Spring has fully arrived and Beatrice has put it in her step: she has finally decided that walking suits her. She toddles everywhere very excitedly, though she often sits down whenever Michael comes near — preemptively making sure she doesn’t get bowled over by his exuberance. It’s been so sweet watching her grow. She is such a joy.

Michael, too, seems to have gone through a spring growth spurt. He’s grown more inquisitive and articulate, constantly wanting to know how things work and why things are the way they are. He’s currently trying to figure out knock-knock jokes, but he doesn’t quite have the hang of it. Right now, they go like this:

Michael: Knock knock!

Me: Who’s there?

Michael: Orange!

Me: Orange who?

Michael: OWL!! *laughing uproariously*

It’s a joke half inspired by an episode of Little Bear and half inspired by his own goofy sense of humor.

We’ve had some other cute toddlerisms recently:

Michael calls above the torso “upper body” and below the torso “downer body”

Michael: I love you!

Jake: I love you more!

Michael: I love you SIX!

Michael: I love making friends! I’m good at making friends! Mama, I can teach YOU how!

My brother was unexpectedly in town last week for twenty-four hours after touring grad schools in our state, and the kids were so delighted to see him.

Michael especially loved playing on the trampoline with his uncle/godfather. We had a great weekend of quality family time.

In household news, I successfully made (and have kept alive!) a sourdough starter. In the past when I’d tried to make a starter or been given one, I promptly killed it. But it’s been a month of success with this one! I must admit, I’m a little too absent-minded to be any good at bread-making. This might make sourdough enthusiasts cringe, but I don’t measure when I feed my starter: I just add flour and water until it looks like thick pancake batter. I’ve only made one loaf of bread so far, and it was adequate enough, but I have used lots of the discard to make crackers. The kids love them, they’re super easy to make, and they’re absolutely delicious topped with Trader Joe’s Green Goddess seasoning and eaten with hummus.

I’ve been on a sewing spree after months of not touching my machine. Again, I blame spring: I usually get bitten by the sewing bug around April. I made my dress for Pascha: I have no pictures of me wearing it yet, as I want to take some nice ones on Pascha. But I’m very proud of it and can’t wait to show it off.

One of my favorite pattern designers released a free laptop sleeve. I’ve needed one for ages, and had almost everything I needed to make one in my stash.

I hand-quilted the front and back and sewed it together in an afternoon during Bea’s nap. It was such a delight to make, even though it was my first time ever sewing with zippers. It’s a little wonky, but that’s the joy of handmade things, isn’t it?

Now that we’re not sick and we’ve taken intentional steps to reduce stress in our family life, we’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors. It’s been so good for our collective health (mental and physical). Like we used to do when Michael was a baby, I spread a blanket out in the shade of the orange tree in the mid afternoon. I bring snacks and books, and we play. Michael rides his balance bike, Bea climbs around and chases the dogs, and I read or knit or kick the soccer ball with Michael.

I’ve been thinking lately on the importance of playtime.

As a culture, we’ve lost the concept of play and good leisure time: everything must be productive or lucrative in some material sense. Hobbies become side-hustles. Having a healthy work-life balance negatively impacts utilization metrics at work. Sleeplessness and exhaustion are badges of merit. And don’t get me started on the loss of play and leisure time in the average child’s school life.

I’m the first to admit I care much too much about productivity. But both becoming a parent and reading about childhood development have convicted me about this. Play is crucial for children: there’s so much research that supports this. We need to play. It’s good for us — and not just for kids, but for adults too.

I know my kids watch everything I do (Lord have mercy). They look to me and to Jake for how to live their lives. So I really want them to see US play too. So we’ve been trying, very imperfectly, to play more. To open more space in our days for doing “nothing”, and letting the kids have those moments of boredom that lead to some of the most golden playtimes.

And of course, it’s led to me renewing my age-old struggle against screen time, finding that balance between ideals and reality. I’m sure I’ll be doing it all my life. If I had more brainpower I’d incorporate Aristotle and his concept of the virtuous mean into this blog post somehow, but instead…I’ll go play with my kids.