An April like week in February

The weather has been much more April than February like. Much though I still don’t like it, we’ve made the most of the sunny & 60 degree days in a few stolen moments.

Monday was a holiday and Big S was out of town for 3 days for work. So Mom managed to tear herself away from work a little and go on a walk around the block with Little S. In case you were wondering, walking around ONE (1) city block takes her about 40 minutes sometimes. Not because her legs are that short, but just because there are SO!MANY!EXCITING!THINGS!TO!SEE!

And a public apology to all of our neighbors. She’s obsessed with all of your driveways, stairs and lawns. Thanks for not minding two strangers hanging out in your yard for an excessively long time.

One of her favorite driveways having both a hill and stairs! (and kids, so hopefully understanding parents)

Oh right. This particular walk also was a bike ride. Well, occasionally.

Hat off

 

Off Bike. (Not allowed to ride without it)

Hat on

On bike. And our favorite of late (except not really)

SELF!

 

As she’s usually SCREAMING it at us that she wants to do it herself. Even if she can’t. She’s going to try and then get mad that it’s not working. And to think we couldn’t wait for her to get more independent.

So, she gave up. And found a small hole in the sidewalk. With small pebbles. Who knew I’d been missing it all these years?

A closer look at this interesting sight

Still not close enough

 

And then she licked the hole/pebbles.

At least she’s really good about spitting things out when I put my hand in front of her mouth…

And this was the last happy face after I told her to stop eating them and right before I told her “no” again, so she kicked off her boots in anger and I carried the bike, her helmet. her boots and a MAD wiggling, kicking & screaming baby the rest of the way home. Where she had a nice long nap.

Which left her refreshed for an afternoon at OMSI with Auntie Sunny.

I know we see a lot of squirrels in the neighborhood, but we were still amazed when she took (was handed) some of the play acorns from another kid and knew exactly where they went and what to do with them

That would be storing them in the tree for winter.

They had a big table with Legos out too. She loves building things. Especially with Auntie Sunny’s help.

Little S clearly doesn’t mind the sand between her toes, or anywhere else

The nice weather held all week and I managed to eke out a little extra time Wednesday afternoon so she didn’t have a whole week with the  poor babysitter since Dad was out of town. So, we headed for the park. Where she was all things SLIDE.

After convincing me to go down the big slide with her the first time (I tell you what. It is not meant for Mommy hips) She decided that this was the day that “I Did it. Self.” In her words.

It’s not so much the slide as the fact that there’s a pretty big step up to get into it. But the past few weeks she has become the stair MASTER taking stairs with a lot less “Mommy hand” and a lot more “self. SELF”. and she is successful. Climbing up and down all but the steepest stairs without our hands and without a handrail while remaining upright the whole time. That is something to be proud of “self”. And the results are that she can now climb up to and go down this slide

Again and again and again.

 

These sunny days have been fun for all of us.

Valentine’s Day in the Rain

You know it’s time for a new couch when the old one starts eating your baby

 

Any and all suggestions of where to find tough, stain resistant, affordable, and not baby eating couches are welcome.

Saturday morning was strange. After a good night of sleep following a string of not good nights, Little S was really mellow. She happily entertained herself in the corner (I know, nobody puts baby in the corner, but what if she puts herself there?*)

reading book after book. Of course this is the one day I had to be somewhere for work and not just working on the computer. She always knows…

For work, I had a special shirt for her to wear. She was VERY excited about it too. And every time she was leaning back so you could see the shirt & I went to take the picture, she decided she was ready for her close up

 

And would L-E-A-N in to the camera. The little ham. So, that picture of her utter cuteness in a shirt that’s way too big (Youth small) will have to wait for another, less hammy day.

Fortunately the day afforded us a chance for a walk. But, it’s kind of far after a few blocks, so, she found a perfectly wet rock wall to sit on

where she proceeded to try and convince me to sit on the wet brush next to her. I wasn’t biting. I’m a pretty bad Mom that way.

She is such a parrot in both words and actions right now. Monkey see:

(“Doggie. back” yes. doggie scratching her back) Monkey do:

 

(“fia. back” Yes. You’re scratching your back too.)

as she’s rolling around on the ground and I’m wondering what the neighbors must think. “No, we don’t just put her food in a bowl on the ground and Yes. If I could potty train her to the lawn, you bet I would in a heartbeat!”

Today was a pretty good El Nino weather day. Rain in the morning, than mostly sunny all afternoon and mid-50’s. That is, until we went to go to the park because Little S was LOSING it! and needed to burn off some energy.

And within just a few minutes of getting to the park, a nice little downpour. Big S tried to get Little S to the covered area. The minute her feet hit the ground, she took off, right back for the rain. Such an Oregonian-turning her face to the rain

Drenched to the core and still having fun? Check.

Was it a Happy Valentine’s Day (Or Happy Birthday if you asked Little S to say it)?  I would say so!

