waiting for rain

well, at least he was a few days ago...
the other day we were out getting a gift for one of william's friends and i couldn't help but buy him a pair of cute rain boots. it is a good buy because the last time it rained, his tennis shoes sat drying on the porch for three days. the yellow ball with orange polka dots that you see in the photo was a purchase against my better judgment. for one thing, william needs more toys like he needs a pair of wet tennis shoes. for another, it was sort of pricey for a bouncy ball... something on the order of 6 dollars. for another, at any given moment there is something like three baseballs, two basketballs, one nerf ball, one bouncy ball, and three wiffle balls outside our door in the courtyard, so it's not as though he was lacking in that area of recreational instruments. but... i gave in because i am not yet to the chapter in the William Book of Parenting where i've learned how to say, 'no, put that back. i told you, we're here for a loaf of bread and THAT'S IT.' but was that really the issue? when he insisted on playing with the ball in the store, pushing it along the dusty floor, what went through my head was, "sheesh, maybe it's getting a little dirty... is it impolite to put a toy back once your kid has gotten it dirty? crud, i don't know the answer to that... just put it on the counter with the rest of the stuff and don't think about the fact that you're buying it for all of the wrong reasons, that he's not really even asking to keep it, just avoid a potentially awkward conversation where you try to put a dusty toy back on the shelf and ignore the fact that he's putting each rubber duckie from that bin on the bottom shelf in his mouth. you're the only one who can see that*, and there is no way you're buying him 13 little rubber duckies*, even if together they do cost less than that ball." stage two of parenting is really sneaking up on me. stage two being the stage where they destroy things but are too young to take responsibility for it. stage three (i'm assuming) is the stage where they are old enough to take responsibilty for it, but don't whenever they can get away with it.

*oh my gosh... i am apparently stuck in stage three.

in other news, william got to have a great visit with his grumpa this past week. it didn't hurt that he brought him his very own ukulele. it has been a big hit. i think grumpa really earned william's respect after that.

see:

william putting some serious thought into the conversation...

"yes grandfather. i can see your point."

but of course the conversations aren't always serious:

"two atoms walking down the street... lost an electron... i'm positive... oh that's funny!"

in other news:
we have been eating lots of asparagus from our garden! hard to believe, but it's true. we have waited three long years for this year. or has it been two? or have we waited 28 and 27 and 1 year for this year (respectively)? i'm not sure the answer to that one, but in any case, the year is here. asparagus time is now.

in other news:
william has another new (2nd) cousin! this time a girl! yea! and a big 'good-luck-you-can-do-it' for the parents who are taking on the (daunting? yes.) task of caring for a young youngin and a 14 month old youngin.

well, that's about if for now. happy may.