baby love

I know I have mentioned before how much Harriet loves babies but she is downright nutso berserk for them.   I just think it is so cool because Eloise never showed any interest at all in dolls or babies.  It was always, and still is,  stuffed animals with her.  Just another piece of evidence proving the fact that apparently everyone knew except me---duh, every kid is different.

Harriet first spotted another baby on the Costco diaper box that was sitting in the kitchen for quite some time. ( I was doing a little experiment to see if Mike would move it before I did.  He didn't.  It sat there for 13 days.)  During this time, Harriet fell in love with that giant baby's head on the side of the diaper box.  She would stare at it, crane her neck to see it from any location in the room, and she eventually started saying "ba-ba".

Soon babies were popping up everywhere in Harriet's world.  She was excited to see them in her books, on the side of her baby food jars, on t.v., in photographs, and oh my god! look at that one in the mirror.  Every other person in the world that was not an adult, was a baby.

She then discovered a baby doll.  A 3D baby that she could actually hold and rock and hug and kiss and feed and push around in the stroller and chat with.  We went from having zero dolls in the house to having about six or seven, and I'm sure they are still coming.

Harriet is a good little mommy and it warms my heart to see how sweet she is with her babies.  She observes things so diligently and acts out pretty much exactly what she sees.  Why is she always dropping the babies on their heads though?

playing in the nursery at the children's museum

a.k.a. harriet's heaven

putting babies to bed

this is the look she gives a girl who dares

to take the baby away

getting baby dressed at home

a quick smooch

a nice stroll

seriously, do not get between harriet and 

a baby

future dorothy hamill

I have not been ice skating since 8th grade.  Growing up we lived near an outdoor rink at a local park that was right across from our school.  I had some great times at good ol' Ottawa Park even though I was never that great of a skater.

Recently, I was able to relive my youth when I took Eloise ice skating at our local rink.  She has been asking to go ice skating for some time now.  Seeing as how I am no longer pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking care of a newborn, I was out of excuses.  We headed to the open skate last weekend and had a ball.

As with nearly every activity we do, Eloise has to have what, in her mind, is the perfect outfit.  This outing was no different.  When we decided that we were going, she went up to change--purple tights, gray Puma tube socks, striped sweatshirt, winter hat, and blue sparkly ice skating skirt that I had made for her 2 years ago to play dress up.

We were able to rent ice skates and I got to work lacing hers up and really trying to pull them tight.  She was so excited she could hardly sit still.  She was going on about how she was going to do some "twirly arabesques" and some "spins" as soon as she could get onto the ice.  I was trying to let her know that it might be difficult to even walk but she wasn't hearing it.

She got up on her skates and we walked together, clutching hands, and trying to make our legs work. It is not natural that someone of my size and nature should be able to balance on two thin blades of steel...on ice.  I think we were both surprised by how hard it was but I was so proud of Eloise for giving it her all and never wanting to give up.

We mainly skated, and I use that term loosely, around the edge of the regulation size hockey rink a few times while hanging on to each other and the wall.  Eloise fell 279 times but she hopped back up every time.  It was so loud in there but I knew she was shouting things the whole time.  From what I could tell, she mainly alternated between "This is so awesome!!!!" and "I am so angry they gave me brown skates!!!"

As luck would have it, a new session of ice skating lessons was set to start the following week.  We were able to sign up and after her first lesson yesterday morning she is already able to let go of the railing to cross the rink on her own and skating backwards.

 This week, I plan to purchase a BeDazzler and book tickets for the 2022 Olympics.

outfit of choice

this is what we looked like most of the time

getting in the hang of it a little more

a very proud finish

birthdays

Another birthday here and gone.

The thing about birthdays as you get up there in years is...they are kind of dumb.  I mean, for the most part they are just like any other day.

I was still awakened by crying at 5:45.  I still had to wrestle the eye drops into Harriet's eyes.  I still had to make breakfast for everyone and get out the door and to school on time.  I still had to do all the mundane usual stuff--dishwasher, laundry, diapers, couch sitting.  

 I am a full time mom and even though that makes birthdays seem like just another day, it also makes them extra special.  When I knocked on Eloise's door the morning of my birthday she handed me a piece of paper folded up at least 30 times into the smallest piece imaginable.  When I finally got it open it simply said HAPPY BIRTDAY with a double exclamation point smiley face.  It was the best.
 Then, there was the cake.

Eloise has been talking about making me an ice cream cake for my birthday since my birthday the year before.  She had the whole thing planned out and would interview me about it all the time all the while trying to keep it a secret.  She would say, "Mom, what are your two favorite ice cream flavors, for no particular reason?"  She and Mike snuck around like ninjas trying to execute this cake without me finding out.  They sent me out for a couple hours and I only got two texts:  one inquiring about a spring form pan and another about chilling a bowl before making whipped cream.  What I imagined was going on at home was keeping me pretty entertained.

On Sunday night we all went out to a very early dinner.  God, I think it was 4:30.  Once home, I put Harriet to bed and came downstairs to a darkened kitchen and heard suspicious giggling under the table.  The cake was on top, candles were lit, and Eloise was beaming all through singing "Happy Birthday to Mom..."

Even a dumb birthday can be pretty swell.

the cake!  

in all it's oreo glory.  

the ice cream cone candles were seen by Eloise 5 months ago.

she never forgot about them and made her dad help

her find them again.

what can I say?  the kid loves a theme

proud chef enjoying the ice cream cake