For several months, a hard core dance hype has been brewing. Even before she knew dance classes existed, she’s been strapping on her ‘dancin’ shoes’ and busting moves all over the place. When we introduced her to old dance recital tapes from my glory days as a 5-year-old, she watched them enough to remember the footwork and sing the songs. She shrieked with delight in anticipation of meeting her new dance teacher and tumbling with other kids, and she attempted to sleep in her leotard the night before her first class… but unsurprisingly to me, she still managed to go to pieces when I dropped her off. Getting her to...
Preschool Prepster
Picture time! This year I jumped at the idea of a ‘Back to School’ themed session for Emerson’s three-year pics. It worked out perfectly that this was offered at the same time she’ll be turning three and also starting preschool at Safari (contingent upon potty-training which deserves an entire post in itself). Going along with the theme, I ordered an adorable preppy outfit online. True to form, I was a little late in doing so, and had to come up with something for her to wear last-minute (outfit arrived in the mail 2 days after her photos were taken). We picked out a good sweater and jeans combo that ended...
2 Year Truths
Truth: 24 pounds (25th percentile) / 35.5 inches (98th percentile) Truth: Experiences sudden and unpredictable urges to remove diaper. Truth: Counting fingers sounds like this, “eight, nine, eight, nine, EIGHT!” Truth: She named all of her babies ‘Amanda.’ Truth: Big into singing, especially ‘Single Ladies,’ ‘Ring Around the Rosie,’ and ‘ABC’s.’ Truth: Prolongs bedtime by asking for milk or water every night. Truth: She would live outside in her beem (swing). Tears ensue at the end of this activity. Truth: Any colorful animal/puppet monster on TV is automatically Elmo. Truth: Escaping through the sliding patio door is a daily activity. Truth: Cries for Papa when she knows she’s in trouble...
Birthday Weekend: Sunday
The final birthday event of the year (I haven’t even begun to cover birthday celebrations in Spirit Lake and Humboldt the previous weekend) began when Mimi Meg and Mimi Jor arrived Sunday morning. Papa and Mark also joined us for a BLT feast before opening more gifts. When my sisters weren’t busy having a photo shoot in the curtains, a new tea set and bowling pins entertained us for the rest of the day. Finally after several days of anticipation, we ate cake! We enjoyed all our guests throughout the weekend, but by Sunday night I was ready to order pizza and kick my feet up! ...
Birthday Weekend: Saturday
Still no sign of confetti or clowns but Emerson was thrilled to see her Papa and Gaga! My sisters decided to celebrate with us on Sunday and Nic’s family was unable to attend so aside from Katie and our special surprise guest, Uncle Bill, we were the extent of the party. In the beginning I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to arrange for everyone to get together at the same time and place but looking back I’m grateful, for Emerson’s sake, that she was able to spend the one-on-one time with everyone and not feel overwhelmed by a large crowd of people all at once. This is definitely the...