Wake Up Call

This is what I woke up to this morning.

She's a clown.

Of course.

Yup

Mama's Got New Shoes!

We've got big plans for the weekend, and they're going to involve a lot of walking, so I figured I'd better get some shoes that a> have some support and 2> aren't falling apart.

Like walking on clouds.

 Here, all this time I've been thinking I'm old and fat, but really I've just been wearing cheap-ass sneakers.

Just Missed It

This is the one photo I got of her today. It was right after she took the plastic basket-box off her head.

When she had it on, she was singing to herself, "He has a funky-looking hat. He has a basket hat."

(I'm not sure which "he" she was pretending to be at the moment. She's always pretending to be someone.)

Snoozing

I really must get better about taking photos.

All Jammied Up and Ready for Bed

But not, evidently, ready for a photo-shoot.

Fifty-Seven Months

Dear Peeper:
I've been pretty busy lately, with a big web design project, so it's taken me a while to sit down and write this letter, but about a week ago, you turned fifty-seven months old. Four-and-three-quarters. I've even found myself referring to you as "almost five" pretty often.

This past week, you attended a "Kids in the Kitchen" YMCA camp. You seemed to enjoy it, and it was great practice (for all of us) at getting up and out of the house in the morning, and for you at being away all morning, all week. Somehow we kind of thought the YMCA would be focusing on healthy snacks, but not so much. You made a traffic light snack, of graham cracker with icing on it and red, yellow and green Skittles, blue Jell-o, "dirt" made from chocolate pudding and crushed Oreos, non-edible "Gak," and chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks. So not such healthy snacks, but you certainly enjoyed them.

The last few weeks, you've been having something of a potty regression, with several daytime accidents; sometimes multiple accidents per day. We're not sure what's going on there, but are considering a visit to your doctor to rule out any physical causes. On the assumption that it's got more to do with just not wanting to stop what you're doing to go to the potty, we started a sticker chart. You get a sticker for each completely dry day - from wakeu-p to bedtime, and when you've gotten ten stickers, you will get to go to the bouncy-fun-place. It's been almost two weeks, and you have five stickers. Sigh.

The start of school is just around the corner - three weeks to go. You are very positive about it, and seem to be excited about going to the Montessori school. My biggest concern, I think, is that part about getting up and out of the house every day, and needing to actually be there on time. We really need to work on our getting to bed earlier.

Of course, that will mean getting started with our evening routine much earlier, to be sure that we leave plenty of time for reading at bedtime. Lately, we've been reading chapter books - we're on our fourth Little House book, and we detoured a bit to read a Civil War book that was set in our town.

You've really been enjoying the Little House books, and have stopped me several times to ask questions and make comments. I've found it interesting how concerned you seem to be with whether Laura and Mary are obeying their parents, or whether they have permission to do something.

In Little House on the Prairie, the first one that we read, there was a scene in which Pa had told the girls not to go in the creek, but Laura was really hot and started thinking about how it would't hurt to just put her feet in. You yelled "NO! Pa told her not to!

If only you were as concerned about whether you have parental permission to do things.

So, what other interesting things have you had to say over the past month or so?

---

Mommy and I were standing in the kitchen, when you came in, holding her empty Goldfish bowl. You didn't say a word to us, just went and stood in front of the (upper) snack cabinet and started jumping up and down, "Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"
What are you trying to do?
I'm trying -ugh- to get some -jump- more Goldfish.

---

Well, hmm, I don't seem to have actually posted anything else on Facebook this month, and you know me and my memory.

Oh well.

Happy 3/4 + a bit birthday, little girlie. I love you.


Love,
Mama

That's It?

Peeper and I had a very full day, but somehow, thanks to full hands and a low phone battery, I only managed to get one photo, and it's not even a very good one.

We started off by attending a Carnival Family Fun Day hosting by a nearby La Leche League group, and participating in The Big Latch On.

Oddly enough, this was the first Big Latch On we'd been a part of, so I wanted to be sure to be there, in case it might be our last. (Although, at this point, I'd say odds are even on that.) A and J were there, too, so that was cool, and the girls enjoyed playing together. Unofficially, I think Peeper was the oldest kid latching, and J may have been the second oldest. Our location had 19 kids participating, but worldwide, there were 14, 536!

From there, we went to a birthday party for a little girl who lives down the road from us. We've talked to them a few times; once last winter, she and her mom came over and played in the snow while we were out front building a snowman. The little girl just turned four, and lives close enough that I'd almost let Peeper walk there alone now, if I were standing in the driveway telling her when to cross the streets. (Of course, she's on the other side of the road, and just into the next block, so there are two streets to cross.) That sounds like a relationship that it would be valuable to cultivate!

The party was at the playground area of the state park, so I had to avert my eyes while Peeper played, to avoid freaking out, especially when I accidentally noticed her climbing up the monkey bars to the upper level of the play structure, which is somewhere over my head. Deep breath.

We got there late, but we were in time for the pinata and cake, so that's cool. Afterward, Peeper and I waded in the creek for a while. Unbeknownst to her, I'd brought our swimming gear, in case she noticed the giant pool and wanted to go in, so I figured that getting away with changing into our waterproof shoes was a pretty good deal.

In the evening, we went to see the local kids' theater camp's production of The Little Mermaid. It was very good, especially for a bunch of kids who've only been rehearsing for a week!

The photo above is from when we were standing in line for popcorn before the show started. Yeah, I know. Pretty sad that that's the best I could do.

Someone was taking photos at the Big Latch On, though, so I'm hoping they might have gotten one of us nursing next to A and J.

Taped Up

This evening was the Library Carnival, to celebrate the summer reading program. Each year, Ms. J, the children's librarian, motivates the kids by promising to let them do something to her if they meet their goal - this year, it was 6000 books.

Last year, they threw pies at her, and this year, they duct taped her to a wall.  Here, Peeper is putting on her piece of tape.

Howdy

For some reason, the little shopping center where Baskin Robbins / Dunkin Donuts and our favorite Mexican restaurant are has this strange Old West theme. This guy sits on the fake front porch, there's a small covered wagon, life-size horses and fake cacti, as well. Ne one really knows why.