Ack! A quarter of 2022 has passed! And I do not have an abundance of time tonight to describe the last three months. A quick recap.
In the world, the Omicron wave is fading, and folks are cautiously curious about whether we may finally be approaching the end of Covid as a phenomenon that encroaches on all corners of our lives. A BA2 variant is looming but it may be a bust. Also, Russia invaded Ukraine and has transformed the country into a war zone. Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. Bob Saget passed away. I must be missing other highlights and lowlights, but those are top of mind at the moment.
And for the Shoyces, the year began in an interesting way. We experienced a lot of winter weather, including a storm that knocked our power out for 36 hours, leading the family to camp out by the fireplace in the living room. The magic of the adventure was somewhat dampened for me because I had a big interview at the end of that week. Speaking of interviews, Nitin is finally leaving government to take a position at a Canadian company. All part of the emergency exit plan. Just kidding-ish. Nitin also received an award from UVA for his career in public service and the family traveled to Charlottesville for an admitted students reception he was invited to. Which was very delightful and sent us scrambling for real estate listings. We ate our way through town, checked out a park, traversed the downtown mall, and hiked. Also rode a glass elevator.
The Shoyce children are also doing just fine. Ellie is a proud member of the Llama Shark Chomper class at CCCC. She continues to love Peppa, though unicorns may be gradually encroaching upon Peppa territory. She also loves sparkles and rainbows. She took a few Disney-themed ballet workshops early this year and enjoyed learning how to plie and receiving flowers at the end of her recitals. She also continues to love art projects and glitter glue. She is enamored with the movie Encanto and is learning to read. She is delightful company and honestly, at least as articulate and twice as interesting as most adults I encounter. All in all, a delightful, clever and sweet soul with a sparkling sense of humor. I just love to hang with her.
Myles Kieran is a sweet, sweet little boy. Also buckets full of mischief. He loves his puppy dog, Bow Wow, and has objectively fantastic dance moves. This kid has rhythm, sings on on-key and makes incredibly realistic animal noises. I am saying, and not because I am his mother, he is genuinely so charming. He listens to stories with rapt attention and loves to snuggle at bedtime. We are in a season of big feelings with little guy, and why wouldn't we be? This is such a busy time, developmentally--we are in the throes of potty training and he is acquiring new verbal and observational skills at lightning speed. So there can be shouty moments and tears--with both kids, of course, children have many feelings as in turns out. And little guy is also a runner--he pushes boundaries by bolting into parking lots, and it is of course harrowing for me as his mother as I awkwardly sprint after him. We adore this guy and cannot wait for his dinosaur-themed third birthday party this weekend.
Also of note:
- Myles would like to wear a yellow field trip shirt from his school at all times. We fortunately have two because Ellie was also issued one of these shirts. We rarely run a load of laundry with M's "apple t-shirts" but it is honestly a challenge to keep up with the demand!
- We caught Ellie in one of her first complex lies a month or so ago. She tattled on Myles for taking her M&Ms after Nitin gave them both M&Ms. Nitin gave Myles a stern talking to about not taking things that belong to other people. E waited nearly an entire day to confess that she'd given Myles the M&Ms. Whoops.
- Ellie asked her bestie, W, to marry her. W reported that her mom had said girls could not marry girls. E corrected her and came home to ask me about it. I explained that girls can marry girls. And Ellie said she would ask her teacher to resolve it and W brought it up again. Sorry, teacher.
- Ellie has a new favorite nonsense word, to replace North Pequenos. The word is Gaga beans and so far as we can tell, its meaning is very flexible. She also says acci-wently instead of accidentally and uses the phrase "interested of." And I hope this never changes! Though she has stopped saying a-avable, which saddens me.
- And a story about our sweet, gentle little boy. Ellie was crying about slippers. Myles took his slippers off and gave them to Ellie, but she said she did not want to stretch them. So he went downstairs, got her old slippers from the closet, and brought them to her.
And, without further ado, quotes from the last three months --
Sublime, indeed.
“This is sublime!” Ellie, during power outage during Omicron surge during day 11 without childcare during my challenging work week + IBS flare.
BFFs
