Happy / Sad

This is from about a month ago, but it brings me such joy, I thought I'd upload it to the cloud for posterity (?) The iPad front facing video camera is pretty brilliant for making kids ham it up on the screen because they can see themselves.

V-I-O-L-E-T

Violet always gets her groove on when I sing her her song, "V-I-O-L-E-T" (to the tune of BINGO. I haven't sung it to her in a while though, but I guess it had an impact as apparently she can now spell her name!

Yoga

Violet: "Mama, I do yoga." (Puts hands in prayer like position) "Mmmmm"
Mama: "Ah nice! What other poses do you know?"
Violet: Does triangle pose
Mama: Puts hands at third eye center and bows "Namaste"
Violet: Puts hands at third eye center and bows "Mama stay"

That's quality day care.

2!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 2 years old! We had a great birthday bash for you in our back yard on Saturday. You had a blast with all your friends, Andma, Uncle David, Aunt Leslie, and all the pizza, juice boxes, and cup cakes you could eat. For fun, we had swings, a dinosaur dig, a pool, bubbles, balloons, toys, drawing, stickers- all your favorite things. Your favorite part (besides the juice boxes and pizza) was running through the garden paths with your friends. The look on your face when you run is so vibrant and full of life. I love it when you tell me "My run FAST, Mama!"

Today I left on a trip to Mexico with my UVA friends. It is very very hard to leave you, especially today. I worry that you will be sad and not understand that I am coming back soon. However I know that you are going to be very well taken care of by your Andma and I'm so happy that two of my favorite people in the world will get to know each other so well. I will be home soon bear. Mamas always come back! I love you, my grown up girl!
Love,
Mom

My kayak!

V and I went kayaking on the Charles River this weekend. At first, V's bottom lip was stucking out a lot in a big pout and she whimpered every time she got splashed with a little water from the paddle. However, after a little time, a little repositioning, and few snacks, she had a great time. She even wanted a turn paddling. "My kayak!!" That's my girl!

New family member

Violet and I have adopted a furry red homeless guy we found outside on the street. He has to eat everything Violet eats, drink everything Violet drinks, and use all the same utensils Violet uses. Luckily he is pretty neat and doesn't throw a lot of food on the floor. Tonight I discovered that this guy likes snow peas and carrots and when he eats them Violet wants some too.

So unfortunately, the angel light fell off the wall. The "as advertised on TV" super double stick tape apparently isn't so great. She didn't really understand what I was going for anyway, but she did coincidently start sleeping until at least 7am most mornings, so we're back in a good place. I'm happy to report on the sleeping front that night wakings have finally seemed to have stopped. I can say this without jinxing myself because V did wake up last night at 4am crying, which she hadn't done in at least a month, but it was only because she was cold. I went in and instead of jumping into my arms like she used to do, she just said in a very sleepy voice, "cover me up Mommy" which I did and she promptly went back to sleep. Ahhhh. We've pretty much stopped nursing now. Not sure if those 2 things went hand in hand, but it sure is nice to get a little more sleep now. Nursing is definitely something that I'll miss, but the weaning process was so gradual I think it worked for both of us.

23 months!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 23 months and 3 days old. Is this the last monthly letter that I'm going to write because soon you will just be "two"? The first of the month will always be a special day to me. You are growing up so fast! The last month has been a whirl wind of travel and fun. We went away our 3 weekends in a row and had a blast! The first weekend we went down to Rhode Island with some other families. You had so much fun playing with the other kids who you're growing up with and Mama had fun with the other Mamas! It was a little hard to sleep there because there was a really tall bed and your crib was wedged into a strange corner. You weren't into it. You woke up at 5am and said "Don't wanna do it" so I took pity on you and brought you into my bed. The next weekend we went to the Reine's house at the cape where you have been a couple times before and you slept much better. It was kind of a rainy weekend, but we still had lots of fun. You love to play with Patrick who is a couple months older than you and teaches you all kinds of new things. The third weekend we flew down to DC to see Andma and Daddad. You are a pro at flying by now and only got antsy the last few minutes of the flight. You carried your own backpack with your own sippy cup and pushed your stroller all the way off the plane outside to the car. Everyone in the airport thought you were pretty cute....good thing because you are a little reckless with that stroller. We had a great time in DC with Stephen, Baby Thomas and "TWO Shelby's!" We had a big party on Saturday night and you fell in love with Shelby Blake, Carol's daughter. It was great fun for Mama to see you have so much fun and let Mama talk to all her friends. You partied until 10pm when you hit a wall. I was pretty impressed.

You are definitely talking a lot these days. I don't understand everything you say all the time because you like to try out new words all the time. You can repeat almost everything I say. Your pronunciation of "caterpillar" and "Kamilah" are two of my favorites. Sometimes works with several syllables get kind of lost in your mouth and you just add lib with your tongue fluctuations - it's really outstanding to witness. I can see your memory expanding too. I know that you remember things now from day to day and one of your favorite things to say is "Oh there it is!" when you find something you've been missing. You remember things like the fact that you LOVE to play "airplane" with Mommy when she lifts you up on her feet. We also like to play harmonica dance where you play the harmonica and Mommy dances until the music stops and then she freezes and you giggle. That's a pretty fun game. Dancing is one of your favorite things to do and you often request music and dancing at night - you're fun!

This fourth of July weekend we are enjoying a quiet weekend at home. We're going to a couple parties and spending some time at the beach. You LOVE the water and are pretty fearless about jumping off things and/or sliding into it. I admire your bravery. You still never want to go to bed at night and are now pretty consistently waking up at 6:15am. Tonight we are going to try a new system where I set an angel light on a timer. The angel will light up at 7am when it's time to get up in the morning. Before that, it's time for sleeping. I suspect it might take a few tries to understand it, but we practiced today with our "awake and asleep" game so maybe.... Mama is still really tired because she hasn't been sleeping well herself....mostly because she just doesn't go to bed early enough! Oh Violet, it's so nice to spend so much time with you when we don't have to be anywhere or go anywhere specific. You are such fun to be around and the days are easier when we're together all day. Now, just stay asleep my angel until the angel over your head tells you it's time to get up!

Love,

Mama