The best of our overheard-K-&-O-conversations seem to come from car rides. Braydon and I often have our best conversations on car rides too. Something about being in the car seems to really foster good conversation —- at least in the Johnson-McCormicks. This conversation took place this morning, on the way to school. It was a cool morning, and as we drove along the river the water was steaming creating a thick layer of fog over the river. It was beautiful~~
Kyle: See the river? Owen, you see it? See it streaming? [“streaming” = steaming]Owen: Yes Kyle! I do see it! I see it streaming!
K: It is many, many streaming.
O: WHO DID THAT?! Who made that stream??????!!!!!
K: Um.
O: Maybe a boat did that!
K: Um.
O: Yes! A boat did it!
K: Yes! A big fast boat did it!!! And it made a big, huge wake!
O: Yes! A boat did it! A very fast boat!
K: I am going to have a big boat. It will be so fast. It will be so loud. It will have TWO motors! I will show it to MorFar. I will say, ‘MorFar, you want to come on my boat with me?’ and MorFar will say, ‘Sure Kyle!’ and he will come onto my boat. You can come too Owen.
O: Oh! O.k. And I will have a boat too. I will have a BIG BLACK BOAT! It will be so fast! It will make a big wake! It will go ‘vrooooom vrooooom vrooooooooooooooom’! [making crazy boat noises]. You hear that Kyle? That will be just like MY BIG BLACK BOAT!!!
K: Yes! And my boat will be super fast. With TWO motors. And I will be driving it with MorFar and with you Owen!
O: Yes!
K: And I will have a waterskier on the boat. Riding in the wake. It will be so fun!
O: Who?
K: Um… [thinking] Oh! It will be Dora! Dora will be waterskier from my boat! But it will be a new Dora!
O: Oh! A NEW Dora!!!!! And I will have a BIG BLACK BOAT!
K: And I will have a HUGE boat with TWO MOTORS!!!
We had a very nice walk and found a quiet bench on the path. These boys really really love their mommy!
This morning we woke up to our first really cool day. It felt like Fall for the first time. Crisp, clear, and about 40 degrees. Today is the first time the boys are wearing long pants to school instead of shorts. K & O were so excited to bring a present to their teachers this Monday morning — yesterday while walking in the woods at the Castle Playground Park we collected acorns for Miss Kathy and Miss Diana (the nursery school classroom is called the “Acorn Room” so acorns were especially exciting to find). These photos were taken at 7:30 this morning. You can see Kyle holding a ziploc bag — filled with acorns. K & O were excited to go out on the deck to “feel the cold.” They discovered that they could see their breath. They loved blowing their breath into the air and “seeing it streaming!” (i.e., seeing it steaming!). And they were happy, too, to run inside to eat their warm waffles (Owen) and pancakes (Kyle) when Papi called “Breakfast time!”
Yesterday after I picked up the boys from school I took them to Ringing Rocks Park (click here or here or here). This park is only 10 minutes from our house, and about 5 minutes from K & O’s school, but it was our first time there, and it was amazing. Exactly the kind of place K & O love: very few people so K & O could go nuts singing shouting and generally acting like their wacky selves with very little restrictions from me, woodsy places to explore, walking/hiking trails just interesting/challenging enough but not too long, big rocks everywhere to climb on and jump off of, and –jackpot!– water/waterfalls/streams to throw rocks into. Anyway, the highlight for them was definitely running along the forest paths (which are strewn with rocks) and exploring where they’d lead. I probably heard a hundred times exclamations of “I love this place!” and “Ringing Rocks is soooo fun!” and “I can’t wait to show Papi this beautiful place because he will love it just like us!!!” Anyway, the weirdest twin thing that I’ve observed yet kept happening… As I said, the paths were strewn with rocks (and tree roots and sticks and dips/holes/bumps in the dirt). Kyle and Owen were running ahead of me the whole time and they were usually just 3-4 feet apart from each other, either parallel to each other or one just slightly ahead/behind the other. Regardless of how they were positioned the two of them kept tripping over the rocks/roots/bumps and falling down —like full blow flat out smack on the ground falling— at the exact same split second moment as each other. The tripping and falling was understandable (it was rough terrain even for an able-bodied adult). But they were tripping and falling at literally the exact same split second. Every time. Over and over. As K & O do, they’d of course just jump back up, dust off, and keep running. They’d sometimes acknowledge out loud that they had both fallen — they’d exclaim: “Two boys down!” or “Two boys fell!!!” But they just kept going acting like this was normal the whole time we were there (about 1.5 hours). At first I just thought it was a strange fluke. But as I kept watching it happen over and over (often the two of them tripping on completely different rocks/roots/bumps – sometimes 5 or 6 feet apart from each other) I started thinking it was really weird. I couldn’t help but think it was some sort of twin thing. It was truly the weirdest twin thing I have observed yet.
p.s. Photo above was taken one day this week before school. Kyle is on the left, Owen is on the right. That morning they had both insisted on having “match to match” orange sippy cups for their milk. Another weird twin thing: their sporadic insistence on having matching things or wearing matching things. No matter how much I now try to dress them different they still often prefer to be dressed identical.
This morning Ky Ky was playing one of his favorite drums. I could hear it but couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. I went to check on him. This is what I found~~
Kyle is obsessed (as he is with many things) with Mac & Cheese.
