More Pics From Grammy's Visit

Mia and Grammy had a wonderful week together. They built spectacular castles from bristle blocks, colored, read books, and played with various dolls and figurines. Mia loved it when Grammy would prop one of the Loving Family dolls up against the furniture so she (Mia, that is) could knock it down. Over and over and over again. You should have heard the belly laughs coming from our girl.
Mia particularly liked "styling" Grammy's hair. Grammy was quite a good sport about this.
We hope Grammy will come again soon.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

We have a new babysitter who picks Mia up at Camp every afternoon. "C" has been on the job for just 4 days now, but already Mia likes her a lot. Still, I was taken aback this afternoon when, after C. left, Mia came into the kitchen and asked me, "Where's the new mommy?" At first, I couldn't believe my ears. I asked Mia to repeat herself and she said it again, "Where's the new mommy?"
Carefully disguising my near-horror, I gently explained to Mia that C. isn't her Mommy, she is her friend. (That's what we call babysitters around here. Friends.) Mia protested that I wasn't understanding her, "No-oo-oo-o." She then led me into her playroom, where she had lined up 3 of the family of 4 Calico Critters bunnies her Grammy gave her a couple weeks ago. "Where's the new mommy?" she reiterated. That's when it hit me - She wanted me to help her find the missing mommy bunny in her (relatively) new bunny family. I dropped everything to search high and low for that critter. She still hasn't turned up yet, but at least I am not worried that C. has replaced me in Mia's affections.


Mrs. Bunny (alias "New Mommy"), taking the family for a spin around the playroom in the Barbie convertible on a sunny day in May. (File photo)

Castles

During Grammy's visit, she and Mia spent lots of time building castles with bristle blocks. Those two came up with some very imaginative structures. Once the castle was complete, the fun was just beginning. Grammy would wag her finger and say, "Now, don't knock it down" as Mia teasingly reached for the castle, then drew back. Mia loved this game of cat and mouse, squealing with anticipation. Most of the time, the castle stood for quite a while, demonstrating that Mia enjoys the anticipation way more than the actual knockdown. She is quite a thrill-seeker, our gal. I can't wait until we can ride a real roller coaster together.

Running Away With The Circus

Camp is not what it was when I was a child. To us, "camp" meant you went away for a week or more someplace in the woods with cabins and a lake. "Day Camp" was in a park someplace, with arts and crafts and campfire songs sans campfire. In Mia's world, camp is a shorter, fun version of preschool. They have a different theme every week, such as Circus or Rain Forest. Mia's preschool offers 8 weeks of camp (several mornings a week) over the summer, and we signed her up at another camp in the remaining weeks. I have to admit I didn't pay much attention to the weekly themes, we just signed her up for everything.
Last week, Mia's regular preschool (which we'll call "Camp") was not in session, so she went to a place we'll call "Alternative Camp." She took a while to warm up to it, but boy did she enjoy it. Alternative Camp has all-indoor play on some great indoor gym equipment, plus arts & crafts, storytime, and the like. Last Friday when I went to pick her up, about a dozen children ages 2 to 6 were sitting in a big circle listening in rapt attention as a teacher (dressed in a clown suit but without the white-painted face, thank goodness) read a story about the circus. The kids had on these festive little paper collars and party hats, and their faces were painted. (For the life of me, I don't know how they got Mia to sit still long enough to paint her face. Or keep the collar and hat on, for that matter. She took it off as soon as we got into the van, and refused to wear it for the above photo.)
At the conclusion of the circus story, the children marched in a circus parade with little noisemakers, to the tune of Stars & Stripes Forever. Of course, Mia didn't want to leave, so the teachers invited me to join in the march. I complied, of course. (In case you hadn't picked up on it, I love these excuses to relive my childhood.) When the march concluded and the other parents began arriving to pick up their children, Mia delighted in making me chase her all around the play area. I finally had to ask the youngest, most athletic-looking teacher to team up with me.
I wish I'd had my camera with me to capture Mia's sheer joy during the circus march or ensuing game of Catch-Me-If-You-Can, but I'll settle for sheer preciousness instead.

Green Eggs and Ham

Mia adores Dr. Seuss. This was one thing when we had those 20-page board books like Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb and The Foot Book. Now she has graduated to the full-length Green Eggs & Ham, Hop On Pop, and The Cat In The Hat. We've actually had to start our bedtime preparations a bit earlier to account for the additional reading time - lately, she wants us to read both Green Eggs and Cat In The Hat. Besides being looooong, these aren't exactly the best books for winding down before bedtime.
As we read GE&H, Mia announces "He doesn't want it!" about every third page. I admit I have tried to use this as an opportunity to talk to Mia about (1) the importance of being a good listener, and (2) trying new foods. So far, Mia shows no interest in these larger messages.
During the day, Mia delights in "reading" the books herself. She flips through the pages and can remember a good percentage of the words on each page.
At any time of the day, she might begin spontaneously reciting excerpts. Yesterday, we were checking out at the supermarket when she looked quite seriously at the cashier and said "Dad had a bad day. Bad day Dad had." I quickly explained to the puzzled cashier, "It's a line from Hop On Pop. Remember? 'Dad had a very bad day? What a day Dad had?' Dr. Seuss?" Fortunately, Jeff wasn't with us, so he could not be embarrassed by my apparent need to explain.

Welcome!

(We've been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss around here lately.)

You did it! You made it!
You're most welcome here.
We're happy to have you,
Oh reader, my dear.

Graduation Day

Today was graduation day at preschool. Though Mia's class wasn't really graduating, they performed at the ceremony. They were dressed up in cute t-shirts and "duck" caps. Mia's cap was nowhere to be seen, I assume because she refused to wear it. (We have a drawer full of sunhats at home - acquired before I realized our gal's distaste for headwear.) They sang If You're Happy and You Know It. Mia wasn't exactly keeping up with the hand motions - after all, she is the youngest in her class by 6 to 11 months. Still, I thought she was so adorable, it brought me to tears. (At events like that, it doesn't take much to bring me to tears.) The highlight of the ceremony was the graduating students processing into the room in white caps and gowns, to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance. I'm guessing there weren't too many dry eyes in the room. I myself was fumbling through my pocketbook for more tissues. They closed with a blessing, thanking God for the school and teachers and most of all the children. It was one of those moments when all was right with the world and the future was full of promise.


A few days ago, a babysitter found Dr. Suess's The Places You'll Go on our bookshelf, among several other hand-me-down books that have yet to be opened. While I was familiar with the title, I don't think I'd ever actually read the book, even in my own childhood. I overheard the babysitter reading it to Mia and was really touched by the message. While Mia's latest go-to book is Green Eggs & Ham, I plan to work The Places You'll Go into the rotation.


Note to Mia - On this day, I am full of love for you and I'm imagining all the places you'll go. School, college, France, China... The world is a wonderful place to explore and I can't wait to explore it anew, through your eyes.