We went to Jenny’s Strawberry Picking Party today, except that (surprise, surprise) it was raining. So we didn’t pick, and instead we went to Jenny’s to eat yummy strawberry shortcake instead. Anna and Carrie certainly enjoyed themselves despite the lack of picking! (And Carrie got to see Wallace and Grommit while we were there. She keeps asking to watch the dog and the silly man, I’ll have to see where our DVD ended up.)
Month: June 2009
4.8 Years Old!
Dear Carolyn,
You’ve been out of school for nearly a month – this summer is already flying by! I’m afraid I’m going to blink and you’ll be on the bus for kindergarten!
So far we’re having a pretty low-key summer. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that our daily morning argument typically centers around whether you can watch TV before breakfast. I think you’ve figured out that if you ask before I have my coffee, the answer will almost always be “yes”. One of our biggest issues right now is just exactly how independent you are with the TV. You’d gladly watch TV all day long if I didn’t hide the remotes away after a while! In case you were wondering, your current favorites are Dragon Tales, Word Girl, Handy Manny and Go Diego, Go.
I figured something out the other day. You’re shy. You do your best to act as though you’re not, but that completely out-of-control crazy act you do when you meet new people or encounter strangers? That’s really your way of covering up the fact that you’re not sure how to act. Unfortunately, I’ve figured it out, but I’m not quite sure how to fix it. Because, it’s OK to be silly sometimes, but it’s not so great when you look (and typically act) so much older than you are…and then turn into a crazy monkey when someone you don’t know pays attention to you. So this month I’m going to try to help you figure out what to do in these situations (even if it’s to tug on my pant leg and whisper “Mommy, I’m nervous”) so you’ll have an easier time making new friends in the fall.
We’ve been cooped up a lot this month – it’s rained a lot more than usual, practically every day, so we haven’t been outside so much. We’re all a little tired of being in the house. But hopefully nicer weather is on the way, and we’ll be able to enjoy some summer before you head off to your first year of school!
Love, Mommy
Nana & Poppy
Nana and Poppy were up for a visit this weekend and left this morning. The girls had such a good time while they were here. Carrie and Nana were pretty much inseparable. Luckily, we’ll see them again in a few weeks for Anna’s birthday party!
Happy Father’s Day!
With the almost daily rain we’ve had for the past few weeks, I didn’t manage to get the DADDDY pictures done yet. But we still wanted to say “Happy Father’s Day” to Denis, Grandpa and Poppy!
Three Teeth
I bravely stuck my finger in Anna’s mouth this morning and found a teeny-tiny top tooth poking out (her right, center top tooth). There was no crying or any other sleep interruption, so it must not have bothered her at all. Bring on the steak now! (Just kidding.)
Clean Windows
We had the windows cleaned professionally today. We had to get the gutters done, because the back of the house is on a hill and the roof is essentially three stories up. And the place we went with also does windows. So we decided to splurge. Oh, my, do they sparkle! We also took down all of the fake window-pane things that were in them, and I just love the clear view of the outdoors now.
However. I really think I should call the company and suggest that they talk to their employees. If you’re going to go into a customer’s home and do some work, and while you’re there, if you are going to be disrespectful about that home – say, maybe, if you want to comment to your co-worker about the clutter, or the fact that the windows are filthy (um, yeah, that’s why we hired you to clean them), or that you find the naked Barbies on the floor hilarious? Maybe, just maybe, you should check to see if there’s a baby monitor on in your vicinity. Just sayin’.
Pool Season
Anna had her first dip in the pool today. A rather chilly dip, as we haven’t put the solar cover on and it’s really been rather mild so far this summer, but she seemed to enjoy it.
Carrie discovered that she can stand on her tip-toes in the shallow end and have the water only come up to her neck. She’s getting tall, my big girl!
Dance Recital, The First
Carrie did very, very well at her recital today. All the girls did! It was a very long time for her to sit in the auditorium, so we did spend some time hanging out in the cafeteria in the building. But she watched a lot of the other performances, and stuck it all the way through until the end so she could go up and take a bow with everyone else.
The building the theater was in had an escalator, and Carrie was so excited to be able to ride it. She kept begging to go back on the “elescator” again. I kept asking her what she wanted to do just so I could hear her say “elescator”. :)
Eleven Months Old!
Dear Anna,
One more month until the big first birthday! Time flies when you’re having fun!
You haven’t tried too many new foods this month, let’s see…tuna fish, raspberries, yellow beans and sunbutter (like peanut butter, only made with sunflower seeds). But you’ve tried many new table food versions of things you’ve had before. You adore Grandma’s mini-meatball soup (aka Italian Wedding Soup). Actually, you adore anything I let you have in a suction-bottomed bowl with a spoon – you just think that’s the coolest thing. Especially when you eventually pry the bowl off of your tray!
I think your first official word is “book”. You say “boo-uh” and lunge towards the pile of books on the shelf next to the chair when we sit down to nurse in the morning and at bedtime. And you say it consistently enough that I think I’m going to declare it your first word. You also say “dis!” and “dat!” when it seems like “this” or “that” would be appropriate, so I’m wondering if you actually are saying those words too…?
You’re not walking yet, but you are climbing – stairs, that is. And you know you’re not supposed to, because you look back at me with your stinker-pants face like “See, Mom? See what I’m doing?!?” You do that a lot, really, and one of your favorite games is to crawl away from me into a room you’re not really supposed to be in, look back to make sure I’m following, and then crawl as fast as your little hands and knees will go until I pick you up from behind and you squeal with glee.
Speaking of squealing. Baby! You and your sister need to tone down the high-pitched shrieking! You would make most opera singers weep with jealousy – I’m shocked we haven’t actually had any broken glass yet. You know, everyone always waxes poetic about the pitter-patter of little feet, but nobody warns you about the high-pitched shrieking and squealing of little girls…
In a few short weeks we’ll be celebrating the fact that we all made it to your first birthday – and I have to be honest, I think we kind of got off easy. You’ve been, so far, an extremely easy baby. You slipped into our lives and it wasn’t so long before it felt like you’d been here all along anyway. I’m sure we’ll have challenges and changes ahead, there always are, but this part where I’m your mama? That’s the easy bit. Thanks for choosing me to be your mama, thanks for choosing us to be your family.
Love, Mommy
Dress Rehearsal
All I can say, is that while half of them don’t really know most of the choreography, Carrie’s class entirely makes up for it in extreme cuteness. And they’ve all clearly worked very, very hard on their dances. I can’t wait for the recital on Saturday!