 

*A reference to the film “Dirty Dancing” in case you were wondering

Dancing Pants

I was warned earlier today by my ever cautious husband not to use the blender without checking it first. Lest I miss this

Little S’ stuffed dog with a book in the middle. I don’t know what you would call it, but it always reminds me of the joke about outside a dog, a book is man’s best friend…

As we were picking out clothes this morning, I was asking Little S what she wanted to wear and she managed to find a pair that was kind of at the back and that she had mostly outgrown. She points to them and says “dance”. So, today she wore her “dancing pants”. And dance she did-even though it’s kind of hard to tell because well, it is a still picture

Ringing the bell along with the music

She also discovered my hydration system. Which she delighted in both drinking out of and taking on a walk around the house telling Mommy and Daddy both “DRINK”

 

“DRINK!”.   I guess we looked thirsty.

Taking advantage of yet another nice afternoon (sorry mid-atlantic states residents. I’m jealous of your snow) we took a family walk before the big game. And it was such a great Sunday that we even had time to stop and smell the snow crocuses.

 

Saturday in the snow

Thanks to my friend T for organizing a snowshoe adventure. After our first visit to the snow, I hadn’t been that enthused to get Little S back up there. It’s a long drive to play in the snow for 15 minutes and have to leave with a cranky toddler. But, with a large group of us going, I figured more people to entertain Little S, we might last for maybe 30 minutes and then we could always go back to the car or just walk around the parking lot or something.

Plus, Big S’ store rents out a sled specifically for towing kids behind you as you as you X-country ski. or snowshoe. So even though she hates being tied down, I was thinking we could do a combo walk/pull.

The day was dry-definitely a bonus. We got two cars, 7 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs up to the mountain at a reasonable hour. There hasn’t been much fresh snow and the trail was crusted over bumpy terrain. Which meant that with all the ruts, Little S tipped over fairly quickly. That made her less than enthused about the sled. So, after some complaining, I let her out to walk a little.

 

And get carried a little. The crusty snow that wasn’t so good for the sled at least made walking possible for Little S instead of sinking.  However, we weren’t going to get very far that way.  Fortunately the other girl with us, Abby hopped in the sled for a while. Because she was a MUCH bigger girl, Little S was enthralled with her.  So, when the offer was made for Little S to climn in the sled next to Abby, she accepted. 

So then we were able to cover some ground. With the exception of a small incident of someone getting both of their snowshoes undone by a third party prankster without noticing and having their forward momentum thwarted

 

The girls enjoyed a nice ride uphill back, courtesy of Mom. Eating snowballs the whole way.?  Who knew they were so tasty.

While we didn’t set any land speed records, we certainly had 2 tired kids, and at least one tired Mom. And possibly a few others too.

Once we got home and took a nice well-deserved nap, it was on to dinner. My little helper is getting more helpful when I cook. We worked on putting the salt into the meatballs

Of course there are still potential pitfalls abounding in the kitchen. Like when I turned my back, the sifter full of flour.. well it’s no longer full of flour.

It’s still so great to have a kitchen assistant who is learning more and more everyday.

A day in the life of a Friday afternoon

This Friday was one of the last few before work kicks back into high gear, so we made the most of it. Somehow, I even managed to get lots of photos, so here’s a photo journal of our afternoon.

“Driving” her knocked over shopping cart with Elmo trapped in the “trunk”. She’s very obsessed with “Mommy Car” and “Daddy Car” so I guess this is “Fia car” for now.

Stealing some of Mommy’s Raisin Bran

 

Minutes later, having ransacked her drawers and finding a dress that she’s outgrown after having never even worn it, she brings it to me and demands to wear it.  (You should hear our sock decisions in the mornings!) It actually looks really cute, but all the photo I could get was this as she was tearing apart the bookshelf at this one spot that she is obsessed with playing with

 

And on to the park. After hucking her stroller dolly to the ground and I tucked it in the back of the stroller, her little eagle eyes spotted it when she was out of the stroller. So her and dolly had a great time at the park. She finally discovers that she can tuck dolly under her arm and free up both hands for her adventures at the playground

 

She finds a walnut on the ground. I’m trying to convince her to put it back on the ground for the squirrel. She kind of ponders it as I tell her again and the she looks up at the tree near us and you can tell she’s thinking as I keep telling her to leave it for the squirrel. So then she does this

taking the walnut over to the tree and realizing she can’t put it up in the tree where the squirrels are, she puts it at the bottom of the tree. It was really amazing to watch the thought process come together.

And, then I guess the walnut was lonely

Stay dolly

I guess dolly looked cozy so Little S wanted to read a book under the tree

And then on to the big slide

 

And trying to get back up the hard way  

And on to another slide where she somehow manages to climb up to the platform unaided-except by her dolly

And down the slide with dolly again

Ever since she saw another girl on the little platforms like a balance beam, she’s been into walking on them too

Then. It was time to leave. I needed both hands and them some to strap her down to the stroller. I’ll leave you with the aftermath of her anger & frustration at having to leave

 

Because sometimes all you can do is throw your shoes! And a sock too.

But all this fun can be exhausting. And exhausted babies sometimes get frustrated when they can’t successfully crawl over their highchair legs and throw a rarely (so far) seen temper tantrum

But it made for an eager diner

The day came to a perfect close with Daddy getting home early and Little S wearing Daddy’s “mittens” and “hat” 

With only a bath and an early bedtime to cap off a wonderful Friday with Little S.

Another trip to the snow is in the cards for tomorrow, so a well rested baby will be a good thing.