Addie Antics

After Addie's bath at night, she and Cap spend 10 or 15 minutes playing on our bed before we go into her room to read books. Cap has called it Romper Time since she was a tiny baby. He tosses her around, performs gravity defying stunts, tickles her and basically makes her hysterical with laughter. Most of the time I can't even watch because I'm terrified she's going to launch off the bed as he flips her around. Last night, Cap had some work to do (I know it's hard when work involves going to a movie) so I had to stand in for Romper Time. It's a little less acrobatic with me, but Addie and I nonetheless got the giggles anyway.

Tonight I hop on a plane to San Francisco for the weekend. Just me, myself and I. Can't wait! I'm visiting my second family - the Armstrongs of SF and VA .

Happy Birthday Princess!

Sunday we celebrated Addie's third birthday with a Painting Party in our backyard. We borrowed easels for creating masterpieces and set up a craft table for the kids to decorate their own king, queen and princess crowns with glitter glue and gemstones. We ate pizza and strawberry ice cream cake. Later that afternoon, we opened presents galore and then all curled up for a nap on Mommy and Daddy's bed.

I feel like I've been saying Addie is "almost three" for so long that two seems like eons ago. Having left Elmo and Little Einstein's behind, she is knee deep in pink princess garb and ready for Montessori pre-school to start this July. I love that Addie is such a little whipper snapper - alternately fiercely stubborn and independent, and then loving and caring the next. She can certainly hold her own on the playground but has taken on the role of protector to the younger kids at her daycare. She told me the other day, "Good job Mommy. I'm proud of you." and all because I'd polished off my own bowl of cereal. Gosh, I'm just so proud of my little girl.

Happy Birthday! Go get 'em Addie!




Hard at work at her easel.


In case you think she's all princess, here she is with her pal Clyde playing with an earthworm.


Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!


Parties and presents are tough work. Napping with her new rainbow baton.

Tummy Love

Rubbing my growing belly with cocoa butter every night before bed
was a task Cap lovingly performed when I was pregnant with Addie.
Now Addie has taken on belly duty.
Afterwards she likes to rub it on her own belly telling me
she has a brother in her tummy. or a puppy.

The Happiest Place

We played hooky on Tuesday, got up early (I woke up at 5:50 am I was so excited), and headed to Disneyland to celebrate Addie's birthday a few days early. Sure, we could have gone this coming weekend, but Disneyland over Memorial Day? No thanks.

So we decided to do it before . . .
. . . Addie turned three and we have to buy her a ticket. We're cheap.
. . . it got bloody hot in Anaheim. Mommy's comfort is a priority.
. . . school let out and summer vacation kicked in. Avoid the crowds.
. . . the new baby comes. Not sure infants add to the fun.
Maybe before Mommy got pregnant might have been good too but we missed that window. Oh well.

And it was a blast.

She told me in the car on the way that she wanted to know what color the soap was at Disneyland. She thought brown. Now that we're using a lot more public bathrooms, Addie always comments on soap. Oh, it's green! They have pink! yellow! clear! white! Turns out, the soap at Disneyland is blue. The two other things she specifically wanted to experience other than hand soap were 1) see scary ghosts (Haunted Mansion) and 2) ride in the elephant (Dumbo). Check, check and check!

The lines were all relatively short since it was a Tuesday. I think we waited longer for ice cream in the afternoon than we did to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. Addie was amazing and willing to try anything even though a handful of rides scared the bejeezus out of her. She recovered immediately and was ready for the next adventure, "I want to see scary ghosts!"

Ride we thought wouldn't scare her but did:
Winner: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Runner up: King Arthur's Carousel

Ride we thought she'd be freaked out by and wasn't:
Winner: Pirates of the Caribbean
Runner up: Haunted Mansion

Sarah's favorite ride:
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Cap's favorite ride:
Haunted Mansion

I didn't want to lug the camera around, but I took some really lame videos. This at least proves we were there, right? Oh and the silhouette of Addie. I'm not sure it really looks like her though. Cap asked, "What's up with the bee sting lip?" Maybe it looks more like Shiloh?

