Minky & Me

Today, Tristan, Minky’s 17 y.o. big brother, spent the day caring for his little sister. At one point, he called her a bonita chiquita. She asked what that meant. He said, incorrectly, that it meant she was a good girl. She responded that no, she was not a good girl, because sometimes, when Mommy or Daddy yelled at her, she was mean to Rocky (her dog) on purpose. I wish the average adult was that self aware.
-Dad

I, Dad, took Minky out last weekend, along with two of her teen siblings, on a kayak adventure – our first ocean experience. Due to full parking lots, plans went out the window, and ‘winging it’ soon led to a somewhat dangerous excursion exiting Newburyport harbor. The tidal flows were crazy. We found ourselves seeking beach shelter when we came upon a sandbar with waves breaking in three different directions. After a short portage, we managed to launch in an area of significant waves. A half mile later, we were forced to another portage at the breakwater separating us from the ocean. After a fine picnic lunch, I sent my two elder babies out into an insane ocean surf. If they survived, Minky and I were going to follow. They barely survived, crashing their rental tandem ocean kayak through an 8 foot wave. Sinead baled while Tristan paddled like hell. And they kept going, further and further out to sea. Somehow, this seemed success enough for me to attempt embarking with Minky. This went very badly; we gave up after a short, lopsided skirmish with the waves. As I watched my elder babies paddling inexplicably further out to sea, I imagined myself on the 6 O’Clock news. “…after pushing his inexperienced childern out into the pounding surf, onlookers were stunned to find Mr. Andersen attempting to launch himself, and his helpless 3 year old girl into that same surf. The teens were picked up by a Coast Guard cutter in Stellwagen Bay at midnight…” As it worked out, the teens handled themselves admirably, landing safely in Plum Island center. They got the car, and came and rescued Dad and Minky. As for Minky, she loved every minute of it. At particularly tense moments, Dad could hear her chiming in from behind, “Dad, I’m going to jump out and swim next to you… OK?”

Recently I explained the phrase “under the weather” to Coco. It seems that she likes this expression a whole lot. She has asked Daddy several times, “Daddy, do you know what ‘under the weather’ means? It means a little bit sick.” Often when she feels ill, she’ll ask to have a teaspoon of children’s Advil to make her feel better.

This morning there was a box of Good & Plenty on the dining room table. She took a long look at the box and then walked over to Daddy. “Daddy,” she said. “I’m a little bit sick. I need some [of that] medicine.”

Coco looked down at the blonde hair on her arm the other day and said, “I have fur.”

I need to elaborate on Susan’s mention of Minky ‘helping her’ with her toast at Kristen’s wedding. Susan was quite nervous and I think she thought holding Minky might add some levity, and perhaps keep her from tearing up too much. The first line of the toast began, “Life is sprinkled with moments…” Minky immediately leaned into the mic and loudly announced, “sometimes it rains.” When the laughter subsided, and Susan proceded, Minky again interupted with, “but then the sun comes out.” What more need one say in a wedding toast?

Earlier this summer Coco was a flower girl in my sister’s wedding. She was quite thrilled. She got a beautiful flower girl dress and couldn’t wait to wear it. I put it in my closet and every time she saw it, in the weeks before the wedding, she would beg me to try it on. At the wedding she was non-stop. She was given her own camera and took all sorts of photos. She sprinted around the reception, chatting up other children. She even helped me give my toast. She also kept returning to Auntie’s table to hug her–I think she loved her wedding dress. At one point after a particularly enthusiastic hug, the photographer said to Kristen, “I think you should know she has butter all over her hands.”

Coco and I played hide and seek inside recently. I counted and she ran and hid. She wasn’t wearing any clothes, which she prefers on these hot days of summer. When I walked into the den looking for her, there she was lying face down on the floor with her head under the couch and the rest of her body on jutting out. She thought that was a wonderful hiding place and was surprised that I found her so quickly.

Last weekend we went camping with friends on the Connecticut river. What Coco was most excited about was roasting marshmallows. Days before we left she asked, “Mama, are we going to have the white sings [things]?” When I didn’t immediately know what she was talking about she got a bit impatient and said, “the white sings on sticks!”

We brought our kayak camping. We paddled with our friends down the river and found a bit of sandy beach to have a picnic. In some spots, there are weeds that look like fur trees fairly close to shore, making swimming unappealing. But the water at our picnic spot was perfect. Coco kept her life preserver on and was swimming along happily. When Daddy swam out a ways from shore, she began crying because she wanted to go with him. She appears to have no fear. Several times she wanted to jump out of the kayak and swim to our friends in their kayaks. When I woke her up early on Monday morning because we had to leave, she cried. “But I don’t want to go, I want to stay here.”

The summer is nearly over and it has been way too short. Coco’s last day at the family daycare she’s attended for two years was today. I was sad. Those little milestones get me…the passage of time and all that. Now we’re headed straight for pre-school in two and a half weeks and I start student teaching.

All summer I have wondered what to do about this blog. After finishing school last semester, I really had little interest in writing, though funny and wonderful things were happening all the time. I guess I will see what happens after September starts.