Out of the mouths...

We were having a discussion at dinner tonight. We were comparing Baby Bear with friends of hers who just turned three. Baby Bear says, " Well, I am three-er than they are." Yes, little one, you are older than they are and you are also much cuter...at least to us.

Jump with Joy

Baby Bear has been working toward the goal of jumping off the diving board all summer. I had my doubts on whether we would be able to achieve this goal. After all, to achieve this goal, she would have to swim quite a distance (the distance from the diving board to the side of the pool). At the beginning of summer, she could not swim more than a few feet.

Through the summer, we worked on floating (front and back) and swimming with "big arms." She progressed well and expanded the distance she could swim. However, she could only go as far as one breath would take her. She had a hard time understanding the concept of lifting or turning her head to breathe. We finally achieved that hurdle in August. Then it was a matter of refining this and then ensuring that I was comfortable enough with her capabilties that she could swim the required distance without me being right next to her.

We finally decided that Monday of Labor Day weekend was THE DAY. It rained all day! Since the pools are on "winter" schedule, the next available day was Saturday. We arrived at the pool the minute it opened with video camera, digital camera and an excited Momma, Daddy and Baby Bear. And......success:

Days of the week

Monday
Tuesday
Threesday
Foursday
Fivesday

Where is that instruction manual?

I have wished Baby Bear came with an instruction manual more times than I can count.

Last month, little one spikes a temp and had a cough. Nothing major probably but with that fever I thought it would be good to get checked out. When the nurse was running one of the tests, she says, this sounds like what all the kids have now and you just have to ride it out. In other words, you over reactive mom, you are wasting your money and our time on a common cold.

Fast forward to this month, Baby Bear has a cough and congestion (no geen boogies, no temp, just an intermittent, though, congested couhg). After last month's cold pricklies at the doctor's visit, I hesitated in taking her right away. Finally, seven days into it, Daddy Bear took her in. Bronchitis!! Poor little girl.

A Little Culture

Since Baby Bear has come along, "adult" type outings have been few and far between. Not that I want to attend the sympany, a musical, a concert every week...but every now and again would be nice. Since our outing to the circus was successful, I decided to step it up a notch and try a musical with Baby Bear in attendance. What better musical to start a munchkin with but Annie (a story about a munchkin).

I bravely purchased the tickets online. I did not notice until after I purchased the tickets that the recommended minimum age was 5 years old. Oh well. Only a year and a third too early. I decided to just forge ahead and was OK if we had to leave early (if Baby Bear started annoying the surrounding play goers).

Grandma Bear and I had planned out the day of the show. Shopping in the am with a lunch out to tire out little one to ensure she would take a nice long nap so that she would be refreshed for the long evening (the show did not start until 8pm and we knew it was going to be a late night for her). Dinner. Arrive just in time for the start of the show. Perfect. One little glitch. Baby Bear would not go to sleep for her nap. Ugh. This was going to make for a grouchy Baby Bear. Finally, she slept for about an hour. Defintely, not long enough but at least something. The rest of the plan went well.

Baby Bear was great at the show. She seemed to identify with Annie. Whenever Annie was not on the stage, she would ask where Annie was. We did have one small meltdown. She before intermission (thankfully), there was a big to do about finding Annie's lost parents. This scene, for me, went on and on. They were lost. They were missing Annie terribly. Why did Annie's parents not come and get her. Etc. Baby Bear's face just kept getting sadder and sadder, with tears welling in her eyes. Luckily, the scene ended and the lights came up....just as the chin began quivering in earnest and the faucets turned on. When asked, she sad she was sad that they could not find Annie's parents. (Baby Bear just cannot bear it when someone is sad.)

All in all, however, she loved the music (was singing "tomorrow" on the way home) and enjoyed watching the antics of the characters. I look forward to more of these "grown up" type activies...but will have to be very selective until she can fully grasp that these things are pretend.

Go to work!

Grandma Bear is in town. I probably do not need to say more given the title...but here is the rest of the story.

