Meet Marigold

Another first for our family -- a pet!

We finally bit the bullet and committed to another family member. G has been wanting a kitten for ages, and so, for an early birthday present, she adopted Marigold today. She is about nine weeks old, and so far, seems to be adjusting well. 

G is just beside herself with happiness. 

BD is not as thrilled. He has been repeatedly telling us that he wants nothing to do with a cat. He announced to Win (as though ratting us out), that "Susan and Gwyn are planning on getting a cat." 

But, he might be coming around. He still hasn't touched her once, but he likes watching her play, and he even volunteered to feed her in the mornings. 

As we were all sitting in the bathroom this afternoon watching Marigold sniff her new surroundings, BD whispered to me, "I hope she doesn't attack my dangly bits." 

I told him, "As long as you keep your pants on, I think you'll be fine."

After a forced march outside in the cold, nothing is better than hot chocolate ... 
and a book (The BFG).

Kindergarten Field Trip

Bean Dip had his first field trip of the year on Friday, and Baby G and I went a long. It was to the pumpkin patch, and it was quite the adventure. Not only were all the kindergarten classes at BD's school going, but also several other schools as well.

I had to drive, and Ivy's mom rode with me. It was great, because it was a 45 minute drive, and we really got to get to know each other. It was fun to hear what Ivy says at home about Bean Dip, and finally figure out some of what BD tells me about Ivy.

We met up with our kindergartners on the farm, just before they started the tour. BD and Ivy were so giggly, and so affectionate with each other that their teacher threatened to separate them. But they were good, just excited about being out of school and with their moms.

So we did the tour of the petting zoo, then hopped on the wagons and headed out to the pumpkin patch. They all picked a little pumpkin, then after that we headed back to the farm for our picnic lunch and some free time for the kids.

The farm had a great playground, but with so many kids it was hard to keep track of everyone. I was glad that Ivy's mom stuck with her and BD while I helped G. She climbed all the way to the top of the tunnel slide, with an impatient mass of bigger kids behind her, then stood at the top and cried until I came and rescued her. I went down the super-fast slide with her, and then she played in the much quieter sandbox.

Like I said, it was a little bit of chaos. And our teacher kept losing kids. There were just so many other classes running around that it was hard to keep track. Matching shirts would have helped. But all made it on the bus, and we were all exhausted. BD got a little whiny before lunch, but happily for me, Ivy was whining, too. It was an unexpectedly warm day, and we were all overdressed.

Now we have two cute sugar (?) pumpkins at home, waiting to be made into something delicious. Any suggestions?

Young Love

Tomorrow is Ivy's birthday. I just finished wrapping her present. Lem chose for her a Justice League coloring book and some crazy colored pencils (crazy because they have multi-colored lead). He insisted that she will love the coloring book, because they "always talk about superheroes!" It was his choice, and he clearly knows Ivy better than me. (He also said he hopes she'll let him color in it when he goes over to her house.)

Three months of summer didn't change his feelings at all. After the first day of school, he told me that he was still going to marry Ivy, because, "I don't want to have to look for anyone else!" But he has assured me that they aren't getting married for a long time. And according to her mom, Ivy feels the same way about Lem.

Kindergarten Roundup

Last night, Lem and I went to his school to sign up for Kindergarten. I can't believe he's going to be five, and starting kindergarten! I thought this was registration, so I ran around yesterday tracking down his shot record, but it turned out to be just a sign up, and an open house of sorts. I got a registration packet and he got a bag full of kindergarten goodies.

He was beyond excited to be at school after hours. We ran into Riley and his mom, a classmate of Lem's that lives right down the street from us. They ride the bus together. So we all went together. They also saw several other classmates, including Ivy and her family. You would have thought they hadn't seen each other in years -- Ivy was screaming, "Lem! Lem! Lem!" and jumping up and down. She gave him such a huge hug that they both almost fell over. I didn't realize until her mom said it, but they probably won't be in the same class next year. There are multiple kindergarten classes. I'm not going to bring that up to Lem, yet.

After we signed up, we went to their classroom to see their artwork on the walls. There were more classmates there, and more hugging and jumping around. Then Lem wanted to watch the Kindergarten singing performance, but the gym was packed ("There's no seats!") so we left. We stopped for frozen yogurt on the way home to celebrate.

I can't believe it's time for Kindergarten. And I'm so glad he's so excited about it.

More Love

Ivy spent two days out sick, and Lem was missing her. I suggested he make her a card for when she got back to school. This is what he made for her:

Young Love

As I mentioned before, Bean Dip has a girlfriend at school. He talks about her all the time. When I ask him what he did at recess, he says, "Followed Ivy around." He gets strawberry milk every day, because "that's what Ivy gets."

