This is my great, great Aunt Amy learning to spin. She turned 90 almost two years ago. I hope I got her genes, and that I’m still learning new things 60 years from now!
Never Too Late
Month: January 2008
3.3 Years Old!
Dear Carolyn,
Oh, it’s been a busy, busy month. Between the holidays, and rehearsals starting…we barely have time to just chill, you and I. I have to admit, I’m worried that things are just going to keep getting busier and busier until one day you’re all of a sudden moving away for college and I’ll be wondering where my pig-tailed preschooler went.
This month you’ve discovered princesses. You’d seen Cinderella before, but I let you watch Beauty and the Beast so you’d have some frame of reference for all the rehearsals you’re coming to with me. It scares you…but not nearly as much as I feared. In fact, the parts you worry about most are when Belle’s Papa is taken away, and when Papa is looking for Belle later. And it hasn’t given you nightmares or anything…and you ask to watch it often. Somehow this has led to you knowing who Ariel, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine are. Maybe this is just a latent genetic memory triggered by watching one or two Disney movies? Or is there some sort of subliminal message buried in the movies you’ve seen? I really had meant to “protect” you from all the over-commercialized princess things, but one thing led to another and now you’re (slightly) obsessed.
I got to meet with your teachers earlier this month, for an “evaluation”. They had nothing but good things to say about you, although they did mention that you have such a quiet little voice. And I had to ask if they were sure we were discussing the same child. Apparently, you find it hard to speak up in class! After listening to you chatter, sing and giggle all day long, I have a hard time believing it.
You know, last month I would have said that terrible twos are a myth, and terrible threes are the reality. But this month has been fabulous. You are a charming, wonderful, imaginative, interesting and funny girl now. Sure, we still have our moments of disagreements, and they can be big, emotional things, but they’re just passing moments instead of whole days now. I just wish I could slow time down a little to enjoy these days more…but then again, I think I’ve been wishing that since the day you were born, and it hasn’t happened yet!
Love, Mommy
Happy Birthday, Denis!
I won’t disclose to the internet how old Denis is, just that he’s once again older than me! (As Carrie puts it, “Daddy, you’re an old man!” It’s too darn funny to hear a three-year-old saying that to try to correct it!)
Future Theater Nut
During rehearsal today (did I ever mention I’m accompanying Beauty and the Beast this year?) Carrie kept begging to go up on stage with the big kids. I had to promise her she could go up there when rehearsal was over. Partway through rehearsal, the director’s wife showed up with their daughter who’s right around Carrie’s age. The girls had a great time playing with each other, and then when rehearsal ended we put the soundtrack CD on and they danced up on stage. It was the cutest little performance, followed, of course, by big bows at the end of the song.
I’m definitely not raising a child who suffers from stage fright…
Gingerbread Girl
Every once in a while, the preschool sends home “homework”, where the kids are supposed to decorate/make/bring something in. They’re talking about gingerbread men (people?) today, so last week we got this outline of a gingerbread person to decorate. Carrie went to town with foam stickers, glitter glue, and scraps of ribbon I found in my craft room. I think it’s the cutest gingerbread girl ever!
Astoundingly Lovely Day
I’m not sure what the official high was today, but our thermometer topped off at 67°! Carrie got to ride her tricycle and we took a nice leisurely walk around the block without coats. She wasn’t all that impressed, though. Halfway through our walk she started asking to go home so she could watch Belle (aka Beauty and the Beast). When I told her she should enjoy the day because in a few days it will be snowing again, she said, “Really? Snow?!? Oh, hooray!”
Not that I don’t like snow, or anything, but I’d prefer some more 67° days this month myself…
Resolved
When I went to pick up Carrie from school today, her teachers asked me if she had gotten a Webkinz for Christmas. When I said yes…but why?, they told me that they had gone around the circle and asked the kids what their New Year’s resolution was. Most kids said things like “I want to get better at coloring” or “I want to learn to write my letters”. Carrie said “I want to learn how to play with my Webkinz more!”
I’m not sure whether to be proud of my little computer-obsessed nut (who can not only use a mouse but is also quite proficient with a trackpad) or ashamed that I let her get so obsessed so young…
Happy New Year!
I know I’ve been really, really behind in the whole blogging thing. I don’t have a good reason for that, other than being busy. I suppose I should make a resolution to keep my blog more up-to-date this year…but resolutions for me tend to last, oh, three days, as is evidenced by my using my paper planner from last year for, oh, three days or so.
I can only promise that I’ll try to be better…especially since it’s much easier to finish blog posts in a timely manner than try to go back and edit several draft posts and add pictures when the last two months are pretty much a blur. Sigh.