From Bugs to Ballet

Our girl switches gears rather quickly. One minute she's tending to her bugs and the next minute she's dressed in her ballerina attire performing for her captive audience (Audrey and me). She enters the room and that's when I'm instructed to gasp and say, "who is that beautiful ballerina?" I wish I were kidding. That is what she wants me to say every time she takes the stage. I have to start over if I forget to gasp.

About the stage. She dances in front of the TV because it acts as a mirror. Most of the time she's not even facing her audience as she dances...she's admiring her reflection. Tonight I asked her to smile for the camera. She wouldn't. She said she was a serious ballerina.

In recent days, Audrey has come a long way as an audience member. She claps now. That is exceptionally pleasing to her sister. Well, tonight she took her supporting role a step further and wore a basket around her neck (not sure why) and a crown on her head (the best one, according to Natalie who promptly plucked it from Audrey's head to wear it herself). Audrey just grabbed another one. Luckily we have a collection of them around here.
Audrey arriving at the theater with her basket scarf and "the best crown"
Taking her seat in the front row.
Remaining in good spirits as she replaces her original head wear with the replacement crown she found on the floor.
Clapping after the performance. So supportive of the prima (donna) ballerina.

There is honestly NEVER a dull moment around here.

Happy 1st!

Dear sweet precious Audrey,
One.

You're one. You wear it well, kiddo. Your smile lights up a room, your cheeks (both pair) and chin dimple are irresistible, your grin and giggles are contagious, and your plump, busy little feet just beg to be tickled.

You love...
-your big sis (you spot her through her preschool classroom window and squeal!)
-snuggling (you'll cross a room for no other reason but to hug me and rest your head on my shoulder for a few seconds)
-pretzels (you hear the bag crinkle from the other end of the house and come begging)
- brushing your hair (thank goodness because I clearly don't tend to it enough)
- walking (you could walk a 5K, I'm sure of it!)
-climbing (we think you might be part mountain goat)
-sleeping on your tummy (you start rolling over while you're half-asleep in my arms)

-cat food (it's true. you've eaten a fair amount of it and you keep going back for more)

-unloading groceries (you take off with something out of every bag. Up until now you've preferred non-perishables but I fear the day when you take off with a container of yogurt that I find weeks later at the bottom of the toy box.)

- any toy of Natalie's that she prefers you didn't touch!

We adore you.

Happy Birthday, love bug.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

We cheated and celebrated her birthday a few weekends ago when Papa Franc and Nana were in town. It was probably a good thing because today on her actual birthday she has a summer cold complete with a stuffy, icky, runny nose! Today we made a fun breakfast and, of course, there will be cupcakes later if Natalie has anything to say about it!

A Bug's Life

Natalie is infatuated with bugs right now. Specifically, pill bugs and tomato bugs. She captures them, houses them in lid-less plastic containers, feeds them and waters them. I'm sure the tomato bugs are especially confused as to why they were plucked from their natural and desired habitat (our tomato plants) only to be fed their favorite food (tomato plant leaves from our tomato plants) 3 times a day by their captor. Consequently, the current pet tomato bug is soon to outgrow his Gladware. He's getting enormous and she's getting very attached.

We'll see how this plays out but I'm not hopeful it will end well for any of the parties involved. I'm actually most worried about the tomato plant that is being defoliated before it's produced a single fruit!

pill bug

tomato bug
(and lots of tomato bug poop)

colony of lucky pill bugs

By the time I got around to finishing this post, things changed. We did a little research online and it turns out "tomato bugs" are actually tomato horn worms (ick) and they'll turn into hawkmoths the size of hummingbirds if they have soil to dig into (they make their chrysalis in the soil). I'm not overly excited to see a moth the size of a hummingbird, but our budding entomologist sure is.

Corey helped Natalie upgrade the horn worm's digs and added a nice base of soil to dig in. Within 24 hours, he was subterranean. Now we just have to wait 2 to 3 weeks (an eternity for a preschooler) for him to emerge as a moth and hope to actually catch the action when he flies away (highly unlikely, but Natalie is very optimistic).

The new digs. The horn worm dug it...literally.

In addition to real live bugs, Natalie and Audrey love to play with this bucket of bugs that Corey brought home from a recent trip. Audrey was chewing on the huge, red, plastic scorpion on the drive home from the airport and if a neighboring motorist had seen her, we might have caused an accident!

We'll let you know when the giant moth emerges!

Our first last day of school

Natalie had her last day of preschool this week. She's officially on her very first summer vacation. It's funny how summer break holds no excitement at all for a preschooler. Natalie would rather be at preschool than just about anywhere else so she's a bit puzzled why we're taking a break.

She made popsicle stick and painted paper flower bouquets for her teachers and proudly presented them on her last day. She recieved big hugs and tender thanks and was just beaming. She loved her teachers this year. We loved her teachers this year. We couldn't have asked for a better introduction to school for our curious, artistic, energetic, smart, and friendly little student. Next year she'll be in a Pre Kindergarten class and that sounds a little too grown up for my liking!

Vacancy

We have had a revolving door of visitors this past month and we've really enjoyed it. It started after Easter when Grandma Lala stayed a few extra days...

And within 24 hours of taking Grandma Lala to the airport, we picked up Auntie Ammy...

And before Auntie Ammy even vacated the guest house (the pop up camper in the backyard), Nana and Papa Franc arrived...



The girls LOVED the extra attention, this momma LOVED the freedom of having an extra set of eyes, ears and breakfast-making hands around and Corey tried his best to work while the rest of the house clearly had too much fun.

(In looking at these pictures, it is blatantly clear that something needs to be done with Audrey's hair. Any and all suggestions are welcome!)

Thanks, everyone, for visiting. We loved having you! And for those of you we didn't see...the guest house is now vacant and the temps should be perfect for the next few weeks!

Legs

There isn't an inch on this kid that isn't downright delicious. The legs are the best. Strangers ask to squeeze them. We've been known to nibble on them. And just like her big sis, they go from calf to foot without much of an ankle to speak of! And she's putting these legs to good use these days! Crawling is old news and wobbly walking is now the preferred mode of transportation.

Sisterly Love

This about sums it up these days. Audrey longing to be an active participant in Natalie's world and Natalie loving the fact that with one slam of the door, little sister can't follow her everywhere.

For the most part, Natalie is very tender towards Audrey. But she's also frequently annoyed that Audrey wreaks havoc everywhere she goes and we take pictures instead of taking it seriously, as Natalie would prefer we do! Audrey chews on crayons and coloring book pages, carries the baby doll upside down by one foot and uses the toy microphone as a drum stick. Natalie has very little patience for this.

We continually try to explain that Audrey will eventually be a great play pal but that she's still little and learning about her world...one tasty crayon at a time. So, for the time being, Natalie sets her boundaries when she's not in the mood for a shadow and Audrey remains in hot pursuit of her big sis until those pesky doors get in the way!

We have a walker!

Audrey is officially walking. She's been working at this for ages...cruising, cruising, cruising for months. But the past few weeks she's ventured forward a step or two without the aid of a walker toy or a piece of furniture. And just this week she's begun darting here and there and everywhere.

She walks like a smiling Frankenstein with arms stiffly outstretched in front of her. It's so cute. This walking will give her chubby bruised knees a bit of a break!

This was supposed to be a good shot of the Frankenstien arms...but she walked right out of my picture!

You've gotta love these legs...even if the knees are perpetually bruised and dusty!

Look out world, here she comes!