The Little Ballerina

Addie looked so precious in her ballet outfit. All pink sweetie pie.

We didn't have much time to take photos of Addie in her ballerina outfit before her Saturday 9:15 am class. We almost didn't make it out the door when she demanded she wear a second tutu and then thought maybe she'd rather just take the whole outfit off. By 7:50 am we already had my car towed to the repair shop, got all of us dressed, fed and out of the house, and dropped Cap off at the Beverly Hilton for a work event he had to attend. Since he needed my camera, we only snatched this photo of her watching TV right before we left. Thankfully another Mom snapped a few before class started. The redhead is Addie's friend Arden.



I know it helped her to have a friend in the class. Sure, Addie is a pro about going to daycare, but I have never taken her someplace new and left her there with strangers. No parents are allowed in the room except at the very beginning as it is too distracting. The girls, ages 3 and 4, all dressed in pink, line up in front of the teacher, point their toe, curtsy and say their name before sitting down in the middle of the classroom. Once this ritual is complete, the parents are dismissed until class is over. We all camped out in the dark hallway for 50 minutes wishing we could install one way glass like they have in crime dramas.

Would she cry? Throw a fit, refuse to listen to the teacher, bite another ballerina, pee on the floor? I am thrilled to report that none of that happened. She did, however, excuse herself from class no less than three times to go on potty breaks. We'll be back this Saturday. Maybe I can slide a small mirror under the door and spy on them.

All About Me Day

Yup, it was a darn good Mother's Day. I was pretty clear with my wishes: french toast with berries at home and a subscription to Martha Stewart Living. Oh and of course spending the day with my little family of three. Did I get what I wanted? You bet. Plus, we trekked off to La Canada to stroll through Descanso Gardens mid-day and then Cap barbecued dinner for us in the late afternoon.

I'll admit (and apologize to Cap) that I might have gotten a little cranky a few times but that was easily rectified with sticking more food down my pie hole. Ah simple solutions.

Hugs to Po, Miss A and to all the Moms in my life who do so much for me all year!

Check out more photos from our trip to Descanso .

Sunday

Sunday we promised Addie she could go to the beach with her friend. Then her friend bailed. We promised her we'd go the beach just the three of us. Then we bailed. When I got out of the car after hunting for a parking spot, I declared it too cold for the beach. Actually, I said I was cold and Cap, from years of past experience, knows that when I'm cold I complain and when I complain everyone suffers. So he smartly suggested we abort our beach trip. So we promised Addie a pony ride instead. Do you think she's maybe a tiny bit spoiled?

Off to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market we go! Thankfully there was a pony ride, otherwise she would have had to settle for petting chickens, an activity she rather enjoyed the last time we were there. The place is getting so crowded you have to fight for food and a little spot on the lawn, but we prevailed. We shared a loaded baked potato and corn on the cob. Cap got Addie a pink magic wand balloon, which I foolishly thought was a sword she was holding the wrong way. Silly me! We listened to the bluegrass band and then Addie hit the dance floor. She's got an awesome little dance routine that involved stepping side to side and kicking out her heels. The market was shutting down and she finally got up enough courage to take a ride on a pony. She sat stoically on the biggest one.

Happy Birthday Cap!

Happy Birthday Po!

Addie made this card just for Daddy, and I'm excited for a birthday dinner for two at a new restaurant downtown!

Addie's been thinking she's pretty funny lately.
When Cap told her it was his birthday, she immediately sang, "Happy Birthday to Mommy!" giggling.
"Noooo, it's Daddy's birthday!"
More giggling and singing "Happy Birthday to Mommy"
Then came a second verse, "Happy Birthday to your bum!"
More squeals of laughter.
Then she decided it was her birthday.