Playgrounds!



The weather has been beautful lately.  Sunday and Monday were actually warm! (Monday was almost 70!)  What better way to enjoy the lovely weather than by doing MiniM.E.'s new favorite thing: going to playgrounds?

 

Before walking to the playground closest to us (seriously? my house just got major points in the "put your kid in a wagon and walk them to the park category), we had to examine all the leaves.

And play on our "playground"

notice the lack of jacket.  yeah, that warm.

 Not in chronilogical order, we walked to the playground, which happens to be the Burgess-Kimball Memorial Park -just looked that up- in the wagon.  Twice.  (Had to explain the presence of two different outfits because I am totally not the mom that brings a costume change to the park (actually, I am.  I totally have an extra outfit in my bag at all times.  But not because I think she needs a different outfit in case she doesn't coordinate with the other kids playing or the playground equipment, but in case of an explosion (yeah, all you vetran moms know what I'm talking about))) (and yes, I definitely just closed THREE parentheses.  Awesome.)

playing in the dirt far surpasses playing on the equipment

static=bringing back the fauxhawk

kiddie slide: MASTERED.



more playing in the dirt

Saturday we found a new park, the Kelley Park in Ballston Spa, which we have since been to twice.  But before venturing there the first time, we needed a coffee pick me up.  See, here's MiniM.E. napping on the chair while waiting for her coffee us to get our coffees.

We went to Coffee Planet, which, for the record, has fantastic coffee and is a really cool place to hang out with your kid since they have books and games in the back and don't seem to mind if your toddler is running around, pulling all the books out of the shelf and stomping puffs and bunnies into their floor.

Stomping snacks and pulling books out of the shelf was no match for the playground.  Here is MiniM.E.  Totally psyched.  It was pretty awesome... even Bob and I had fun.

They had slides and a play house in the "Toddler Area".

MiniM.E. needed a little help with some of the big kid stuff (she's signing it here):

But, she did go down this huge purple slide ALL BY HERSELF.  Did she maybe flip over and end up on her stomach?  Yes.  Did she sign "more" when she was done?  Definitely.  I call it a success.

They even had a tunnel.  Which, aside from playgrounds, is MiniM.E.'s favorite thing.

...Maybe.  Tunnels might be tied with riding on the skateboard. 

In between all our playing, we had a baby shower to go to, and MiniM.E. got all dressed up for the occasion.  She's too cute in a dress not to share:

The dress was a gift from her grandparents in NC.  Thanks MeaMaw and Grandpa!

it's hard to tell, but that weird blurry hand is "thank you"





Some Catching Up... Or Catching Things...

This past week I've been sick.  Arg.  I feel like I've been sick more this year than I have been in ages.  I wasn't even sick this much when I was teaching elementary art.  I'm talking kids wiping their noses then touching you, or putting something in their mouth and handing it to you, or worse, sneezing right in your face when you're talking to them.  It must be another fantastic perk of being a mom.  Awesome.

Anyway, it was struggle enough to pretend I was having a blast pulling MiniM.E. around in the laundry basket for hours on end while I was really ready to curl up in a ball and die.  Luckily, I pushed through it and am still alive.  I don't think MiniM.E. suffered too much.  Except for maybe the few hours that I totally curled up on the couch in a blanket and watched her watch the "tee" (TV).  Don't judge, it was Baby Songs, a totally ghetto DVD made from a 30 year old VHS tape that actually teaches things and is so slow moving that I don't have to worry about it affecting her attention span.  AND for the record, I can now take a shower without piercing screams echoing in the background.

Fortunately, aside from a hacking cough (which I am praying is not waking up my napping baby), I am better.

UNfortunately, while sick I not only neglected writing blog posts, I also neglected everything else I usually do around the house AND the baby shower I am co-planning and putting on THIS WEEKEND.  So this post will have to be short and sweet.  Starting now.  The beginning was totally procrastination.  But now, I really have to go do stuff.  Unless MiniM.E. wakes up.  Which she might.  If I sit here and keep writing and checking e-mail and shopping for Christmas presents long enough.  Then I won't have to do any of those things.  I'll have to play with a baby...

So, to recap the last week or so, MiniM.E. is super cute, as always

Walking everywhere

Loves to swing

especially the big kid swing

Is learning to help out and clean up

Is finding more and more things we need to baby proof

Is mastering new skills like jumping (almost)

And the magna doodle

Went in her first bounce house

Sat at the park at the grown up table

Likes to play in the dirt

Is having a blast in the big tub

Loves pretending to take naps

And still isn't a very good napper.  Though she definitely is cute when she's sleeping.

Aaannndd... She's up!  Mission avoid housework and baby shower planning: Accomplished.

So Many Changes!

I can't believe how grown up MiniM.E. seems some times.  She's so much more independent (aside from those days when she won't let go of my leg) and she's learning so much so fast.

Two really big transitions we made in the past few weeks were the big-kid carseat and the tub.

We went from this:

To this:

And this:

To this:

Overall, she seems a lot happier with both changes (expressions in the previous photos are not necessarily reflective of this...).  She loves looking out the window in the car and having so much room to play in the tub.  It all makes me a little sad though... *sigh*

But then she does something like this:

And I'm reminded that she's still my little baby.  :)