“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week you’ve been listening to a podcast called “Welcome to Night Vale”. It seems to be a sort of dark comedy. Your dad and I were discussing how you are a person who is highly susceptible to being scared, and I mean really scared, and yet you are also attracted to things that frighten you. You like to walk to the line between being genuinely terrified, and perhaps just a little uneasy. I do not like to be scared at all, so I had to learn where to draw the line (PG and under, thanks). But, it will be more nuanced and subtle for you, and you’ll have to be careful about what you expose yourself to as you get older.

Zane: Today is your very last day as a two year-old. I cannot believe it. I would be in denial, if I wasn’t so aware of it. Although we are still very much a duo, I can feel you pulling away, ever-so-slightly, and it does hurt. But, let me be clear: YOU are not causing me pain; and, it is more sadness than despair. I know we have at least a couple more years before you go away to school, and then after that there will be many years to go before you leave home. Still, I do feel it looming, just a little bit, already.

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week you got your class assignment for the coming school year. You have Mrs. Ronning! You really didn’t care who your teacher was, but you were very concerned about who would be in your class. Thankfully, your best friend is in your class this year. You seem very relieved now, but on the way to see the class lists you said, “I have butterflies in my stomach, and newts, and the newts are devouring the butterflies.” You are a strange kid, but I love you! This year you have a locker, so when we went to buy school supplies you bought some things to put in it, like a wipe off board. I cannot believe my child is old enough to have a locker.

Zane: This week we’ve played outside a lot. The weather is so cool, it really feels more like fall than summer. You’ve been really enjoying riding your little push bike. You can’t go very fast yet, but you look so gosh darn adorable wearing your little helmet. I think you just need an inch or two more of height and it will be a lot easier for you to make your bike go! You’ve also grown very emotionally attached to our vegetables. You helped me pick a zucchini and some cucumbers to make lunch, but then you cried when I tried to prepare them! Poor little Zane! I never meant for our garden adventure to be so traumatizing!

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week you have expressed a strong desire to go back to school. For you, I think it’s mostly social. You haven’t seen a lot of your friends this summer, and I know you are really missing them. You really prefer to have one or two close friends, but I think you genuinely miss being in the classroom and having people to chat with about kid stuff. Luckily for you, the wait is almost over. Big changes are ahead — are you ready??? I feel excited for you, and I know you’re going to have a great year! [P.S. You really enjoyed that crazy hail storm we had. You even gathered up some hail and put it in the freezer for posterity. I think it’s still in there!]

Zane: This week you endured more than your fair share of riding in the car. The whole thing started out rather simply: we drove to the Manchester airport to drop Daddy off so he could fly to California for a wedding. However, after three or four delays, they cancelled his flight. He was able to arrange a new flight, but it was leaving out of Boston at 6am the next morning — quite the quandary. We ended up driving back to Manchester to pick up Daddy, then to Boston to stay overnight in a hotel, then up at 4am to drive Daddy to the airport, and then home again (your sister got to skip this part and stayed at Nanny and Papa’s house). You were an angelic traveler, which made the whole thing a lot easier than it could have been.

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week you made a beautiful drawing of fireflies alighting from the ground against a midnight blue background and titled it “Little Souls”. You have really moved into a new artistic phase where you are spending more time conceptualizing and trying out different styles. I think this is a sign of a maturing artist, as you move away from emulation toward something more uniquely your own. Your work is beautiful. I am so proud of you.

Zane: This week you discovered that you can draw things that actually look like, well, things! First you drew a “kayak” and then a human-like figure. After you were finished you exclaimed, “I made a person, it’s called a baby!” You seem to be really interested in representational art. It’s funny how much you and your sister have in common, despite the fact that you are two very different people. I am so happy that you both love to create and express yourselves through art.