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.)