Summer Lovin'

This summer has been quite the eye opening experience for all of us here. We have learned to deal with loss as a family, Natalia turned into quite the swimmer (only by way of goggles, of course), and we have said goodbye to one dog while welcoming in a new dog to our family. The next step will be her adventures in a new school, but I'll get to that in another post.

The thing that has Jeremy and I shell shocked is how Natalia would rather spend time with her friends than hang with he and myself. I know! At age 8 and she has already figured out that her friends are more her style. Every week is the same thing: "I don't want to go to Bodies in Motion (daycare), I want to just be with my friends." You are probably asking the same question I am - "um, why don't you have friends at Bodies in Motion?" Word of advice, don't ask that question. It has a lengthy and dramatic answer which is circular in nature and never really answers the question. I don't let it stress me because every time I've picked her up, another girl is trying to give her "creepy hugs" goodbye. Not to mention I've watched her at play with her friend and can attest that she is no social leper. I have to remember that all this is her perception, her world, not my adult view. Still, she's fine. 

So this summer has been play dates (that's what it is called now as opposed to just playing with friends), sleep overs, swim overs, and all in all just ditching Jeremy and I. It is kind of nice to go to a barbecue and let the kids run and almost kill each other while we have adult talk with adult beverages, but kind of weird at the same time. It's a far cry from the days of a toddler hanging on our arms and every word. 

Speaking of learning new adult things, Natalia's animal kingdom view was broadened greatly yesterday. Imagine this summer picture, if you will: Warm day, kids running and playing through the house and and on the trampoline, hot dogs, adult drinks and a couple of goofy labs running around just to round out this scene. Well wouldn't you know that these labs were both male and trying to one up each other. Now when I say one up each other, I really mean mount each other. Yep. Every chance they could get. Shameless. 

A couple of times Jeremy and I were able to redirect Natalia's attention or she simply was not around to see this Discovery Channel display. Of course, it is when we are all gathered around in the living room getting ready to head off to the neighborhood pool that those guys go at it. They go at it in front of a gigantic window with fascinated 8 year old eyes to behold this non-procreational glory. Natalia shouts to the room "Look at the dogs playing? What are they doing? It looks like that one is doing push ups on the other one!" It was at this moment Natalia gets down on the floor to show us her version of downward dog push ups. I haven't laughed that hard in weeks. It really needed no further explanation. I'll let her keep that exercise explanation of alpha males in the dog world.

So now we are at the end of summer. Natalia has pulled away from us and grown into the next shoe size. She has loved and said goodbye to her dog Chance, and welcomed into our home Miley (no, not like the Cyrus). She's wiped out on the tube pulled behind the boat and wanted to go back for more. It's harder and harder to get a picture of her face, because she is always heading off in the right direction. Sometimes I wish this independence would translate into her finding her own snacks or making her own breakfast, but really, what would I have left?

Because the time has flown by so quickly, I have lightened up a bit. Soon she will be locking the bathroom door and we will no longer have our singing competition while drying her hair. The dog will be in our house longer than she will at this point. One day she will figure out that those weren't push ups after all. It will probably be some other kid on a playground since I have already had the human procreation speech once and that was enough. Still, I have those time when I creep into her room once she is asleep and see the baby that I held in my arms 8 years ago and can smell her sweaty, drooliness that will never change. Summer is going to be over, but I am so ready for the next thing - even if all my pictures of her are of the back of her head.