Enjoying the pool at Henri's birthday party in New Hampshire
The kids both enjoyed several hours in the pool.
At our Tuesday play date at Justin's, Violet enjoyed showing Will how to use the steering wheel in the clubhouse.
As a part of Heritage Days, David took the kids to the Slice of Salem best pizza contest on the Common, while I went out with other non-grain eating friends. We weren't going to be able to take them to the Scooper Bowl, the ice cream event the next day, so Carolyn and Joe took the kids for us. Everyone enjoyed sampling the different ice creams, and Will got his first face painting.
Avonlea Jane had her physical for pre-school this week. She's 41 pounds and 41 inches. The nurse practitioner gave us a little bit of flak because Avonlea Jane can't write her name yet. That inspired an internal eye roll, as we don't think that's a skill most 3.5 year olds have yet. She said Avonlea Jane might be a little bit behind because of this. We doubt it, as Avonlea Jane did use the word "expeditiously" while talking to her. Regardless, she isn't crazy about trips to the doctor's office, so we went to the mall to do The Jumpy Thing afterward.
Later in the week, we were back up at Henri's grandparents' house in New Hampshire for a swimming play date.
Will and Catie
Enjoying leftover cupcakes from Henri's birthday party
For a while now, I have been lamenting that I need to get a hair cut. After growing it so long for a bet with David, he and I had joked that it was four inches longer than ridiculous and that I would need to start spending my free time at Renaissance faires or as an extra in The Hobbit. Last weekend, my Lady of Shalott-esque looks took the turn from obnoxious to dangerous, as evidenced by Will's first trip to the emergency room.
On Friday evening around dinner time, David took off Will's socks and noticed that one of his toes was dark red and swollen, with a bleeding crevice in the middle. A few strands of my hair had been round so tightly that they created what is called a toe tourniquet. We removed what visible hair we could and called our family doctor. His advice was to keep the foot elevated and then the swelling and discoloration would dissipate.
Five hours later, Will's toe didn't look any better. Though we decided that "Four-toed Willie" was an excellent nickname for a bluegrass musician (and much better than the possibility of being a "One-eyed Pete), it would be for the best to take him to the hospital.
In the emergency room, he was all smiles and grins while having his initial intake. He did not care for when the doctor examined his foot and certainly didn't like her trying to remove the remaining hair. The hair was too tight and fine to remove with tweezers, so he unfortunately had to have his toe numbed for an incision to be made down its length. This was a nerve-wracking experience for all involved. Shortly after the procedure, Will was thankfully back to smiling at the nurses before falling asleep.
We were very happy to see his toe start to go back to normal the next day, as we were told he might need to see a pediatric plastic surgeon at the children's hospital if the symptoms persisted. A week later, his toe looks much better.
Will's ordeal definitely sealed the deal that it was time for Mommy's hair to go. The next morning, I promptly went to the salon and had seventeen inches cut off, fourteen of which were suitable to donate.
Today a visiting nurse came to the house to check up on Liv and Will. The little one is nursing well and at two days old weighs 7 pounds, 13 ounces (a perfectly normal weight loss). Both mom and baby are fantastic.
Avonlea Jane is very excited to narrate--or dictate--what Will is doing. "Baby Will having mummies. Will's diaper change time. Time to change you clothes. Baby brother sleeping."
She is particularly excited about Will nursing. It was our goal as a family and with her doctor to have her nurse at least two years, and she did until she was 2 years and 8 days old. Liv's back was bothering her on Thanksgiving evening, so she asked Avonlea Jane if it was okay to just have a story and a song without mummies. The next morning, Avonlea Jane declared, "Mummies broken," and hasn't inquired since. However, most of her friends are still nursing, and she loves to talk to them about it. She seemed quite relieved that the mummies were all better in time for baby brother's arrival.
As the temperatures in New England have been soaring, we've been finding different ways of beating the heat: staying inside, staying in the shade, and going to the beach. Avonlea Jane's also been busy growing. She had a check up this week and is 32.5 inches tall (54th percentile) and weighs 25 pounds (49th percentile). Her doctor was pleased that she is eating very well with a fork and spoon, likes to color, that her vocabulary is around 100 words, and that she sometimes speaks in sentences ("Dat my Daddy." "More water, please.").
On our way to lunch with friends, Avonlea Jane in the ruby slippers she insisted on wearing that day
Alma and Avonlea Jane on their way to the farmers' market. Avonlea Jane is getting a kick out of Alma trying on her sunglasses.
Enjoying orange-cranberry-walnut bread from the market
The weekend before last, we went to the Sandcastle Festival in Revere to see the sculptures and to hear a band play. Below are many of the sculptures. Avonlea Jane would have had a better time had she been allowed to touch them.
Our favorite
That same day, we celebrated the second birthday of Avonlea Jane's friend Violet. Here, Avonlea Jane is enjoying Violet's play kitchen.
Violet getting ready to blow out her candles
Avonlea Jane helping Violet to open her presents
Both baby and Daddy are partied-out.
Avonlea Jane enjoying the live music at the farmers' market
Playing with her new magnet set of R. family photos. Avonlea Jane loves to bring us magnets and tell us who's in them or to play "go fetch a magnet with X on it."
Sitting in the shade of the umbrella at Crane Beach. Finally, the water temperature has been warm enough to get all of the way in (65 deg.).
Avonlea Jane was wearing her suit with the straps that fall down, and she got sick of pulling them up, so she took the suit off.
