April 22, 2007

Journal Entry - April 22, 2007

What was so important or interesting about our lives prior to having a child? I posed this question to my father and he smiled, that knowing smile, as we are now bonded by the common experience of being a parent; he to me and me to AK.

I sometimes catch myself talking endlessly about AK's life. Perhaps such accounts of her every endeavour are uninteresting to some, and riveting only to her parents. But it is the little facts, the little events, which have made our lives so rich.

So, if you are in the uninterested camp, proceed no further as you will perhaps find this blog to be a tedious narrative of our obsession over our daughter. For those who understand our preoccupation with our daughter, either because you are a parent yourself, you are AK's grandparent, or, you have met AK and cannot shake the magic of the encounter, we appreciate your indulgence.

~AK's World~

This month has seemed rather remarkable, after a long, cold winter. The ponies are back at Lee Martinez Park which means that for $5, our daughter can ride a pony every weekend and go to that place children go when they are fully in their element.

Spring has also brought us new neighbors (our first neighbors!) and a friend/sibling for AK. Jasmine, age 2 (left), now lives behind us and it has been truly a marvelous happening in our lives. We call them siblings as they have very much a sibling relationship. They fight often and cry when parted.

Our weekends are beginning to follow a rhythm. Unannounced and unplanned, we saunter into the alleyway and miraculously find Tony and Christine (Jasmine's parents) doing the same. There, we set up camp chairs, share coffee, snacks, etc., and watch the girls play.

I built a water/sand table for the girls using a coffee table I bought at a garage sale and a couple of tuppers. The girls like it but the pile of rocks is still their preferred play-place. I took the picture below as Jasmine and AK sat on their pile of rocks singing to each other.

~Big News~

Our big news is that our initial application for daughter #2 was submitted to CCAI! Quinlin Laing is still just a twinkle in our eye but will be an addition to our family in the next year, or two or three (the wait is apparently much longer, now). The spelling for Quinlin's name was finally resolved on the back of a New Belgium beer coaster during our "date night" on Friday. :) We saved the coaster. What memorabilia Quin already has for her scrapbook!

In other news, AK was accepted into the Montessori school. We are very excited for her. We had almost given up because AK was on a seemingly endless waiting list, but, alas, the stars aligned and she will begin class in Fall.