Swimming!

Last week, my aunt asked me, "is Rachael afraid of ANYTHING?" I shrugged, unable to think of an answer quickly. Rach doesn't like the vacuum, but she certainly isn't afraid of it. Ditto on thunder, strangers, dogs, and the crazy-loud motorcycle noise from the people across the street. I suspect daycare has made her brave. :)

In any case, you'll probably be shocked to know that Rachael is not afraid of water. She's tentative at first, takes her time, but ultimately, she digs it.

Here are some fun swimming pics.

New Car

Rachael received several new cars for Christmas, but this one (from mom and dad) had to sit in the basement until spring. We finally had a blistering 65 degree day on Monday so we pulled the Toddler Coupe out of the basement and put her together. While Dave was assembling Rach's new ride, he discovered that we were missing the Coupe's hubcaps. So Rachael's car has an "urban" flare to it, as you can see. ;-)

Rachael loved exploring her car! She kept getting in and out, experimenting with the doors, twisting the steering wheel. She quickly discovered the horn, much to our, uh, delight...
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Here are a few more pics of her fresh new wheels:
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Riding along with the windows down....

Backing in (with some help from Daddy)

Girls at the Mall

A few weekends ago, my friend Melissa and I met up at the mall with our girls (Melissa's daughter, Sophie, will be three years old this May). One of the malls nearby has a neat play area so we figured we'd let the girls run around and exhaust themselves while we chatted. (note: I'm typically very opposed to these play areas because they are breeding grounds for germs. But I will let her play in these petri dishes from time to time).

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Anyway, my brave, curious 18 month old did not have a reasonable fear of the four and five year old kids who were also racing around...and who were not carefully watching out for little ones. So there was very little chatting between Melissa and me; rather, there was a lot of protecting Rachael from herself as she casually took on kids twice her size for access to the toys. She seemed to genuinely want to play with the other kids, which was neat but also a little scary. I mean, show me a four year old who really knows what "gentle" means....c'mon....

Both girls had a great time and emerged from their play date un-injured and pleasantly sleepy. Here are a few pics from our afternoon:

Rachael on a big alphabet block (for which she beat up a few six-year-olds and claimed as hers. Ha.)

Girlfriends at the mall! I thought it was cute that they were both wearing striped pants, too.

A Tribute to Frankie

On March 9, we had the heartbreaking task of putting Frankie to sleep. She was getting so sick, so uncomfortable. Knowing that, it was still devastating.

Frankie was MY cat, no question. She was a stray, and she found me in 1999 when I had just moved out of my parents' house. I couldn't believe anyone could abandon a cat so beautiful--she was Siamese and had the most striking blue eyes. I'd show people photos of Frankie and they'd swear I had "photoshopped" her eyes. Frankie and I became our own little family at a time when my human family was in rough shape--I don't think it's a coincidence that God sent me such a loyal, loving companion.

So, for Frankie, I offer a passage from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, where he speaks On Friendship:

"And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered."

Thank you, Frankie, for being the furry, loving friend I needed back then and always. You will be missed.

More Big Girl Gear

It all started with blocks...then Legos. Rachael was desperate for a decent work surface. At school (ok, daycare) they have toddler-sized tables and chairs, and Rach has grown accustomed to sitting at the table with her friends for crafts and snacks. So she was not going to put up with coloring in her high chair (that's for BABIES, momma...) or just building cities with her blocks on the bumpy carpet. So we found this neat, sorta-affordable table and chair set on Amazon.com.

She. Digs. It.

Each day, when we get home, I give her a sippy cup of milk and a little bowl of puffs or Cheerios, and she walks them over to her "lil office"...arranges her snack on the table, gets a handful of Legos, and sits down. It's so neat to watch. She doesn't say many words yet (though she's very chatty!) but, watching her, I can see her figuring things out. She babbles a mile a minute as she deconstructs the colorful Lego towers we build. Her playing is becoming more sophisticated...I'm seeing her use the same toys in new ways and it amazes me how fast she is changing.

Also fun this week, my brother and sister-in-law sent us a box of Easter treats! Always looking to spoil Rachael, Jim and Jen sent her lots of fun things (including a super-cute lobster T-shirt from Jim's trip to New Orleans!) But I admit that I was most smitten with the bunny ears that were among the surprises in the box. I got Rachael to try them on, but as you can tell, they didn't last very long....

Hmm...What's on my head?

Something is most certainly on my head!

No, Momma you take this.

Thanks Jim and Jen for all the cool stuff! We'll miss you at Easter!

Visit to the Easter Bunny

Rachael went to see the Easter Bunny this afternoon. This was more of an experiment than anything else....see if child goes insane at the sight of an eight-foot rabbit. She did really well, which confirmed our belief (and fear?) that Rachael has very little fear of strangers. It took some doing to get Rachael to stop staring at the bunny and look at the camera, but we ended up with this decent pic. She even gave Bunny a high-five before we left! I think David's folks, who came with us, were as surprised as we were over how relaxed Rach was during the whole "intro to being photographed on super-sized wildlife" experience. ;)

Maybe next Christmas we'll try a visit to Santa!

Yeah Baby!

Our friends Audrey and Andy's son was born on January 13. Alexander is, of course, gorgeous and I was so excited to get to hold him myself. Can't help but post some baby pics of my new friend Alex and his beautiful mom.

Keep it up, Audrey--you're doing great! Now do you believe me... you *really* don't need to sleep more than once or twice a week... ;-)

Mom and Alex

Alex gets snuggles from Auntie Kris...