Enjoying an ice cream cone with Daddy at the Willows
The end of March saw David's 26th birthday and some giant shifts in the Massachusetts weather. Over David's birthday weekend, he had two college friends visiting for a conference in Boston. He enjoyed catching up with them, and we all enjoyed playing games throughout the weekend, especially our new obsession: Dominion. During their visit, the weather started off chilly, as we went to Marblehead's Devereaux Beach on Thursday in fleeces, and Avonlea Jane and I went to the Plum Island Beach over the weekend wearing winter hats and gloves.
Her first time walking on sand, wearing a dragon hat made for her by her Great-Grandma Bissell
By the Saturday of Easter weekend, the weather had warmed considerably, and the temperature was in the mid 60s. It was the perfect temperature for an egg hunt at the Salem Athenaeum, a private library.
Hunting for eggs in a new Easter outfit with her new purse
The egg hunt started at 11:00 a.m., and by 11:05, there were no eggs left. Avonlea Jane just had a good time chasing the big kids around. They were quite taken with her as well, as the older kids would throw some of their goodies on the ground for Avonlea Jane to "find."
Her buddy Joe helping her to search the lawn
After mass on Easter Sunday, we went for a walk with four of our neighbors through the cemetery, where we had an egg hunt of our own.
Avonlea Jane was so thrilled with picking up eggs and putting them in her bag that we didn't even fill them this year.
Below: On our walk around the cemetery pond, we spotted a large group of turtles sunning themselves.
On Sunday, the weather was in the mid 70s, so we decided to trade in our Easter clothes for beach wear and head to Crane Beach in Ipswich. The nice weather had perfect timing, as most of Avonlea Jane's Easter basket was full of sand toys.
Last year in April, we had the same rash of warm weather where everyone flocked to the beach. You can see in the photos that there are no leaves on the trees.
Avonlea Jane is not deterred by the taste of sand.
Eating sand at Crane Beach, April 2010
Eating sand at Crane Beach, April 2009
Buried in a hole
Avonlea Jane did not let the freezing water keep her from running in.
What a difference a year makes
April 2009
April 2010
The fabulous weather kept improving through the week. On Tuesday, we spent part of the evening at Singing Beach in Manchester. By Wednesday, the temperatures reached 88 degrees and we headed back to Crane Beach but this time with her swimsuit.
Playing with her friend Violet
The water was not as cold as it was on Sunday, but it was still cold. This did not stop every kid on the beach from running into the waves, Avonlea Jane included. She was even content to sit in the water and let the frigid waves come over her legs. I went in up to my knees briefly, and that was quite enough for me. Brrr.
Now that she's developed her sand legs, she can really run on the beach. She needs a constant eye kept on her, and not because of the water, but because she is a snack goblin. On Wednesday, Avonlea Jane would take every opportunity to go up to other kids and parents and try to get snacks from them. She would also run over to unoccupied blankets and snoop through their bags looking for snacks. (As a note, we were well stocked with Pirate's Booty, bananas, applesauce, strawberries, and grapes.)
Here she is returning from a tag team effort with a group of seagulls. She saw three seagulls swooping over an unoccupied blanket and went to investigate. The birds picked up a box of Wheat Thins and shook out the bag from inside the box. Avonlea Jane rushed over to get the bag, and then plopped down on their blanket happily eating their Wheat Thins, much to her mother's dismay.
On Thursday we were back to somewhat normal spring temperatures, so instead of going to the beach, we went to get Avonlea Jane's first haircut at Snip-Its, a salon for kids. For the last few months she's been looking pretty shaggy, but we weren't sure whether or not it was the right time for her first cut. It seemed like such a big step, but we were already referring to her as Mad Madame Mim from Walt Disney's The Sword in the Stone.
A before shot
A before shot, while being held by a sick Daddy home from work
She actually enjoyed getting her haircut.
The After shot
In back she got nearly 3/4 of an inch cut off, but it looks much better and feels much thicker. Had we known it would turn out this well, we would have gotten it cut a long time ago.
In other baby news, she had a doctor's appointment this week. She is moving up the scales. She now weighs 23 pounds (which is more than we thought) and is in the 33rd percentile for weight. She is 30.5 inches and is in the 41st percentile in height. She's added a few new words to her vocabulary: kitty and meow. We were suprised by the "kitty" because we refer to Mabel and Maxwell as cats or pussy cats. However, her two favorite books right now are Kittens and Pat Schrodinger's Kitty, a physics-based spoof of Pat the Bunny. She has also started signing "bird," "brushing teeth" and "washing your face." The last one is a sign she made up, but she does it regularly and consistently. You can see all of her words and signs in lists on the right.
She has also started mimicking and enjoying some adult behaviors. She really likes to help around the house. She's been very good at helping to pick up her room and to put things away, and this activity has spread through the house. She likes holding the dustpan and helping to sweep. She also likes to pretend to mop, and if asked, she will put things in the trash or recycling bins. She also likes to help load the dishwasher, so we've started to put some dirty dishes on the floor or within her reach so that she can put those in on her own. These tasks have made it clear how much language she understands and what she can identify. We had previously mentioned that she can identify the parts of her body (head, eyes, nose, mouth, belly, arm, hand, fingers, leg, foot, toes), she's added neck, face, ear, and back to that list. It has also become clear that she can identify all the things on a dining table and the rooms of the house.
Seen mopping while wearing a t-shirt that reads: "Bad grammar makes me [sic]" Oh, like mother, like daughter. She comes by it naturally, as my favorite toys as a kid were a toy broom and a toy ironing board and iron set.
She has also learned the joys of dipping her food. We were at a restaurant and she saw us using some dipping sauce and wanted to try for herself. She's always loved to tear up her food into tiny little pieces, and now she likes to dip these tiny pieces in ketchup, mustard, olive oil, whatever. The cutest thing is that she is so dainty about it. She uses only her thumb and pointer finger and holds up the other three.
