After the Snow

It was a beautiful day today. A little cooler than yesterday, but sunny and not as windy. The snow was completely gone by yesterday afternoon, and even the grass has pretty much dried up. LP couldn't wait to be outside, so as soon as breakfast was done we headed into the backyard.

We spent some time blowing bubbles, then LP helped Nana feed the fish (and catch two little ones to bring inside for the rest of our visit.) Then LP grabbed Molly's leash and the three of them headed off for a long walk around the neighborhood. It was great to get outside.

A Nap

LP and Molly have been having a great time together. They play catch, chase, and dress up together, and yesterday they even crashed for a little nap on the couch together.

Over Packed

Apparently LP and I really overpacked, we brought the cold, wet weather with us to Tulsa. We were so excited for the mid-70 degree weather that they have been enjoying out here. When we walked out of the airport we were greeted by rain, and I listened to the thunder as I fell asleep last night. This morning we woke up to find some large snowflakes blowing around the yard.


Within 2 hours the yard was completely covered in snow, the trees hanging down under the weight, huge flakes coming thick and heavy, and the power flickering on and off. It is the strangest thing, I don't think I have ever heard thunder during a snowstorm before.

Tulsa

LP and I made it safely to Tulsa today. It was a long day of traveling, starting with a 2.5 hour drive to Eka's house, then a flight to Detroit, a dash to make our connection, and another flight to Tula, with no stop for lunch in between, but LP was a trooper. She earned her wings (and an apple from first class)on the first flight for being so good, and only cried for about 3 minutes on the second flight when an announcement over the speakers woke her up from her nap after only 20 minutes.

She got a little upset when I told her the plane was getting ready to land in Tulsa, she thought the plane needed to go up into the clouds to get to Nana and PopPop's house. But she was thrilled when we got off the plane and found Nana, PopPop, and Molly all waiting for us.

We stopped for pizza on the way to the house then LP quickly made herself at home when we got here. She showed us all right to her bedroom and proceeded to pull out everything she remembered from the last trip. She and Molly quickly become friends again and we are happy to be here.

Picnic in the Rain

I had to run a couple of last minute errands this afternoon and came home to find LP had conned her dad and Uncle Dave into having lunch outside, in the rain. LP enjoyed her almond butter and strawberry preserves sandwich with apple slices while her dad held the umbrella over her to keep her dry. Uncle Dave carried out the candle and her water/wine glass so she could have a special meal (although the rain would not allow the candle to stay lit). Does she have these two wrapped around her little finger or what?

Everything But The Backyard Swing

One day left until Tulsa. Yesterday LP helped me pack. While I was going through her summer clothes trying to decide what to pack, she filled the suitcase with about 25 pairs of big underwear, 15 pairs of socks, and all of her winter dresses. Then she tried to fit her doll, panda, and pink sparkly shoes into the suitcase.

Today while I was getting our carry-on bag together she turned to me and asked if PopPop will push her on the swing. Suddenly she got very concerned and said, "We didn't pack my swing!" I can just imagine the laugh the TSA x-ray people would get if I allowed LP to pack her own suitcase. I got away with promising her that Nana and PopPop will take her to the big playground and push her on the sings.

Countdown: 5 days until Tulsa

LP and I are taking a trip our to Tulsa to visit Nana and PopPop for a little over a week. We're hoping for nice weather because LP loves to play in the backyard with Molly, get the mail with PopPop when he gets home, and go to the park. Last year we explored the zoo and the aquarium, who knows what we'll do this year.

We Miss Our Friends

LP is already learning some of the hard things about growing up. We have seen much less of our friends this year since they started school and everyone goes on different days. Our bi-weekly playdates phased out and we have only managed to see Munchkinetta and Barefoot Princess once since Christmas, and we haven't seen Buby since before Christmas.

It is so hard to explain to a 3 year old why they can't just see their friends whenever they want anymore. LP has been playing with pretend BP lately, and was having a sleepover with pretend BP last night when she suddenly announced that she didn't want pretend BP anymore, she wants her real BP. My heart broke this morning when LP told me that her friends don't love her anymore. When I asked her why she would think that, she told me that they never play with her anymore.

Blueberries

When LP gets tired and needs to recharge with Bear, she always pulls off her socks or tights (if she somehow still has them on). She loves to put Bear's arm between her toes. The other day I asked her why she liked Bear's arm between her toes. She told me that it made her happy. I asked her what it felt like.

LP: It feels like blueberries.

A Trip to the Museum

Last weekend Uncle Dave and I took LP to the city to meet up with Aunt Christina at the Museum of Natural History. LP Dad drove us down to the city to start our adventure. LP took her first ride on the subway, which ended up being 3 or 4 different subway trains to get across to the museum. She got to experience sitting in the sideways seats, regular forward facing seats, and even standing. Luckily she has great balance and had no problem standing during the stops and starts.