Last time Grandma Bear was in town, Grandma Bear painted Baby Bear's toenails. Baby Bear thought that was just grand. She has since asked me on occasion to paint her toenails. I am not of the toenail painting ilk so each time informed Baby Bear that she would have to wait until Grandma Bear came back to visit.

During breakfast this morning, Baby Bear asked Grandma Bear to paint her toenails (no chance she was going to forget this fun activity!). Grandma Bear stated, "Once mommy goes to work, we will paint your toes." Baby Bear looks at me with her big brown eyes and says, "Go to work, mommy!" Nice!

Daddy Bear's only comment was "welcome to my world" ..as Baby Bear sometimes pushes him aside if I am around.

The Greatest Show on Earth

To date, we have ventured to few very crowded venues. One of the main reasons is that I don't like crowds. Also, I was not sure how little one would respond to the noise and crowds of a big venue AND would she sit still for a longish show. A braver friend (with a 3 1/2 year old girl) convinced me to attend the Ringling Brothers circus that was in town.

We loaded up the girls and took off to the south for the show. We, along with 100s of our closest friends, arrived when the gates opened for the pre-show, where you can get up close and personal with the animals and the clowns. The girls loved this. At the clown college, the girls were able to sneak up to the rope in the front so could see everything close up. The giggles were priceless.

The show was entertaining. Fun was had by all. However, I believe they enjoyed the pre-show better than the show itself, because they were closer and it was less noisy.

Here is Baby Bear and me at the pre-show.

Hello

Once again, Grandma Bear has been poking me for updates. Since little one's bed time is nearly 10pm these days, it is hard to find blogging time. Don't get me wrong, we start our bedtime routine at about 8 with brush, book and bed...but....since we have gone to her big girl bed (which is much easier to get in and out of than her converted crib bed) she is up and down with requests for drinks, potty, monsters, etc. Super Nanny, where are you.

Last week, little one had a dentist appointment. To date, these appointments have been count the teeth and a pat on the head. That was what I was expecting again. Nope! X-rays, teeth scraping, flossing...the hole nine. They had an Eeyore with big teeth that helped through the entire process. I have to say, I was quite surprised at how well the munchkin did throughout this experience. She is just getting too big!

Grandma Time

Grandma time means swimming:

picking (and eating) blueberries:

a ride on the merry-go-round:

and painting toenails:

Proud Mama Moments

With a little one around, moments to remember seem to happen quite often. As one of these moments happen, I say to myself, I need to remember this. If the moment can be photographed, I do my best to photograph it. This past week, there were two moments to remember.

Earlier this week was Baby Bear's check up at the eye doctor. For this appointment, the doctor had asked that we practice the E game (point in the direction of the E on the eye chart) so that they could achieve a better understanding of Baby Bear's vision acumen with her glasses. We have dutifully been playing the E game and I was certain we would be successful at the doctor's office. Nope. She would not pay play the E game at all. On the off chance, I asked them to put up the standard eye chart with the letters to show Dr. M how well she knew her letters. Voila. She read every letter and showed her 20/20 vision (with her glasses). All is good with her eyes AND mama had a proud moment with little one showing hew knowledge of her ABCs.

Tonight, we were drawing at our art table. Baby Bear has been practicing drawing shapes. Tonight we were busily drawing happy faces. She then says, I am going to draw an R. Thn she proceeds to write her entire name. (She has been able to spell her name for a long time.) While we have been practicing letters a bit and have a stencil with all the letters, she has never written more than a letter or two before venturing off onto another endeavor, such as fillling in the circles. I sat with interest as she gripped her marker, concentrated and then... carefully WROTE HER NAME!! Proud mama moment....and I grabbed my camera before she filled in all the letters.