Heather makes the boys lunch for school each day, but had not given him Mac & Cheese (despite repeated requests). However, when he came home yesterday describing in depth how another boy had Mac & Cheese, and it was clear he was enormously jealous, Heather had to act.
According to Kyle, the Mac & Cheese was “streaming” and they made it hot “in a little oven” and the “little oven is red.” He really really really really wants Mac & Cheese now because “I love it soooo much.”
Heather dutifully made the requested delicacy and put it in both boy’s lunches. When I dropped them off, I sidelined the teacher and told her about his m&c obsession – she knew about it. I told her that he had m&c for his lunch, and asked her how they heated it up – and that K had explained about the little red oven.
She smiled and said – we don’t have anyway to heat it up – the other little boy had brought it in a thermos!
Next item on the shopping list: Thermos.
It looks like my boys are going to be popular kids -and it’s starting early. Of course it remains to be seen – they are still “cute” in many eyes. What ever happens, this happened at school drop off today:
We walk in – and as usual (well – day 6 usual anyway), we’re greeted at the door with a big welcome. There are kids everywhere – ages 3 – 15 all hustle and bustle -time to go to class. Backpacks, slings, books, shoes, bumping and laughing and trying to not get in trouble for whatever it is you might be doing. Generally enjoying the morning before it’s time to start the day.
K & O stride down the halls with their own back packs on – “Papi – look at the fountain! Owen – you see the fountain???” “Yes, Kyle, I see it, I SEE IT!!!” Owen has to run his hand across every single thing as he goes past it, whether that’s a kid, a teacher, a door knob or wall – everything. Kyle just looks around in wonder at all the kids and tries (mostly successfully) to not fall down.
As we near their classroom, I hear “High five!” Then – “oh maaan!” Then again “high five! – yes!”
I turn to look and Kyle has just given a kid (who might be around 10 years old) a biiiig high five. Owen was too busy touching things and didn’t notice him; he turned back and gave the kid one too. I have never seen this boy before, and I can’t imagine that K or O have or know who he is – they don’t seem to.
The kid then turns to his friends and says in this most prideful way – I just got a high five from Kyle and Owen!
note: this list is in no particular order
- The Skin You Live In – Michael Tyler, Author / David Lee Csicsko, Illustrator
- Sing Along Song – JoAnn Early Macken, Author / Leuyen Pham, Illustrator
- Anything by Bell Hooks, Author / Chris Raschka, Illustrator ~~ such as: Be Boy Buzz & Happy To Be Nappy
- Anything by Rachel Isadora (Author & Illustrator) ~~ such as: Caribbean Dream & Peekaboo Morning
- Please, Baby, Please & Please, Puppy, Please – both by Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee, Authors / Kadir Nelson, Illustrator
- Black All Around – Patricia Hubbell, Author / Don Tate, Illustrator & Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children – Sandra L. Pinkney, Author / Myles Pinkney, Photographer (both of which I’ve blogged about before — click here and click here).
- Anything by Debbie Harter (Illustrator & sometimes Author too) ~~ such as The Animal Boogie & The Creepy Crawly Calypso & Bear On A Bike
- Queen of the Scene – Queen Latifah, Author / Frank Morrison, Illustrator
- Anything by Molly Bang (Author & Illustrator) ~~ such as In My Heart (note: this book is awesome for 2-career-families!!!) & Ten, Nine, Eight
- We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania – Laurie Krebs, Author / Julia Cairns, Illustrator
O.k., I’ve read many, many books on this subject (i.e. adoption; white parents adopting black kids; inter-racial adoption/bi-racial families). There are some good ones out there (and there are some not so good ones out there). Per your request, my dear readers, here is my List~~~
note: Please comment here to share your own favorite must-read adoption books (especially anything on black-white families!!!)
Top Ten Favorite Books re: Adoption & Black-White Adoptive Families
- Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents, by Deborah Gray (my favorite adoption book of all time, a must-read for any adoptive parent of any child regardless of race/class/gender)
- Talking With Young Children About Adoption, by Mary Watkins & Susan Fisher (my 2nd favorite book on this topic of all time, again — regardless of race, a must-read!)
- Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew, by Sherrie Eldridge
- How It Feels to Be Adopted, by Jill Krementz
- Jamaica and Me: The Story of an Unusual Friendship, by Linda Atkins
- I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World, by Marguerite Wright
- Birthmarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America, by Sandra Patton
- Weaving a Family: Untangling Race and Adoption, by Barbara Katz Rothman
- Inside Transracial Adoption, by Gail Steinberg & Beth Hall
- Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Crib, by Jaiya John
Re: Haiti — lots and lots of books out there, have read many, here are just two of my favorites:
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Anything by the power-house female Haitian author Edwidge Danticat, such as Breath, Eyes, Memory & The Farming of Bones & Krik? Krak!
***
Re: CMs (Career/Working Moms) — a bunch of books out there, have read many (them all?), here are a couple of my favorites:
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This Is How We Do It: The Working Mothers’ Manifesto, by Carol Evans
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And sorry, but I’ve got to add a third bullet here because as a professional sociologist it would be wrong for me to not at least mention the must-read books: The Second Shift by Arlie Hochschild & Anne Machung, and The Time Bind, by Arlie Hochschild
***
Re: Twins — lots and lots and lots of books out there, have read many, have yet to find one I actually like. LOL!
Owen, so proud of this little ensemble he put together
Kyle & Braydon, so proud to be dressed “match to match”
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