Frozen Puddles and Minor Gods

It just turned *cold* here this week--last weekend you could still see people eating outside at sidewalk cafes; now the air is frosty, the puddles are frozen and the crisp leaves are the only thing separating us from the mean and harsh New York winter.
Time is zipping by--our first quarter of the school year has passed, and with it our first quarterly reports. I am so happy with the progress the big kids made this term--even with a baby to juggle we have been getting much accomplished. I thought I would dread having to file quarterly reports, but it turns out it is an excellent way to check in during the year and to stay organized. The kids have had a lot of classes as well, which has been busy but nice. The last soccer games of the season are tomorrow. They have had three weeks of ice skating lessons, and those have been excellent--both kids are finally able to actually skate. I am getting to be a bit smarter about this homeschooling gig--like, it is all about the drop off classes with a conveniently located cafe on the corner for Simon and I to hang out in. The kids can be outside learning about bugs and red tailed hawks in Inwood Park and I can be inside, watching them through the steam of my cuppa with Simon on my lap trying to read a book on the table over his babbling.
Speaking of Simon, he isn't going to be sitting on my lap for long. He is fully sitting on his own, and he has an amazing ability to grab everything within a 3-foot radius of his body. He is a happy, shrieking, slobbering bundle of chaos. He has been dabbling with food (banana and avocado mostly, but also tastes of oatmeal, rice cereal and slices of pear or apple or dragonfruit). He likes his Jump Up, which works really well in the door to our bedroom. He loves watching Jonah and I play games involving small chokable pieces, like Mancala or Backgammon. Actually, come to think of it he loves watching Jonah do anything. He thinks Jonah is like a Minor God. I have no idea why, but Jonah can do all manner of annoying, loud, uncomfortable things, and Simon just looks at him with stars in his eyes, cracking up. Maya wants to mother him--in a way that is, well, not really all that motherly. Like she has dropped him on his head twice. Not bad drops--she caught him at the last minute sort of, but drops, nonetheless. She wants to snuggle him and carry him in a cradle hold and make little nests filled with blankets and pillows. Simon finds this much more offensive than say Jonah yanking him up by his wrists or squeezing him around his middle to hang on. So I don't know if Simon just prefers being poked and squished and startled to nearly dropped on his head, but if Maya is carrying him around his eyes seek mine out and he gives me this desperate look that begs "Please, save me from this Faux Mother. Her intentions are good, but I don't quite get what I am supposed to be doing in this claustrophobic nest of fluff--she isn't nearly as exciting as that hyper oaf that thinks it's funny to drop toys on my face while saying 'catch'".