Bike Ride

Though we had to return the "strider" bike, Baby Bear is still fired up about bicycling. Today, we had our first family bike ride. With all of us on our bikes (Baby Bear on her "stand up" bike), we rode completely around our circle (about a half mile). I am sooooo looking forward to future family bike rides. (A "stand up" bike is a bike that does not fall over when you let it go. Her bike has training wheels so does not fall over when you get off.)

I see this particular bike ride being a many time a week event. Baby Bear's best friend lives half way around the loop. The two girls are just a month a part. They are like Yen and Yang. Baby Bear likes reading, puzzles, crafts, etc and talks a mile a minute. Her friend excels at anything athletic (can swim across the pool by herself, rides a bike with no training wheels, etc).

I don't love you

I have been fairly home bound this year. No trips abroad; just a few trips in the US here and there. As I was preparing for a recent trip, Baby Bear informed me that she did not love me. I asked her if she was sad that I was going to be leaving. She nodded and then started crying, hugged me and said she loved me. Soooo sad for both of us. (I have spoken to her on the telephone and she is happy as a lark spending some great quality time with Daddy Bear.)

Outside Activities

The weather has been just perfect. Every day after work finds us outside playing on the swing set, blowing bubbles, riding our bike or at some park (our favorite at the moment is the "wiggly" slide park).

Last evening started with a bike ride to our corner park. This park is named "my park" by Baby Bear. It is much quicker to get to the park these days as Baby Bear is getting the hang of bike riding. We have had a borrowed "strider" bike for the last month. A "strider" bike is a bicycle without peddles. Forward momentum is gained by walking or running while sitting on the bike. If you stride fast enough, you can lift up your feet and, while balancing, keep going. The theory behind this is to teach balance on a bicycle before learning to peddle.

We played at the park for awhile. Road the bike home. Then ended our evening activities on the back porch blowing bubbles. We ran out of bubble juice in our little container so Baby Bear took it upon herself to refill the little container. She poured and poured and poured and poured....as bubble juice went all over the table. In a matter of fact manner, Baby Bear proudly said, " I am a lot of bubble juice." Daddy Bear and I looked at each other and the copious amounts of bubble juice sloshing onto the ground and agreed with her statement with a laugh.

Last night was the last night for the "strider" bike. The owner of the bike had now grown into it and wanted to play with it at his house. They came and picked it up after Baby Bear was in bed. This morning, Baby Bear realized it was no longer parked on the porch. Very sad Baby Bear. While she has a pink "peddle" bike and a "stand up" scooter (it does not fall down when you let it go), she really like the "strider" bike, the "fall down" bike. We will see if she will gravitate to one of these. I hope so. I really enjoy our walk/rides around our loop and to the park.

It's Strawberry Time

The past couple of weeks are why people live in Texas. Weather in the 70s, low humidity, bright sunny skies, wild flowers and Blue Bonnets every where...and...strawberries. This kind of weather is just asking for a body to be outside walking, biking or picking strawberries.

Baby Bear and I headed out on Saturday for a strawberry picking session. She picked ...and ate....about 3. When I told her she was not allowed to eat them after picking...she lost interest and discovered worms. There seemed to be a worm migration going on near the strawberry patch, so we played with worms for awhile. I picked a few more berries and we headed off (after "freeing" all the worms).

The trip was quite fun....though, I could do without picking up worms. Since 75% of her good friends are boys, there seems to be no hope but that she will be a tom boy.

Where oh where has this blogger been

Been round the world and back again. OK, not really. Just have not been in blogger mode lately. However, as the readers of this are my family who tell me that this is the only way they receive information on the daily events of Baby Bear, it is time to get going again.

We are officially in spring here down south. The sun is shining. The azaleas are bursting with color. And, the tree pollen covers everything! Daddy Bear has swept and blown and watered down the back porch and lawn furniture umpteen times. Still, sitting on the lawn chairs means a nice greenish colored tuckus. Oh well, that is why they made laundry soap. Because the weather is so nice, we have spent many an hour sitting in the back yard watching baby bear ride her bike, swing on the swing, run the dog weave poles, and, lately, hide and find Easter eggs.

