Still life with anteaters

On Sunday when I declared that I was going upstairs to paint the stripe on the walls of the baby's room, E declared that she was coming to help. And help she did, in the form of entertaining me with her nonstop chatter. I hadn't been specific enough: I should have said that I was going upstairs to spend a lot of time with the level and the pencil and making tape lie in really straight lines in preparation for painting the stripe on the baby's walls. And E hadn't been specific: she should have said that she expected to be wielding the paint roller again. She quickly grew bored and began poking around the various items piled in the center of the room.

She found her brother's new anteater and ran to her room to bring her own bug sucker to the party. And make no mistake, it was a party. It was a party to celebrate Baby Brother. She told me so, for she was using discarded painter's tape to dress them in their party clothes.

December 7, 2009
Still life with revelers

In honor of the occasion, I present her explanation for their attire via a couplet:

Baby Brother's a boy, Mama. "I know, love." You do?
That's why I needed them to wear this tape - because baby boys like blue.