Cookies, and Other Good Things

After two parks, and with dinner cooking, we needed one more activity to fill our busybusy day. So Callie and I made cookies. She supervised, her mom was the sous chef, and I served as the host. My chocolate chip cookies contain a dash of cinnamon (Vietnamese, if you must know), plus the juice and zest of a lemon. I think they taste better with those hints of spice, and I think Callie agreed.

In other news, Iain had a much better day today than yesterday. He's been in an odd mood lately. Partly, it's his age. But maybe our impending move has also set his teeth on edge. He demands waffles, then denies them ("Waffles!" "no! NO! No Waffles!!" "My Waffles!!"). He demands milk, then rejects it.

In the car the other day, he was saying:

"No, book. No, truck. No, carseat. No, Bob. No, Kipper."
I said, "Iain, How about saying 'Yes' instead?"
"No."

Then, yesterday, he had the World's Worst Day at daycare. Tantrums, screaming, no food, just an utter meltdown. He preceded it by freaking out over his breakfast ("NO! Waffles!"). He finished the day with a nice freakout over dinner. It sucked.

Miss Donna told him that he couldn't have a sticker. Only good boys get a sticker. And she told him that his report card for that day would show the tantrums, so Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma would know.

Perhaps that sank into his tiny little 2-year old psyche.

Because today, he was just fine. He ate an entire waffle (butter and syrup) plus vanilla yogurt and wild Maine blueberries for breakfast. Then he went to school, where he threw no tantrums, ate everything at lunch, participated in art, and took a good nap. He got a sticker and a certificate for being "helpful." In the afternoon, he joined me at the grocery, coped cheerfully with traffic on the way home, ate his noodles for dinner, took a bath and went to bed smiling. Thank God.

Also, it seems that my decision to leave the academy in favor of a very fine school in Salt Lake resonates with at least one peer. She's a talented, experienced teacher (though not in my field - why am I so drawn to literature types?), so her vote of confidence means a lot.

Last, and kind of least, I just received an email containing a positive review of a book to which I contributed. It was published in Australia, and is an interesting hybrid - published online and in a print-on-demand format through a university press. It's my first review, though not mine alone.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow. I don't expect it to be as nice as today, but anything in the normal range would be most welcome.