Ducks on Parade

During the preschool orientation, Moms (or technically I should say "parents", though I didn't see any Dad's names there) were asked to sign up for various tasks like helping out at the Halloween party. Since I'm trying to focus on my job search during the day, I signed up to decorate a bulletin board. I figured I could do all of the work except for the actual installation late at night or on weekends. When I asked the teacher, "What does decorating a bulletin board entail?" she simply said, "Anything you want."

Arguably Interesting Facts:
Mia's class is called the Lucky Ducks.
The duck in the corner is saying, "Ladies & gentleman, start your engines!"
Mia's class has six boys and three girls. (More on that later.)
Eight of the nine children are blonde.

Bow-Mania

Mia has an assortment of hairbows that I've picked up here and there. I love hairbows, but I haven't made them a regular part of her attire. On days when I put a bow in her hair, more often than not the bow disappears somewhere between the time I drop her off for preschool and when I pick her up. Since school started a couple of weeks ago, Mia has been expressing a desire to wear a bow. She also tells me, "Bella has big bows." Mia wants not just any bow, she says she wants, "the big white one." Since "the big white one" is too dirty to wear (I've been hiding it with the intent to use it as a pattern for a replacement), I am unable to comply.
The babysitter has been witnessing this and the other day, she brought a big bag of super-sized bows with her. She explained they were given to her as gifts for her infant, but she doesn't plan to use them. Mia was delighted and insisted on wearing as many as she could fit on her head.
To complete the outfit, she tried on the pink suede Ugg-style boots someone gave us. If my Mom was here, I'm sure she'd say, "That's quite a getup."

The Odd Couple

I have never big a particularly prolific photographer, but I am trying to get better about it for Mia's benefit. For inspiration, I have been reading a couple of books about scrapbooking. One author reminds us that we tend to capture the birthday parties and big events, but we forget to photograph the little, everyday moments. She has a point. Back in the olden days when I was a child and all cameras used film, I remember the time my Mom sent a roll of film to the drugstore for developing, only to discover that nearly every picture on the roll captured one of her 4 children blowing out the candles on their birthday cake. You'd think nothing else ever happened at our house.
Which brings us to today's photo, one of those little everyday moments. When I went to make our bed, I discovered that Mia had been driving her Barbie Jeep around on the bedspread. I think Barbie and the Loving Family Man make quite an odd couple. When I pointed this out to Jeff, he suggested maybe she is the Amazon Barbie.

Diving, Mia-Style

For weeks, Mia has been telling us she wanted to jump off the diving board like the big kids. We told her she had to learn how to swim (strokes, breathing) first. (What I really wanted to say was, "In your dreams!" There was no way I was going to let her jump into 12-ft deep water.) The rule at our pool is quite reasonable - children of any age can jump off the low diving board as long as they can then swim to the side unassisted. Mia isn't quite up to that yet. Then last Thursday I told the babysitter she could take Mia to the pool. When they came home, K. asked, "Do you let Mia jump off the diving board?"
Apparently, Mia had expressed a desire to jump off the diving board, and since there was literally no one else there, the lifeguard allowed K. to tread water in the deep end so she could retrieve Mia after she jumped. According to K., Mia was fearless, jumping again and again until K. was so tired they had to stop.
I could hardly believe this story, but on Friday night Jeff and I took Mia to the pool. With some apprehension (and lifeguard approval again), Jeff waited in the deep end while Mia jumped off the diving board and I manned the camcorder. Another club member, Becky, took an interest and helped Mia get out of the pool each time. Unfortunately, this was the best still shot I got. Mia jumped off the diving board 8 or 9 times on Friday, then the same on Saturday. On Sunday and Monday, she started to show some trepidation, so she only jumped a couple of times. Besides that, the pool is only open for 2 more weekends (and the water is getting pretty cold), so Mia's diving season may well be over. We don't mind that at all. She's got plenty of years ahead of her.
Becky, whose 10-year-old daughter is on the diving team, told us Mia should join the diving team next year, in the "Under 5" division. We'll see.
P.S. The 3 meter board is strictly off limits to children under 8. Thank goodness.