Three Wise Monkeys

Boys

Dash has been demanding Outback for a week. I don't know why. I just nod & smile & act busy most days.

Anyway, last night we went & Dash got steak & I got this picture:

I win.

Hulk Family Values

Books

So the child woke up a couple of weeks ago & he could read. Just: poof, I can read now. I'm pretty sure that every single person who knows me understands that this is the single greatest development of the last 6 years (OK, maybe his birth was number one. MAYBE).

Anyway, the Easter Bunny got him a chapter book (Captain Underpants--I would have gone with something loftier--say, Count of Monte Cristo, or some such--but who am I to second-guess the Easter Bunny?) & he has been consumed by it. He carries it around with him, reads it whenever he's sitting still (not that often, but hey), and reads a few pages to Josh & me before bed each night.

Yesterday was Dash's first day back to school after Spring break & his teacher asked them all to write about what they did on their vacations. Here's Dash's:

"Over spring breake I got a chaptr book. Also I went to my frends hows."

I only have one question: in the picture, is he reading on the toilet?

Easter Doings

So, as I mentioned yesterday, we got to celebrate Easter with some of our most beloved friends & family this weekend. Do you have those moments where you stop cleaning & yelling & making lists just long enough to be completely overwhelmed by how truly, truly lucky you are? Me, too.

Dash & one of his besties, Ben, hit up the Central Park egg hunt on Saturday morning. (I have no idea why he chose to wear a Netflix shirt or why we let him.)

He seems to have had some success.

After the hunt, our guests arrived for an evening of ham & chocolate & wine (not together).

Aunty & Tio are a handsome couple.

Beer, ping pong & baby. This is a man who knows how to multitask.

Half naked, eating an Easter bunny. Why the hell not?

Oliver's parents are going to be so mad at me when I steal him away to Mexico & raise him as my own.

Dash's cousin Kyler was so cute we decided not to return him to his parents until the next morning.

Fuck yeah Easter ham! (Courtesy of the lovely and talented Sharon Babkes!)

Easter Baskets

We hosted Easter dinner (well, Easter eve, since we did it on Saturday, but we did the full ham/egg hunt/gorge on chocolate thing, so I'm calling it Easter) for our O.G. Posse this weekend. And because now there are CHILDREN! TO MAKE SHIT FOR! BECAUSE CHILDREN ARE MY FAVORITE! I made some Easter baskets. Wanna look?

Here is Miss Viola June's basket. Viola is two years old & wears skinny jeans & gold shoes. She is my soulmate. I made the bunny & dress (sans buttons because Viola is smart but she still can't be trusted around choking hazards) from Jenny at Allsorts' patterns.

Closeup!

Bunny butt!

I made this badge out of wool felt after seeing something similar in Mollie Makes magazine. 

This is Oliver Gray's basket. Oliver is five months old and he got a boy-bunny & a bib that is way too small--boo. I Am a Bunny is still one of our most beloved books from when Dash was a baby. If I could eat the illustrations I would. 

I didn't get a picture of Dash's haul all laid out, but try to contain your shock when I tell you it was excessive.

Since our family mascot is a jackalope (I just read that out loud & now I can't stop laughing because a: we have a family mascot & b: it's a mythical, antlered bunny), I altered the pattern slightly to add some horns.

We actually had two more smalls come spend the evening with us--Dash's sweet cousins Kyler & Jesse--and they got baskets featuring Liz-made bunnies, as well, but I didn't get a chance to photograph them. I know you're probably devastated.

Arrow

Kahlil Gibran says of parents, "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth." And, I mean, yes. Yes, of course. But I guess it never occurred to me that he meant it quite literally, too.

This weekend the child was off and moving so fast that he was more blur than person.

First, on Friday, we had his Tae Kwon Do belt test (orange to green), where he broke two planks of wood with his elbow. With. His. Elbow. (Here he's with his Baba after the test.)

Then we dragged our asses out of bed on Saturday morning in order to be at his last football game of the season by 8:30.

He decided to use the opportunity to show everyone what his jukes look like.

Then he got a trophy & a cupcake. So, good morning overall.

After a quick trip to Target for some Dodgers gear because we are THOSE parents (Note to future Dash: you will inevitably have moments of frustration with your dad. You will occasionally feel misunderstood & under-appreciated by him. In those moments, just remember this: The man put on a Dodgers hat for you. There is no greater love than that.), we headed to yet another park for his first game of coach pitch baseball.

Where the cuteness didn't let up for even a second.

(GIRLS WITH PIGTAIL BRAIDS PLAYING BASEBALL I AM DEAD FROM THIS!)

And he continued to prove that Josh's genes are more powerful than mine by swinging at balls rather than flinching away from them.