Why must she...

diaper everything in sight? This morning it was her dolly - tonight it is her little people - I swear, everything in her mind needs a diaper?

The dolly:


Nana and Papa:

(my parents are going to have a hoot about this!)

Flowers galore - and a bee sting

So this past weekend was my cousin's bridal shower that Little One and I will be a part of on October 27th. So some of the numerous things we did for the shower was to pick the flowers at our favorite flower-blueberry-strawberry-pumpkin picking/goats in the trees farm. Unfortunately I got stung by a bee and turned into a nasty infection. :( But we're all good now!

So here is little one in the flowers:




And here is the set up of the Bridal shower:



Little One at the shower (DH dropped her off and she wouldn't put her shoes on):


(another cousin in the background)

The Bride!

(future SIL to the right)

The Bridesmaids and the Bride:


The lovely shoes my aunt made for all of us - bride in white, bridesmaids in pink and moms in black. :)

Back To Work

I have the great job of being a teacher. I absolutely love my job, however somedays I don't. Tomorrow is going to be a mixture of that. Ever since I was a kid - I LOVED getting back to school supplies - my mom always said I would own a paper store when I got older - instead I am in control of a whole classroom of goodies and tomorrow I get to sort them out. However, it will be a sad day too - Little One will be going back to daycare full-time. She continued to go 2 half days a week this summer, and it was great for her - but going back full time after a fun-filled summer with mommy is going to be hard for both of us. Tonight I cried so hard because I will probably be gone before she wakes up in the morning - and for the most part, I've been the one to get her out of her crib when she woke up in the morning.

I know that I did so much with her this summer, but there are things I never got to - we didn't finger paint or go to the "big wave" beach - we didn't do chalk drawings or visit the aquarium - it seemed that in the beginning of the summer, I had so many plans for us - and we did do a lot - but I feel bad that I missed some things.

So here is a partial list (with pictures) of what we DID do:
1. hung around in our pj's one day (ok, so maybe more than one day)

2. took swim lessons
3. blew bubbles

4. blew bubbles in the water
5. walked to the park
6. went to the "fun" park
7. swam in the little kiddie pool

8. made some bandana clothes :)

9. ate lots of "bay-gals!" with cream cheese

10. went canoing for the first time

11. swam in two lakes
12. swam in an ocean
13. played with playdough
14. learned not to eat crayons and used them in a coloring book

15. use crayons on the windows :)
16. walked the dog
17. visited Maine
18. attempted to play mini golf

19. pooped on the potty

20. read books
21. rocked in rocking chairs
22. napped

23. went on lots of playdates
24. discovered blueberries

25. went to the zoo (2 of them!)
26. went to the children's museum (2 of them!)
27. played with cousins
28. ate her first ice cream

29. learned how to build structures out of blocks
30. baked muffins
31. drank juice

32. had a picnic on the beach

33. went down slides

34. visited the neighbor's dog
35. got a playground in her own back yard

36. went to different farms

37. watched the "ooh-dogs" on the computer
38. visited Nah-nah and Pa-pa!
39. visited the library
40. made music with pots and pans

Only 187 work days until next summer! :)

I love to play! :)

Little One loves to play - she loves her babies, Little People, blocks, books - but she really loves to be outside exploring and playing.

Here are some of my recent favorite "playing" pictures.

Gentle Blue Giant

So where did this name come from? Well, a few years ago I took a course called Responsive Classroom - and we learned this song that sounds great when sung in a round. It was called, "This Pretty Planet." So I learned this song, taught it to my students and fell in love with it.

Flash forward to my 2 week old daughter (sometimes around Christmas 2005) and I just couldn't get her to sleep. So what do I do? I swaddled, swayed, shhhed, cluster fed until my nipples felt like they were going to fall off...and then it came to me - sing the "Pretty Planet" song - and so I have done every night since then. This song is also known to keep Little One quiet while driving in the car - only I must sing it as loud as my voice can go.

I just found out a few weeks ago (when I was sharing this info with a friend) - that it's the Earth Day theme song - who would have known it had such a powerful following?

Here is the song:

This Pretty Planet
By John Forster & Tom Chapin

This pretty planet
Spinning through space,
You're a garden,
You're a harbor,
You're a holy place,

Golden sun going down,
Gentle blue giant
Spin us around.

All through the night,
Safe 'til the morning light.

Here is a picture of Nah-nah Bee singing to Little One back in January '06:

Trip to the Farm

Yesterday we went to one of our favorite farms to visit the animals. Our little one loves to see the sheep and the cows.

Daddy and I looking at the sheep:


The sheep:


The hayride with Daddy (we look so serious!):


Walking in the grass:


Cooling off with the water bubbler:


And - my first ice cream! We've tried and tried to get little one to eat ice cream, but she kept refusing and spitting it out - now at 20 months she finally ate her first! :) Looks like she enjoyed it!

Trying it out:


This is great!


Uh-oh - I got something on my hand:


I'll just lick it off:


YUMMY!


Thanks mom and dad!

So it begins!

Well, I started this blog back when our daughter was still in my belly - who would have thought that 1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks and 2 days would pass before I would write about her? She is the love of our lives - this little girl. I really have no right to call her a baby anymore, for she walks and talks and can even hold a basic conversation. Not the cuddly baby who nursed at my breast and slept in my arms for hours at a time - she is long gone, although she does enjoy a good cuddle from time to time.