That Old House

We have been living our new house just a few months short of one year now. We are still growing into it, but we've racked up enough memories in this new space for me to consider it where I belong at the end of the day.

Mind you, I'm not calling it "home".

As someone who was transplanted from Seattle as an adult, I don't know if any place other than Seattle is "home".

As a former military-brat-child, I don't know if I can actually know what "home" is.

Nonetheless, this place, this house we are in, it holds several seasons' worth of memories for us. The children, however, they love to reflect upon the old house. I don't find it terribly surprising that Adam has a long standing narrative of the old house, since he was 3 1/2 when we moved and was very verbal and thus able to discuss with us at length details about our old vs. new house and why we were moving.

Natasha, however, surprised the heck out of me when she recalled taking a bath in the kitchen sink at the old house. We did this when the bathtub was off limits because of the new caulk job we had to do to get the house ready to sell.

So now her new favorite thing is to weave together a narrative of our old house based upon her memories and the stories that Adam recalls. As far as they remember, here are the Betz highlights (in order of popular story request by both Betz kids):

1) The dead bird
About two weeks before we moved, a bird fell out of the tree in front of our house and died. Adam found its carcass. I did not remove it quickly enough causing the old house to be known for many months as "the dead bird house".

2) Bathing in the kitchen sink
Both kids had to do this while the upstairs bathtub was off limits during repair. Neither kid was fond of the standup shower stall in the basement.

3) The big ol' sandbox
The one that daddy and Adam built together. Adam spent many, many, many, many hours in there. Natasha was a mere infant when they built it. I remember looking out our bedroom window upon the two: Adam - thinking he was such a big boy helping as he hammered with his stick on a piece of wood. DH, completey absorbed in his project. I bounced Natasha on my shoulder trying to get her to sleep so I could join the two.

4) Bringing Natasha home
Adam was only a few weeks old when we moved into the old house, so of course, he has no memory of the event. He does, however, vaguely recall when Natasha came home (I think this is only because we have pics of the event and talk about it often). Natasha recalls the event from a third person perspective ("I camed home and Adam was there and I had my nookie");(Nookie is Natasha-speak for pacifier).

5) Riding our bikes to Cheryl's
Cheryl, our daycare provider, lived only blocks from us, which is how I found her. I used to experiment with many modes of transport depending upon the kids' ages. I remember being pregnant with Natasha and taking Adam to daycare. I had him in the backpack on my shoulders, walked Desi on a leash, Natasha bulged in my belly, and I had a new little puppy zipped up in my jacket with her head poking out because it was so cold.

But that's not what Adam and Natasha recall. They remember when Adam would ride his bike to Cheryl's and I would push Natasha in a stroller right behind him. Now we are much too far to get to her house on foot (or bike).