The Cottage Garden Seedlings: In Between

Good Evening to all. Well Today is my daughters birthday so last week I drove to Brooklyn to visit her and never found a moment to write to you all about your wonderful children. We are about to begin our 8th week of The Cottage Garden and all the children are settled in. Henry joined us last week and Karolina and Oskar are in the Grand Canyon, on a family vacation, for another week. We have had a number of visitors- alumni Lily and Oliver on Monday, & Rory on Tuesday. They all had a fabulous time playing and the first thing they asked for was soup! As I watch the children grow and play I ponder all that really happens here. It is what happens in between that is important. We plan a story or some songs, what we are going to eat but then the moment comes and it is so different. The other morning baby Oscar arrived and since he just comes one day per week it has taken him a bit longer to settle in. His Mom left and he cried for a few seconds, sat on Barbara's lap for a while and then ventured out into the play areas. For the first time he entered into the Playroom and was greeted by Ruby ( who just 2 weeks before was still not altogether integrated into the group- and both children are still non-verbal) who offered him a toy and he accepted before entering in. It was as though she knew what a momentous occasion this was for him and she wanted to show her support. It was so special and I got to witness it. There are so many moments like that- when the children all sing softly with me to all the lullabies and songs we sing together. or they ask for a story about... something I might have told a long time ago, or one helps another with feeding, dressing or washing, when they help Barbara in the kitchen, share a toy. It is amazing and quite an honor to witness their development- language, social and emotional over the course of the year. Thank you!

Now the photos of the last two weeks: