Trip to Great-Grandma's House

We are in the Pittsburgh area for Memorial Day Weekend to visit my Grandma (S's Great-Grandmother, Babi). The weather has been wonderful! Yesterday we spent time with Grandma, my aunt E and cousins. It was a fantastic day. It was also our fourth wedding anniversary and E was so sweet to remember our anniversary. She got us a cake and beautiful gift. We enjoyed ice cream and Pierogies for dinner. Here are some pictures from our day - this house is full of so many memories for the whole family.

A Little Water Goes A Long Way

It was muggy and 90 degrees outside when I picked S up from daycare today so I decided to take her to the park for some time under the sprinklers. What a fantastic idea - S loved it. She completely ignored the swings and the playground as she scooted over to the water park. She was timid for approximately two seconds, but before I knew it she was dousing her head in the water. This is coming from the kid who hates to have her hair rinsed in the bathtub because she gets water in her eyes. I couldn't believe it.


The first two pictures are with my Rebel, but I got tired of lugging it around so the rest are from my iPhone. Quality isn't the best but to me they are priceless pictures.

Teddy Bear Travels

R got S a mini Steiff Teddy Bear for her first birthday. He had soft fur and a kissable nose that S loved very much. Unfortunately, our dogs found him equally lovable and one day we noticed that "L.T." (Little Teddy) was wet with slobber and missing an eye and an ear. I was devastated. Z came to the rescue, scooping L.T. up and working valiantly to have L.T. repaired/find a replacement - all without much success. Apparently this Steiff model is no longer manufactured.

Amazingly, Z found a shop in London, England that had a twin of L.T. in stock! Today we opened the mailbox to find a very special surprise... Little Teddy was perfectly wrapped in a little box that had come from across the Atlantic! HE IS PERFECT!

Marilyn Monroe

What happens when a certain determined 18 month old decides to climb on a grate that is blowing wind into the sky?

You get a cute little homage to Marilyn Monroe.

21 (+8)

I turned 29 today. I have mixed feelings about this, but today was a wonderful, blessed day. The rain marathon here in VA finally stopped, the sun came out, the temperature came up and it was a fabulous day for grilling outdoors. My parents and sister, H, visited and we all enjoyed grilled salmon, cupcakes and wine on our deck. S chose not to eat any dinner (which seems to be an unfortunate habit of hers as of late), but she helped me blow out the candles on my cupcakes (fortunately there weren't 29 candles).

And my birthday gift from R?

I am in love. S was mesmerized!

POTD

Picture of the Day:


Rockin' sweet sunglasses. Cuuute.

An 18 month old's iPhone app pick

It's not explicitly for toddlers - but S absolutely loves this application that Z recently discovered. It's been instrumental lately in calming down a fidgety girl while waiting for dinner at a restaurant. S calls out "birdies, birdies!" and clearly it means she wants to explore this app.

Chirp! Bird Songs USA Lite

Best of all - it's free.

Summer Days

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time." -John Lubbock

Our day started with a lovely trip to Sunday brunch for French toast. Let me preface my next thought by saying that S insisted on wearing her fabulous, pink cowgirl boots this morning - so strut them she did. They are super cute - and very Texan - but they are still a bit big on her. Seeing as I'm always looking for an excuse to pull out my Luccheses and R wore his boots as well, it was a family affair.

All of this leads me to the fact that after brunch R and I decided to take S to one of the parks in our city, which is usually uneventful. Once we got to the park this time, however, S was so excited to see the swings that she ran to the playground as fast as her little feet would carry her - and in a split second she had tripped over her boots and onto her hands and face, smack onto the pavement. She instantly had a bloody nose and a matching goose egg on her forehead which were quickly accompanied by cries (on S's part, and on mine as well). We abandoned the park and hurried home to check S out where I tried to be mom and not switch to doctor mode (does she need a CT scan? How about plain films?) Needless to say we managed to survive and S seemed no worse for the wear. I washed her face, got out Boo Boo Buddy (ie, Lady Bug) from the freezer, and gave her some acetaminophen (generic as of late, what with the massive J&J recall... which is really topic for another post but alarming by the way).

Anyway, we decided not to let the morning's mishap get in our way of having fun at the park. S slipped on some sneakers and we headed out to a different park for Take 2. Fortunately, we had an absolutely wonderful time. There were several squirrels playing in the grass and S spent some time squealing and trying to see where they were hiding up in the trees. She played with some dandelions, asking me to blow loose the seeds. She practiced climbing stairs and then ran like the wind through the grass field.

The swings, slide and jungle gym were of course fun, but as a surprise we found out that the little water park had opened up as well! We were thoroughly unprepared to be soaking wet but S didn't seem to mind at all. The sun was blistering hot and the water felt great. S typically doesn't like water splashing on her so I was impressed that she had so much fun. Next time we'll bring swimsuits, shades and towels.

Squirrel hunt


Bonnet Babe


Underdog!


Discovery...


Water, water everywhere!


