early indoctrination

Aunt M (an enthusiastic alumna) took Kiddo to a basketball game this week. Kiddo loved every second of it. She loved the yelling, the cheering, the popcorn, the licorice, the drink. She loved the little dress she got to wear, and staying out late.

She's still my little girl though, because as we sat together that night, and she told us all about the fun she had, she asked me to come sit next to her. "Here, mom, you can sit next to me on the beanbag. There's room." (Except there wasn't. Grandma got kicked off in order to make room.)

giving thanks

I've spent the last 8 Thanksgivings with my Aunt and Uncle (except the year Kiddo was born, but I saw them two weeks before). It's a little weird to not be there this year (but great to be with my husband's family). Part of the Thanksgiving tradition is to write two blessings on napkins.

Here are my two: 1) a home when we had no job, and 2) a job!

(Looking over past years, we've been grateful for a job more than once. I hope to stay grateful as the years go on.)

The extended (but not comprehensive) list is this:

I'm grateful for a good husband who I love more each and every day.

I'm grateful for two beautiful daughters, who make me laugh every day. Especially Kiddo who insists that we laugh lots every day, and Babs who at 19 month is delightfully funny because of who she is.

I'm grateful for a safe place to land when we had no job and no home. Not only was it a blessing to not pay rent or other typical bills, but Babs quickly fell in love with Grammy and Grandpa, and Kiddo made wonderful friends through Sunbeams, preschool, and ballet. There are few greater blessings than good families.

I'm grateful that my husband is now employed, or will be at the start of next year, in what appears to be a stable job, in an exciting place to live. This job should be permanent, for which we're also grateful. It should also allow us to renew some precious friendships.

I'm grateful for prayer, and the support system that comes through membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It's how we've thrived throughout this year, and will in our new place.

introducing Babs

We had preschool at our house this week. One of the little girls showed up a little before every one else. As they were playing, Kiddo took a few moments to introduce her little sister.

"This is Babs. She is one year old. My grandma and Aunt M came out to visit us for her birthday. Well, that was in our old house. Well, Babs likes dogs. She says woof when she doesn't see dogs. She also says it when she sees dogs."

Thanks to the amazing Wendolin for another set of amazing photos!

going boop

Babs is all about sufficient attention. Almost every time she falls, or runs into something, she starts false crying/whining. She won't stop until you ask her "Oh, did you go boop?" [a hybrid of bonk-boom-bump]. She will whine "yeah," then stop crying and go merrily on with life.

Unless she feels that it was more serious than that. Then she'll climb down, and continue her whine to the next adult. The same question must be posed to her, or else the whining continues. She may move on to another adult if one is available.

And, if the self-pity merits it, she may rub her eyes, like the crying "babies on the bus" to underscore the seriousness of her plight.

There is nothing real in these whole interactions. She is not really hurt. We are not really concerned that she is hurt. But we act out the lines wholeheartedly to provide her with that sense of being cared for and loved that she apparently wants and needs (oh, and to stop the whining).

her dancing heart

Kiddo wanted to turn on some music so she could dance. Since my mom was teaching piano lessons, I told her no. But I suggested that "You have music in your heart. Dance to that."

She thought about it a moment, then she explained to me, "Your heart is deep inside of your body. It makes beautiful music. You can dance to it." And she did.

how to eat salsa

...at age 18 - 24 months.

When Kiddo was about 2o months old, my parents took her and me to a mexican restaurant. She reached for the salsa, and they asked incredulously, "Does she like salsa?"

"Oh yeah. She eats it by the handful."

A few moments later they learned I was not exaggerating as she started to scoop handfuls of salsa into her mouth.


Babs has always been more into utensils, and less into eating with her hands. She picks up the salsa bowl and drinks it straight.

Babs, October 31

Did I mention she likes lollipops?

Halloween

This is the net result of Halloween: a very tired girl with a bag of candy. To get here she had a preschool Halloween party and a very successful trunk-or-treat.
This is the requisite shot of my two sweet girls. Babs wasn't to keen on the bee suit, but was very keen on the lollipop we used to bribe her into it. (She'd been carrying it around for about 45 minutes by then.
This is us heading off to our one house we visited for trick-or-treating. That is a sweet little girl.

morning apple

My dad likes a grapefruit with his breakfast. So does Babs. Except she calls it "ap-pul." But she will leave any one to climb on his lap and split the morning "ap-pul." Grandpa's given up trying to convince her it's a grapefruit.