Friday, October 27, 2017

We experienced our first fall festival at UWF this Friday. The kids in Selah June’s class were supposed to dress up like scarecrows, but I was lucky to get her into some form of overalls. She was not interested in wearing any face paint or a hat, and I certainly was not going to get her all scratchy with straw.

The kids in her class spent days in advance making construction paper farm animals and tractors, and these decorated the big red barn backdrop for pictures.

They had popcorn and cookies and cupcakes for the kids, and Selah June was a big fan. She also was a fan of this little cow. Once she got a turn sitting on it, she wouldn’t give it up. The rest of the world moved around her while she hogged the cow. Finally, after a long time of sitting on the cow in the middle of all the action, she was willing to join me to stand in line for the tractor ride.

It was crazy to watch all the kids ride the emotional wave of excitement and overstimulation upon arrival, to crazy running around the playground chasing each other, to the sugar high and low from doing the cupcake walk and eating cupcakes and cookies, to having meltdowns as mommies and daddies left to go back to work. The center has the festival down to a science, and all the rest of us faculty parents just stepped back and watched in awe.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

We went to Jason’s Deli after church. I was really struck by how much easier it is to take her out to restaurants now than it was even just 6 months ago. I’m also painfully aware of how many times a day I call her “baby.” She recently started correcting me every time, saying “I’m not a baby. I’m a big girl.”

Jeremy arranged a trip to the corn maze in October before Halloween. I remember taking Selah June as a tiny little baby, when I was able to wear her in the Moby. It seems like so long ago and just yesterday all at the same time.

The kids had a blast, but it was really funny seeing how each of them reacted differently to the various activities. Liam was not a fan of the cow train, but Selah June wanted to ride it first thing and all by herself. She picked the very last train car, and didn’t blink an eye at the fast crazy 8 ride. She was so stinkin’ cute bringing up the rear.

At some point we got separated, and the next thing I knew she was on a hayride out the outskirts of the farm with Jeremy. Then she spent what felt like hours in the silo of corn, feeling it all through her toes, laying down in it, running it through her fingers. I had to keep an eye on things so that the boys didn’t pelt the little kids with corn. But Selah June seemed unphased.

She also had fun in the corn maze. We went through the kid maze, and everybody else went through the more challenging maze. It took us about 5 minutes, and then we waited another 40 minutes for the rest of our group to emerge from the wall of corn. While we were waiting, Selah June picked out a perfect pumpkin from the patch and helped her Daddy pull the wagon with the pumpkin in it to the barn to pay for it.

She also really liked the lemonade served in little pumpkin sippy cups. We bought her two of them so that they could become a part of our meager (and always disappearing) cup supply.

I’m experimenting with a new photo app, so the quality of the photos will be different. Hopefully I’ll figure it out, and the overall effect will be better. For whatever reason, I’m not really getting great photos with my iPhone. Bummer…

Every time we pass the big pumpkin patch on 9 mile rd. in front of St. Luke’s, Selah June notices the pumpkins and wants to stop. At the beginning of the week, when I had a little bit of flexibility in my schedule, I worked a trip in before we started our day at school and work. (I didn’t check on the hours of the pumpkin patch, and we almost had core meltdown. Luckily, they opened 15 minutes early.)

She was taken with all of the different types of pumpkins this year, and she particularly loved the little ones. And I saw her little OCD self come shining through. She wanted to “fix” all of them so that they were turned upright. This proved to be no small feat for the pumpkins in the center of the lot.

We’re at this stage where she doesn’t want to smile for the camera at all. You can try to bribe her, but she knows she’s being bribed. You can try to catch her mid-smile, but she’s faster than you can possibly be with the camera – or just obstructionist enough to purposefully not smile at anything while there is a phone camera pointed at her face. For that reason, this year’s first set of pumpkin patch pics are not stellar candids of her beautiful smile. Rather, they are Selah June in action… and quite vibrant in her hot pink against the deep orange hue of a sea of tiny pumpkins.

This weekend, we’re planning on taking her to the corn maze in Milton. We made that trip when she was a little tiny baby, but we haven’t attempted it since. It’s bound to be great fun, but I’m also bound to not have any worthy photos to show from it. Wish me luck!

I picked Selah June up from school on Monday, and she was super excited to see me and to go home to see her daddy. When he met her at the car, she “roared” him. And as soon as they came inside, he got her present out of the suitcase – a super giant chocolate bar all of her own. She loved it but also asked for more presents. (I think we might have a bit of a problem….)

