Living in the dark

The rains have returned to Portland. Luckily, we had a bit of a break today (partly cloudy, with a little sun).
Malia excitedly looked out the window and said "Mum! The sun is on!". Too bad she won't be saying that much over the next six months.

Even Pumpkin Thieves Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt

This morning Malia peered out the window and with a look of horror on her face exclaimed: "what happened to Damon's pumpkin?!". Earlier in the week we had purchased a family of four pumpkins and placed them on our front steps (that's about all the Halloween decorating I do around here). This morning, "Damon's" pumpkin was missing. "Uh oh," I said. "I think a not very nice person took it from our house." I scanned the driveway and road, expecting to see it smashed somewhere. I looked at Malia's face and could see that she was trying to process what I had just told her. In disbelief that something so terrible could happen, she responded: "It's okay, Mom. They didn't mean to take it. It was yucky and they put it in the garbage." As she explained this to me, the look of concern dissipated and all was well in her world again. I love that now that she can express herself, I get glimpses of how she thinks. She continually surprises me and I love it!

Well that's a relief!

This morning, after giving Malia a hug and kiss I said: "Malia, I love you."
She responded with a big smile and said: "I love you too, Mom. You don't scare ME!"