co-parenting

Living in a co-housing community has many benefits from shared resources ("hey, can I get a ride to the airport?") to connection with all 60 of your neighbors. One of my favorite parts about it, though, is co-parenting.

My friend, Rachel, and her family live two doors over from me and every week we swap childcare so that twice a month we get a date! While this in itself is not that unusual - lots of people do date night swaps - there is a way of relating to the kids in a co-housing community that is deeper and more meaningful than the way you relate with even your close friend's kids.

For example, tonight was Rachel and Jonathan's turn to have a date night so Adam and I took care of their children, Ethan and Eliana. We decided to go to a chorus concert and invited our other friends in the community, Mhari her husband Craig and their two children, to join us. So, between us there were four adults (Adam, myself, Mhari, and Craig) and five children (Ilya, Ethan, Ethan, Eliana, and Leila). While we watched the concert, Adam ended up holding Leila most of the time while Ethan and Eliana cuddled up next to me. Mhari and Craig took turns sitting next to the other Ethan and Ilya...but it was a very fluid thing. Kids moving from one parent to another as the four of us worked to keep them quiet and entertained. It was co-parenting at its best.

Here is the love of my life, looking a bit tired, but handsome as ever.


This is Rachel's son, Ethan.

This is Rachel's daughter, Eliana. She really is one of the cutest kids I've ever seen. Look at those curls!
Ilya and Ethan really love each other, and they play together so nicely.

Ilya: I'm a princess
Ethan: I want to be a princess
Ilya: You can't. Only girls can be princesses!
Ethan: But, I want to be a princess, too.
Ilya: OK, fine. You can be a boy princess. The green princess

I love the way preschoolers talk and work things out!

Photography Challenge day 5

Sunset on the beach in Seattle.

Photography Challenge day 4

This is Eliana, possibly one of the cutest little girls ever. I love her curls and enormous smile, and you should hear her talk. It is so cute, it will make you melt.

Photography Challenge day 3

This is one of my favorite people in the world and her family. They asked me to take their photo for holiday cards and in 500 shots this was the only one where they were all smiling at the same time. Phew. Who knew this photography thing would be so difficult?

Photography Challenge

A blog that I enjoy reading has challenged its readers to post a new picture everyday in December and, in an effort to take even more pictures, I've accepted. In all fairness, I didn't read about the challenge until today (the 2nd) so I will have no picture on the 1st, but here is today's photo. This is my little girl swinging on her swing in 30 degree weather with no coat and a Hawaiian lei. Just because.

PEPS

When Ilya was born, Adam and I joined a PEPS group - a parent support group. Ilya was just a few weeks old when we attended our first meeting and we met fairly regularly for the first year.
After that, people started to move away and it got harder to find a time when we were all available. We have, however, managed to meet once a year for the past three years, and every time we meet, we take a picture of all the kidos. We had our annual reunion last weekend and here is what you missed:

This is Ilya's best friend, Eleanor. We did date night swaps with her family for years until they moved away last summer. Once Ilya saw Eleanore she never left her side, and Ilya, I'm afraid to say, was not the greatest influence. Observe my child encouraging her friend to climb around the OUTSIDE of the play structure.Eleanor had a new baby sister, Ingrid. Have I mentioned how much I love babies right now?

Meet Hazel. Hazel was the baby that took the longest to sleep through the night, and she is still taking it to extremes.
This next one is Maddy. Maddy is 10 days younger than Ilya, but she is 3 going on 13.And last, but not least, is Zach. The token boy who is so sweet and shy I just want to give him a big hug.I wish I had the digital images of these kids sitting on the couch. It would be so much fun to create a montage showing their development, but I don't, so here it is!

Photography

I have a really good excuse for not updating regularly this time! I have found my passion in life - something which excites me. Something I want to spend every free minute on: Photography. So, I've started a photography blog and I really hope you will all go look at it and leave me comments. I love comments. Every time I see I have a comment, my heart just lights up. Please light up my heart. I post pictures there regularly (about once a week), and to prove it, here is a sneak peek at what I am going to be posting on Monday or Tuesday.