Talk to Me!

While little A has said a lot of things that could sound like words, I think I finally got an intentional word on video.

Motherhood and Saying Yes

Since little A is taking a lovely 2-hour nap, I have a moment to write an update this Mother's Day. And upload a photo from today:

This mother's day, I have felt so much love for my own mother. I guess having a baby did that to me, made me think of all the love and nurturing my mother gave to me that I am not even conscious of.

If you look at my right wrist in the photo, you'll see a piece of white yarn wrapped around my wrist three times. This is from a Blessingway I attended a week ago in Flagstaff for the baby girls (one who is yet unborn) of two friends of mine. To start the Blessingway, we passed around a spool of yarn, and wrapping it around my wrist, I said, "I am Alisa, daughter of Janice, daughter of Pearl," the yarn connecting me like an umbilical cord to my past generations of mothers as well as to each woman in the room. I'm planning on wearing it awhile longer, and each time Atticus pulls on the yarn and I see it around my wrist, I feel the love of my mother fore bearers and the women who grace my life today. And maybe it's already working. As some of you know, I've been in a four-year war with the gape hyacinths in my backyard, which pop up like proliferate weeds no matter how many times I dig up and throw away the bulbs. But last week, when my mom was over tending A while Kevin went on his camping trip and I came home from work, she said to me, "Oh, my mother loved grape hyacinths." And my grandma was a wonderful gardener. So there's been a little more forgiveness there, and even appreciation for the multitude of purple flowers popping up in my yard.

This makeshift bracelet of yarn also makes me more conscious of the love I have for Atticus and how grateful I am for his life. He fills me up with his laughter, and if there's one word Kevin and I could use to describe him, it is "Busy." He is like a little whirlwind through our house, tearing from room to room, scattering objects and putting everything out of place. Despite our childproofing, there's always something he finds to make mischief: pulling on a cord to a lamp, knocking over the humidifier in the nursery and spilling the water, chewing a button off of the remote control that he somehow got a hold of. To match his burst of developmental curiosity, I've been saying "no" to him a lot recently. But I don't want that to be the only thing he remembers from this age, me telling him "no" and diverting his exploration. So yesterday, when Kevin was still away at Canyonlands on a backpacking trip, we went out in the yard under our pink blossoming crab apple tree, and I said "yes." You want to drink water from the hose? Yes! You want to feel and pick the grass? Yes! You want to splash water around a cup and spill it on your shorts? Yes! You want to smile your adorable toothy grin? Yes!

It reminds me of this poem that was read at the Blessingway for my friends' babies. We all can use a little more Yes in our lives, don't you think?

God Says Yes To Me
by Kaylin Haught

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don't paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I'm telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

It really is best read outloud. The audio for this poem read by Garrison Keillor begins at 3:26.

And here are some photos saying Yes:

His watertower

His slide

His garden