Susannah the Brave

Susannah herself is generally quite calm; she is the eye of the hurricane.

The swirling matter *around* Susannah -- That's a different story.

We are meant to wean Josh off "the bottle." This really needed to happen months ago, but the resulting tantrums were so unpleasant, and the bottle was just an easy, fast fix. The bottle was to Josh what book purchases are to me: Succor. I can look at Don Winslow's 1,000-page Drug War tome--"The Force"--and I can think this doesn't speak to me, and I'll never read it. And I can still purchase the book--because the extraction of sums, and the collecting of a technicolor goodie-bag.....Those parts are satisfying. An itch has been scratched.

Because Josh isn't really "off the bottle," the sight of Susie with her age-appropriate bottle can be traumatic. We're talking: screaming and crying. Ultimately, Susie's bottle finds its way into J's hands.

Then J's actual food--macaroni, meat sauce--gets tossed to Salvy.

When Salvy is finished, he runs outside and rips up a diaper in an unsealed trash bag--unless we store the bag way up high on top of the defunct hot tub, a tall empty box that has been neither hot nor tub-like since we moved into this house.

All this is maddening--but at least you have Susie smiling modestly, blowing little bubbles in (mysterious) excitement.....

I do look forward to later stages of development.

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