Splish, splash


What better way to wrap up a trip to the park than with some Mandarin oranges? This video is hysterical! I've never seen anyone enjoy Mandarin oranges as much as S does.

Sesame Street Live

It was fabulous. Just ask my 1 1/2 year old daughter who nearly suffered a fainting spell because she hyperventilated when she first saw Elmo hit the stage. No, I'm serious. Her jaw dropped and her eyes nearly popped out of her pretty little head when the curtains drew and there was Big Bird, quickly followed by Elmo, right there in front of us. "Ahhhhhh oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" All that I could do (and the people around us, for that matter) was laugh hysterically.

The theme was "When Elmo Grows Up" with a supposed plot - who wants to be a forest ranger when they grow up, or a police officer, yadda yadda yadda - but mostly R and I took in S's expressions when she saw the characters dance to songs such as "I Love Trash" or when S couldn't believe that Dorothy, Elmo's goldfish, or Mr. Noodle, Elmo's sidekick, were really here.

The show was two 45 minute halves with a 15 minute intermission. I was shocked that S sat, mesmerized, for the whole first 45 minutes without revolting. We had to leave 1/2 through the second half because at that point S was overstimulated, dancing off the seat and onto the floor and nearly rolling in the cherry snow cone that I had R buy a little while earlier.

The pictures that we took were technically terrible but absolutely memorable and altogether priceless. Camcorders weren't allowed so all we have are stills, but you get the gist. To see how happy it made S to see all of her friends up close and live made the show worth every single penny.

Arriving at the arena.


S had some suspicion about what happened next because of the huge Sesame Street banner we saw outside.


Eyes glued to the stage.


This picture is the BEST. Girl is flipping out right here. And she just keeps going!


Big Bird and Elmo (not sure why they're wearing cowboy gear... missed that memo.)


Oh my gosh...!


Abby and Elmo, the dynamic duo.


Papa and Pea...


S was beside herself, clearly.


Choo choo!


Even R was enjoying the show.


Mommy and Pea...


Bird's eye view of the stage as we were exiting...


If Sesame Street Live comes to your town and you have little ones, I definitely recommend the show. It was well produced and I have never seen such a captivated group of kids before (no small feat). My mother took me to see Sesame Street Live when I was a child and it was fun to be able to continue that with S tonight. We had a wonderful time.

What's in your purse?

Don't get me wrong - I like Whole Foods as much as the next person. S has taken things to a whole new level, however. She has adopted one of my Whole Foods totes as her new purse. A purse that she stuffs chock-full of very important things such as diapers (girl's prepared, gotta give her that), a sippy cup of juice, mommy's headbands, a Lindt chocolate wrapper, Cheerios, Super Why, blocks and a book. Oh. And what's a purse without a Tickle Monster mitt?

Monkey? Check. Purse? Check.
And yes, that is packing tape on the slide... don't judge... it's R's 34 year old Creative Playthings slide and S came close to falling under the railing a couple of times. Does the job.


Everyone should have a Tickle Monster mitt...

Cheerios and charm

What kid doesn't love Cheerios? S is no different. Who knew that one tiny circle of whole-grain goodness could make someone so very happy.





PSA: those no-spill snack traps are crap. What really happens is you fill with cheerios and give to toddler who promptly shakes the trap upside down as cereal cascades all over the floor. Said toddler then proclaims, eyes wide open while looking at the scattered cheerios, "Mama - mess!"

Facelift and 18 months

I've been inspired to rekindle my blog. I couldn't possibly fill in everything that has been going on since the turn of the new year, but suffice it to say that S is constant entertainment - and enjoyment - around the clock. She turned 18 months yesterday but sometimes acts like a little girl twice her age. She is my my monkey-hugging, adventure-seeking, always-laughing, curly-haired, pizza-loving, purse-toting, running, cuddling, swinging, sliding, sweet S!

Her vocabulary is countless and she soaks up everything that she hears. She mimics what we say and then incorporates those words into conversation. Her favorite saying as of late have been "mess" (thank you for pointing out the dishes in the sink to Mommy, S), "outside please", "oh, Papa", "squirrels!", "oh, Pat" (her lovie), "up, please", "underdog", "all done", "I love you", "slide please", "that's mine", "brush please" (for toothbrush) "eee eee" and "neigh" (for monkey and horse, respectively), "pee pee" (when she has a dirty diaper... of any kind)... I could go on and on.

She is quite the adventurer. Swings - the higher the better - hence "underdog". Thanks, R, for teaching her that one. Slides - the more slippery the better. Her favorite thing to do is run up and down the Downtown Mall, checking out every store and nook.

Favorite foods: watermelon, pizza, grilled cheese, ice cream (with rainbow sprinkles, of course) mandarin oranges. She's pretty picky these days, and her weight has tumbled down the growth chart. She sits at about the 15-20th% for weight, weighing in around 22lb even.

Here are some recent pictures.

Z was visiting and we had a wonderful time with her! Here's a picture of S in the wheelbarrow while we were gardening outside...


Summer jammies


Sharing cupcakes with Papa