Paging Dr. Raiden...

Prophetic? I hope so. I also hope when she's sporting scrubs as an adult she won't do so with her skirt sticking out the back of her pants.

These Boots Were Made for Splashing

Thanks Music Fairy!

Who is the nice music fairy who sent us this fab CD this week? I remember having a conversation with someone about this band but can't remember who - maybe at Kelly's wedding where the wine may have contributed to my amnesia? Music Fairy, please identify yourself so we can thank you. "Where's the Music?" renders Ellie hysterical with laughter in the car.

Birthday Round Up

The birthday extravaganza began Friday night with pizza and birthday cake with Bubbie and Dadaddy. She opened her presents from me - a silver tea service for "fancy" tea parties, some wipe off alphabet and number books and the Princess and the Frog on DVD. Then she opened her presents from Aunt Georgie, Uncle Harry and cousins Christopher and Suzanne, which included what has turned out to be her favorite present so far - binoculars



Not sure where she got the idea, but she actually requested these for her birthday a couple weeks ago. She's enjoyed wearing them in the car to monitor rooftops and traffic lights as we drive. They also came in handy at Central Market to see things on the top shelves.

Saturday afternoon our friends the Rileys came to town. Ellie and Jackson and Alice Anne played with pretty much every toy in the house and enjoyed their sleepover. I have no pictures of them, because I'm lame and often forget I have a camera when there's something special to take pictures of.

Sunday we and the Rileys enjoyed lunch at Kincaid's and then headed to Little Gym for the party. Ellie got a little more adventurous than the last time we were there, and decided to try out the uneven bars and the balance beam. Her favorite was the bouncy bridge. I'm trying to figure out the logistics of renovating a room in our house to install something like this. I think it could guarantee an early bedtime on a regular basis.





Ellie thoroughly enjoyed her party, with the exception of one crying jag after she blew her candle out at the beginning of everyone singing Happy Birthday and then got embarrassed when we relit it and told her to blow it out again. The combination of overstimulation, no nap and a long, tiring weekend of celebration was just too much for the poor bunny. She rallied and enjoyed the rest of the party, although in the parking lot she told me she was "big tired" and needed to go to bed. Once we got home she got a second wind and we snuck in some outside play time before crashing into bed. All in all I think we made a pretty good first birthday impression on this little girl!


And so begins her fourth trip around the sun - enjoy the ride, kiddo!

Four Years and One Day

Ellie has a large and colorful collection of "Chucks" for school - Converse tennis shoes with laces. No velcro, no elastic laces, real old-fashioned laces. Which means I tie shoes a LOT. A few months ago while tying Ellie's shoes, I told her that she needed to watch how I did it and practice, because when she turned 4 she would have to learn how to tie her own shoes to get ready for kindergarten. She showed little to no interest in learning the "bunny ears" tying method, so after a few tries, I told her she'd have to start trying again after her birthday.

On Saturday - one day into her 4th year - I asked her as she was getting dressed if she wanted me to come tie her shoes once she put them on. She said "No - I did it." I went to her room expecting to see a mess of knots and found this:



Now if only my little genius could learn her colors we'll be all set.

Happy Birthday Girl

It was a wild birthday weekend. More tomorrow, but I loved this pic. And that face.

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You Say It's Your Birthday

Someone turned the big 0-4 today.



Happy birthday my sweet girl.