All set for summer

This weekend was absolutely perfect in so many ways, I don’t know where to begin!

The weather was fantastic, we had fun things to do, not a lot of errands to run (we may run out of something important this week, I suppose) and we made it through Mass without leaving “general population”–a very big milestone in the Babe’s spiritual development!

I guess the first big thing is that the Babe experienced her first church festival as a toddler. And guess what? She’s tall enough to ride a few rides–BY HERSELF. I think she really thought she was in fact steering, she looked so serious. By the end of the afternoon, she knew the drill–wait in line, go find a boat (train/apple/horse), give the lady the tickets, get buckled, ride, and so on. Is she really as big is as she’s acting these days?!?!
The reason we went to said festival was to see our friend’s band play. Big fun in the beer tent (with minors…..LOVE the Catholic Church for that)–the Babe discovered her love for modern and classic rock. (and our friend’s son, by the looks of it)

She danced for what seemed a good hour, with just a look of sheer bliss!

We wrapped up the weekend at a birthday party Sunday afternoon, complete with bouncy house. Pictures of that are posted on the Flickr site.

We got to visit with friends we don’t see very often, and of course, the Babe had a ball bouncy like a maniac and also painting with Crayola sidewalk chalk paint (or something to that effect). She’s so to the point where she just runs around with the other kids, not needing anything but some juice or some crackers from me (and actually she helped herself a few times) it just crazy. Last summer she was just figuring out how to walk. This summer already she does a crazy high-stepped run and says, “Running! Running! Running!”

Birthday treats and burritos oh my!

To add to my list of eating challenges this week: two in-class birthday celebrations were this week (yesterday and today) and two are next week. Since we are all about child-invovlement in Montessoriland, we have the kids pick a special something and they bake it with my lovely teaching assistant. WHO ROCKS THE KITCHEN LIKE NOBODYS BUSINESS.

So yesterday we had strawberry and creamcheese muffins sprinkled with sugar, and today we had brownies with melted chocolate chips (in mini muffin cups, so that was better). How do you not eat when a four year old offers you a treat they’ve baked themselves??? (And I’ve smelled baking all morning long!!!)

Tonight we ended up not going to the graduation party and went to Qdoba instead. While in line, I made a very hard decision—the decision to forego the burrrito. What else is there at Qdoba? Funny you should ask–they actually have a lovely tortilla soup and a variety of small soft tacos. And it was good.

In other news, the Babe has become obsessed with naming everyone. It’s like she just figured out that every person has a specific name, so now it’s her task to point and name everyone she knows (repeatedly). She can name the 8 or so children she sees on a daily basis, her teachers, several of her 10 cousins, her grandparents (Gram is Ama, Gramps is Baca)–competely amazing!

The Sickness

We haven’t gotten the results of the throat culture yet, but whatever this SICKNESS is, it’s for the birds. The Babe is still very pathetic, with occasional bouts of vomit. I think she’s eaten 10 goldfish crackers in the past 4 days–it’s just not right. Thankfully, she’s still drinking and sleeping like a champ. And while our five Baby E DVD’s are in heavy rotation, it’s really not all that bad from my point of view. Of course, I don’t have a bacteria farm at the back of my throat, and haven’t felt compelled to sleep 19 hours a day.

This week BgK and I have taken turns staying home, and it’s worked out quite well. I’m on tomorrow, and I think we’ll flip a coin for Friday. I’m not sure if I want heads or tails. Actually, since Grey’s Anatomy is a 2hour special, and it will be on until 11pm, I think I want to stay home Friday. I’m banking that one of us will be.