Cousins to play with

Because he's the youngest in the family, With-a-Why has always hung out with older kids. When he was in kindergarten, he'd play chess with fifth graders. As a seventh grader, he plays Ultimate Frisbee with college students. When he was a little, I could never get him interested in age-appropriate toys; he always wanted what the older kids were playing with.

At Red-haired Sister's house, With-a-Why can play with kids his own age and younger. He's been having fun with his cousins, Suburban Nephew and Dandelion Niece, and Russian Girl, who lives with their family, and various extra kids his age. The household also includes a host of other creatures: birds that fly above our heads, three dogs that bark like crazy, some rabbits and a hen who live out near the pool, a black cat who slinks about quietly, and a whole mesh tent of monarch butterflies that have been hatching from cocoons.

Yesterday's activities included playing on the tire swing, jumping on the trampoline, and swimming in the pool. The river where we usually swim in the summer is deep and cold, with a strong current, not a good place for learning, which means that With-a-Why hasn't yet become a strong swimmer. Here in the warm pool, with his cousin to teach him, he's been learning new strokes quickly. Yesterday, he was practicing jumps off the diving board.