and what does that bring? The recommencing of the Lindsin Tuesdays! This evening as we lindsed around Ravenna we got some sun, some showers, and we even found a hidden bower bench. What fun! We love our Lindser and our Lindsin around. So happy for making our evenings walking dates a regular occasion reality!

Lake and I drove out Saturday morning while it was quite wet. 

To Harborview, to work, where Clarence was met. 

We got off to a really good start,

With coffee and admirers, before we did part.

Then Lake got to spend the whole day with Clarence, 

A great day of fun away from his parents. 

Well, sometimes while Mummy was working 

To everyone’s delight Clarence was lurking. 

In spite of the torrential rain, outside they went

walking to Starbucks Brewery just as he’d originally meant. 

There Lake dug it, as it was lively and loud and terrifically boisterous!

The coffee, thought Clarence, was dreamy and creamy, and absolutely lustrous!

And then to the Frye to contemplate the art

And suffice it to say

They had a great day!

But indeed, what’s more,

In conclusion, to Starbucks in the Columbia Tower, on the 73rd floor !

Mangoes are the perfect fruit! The pit is formed exactly as if designed especially for Lake to suck on.  Even having never encountered a mango before in his life, he’s very proficient at extracting the sweet juiciness. 

He’s up to his knuckles in mango and he’s loving it!

This is us today hanging out on the 8th floor skybridge at Harborview. One of our favorite lunch spots. And now this just happens to be the 5,000th photo stored on my phone since my baby shower less than a year ago. We think he’s pretty photogenic. I guess that makes us paparazzi parents. I hear that’s a thing. Oh well! Another perfect day in paradise… captured on camera!

Lake’s made basically totally of milk. My milk. So far. I have a strong feeling that is all about to change. We seem on the brink of a food revolution. Now when I eat my lunch while he eats his, there are competing interests. Milk, carrot, milk, carrot… he’s not sure where his loyalties lie. I think I may be the only mother in the world who is telling their child, 

no honey, maybe later… you may have a carrot this afternoon. 

Last weekend I was eating a pear while carrying him in the Baby Björn during our Costco shop. Suddenly he’s eating off the other side. Then he’s holding it. Pear Snatcher. He’s putting his eight well formed teeth to good use. 

As you can see here, carrots are an especially common theme. 

And then after dinner last night while I was washing dishes he found a bag of garlic grown by Katie and her family. We are planning on planting it soon so it’s in a paper bag on a low kitchen shelf. Lake played with the bag for quite a bit, then worked himself out a pretty nice plump purply bulb of garlic. He examined it with great care and played with it thoughtfully for a while. Then… Chomp!

And then he was perfectly happy double-fisting a carrot and a garlic bulb. One bite of carrot. One bite of garlic. Carrot. Garlic. Carrot. Garlic. Carrot Garlic. This went along for a long stretch. And he got really happy!

And then along came mummy with a mango. 

I’ll take what she’s having please. 

One taste and he was sold. Game over! It was Pandora’s cornucopia. He was in heaven. Vegan heaven! My Milk Man is awakening to the discovery that there’s a whole world of fruits and vegetables waiting for him out there!

I look at pictures of my happy little man from earlier today and gaze at them trying to block out the cries from Lake in the bedroom next door as we let him put himself to sleep. He’s not having it. It’s 11pm, you’d think he’d be happy to sleep. I would. But it’s just not the case. After a ten minute eternity I go to check on him. He’s upside down and backwards in his bed, wide awake in the worst kind of way. I rescue him to my breast and he drinks my milk in the big bed until almost midnight. Thank goodness for breastfeeding. And for breaking the rules. It’s so hard to know when to let him self soothe and when to respond. Well actually it’s only difficult in the moment. In retrospect it’s always clear that if he cries for more than a few moments he’s just not ready for sleeping. So he had a nightcap and then slept straight through with the rest of the household until 10am. Sweet reward. 

Forest, Lake and Falcon hanging out with the felines and me on Saturday (Mr. Silky shown). The guys drove over from Montana to celebrate Forest’s big four-oh birthday and we were fortunate to be on the itinerary. Lake hasn’t had a chance to get over to Montana yet, so luckily Montana goes mobile and comes to us. Here Lake gets a sneak peek of Montana Camp. What a thrill!

Thank you for visiting, Forest friend! Lake is blessed to have such a strong role model as you, following your dreams and rocking this life thing wholeheartedly! Happy Big Birthday!