Here are a few photos from the church Easter egg hunt this weekend. Baby Bear found a total of four eggs...and that was with significant prodding. After picking up the first egg and discovering it had goodies in the center, she was totally focussed on the goodies of that egg and did not want to be bothered by gathering any more eggs.

Who Dat

Two days to the Superbowl. We are so excited that the Saints have finally made it. It sounds like "everyone" is picking the Colts to win...but, for now, we are just basking in the glory of finally seeing our 'Aints' become the Saints!

Success Continues

We are still on the "right" track with regards to poop. We have had one accident but a couple more successes. To help speed things along, we are using bribery (yes, we have no morals). Baby Bear has wanted a James the Train for awhile (she even asked Santa) but we have been holding this one out for just this occasion. Thus, we set up a poop chart. We are 3/5ths of the way there. She is so excited with each dot that we fill in.

OK, enough about poop.

HOW BOUT THOSE SAINTS!!! WHO DAT!

Poo away!

One more milestone reached! As I have written, we have been "potty" trained for awhile but have had no success with number two. When talking to Baby Bear, she knew exactly where poo is supposed to go. She just chose not to go there for her own reasons - obstinance, fear, who knows. (I have really gotten to dislike changing dirty panties....they are ever so much worse than a dirty diaper).

Today, we have successfully deposited poo in the potty. YIPPEE!! I hope this is a first step toward being a toilettiere (this is from the Bear in the Big Blue House). She was so excited that she accomplished this feat and so was I. We had to call Grandma and tell her what a big girl she is. Of course, she also earned a big milkshake.

Also as a celebration, we all had strawberrys together. We all held the green end and toasted with the red end. Baby Bear always had the largest strawberry, because she is a big girl.

It has been in the 70s all week. Gotta love that about the south. We had our week of "real" winter weather (30s). Now we can get on with being a southern state and enjoying nice weather.

Off to the big bad world

I spoke to my nephew this afternoon, just an hour before he ships out. His first voyage with the Navy. He was excited, scared, nervous, anxious. He has undergone many changes in the last year. From small town Nebraska to a base in Japan and now off on his maiden voyage seeing sights and having experiences that most of us can never imagine. I am so proud of him.

I am loving this computer age. When I was a tot, the science fiction movies showed the ability to talk to anyone anywhere, now it is true. Via Skype, I had a three way conversation with my mom and my sister in three different states. Best yet...it did not cost anything (if you don't count the cost of computers. ;) )

Baby Bear is kind of getting into the horrible three's. (We missed the Terrible Twos so maybe we are due.) We were having spaghetti for dinner. She had finished what she wanted so was playing with her food. For some reason, she decided she did not want the noodles on her plate so decided to put them on my place mat. I asked her not to put the noodles on the table. She very succinctly told me she had put them on my place mat and not on the table. Sigh.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year. OK...a tad late. Also, happy bday to my big sis. OK...late on that as well. I tried to make it up to her by flying out to see her (OK...I am actually flying out for work and was going to sneak away for a late bday dinner) but she bagged on me. Oh well.

Just returned from a weekend in New Orleans. Was both a good and dificult trip. We stayed with some friends, who are much like us (old with kids). The kiddos had great fun. Us parents were worn out just watching them play. Baby Bear stayed with them while we went to a wedding (was an ex-coworker of Daddy Bear). Was fun meeting up with some old friends. All our lives have moved on since we lived in New Orleans. Was a bit shocking to me how our lives have diverged. We now have the munchkin and they all had older kids (who are now older and even less a factor in their lives)....we are into Thomas the Train, they are in to dining out, tennis at the club, etc.

Have to say, New Orleans looks great. It has really come back from Katrina. There are still houses that are empty and gutted but many roads have been redone, restaurants seem to be at full tilt. The attitude of the people we ran into at the airport, hotel, etc was back to the southern charm that we knew and loved. I forgot how just plain nice people of NO are. Welcome back NOLA!