Transformations

While working in the front yard, Linus found a stick with what appeared to be insect eggs attached to it. He looked through his Colorado bug book and didn't find a picture of them to help us identify them. Matthew also didn't know. I took photos of them and emailed them to two biology professors we know as friends. They didn't know either. I ended up finding out what they were by looking at scores of bug egg photos online that were taken by a Colorado professor. Turns out they are katydid eggs. We will keep them in a container on the porch and wait until next spring to see if they hatch.

I've been trying to make more progress on my Jane Austen bust business. Now that Linus is older, he is better able to occupy himself while I do trials of rubber products for creating a mold. He also assists me by taking photographs of the process. Even though the plastic gloves were huge on them, he was still able to do a bit of pouring of the liquid rubber, with my help. The materials are messy and not very safe for the skin. He has been trying to wrap his brain around the fact that I'm making busts to sell. "Why do you want money?" I told him we could use the money to pay for extra things like his music class and an iPad for me. So now and then he encourages me by saying, "You'll sell lots and lots of busts and get lots and lots of money. You'll be able to buy lots and lots of iPads and iPhones." He really knows how to motivate me!

September

First day of school



Helping out at our CSA distribution point

Linus settled back into preschool smoothly and enjoys playing with kids after school. He is still getting to know his new classmates and prefers to play with his friends from last year, like Audrey. When they saw each other on Thursday they exchanged a big hug. His favorite game is Monster, which involves someone playing the monster and chasing the other kids around. He doesn't have much patience for the kids who are bossy and controlling, or the ones who irrationally change the rules in the middle of playing. He is more confident this year and I hear him try to get everyone playing nicely. When this doesn't work, he goes and plays with someone else.

We got to spend last weekend at a cabin in the mountains. It belongs to our friend's parents. We enjoyed feeding the ground squirrels, watching Stellar's jays, climbing rocks, hula hooping, reading, cooking and dining together as a group, consisting of two children and seven adults.

Linus and I are digging up our front yard to replace the grass and weeds with plants from other parts of our yard. When he isn't helping me, he rides his trike up and down the block, or pretends he is a superhero, train, or paleontologist. Sometimes he pretends he is a mushroom researcher. He got the idea for this after I read him a news story about a mushroom convention.