Every night before going to bed, I check on the boys and give them a kiss. Tonight I just checked on Kyle.
And although he was clearly out cold, I tip toed in, and as I leaned over to give him a kiss, I heard him in his sleep clearly say:
“Hey Owen…”
Quadir Carter #29
Normally on Tuesdays and Thursdays our awesome babysitter Alex picks up the boys from daycare and spends from 3:00 – 5:00 with them. This gets them out of daycare and out into the world. Alex does amazing things with them and exposes them to a whole range of activities/adventures that we probably would not. It is all good. Today Alex couldn’t babysit because of a scheduling conflict she had. No problem. This became an opportunity for us to give the boys a new experience… some time with a new babysitter. As a college professor, I do, after all, have 6,000 of them to choose from. Most of which would be excellent choices. The boys are happy to jump on board with anyone willing to have a good time. I am happy to let them hang out with anyone who is willing to keep them alive for me. The question is simply ‘who should I choose?’ It is a nice situation to be in. One thing that I really want for my boys is substantial quality time with black male role models. As far as I am concerned, the more responsible the better (I am, after all, going to leave my kids with this person for two hours). As far as Kyle and Owen are concerned, the cooler the better. Today, Kyle and Owen got to hang out for two hours with Quadir Carter… Lehigh Football Star. He chased the boys around campus. He threw them in the air (with his arms as big as my legs). He took them for ice cream at Campus Square. He wore a Lehigh Football shirt. He loved on the boys. He complimented their hair and their t-shirts (Owen was wearing an Obama for President t-shirt, Kyle was wearing a Haiti flag t-shirt). Quadir was a role model today. Owen and Kyle got to hang out with the ‘big guy on campus.’ Life is good. People close to Quadir call him “Q.” Kyle and Owen are now “close” to Quadir. Here are two quotes from today.
At the end of the babysitting stint today, as Quadir was walking off —
Owen: “Bye bye Q! I love you Q! See ya later alligator Q!”At dinner tonight at home —
Kyle: “Mommy, Q can come to my birthday party???”
First Bath, Owen & Kyle, Haiti, January 2005
....First Time in a Swimming Pool, Braydon & Owen, Jamaica, May 2005
...First Time in a Swimming Pool, Heather & Kyle, Jamaica, May 2005
...
Grace Bay Beach, Kyle & Owen, Turks & Caicos Islands, May 2006
.
.
.
Our Back Yard Swimming Pool, Owen & Kyle, August 2006
.
.
.
(note: you can click on each of the photos above to view larger)
.
.
.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about water — specifically, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much Kyle and Owen love water. On a rainy day, they can’t wait to get their boots on and play in the puddles. On a hot summer afternoon, they can’t wait to get their little bodies into the swimming pool. They love the bath, they love the ocean, they love water. Lately they’ve been spending a lot of time in water… between the “April Showers” (see blog photos from yesterday and earlier this month!), and the “Snorkeling 101” (see blog photos from Sunday and earlier this month!) there has been a lot of “water! water! water!” (as K & O say!) around here these days. I knew I wanted to post today about Kyle and Owen’s Love of Water… but as I looked back through some of our photos I couldn’t choose just one for this post— turns out we have photo after photo after photo of my boys in/around/loving water. So I ended up narrowing it down to just five, and I’ll let you decide which photo you like best today. We first noticed our boys’ love of water during our very first days together. In the hotel in Haiti we gave the boys their first bath. They had never been fully submerged in water before — only sponge-bathed at the orphanage. I thought for sure that these tiny little 14-pound 8-month-old babies who had never even seen us before in their lives would absolutely freak out when we plopped them into a bathtub for the very first time within just a couple of hours of having met them! But no, not at all. In fact the opposite: they loved it. That was the beginning — when we were first starting to realize their way of being — how they both just take life by the horns and jump right in (literally and figuratively). They don’t hold back. They don’t eye it skeptically. They don’t doubt us. They just dive. Here’s to love of water and love of life. Happy Love Thursday y’all!Kyle & Owen Exactly One Year Ago Today…
(note: you can click on these photos to view them larger)
Our friend Patricia just sent me this link — Click here for a great Op-Ed in the New York Times today titled “Off to Work She Should Go.”
Recent comments