Friday, August 11, 2017

Grammy and Grandpa came to stay with us while Jeremy was in Orlando for his quarterly state committeeman meeting. They are worn out. This home remodel has required them to go through every single thing they own and decide what to keep, what to trash, what to give away, and what to try to sell. It’s been physically exhausting, emotionally traumatizing, mentally draining, and just all around rough. When we stop and think that they really started the process back in April and are now in the heavy throws of it… that’s a long time! And now they’ve been displaced from their home for about a month. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Selah June has enjoyed their company — even if it’s had to be a bit low-key. Dad found princess songs on YouTube as well as little home videos of a person playing with Ana and Elsa dolls. She took to wearing Jeremy’s super big headphones and vegging out to videos. We watched Married at First Sight – the Reunion. It was nice to watch adult shows for a change. When the cat’s away!!

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Do you see this mess? Selah June discovered all kinds of clothes in her closet, and this felt hat was in the mix. She insisted on wearing it to school. (Keep in mind it is in the high 90s right now.) She couldn’t wait to show all of her teachers her hat, and she still had it on when I picked her up later that afternoon.

Apparently, her arch nemesis, Gage, is a really physical kind of kid. Everything Gage does is aggressive. He hits – why we don’t like him. And he hugs – especially all the moms. When Selah June gets to school, the first person to greet her is Gage. And he wants to give her a bear hug. She leans over next to me, sometimes grabbing my leg, and whines “noooooo… No, Gage!” And the teachers tell him, “Gage, not yet.  Give her some space, Gage.” It’s almost like she needs her morning coffee before she can interact with the intensity of Gage-style friendship that early in the morning.

The other thing that’s been a thing this week is that the kids all need to play outside, but it’s way too hot. So they have a few activities that they can play in the shade. One of them is a sandbox with toys. She loves to make things with all the sand, building things on the table by the door. But she’s very proprietary. If I come to pick her up, and the other kids are waiting to play with her toys and sand, she has to mess it all up. It has to be a disaster so that 1) she’s not leaving some she wants to play with and 2) they will not have the advantage of benefitting from her labor. It’s really funny (and a little dictatorial).

Monday, August 7, 2017

She is really exploring pretend play, and she’s beginning to play in her room by herself. It’s really weird to have your kid go from needing your constant attention to disappearing for long stretches at a time lost in her own world of wonder. She found baskets of hats and tutus and necklaces in her room, and decided to play dress up. At one point, she came out of her room with no panties and just a tutu. Priceless picture – not for the Internet.

Daddy and Mommy went into her room so that she could make us treats. We had ice cream and sandwiches and juice and all kinds of delicious food. You can see the devastation…

Saturday, August 5, 2017

This was just the week of play dates! Harrison’s mommy asked us to come over to dinner at their house over the weekend. We played with all the toys and jumped on the little indoor trampoline. We ate kabobs and had grilled peaches for dessert. Then we played outside with Harrison’s water table before the sun set.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Sheila and Catherine joined us at the splash pad downtown to enjoy a little bit of summer. It was funny to see all of the moms there at the same time, planning a play date and picnic in time to make it home for afternoon nap.

Catherine loved all of the pigeons. She also loved to explore the boundary limits of the park. That freaked a lot of the guys that were getting ready to fish off the end of Palafox out. Sheila seemed totally used to it. Catherine is a runner.

Selah June wanted to stay right around the water. She liked exploring the splash pad, but she wasn’t so sure about going in the water. She ran all around it and got me to chase her “very carefully” so we didn’t slip and fall.

I brought tons of fruit and granola bars. Sheila brought the girls big lollipops. So sweet…

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Today was Daddy’s birthday. Selah June and I got home a little early so that we could surprise Daddy with a birthday card. But he ended up beating us home. So she snuck upstairs to “roar” him (scare him). He was definitely surprised. They spent about an hour visiting, and she turned a plain envelope into a lovely card with lots of circles just for him.

We then went to his “birthday party.” After picking up some chicken nuggets at Chick Fil-A, we went to Small Cakes and bought all the cupcakes and ice cream we could collectively handle. (And, yes, I could handle much more than either of those two.) I have no self control.

Selah June wanted to sit at the little table, so that’s where we started the birthday party. Before too long, she decided we needed to move over to one of the bigger tables.

Does that look like a party or what??

Monday, July 31, 2017

Selah June loves to ride with the windows down, the wind blowing in her face. When we turn corners or go over bumps, she squeals “whoo hoo!!!” She definitely loves the open road. And when Daddy is driving, the music is turned way up. Usually it’s the piggy song (“Shake It Off”) or the mouse song (“I Did It My Way”).

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Selah June picked out some window markers at Target for our post-nap activity. They were like magic. Though they went on clear, they dried into a color that looked like it had been crystallized. They were super cool, and we had fun drawing on both back doors before making dinner.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Between a trip to D.C. and house guests, the time has really gotten away from me. Mom and Dad moved over to Aaron and Jessica’s house this afternoon, so we had the house back to ourselves this evening.

Selah June talked her daddy into filling her plastic pool up, and the whole time he worked on it she stood in the doorway telling him he was doing “awesome!” And “great!” I asked Aaron if his kids said the same thing at that age, and he just laughed and shook his head. Definitely a byproduct of having a perfectionist teacher who molds through encouragement for a mom…

She wanted to go on a walk before dinner, and so we set off down the road. She wanted to ride her scooter, but it was really hard for her to push up the hill. We talked her into leaving it at the house for safe keeping.

She had socks on both hands – she calls them “frog hands.” And she thoroughly enjoyed being the leader to a game of red light, green light. Then we had to run with her – with “serious” faces, which look a whole lot like mad faces. After a while, she pooped out and got each of us to carry her on our shoulders for the final stretch.

July 11-12, 2017

It’s the dead heat of summer, and we are filling our afternoons with trips to Target and activities that involve water. Selah June loves to go “shopping.” There’s always something to be found at Target, and they give you free popcorn for good behavior. How can you beat that?

1. We let her pick out several packs of hair bands because we go through them by the handfuls. She wanted the sparkly multicolored ones. I’m sure they’ll be gone by the end of the week.

I took this picture in the late afternoon, and it reminds me so much of the Olan Mills portraits in front of fake backdrops. Must have just been the lighting.

It’s kind of tricky taking pictures of naked babies frolicking in a green plastic pool. Too cute to not take pictures and too naked to take anything but headshots.