We both missed her while we were gone – at different times and for different reasons. Jeremy missed her banter, and I missed her when I saw little girls all dressed up for formal night or family pictures. We’re starting to be able to imagine taking her on these vacations. It will be different, but it will be so much fun.

October 11, 2017

Daddy decided we all needed to go shopping for our trip and sleepover right after school. Without a dinner plan or any snacks, the girls were very hungry. So he did what any great Daddy should do, he took us to get whatever food we wanted. For Mommy that looked like chicken salad at New Yorker Deli. For Selah June that looked like apples. We all have our thing.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Daddy wasn’t home this weekend, so we decided to go to the park and have some special quality time. It was the first bit of time we’ve had together in a while, and the weather outside was perfect.

We went to the park off Chemstrand and explored all the swings and hideouts it had to offer. She is right in between the little kid side and the big kid side…so we ran all around both.

This age is going to be challenging. I can sense it already. Mostly, I think it’s because she’s still super little but can be far more defiant, can push all the buttons, can throw longer fits, and can drag her feet much more than she could just 6 months ago. She says to me at least once a day, “Momma, are you going to give me a spanking?” And she says it purely to measure just how annoyed I am getting with her stall tactics. It now takes me much longer to get out the door each morning or get back in the car from picking her up at school simply because she knows that’s my goal and that she can keep me from accomplishing it.

I try to just breathe deeply and enjoy the moment without rushing always to the next thing, but sometimes the next thing is a 9:00 meeting in which I’m in charge of the agenda!

Here are some of the funnier things she’s said of late…

To her Daddy on Saturday morning:

“Get some doughnuts for us cause my tummy says it’s time to eat.”

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SJ: “See you in the morning! When I’m going to go to my Mimi’s house…all by myself!”

Me: “Where am I going to be?”

SJ: “You’re going to take me there.”

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At Jules’ birthday, when the party is drawing to a close and she knows that Winston and Satie were told there would be no more making of helium balloons:

“Can I blow up balloons again?” as she gives me butterfly kisses…

One of the things I’ve noticed just over the last few days is that she’s becoming much more expressive of affection both verbally and physically. Without prodding, she’ll say “I love you, Mommy.” And she’ll caress my hair or my hand or my face. You don’t really think about the impact of lots of affection until it’s expressed in return unsolicited. It’s always been paramount to me that she knows how much she is loved and that she feels the freedom to express herself fully and honestly. It’s precious to see that little seed of investment begin to blossom into a beautiful spirit full of love.

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Grammy and Grandpa are back in their house!!  And we watched football in their living room on a great big brand new tv mounted above the fireplace. The kids had their own huge tv mounted in the new playroom upstairs.

Somehow they ended up in the middle of things downstairs. (I’m thinking it was somewhat because of the chicken nuggets that showed up around halftime and the super soft new area rug in the living room. Sebastian fell in love with it. And they all just wanted to roll around on it – picking up carpet lint along the way.

Sebastian and Selah June played really well together. They shared in imaginary play, concocting dialogue between little ninja turtles and other characters.

It’s so neat to see them growing into people with distinct personalities who enjoy each other and time spent playing together.

I like seeing them play together in part because it takes them away from all the technology saturating our lives. Selah June now loves to watch “vibeos” on our phones. There are countless homemade videos of people playing with slime or play-doh, unwrapping presents, playing with little figures, and singing nursery rhymes. And she will watch them as long as you will let her. It’s something I’ve got to keep in check.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Grandpa put together Selah Juney’s calico critter house, and we had fun moving around all the furniture, stairs, railing, and tiny little cookware. When Grammy came home, she figured out how to get the lights to work.

She played for hours and hours with her little critters. She sang to herself and add up dialogue between the adults and babies. And she seems to have Johnny Johnny on the brain. She’s been singing it for days.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

For her birthday, Selah June had multiple events scheduled in place of school. She went on an awesome adventure with Satie and Sebastian to an indoor playground.

They played so ridiculously hard that she took a 3-hour nap.

Then Grammy picked her up to go home and bake a birthday cake. She decided she wanted blue icing and sprinkles, so we made a special trip to the store to make it perfect.

While the cake was baking, she helped Grammy wash the dishes. (I’m liking this new developmental phase!!)

We had spaghetti for dinner (her favorite) and then opened presents from Mommy and Daddy and Grammy and Grandpa. Both presents were a hit – a baby nursery and a calico critter house with sets of animals.

ALL THE LITTLE PIECES…. ?

The grandparent bunnies even have tiny little glasses. So cute (and so fragile).