paint chips and easter eggs

thinking of iowa again--this time it is of our old neighbors, joaquin and marta (not their real names) and their oldest kid. even though gus' school was like two blocks away, i usually drove him because a) i was sick and pregnant and b) it was cold. REALLY cold. anyway, when we would pull out of the driveway i would look over at my neighbor's house and far too frequently see their 1-year old standing on the windowsill, pressed up against the glass and gnawing on the wooden frame. it was an odd sight and disconcerting--it was an older house and there is no question they had lead paint on that window. this child and his newborn brother both stayed at home all day with a nanny and, later, a manny, as both of the parents worked, and i told the nanny/manny that i was really concerned about his health...etc. the nanny, who quit not long after i talked to her (because the parents adopted another child and didn't give her a raise), did nothing; the manny was french and saw no reason for alarm. the parents couldn't be bothered--they were both perpetually one failed grant application away from unemployment. i can still see that child hanging there, swinging back and forth from his teeth in the window thinking, like sophie with the candy cane, mmm, sweet...

when we lived in houston this last time, i got so paranoid about whether or not gus had eaten any lead paint when we lived on dunstan that i took him to a harris county health clinic and had him tested--the tester called lead paint chips "ghetto m&ms." isn't that awful? i have no idea where i am going with this story, but now i can stop thinking about it. and, the story is the context for the easter 2006 pictures below:

i love that when we tell gus to get dressed to hunt for easter eggs he chooses this outfit

...chocolate...

...eggs...

...pretty, pretty eggs...

maybe it's the skull on his shirt, but this has such an "alas poor yorick, i knew him [well]" quality.