Blueberries and Other Wonders

How lucky are we?

When Aeli woke up this morning, we got him a bottle and watched an episode of Shaun the Sheep in our bed because it was only 7 and Mom wasn't quite ready to meet the day full-on.  Then we cooked and ate eggs, played with some puzzles, and Aeli woke Nicole by tenderly placing the book "Goodnight Goodnight" on her face.

Then we went out to do some gardening.

Amber sunflower

Papayas!

Bed #1 with monster summer squash vine

Giant heirloom tomato volunteers-- growing from a soil that is mostly coffee grinds, beneath a trellis Nico made from bamboo (harvested from the sidewalk patch down the street) and old bicycle tubes.

Bamboo-and-bicycle-tube trellis by Nico.

This is a magical part of the day.

Aeli follows the hose, occasionally insisting on holding a part of it himself, and visits every corner of the garden with us.



He knows where the strawberry plants are, and points eagerly whenever he sees a berry- whether it's green or red.  Once in a while he accepts when I try to dissuade him from going after the green ones, but more often he just keeps pointing more emphatically and making a questiony-cooing sound until he finally works up the nerve to just pick and eat the thing.  Yesterday he climbed over the halves of pallets that make the border of one raised bed and stood among the pine mulch, helping himself.

I am so happy that our baby is growing up garden literate.  While I marvel at the five baby papayas on our first papaya tree, Aeli picks chickpeas, then shells and eats them.  He sees the burn-your-mouth-up-faster-than-magma jabenero peppers and whispers "Haht haht haht!" He lifts himself up on his tip-toes to harvest the red cherry tomatoes.  I just think it's the coolest thing.

And the thing is- he's learning the city way too.  He's getting really good at sitting on the stoop and just waving at the people going by.  He doesn't walk off the sidewalk on his own, and doesn't seem to find it strange that sometimes men walk by wearing booty shorts and lipstick.



He points at every large truck and says "WOW!"

Similarly, for dogs playfully teething each others' ears while growling, A points and calmly says, "WHOA."



He's my little zen master, sometimes.