Once we finally got to the museum we waited on the steps in the front for Christina to get there. LP loved running around after the pigeons. In fact, she would have been very happy to skip the museum and stay outside chasing the pigeons all day. We did eventually head inside and went straight to the butterfly exhibit. There were some beautiful butterflies, and LP was very excited that 2 chose to land on her. One landed right on her hand, the other landed on her arm and did not want to leave. Uncle Dave carried her around on his shoulders while she kept her arm in one position so she wouldn't scare the butterfly. There was no fear of scaring this one though, she finally had to ask to get it off when her arm was too tired to hold up anymore.

After the butterflies, her second favorite thing in the museum was the structural posts surrounding the planetarium. She thought they made fun telescopes, peek-a-boo tubes, and megaphones. The third favorite thing was the Discovery room; she loved the memory boxes and exploring the large wall of drawers. The rest of the museum wasn't as interesting to her, she would look at the animals and tell me that it was a fake penguin or elephant. She prefers zoos and aquariums where the animals are still alive.

We all got hungry so we headed over to a local Shake Shack for a late lunch/early dinner. There we said goodbye to Christina and ran to make the subway to get us to the train that would take us home. It was a fast dash and we just made it. We settled down into our seats and I was sure LP would fall asleep. She came pretty close cuddled up with Uncle Dave, but suddenly got a second wind and managed to stay awake until we were less than .5 a mile from home in the car.

School Days

One of the biggest decisions LP Dad and I have been working on this winter has been where LP will go to school. When we bought our house, we bought knowing that we would have to send her to private school. We loved the house and the neighborhood (we didn't even know then just how lucky we would be with neighbors) and got such a great deal on the house itself that even paying for private school on top of the mortgage would be less than just a mortgage on all of the other houses we looked at. What I didn't know then was how hard it would be to choose a private school.

Three weeks ago we went on a tour and signed her up before we left. It it a Montessori school that runs from pre-K through grade 6, set on the director's 85 acre family homestead. From the moment we walked into the first classroom I fell in love with the school. By the time we left LP wasn't calling it Barefoot Princess's school anymore and had decided it was HER school. She definitely did not have that reaction at the other school we had recently toured.

In addition to math and numbers, language, science, geography, social studies, the children receive Spanish, music, art, drama, computer training and fiber arts classes. I asked how I could sign up when I saw the fiber arts room. There is a barn on the property with livestock and poultry and a mile-long natural and historical trail. The children are outside 3 times a day, giving them plenty of time and space to explore and burn off all their energy.

BP has been in school there this year and will be LP's classmate next year. After our tour we visited BP and her family at their new home (which is beautiful) and while the kids played BP's parents gave us their opinion of the school and what BP has gotten from it this year. This just further reinforced that we made the right decision. And not only will BP be a classmate next year, but Alessandro will be starting with her as well.

The only downside to the school is the distance. It is 32 miles from our house and about a 40 minute drive, so LP and I will be spending a lot of time in the car. But LP is a good traveler and I think we will be able to use the time for her to tell me about everything that happened in school that day.

I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to make the decision and was getting actually becoming a little depressed by the search. But before we had even finished the tour I knew, this place was perfect for LP. She will not only learn, she will thrive here and I am so thrilled to be able to give her this amazing opportunity.

A Little Catch Up Post

I never intended on taking almost a month off from the blog, but every time I sat down to post I got distracted, felt overwhelmed and distanced from it. I realized that my focus and reason for the blog has changed, it has become my journal of our lives and my days with LP. I will still continue to write the blog and I still invite everyone to read and comment (hopefully more people will actually comment, I would love to know who actually reads it) but I'm going to be writing from my view and what is important to me. I will do some catch up posts as I have time because I want to remember Christmas and my mom and Steven's visit. But I'm not going to worry so much about trying to do things at specific times and keeping it all in time order. I will backdate old posts so they fall into the right place in my journal.

In the meantime, here is a quick catch-up of the last month. (click on any of the photos for larger versions)

The Last (Hopefully) Snow

LP loves snow. At Thanksgiving the thing she was most thankful for was playing in the snow. That hasn't changed. As soon as she sees snowflakes she's ready to pull on the boots and pants and go play. Hopefully this picture is the last snow one of the season though, I am ready for spring.

First (almost) Friend Sleepover

LP and I went to Alessandro's for her first friend sleepover. She was so excited to use her new sleeping bag from Nana and PopPop. The kids played, we had a nice dinner, then they got into their pajamas and we spread out the sleeping bags for a movie. Unfortunately about halfway through the movie Dori started not feeling well, so we never actually slept, but we had a fun night and will try it again soon.


Madalynn's Baptism

We took a trip to CT/MA for Madalynn's baptism. While we were there we also visited with Auntie Lauren, Uncle Juan, Ana and Elana, we spent the night at Eka's house and got to have dinner with her and Auntie Diane, and of course spent lots of time playing with Ella, Hunter, and Cole.


We also toured LP's new school, had a wonderful lunch and afternoon with BP and her family, met Munchkinetta and her mom for breakfast, had Uncle Matt and Aunt Wendy over for dinner, went to the park, took a few trips to the little coffee shop, spent lots of time at the library, and LP and her dad went swimming, all in between school and ballet classes.