On Wednesday, he came home in his spare clothes. Right before the end of school, Ivy got sick and threw up. Bean Dip was sitting next her. Ms. Michelle, the aide who also rides the bus with them, said she was surprised he wasn't that upset about it. I said maybe it was because it was Ivy, and she just smiled and nodded knowingly. As my mom said, "Well, in sickness and in health."

Ivy hasn't been back to school all week. Bean Dip has been moping and missing her. Tonight, when I was putting him to bed, I said that maybe he could make her a welcome back card, since she'll probably be back on Monday. He got all excited and said he was going to put her face on the front, and also guns on it. And then he said, "And you know what I'm going to put on the back? 'I heart you.'" Then he lay there practicing drawing hearts with his finger.

And he's not the only one in love, apparently. Also tonight, Baby G was up late, refusing to go to sleep. Finally, she was laying in bed just crying, and I told her she needed to go to sleep, because we are going to see Gabe tomorrow. Gabe is her new friend. He is two, also. He has spent the night twice now, once when his brother was born, and the second time was a couple weekends ago while his brother was in the hospital. His dad works with Win, and his mom is a friend of mine, so we see him fairly often.

So ... as soon as she heard that, she immediately stopped crying. She said, "Gabe? And Gabe's mommy and baby? I play with Gabe." Then she rolled over and closed her eyes and had a big smile on her face. I didn't hear another peep from her.

How Quickly They Grow

We've had two big events happen very quietly here. Two more signs of growing up. One happened so gradually that I barely noticed. Baby G has stopped sucking her thumb. She started as a baby, I think around three months. She was suck her thumb to go to sleep, while holding Bunny over her head. She is still very attached to Bunny ("My Buh-ie!"), but the sucking has stopped. I think it's been at least a month since I've seen her do it.

And the other event happened in the last week, and I definitely knew about this one. Bean Dip has finally stopped needing a Pull-Up at night. Oh happy day (or night)! He had more than a week of dry mornings, so I put the Pull-Ups away. So far, so good.

It's hard to capture all the little events in your child's life. I thought G would be sucking her thumb for years, but I was wrong. Now it's done, and another sign of her growing up. They aren't babies anymore, but kids.

And speaking of growing up ...

Bean Dip has a girlfriend. She started out as his best friend. Her name is Ivy, and according to her mother, she feels the same way about Bean Dip. BD came home from school one day and said, "I'm going to marry Ivy."

We asked him about the wedding and he said, "I sure hope the menu has meat on it. I like meat!"

I'm glad he's got his priorities straight, and Ivy seems like a nice girl.

Love

Smelling (and tasting, apparently) the roses Win gave me for Valentine's Day. Bean Dip and Baby G each got a metallic balloon, they were overjoyed.

A Pre-K Valentine's Day Party

Our big celebration for Valentine's Day was attending Bean Dip's party at school. I was there to help out, and Baby G got to tag along.

Monday night was spent assembling Valentines for the entire class, and trying not to eat all the candy. Bean Dip wrote his name on every single one and barely complained.

We arrived in time to help with centers, the part of the day when the students could do various activities at different centers around the room. Because it was V-Day, some of those centers included candy. Mine was a worksheet that involved counting and coloring a graph, and once they were done, the students each got four Hershey's Kisses. Bean Dip started his centers with me, then ran around doing the other ones with Baby G, both of them, and the rest of the class, juiced up on sugar.

I really enjoyed it. I got to meet quite a few of BD's classmates individually, and finally put faces to names. I got to meet Ivy (and her mom, again), the one girl Bean Dip has been talking and talking about. A boy named Samuel took a liking to G and led her around the classroom, introducing her as his cousin. It was really a lot of fun, but man it was exhausting.

The day ended with snack time. Snack was ice cream sundaes with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and a cookie on the side. And fruit punch to wash it down.

Samuel had brought in balloons and decided G and BD should have them.

And on the way home, and I asked BD where Mrs. R was, his teacher. She was there when we arrived, but I'd noticed she'd disappeared and left two aides in charge of the chaos.

"Oh, she went home. She had a headache."

Father, Daughter

My Daughter is In Love

With this guy:


Rudy is my parents' German Shepherd. And Baby G has a huge crush on him. Every time he walks in the room, she just lights up, smiling and squealing at him. Her eyes follow his every move. When she pets him, she leans her whole body toward him. When he checks on her, by sniffing her, she puts both arms out to him.

Rudy seems to enjoy the attention, but I don't think he is quite as smitten with her as she is with him. I think to him, she is the littlest one of the pack, another person to keep track of. She is also the bearer of Cheerios, interesting smells, and fun, squeaky toys.

As docile as Rudy is, he still has a good 95 pounds on Baby G. So she doesn't get as much one-on-one time with him as she would like. I hold her close sometimes so she can pet him, but mostly, she enjoys him from afar. There are some major dog lovers in the family, and I have a feeling she is the next one. I'm already waiting for those words, "Mama, can I have a puppy?"