Local Forecast

Cloudy and Rainy

100% chance of rain. According to Vanessa's crowning gauge, the rain should arrive within the next three hours.

And based on Vanessa's favorite phrase the last couple days -- "You're welcome."

All-Out Weekend

Vanessa made the most of her weekend. She spent most of it outside. She went to the park Saturday. She held on tight to her water and milk cups while she explored. She noticed a little boy putting rocks down the slide and proceeded to copy him as soon as he left the vicinity. We talked about playground etiquette. :) Thereafter she got into a routine of placing small piles of rock throughout the play area.

On Sunday Vanessa played in the water table and gave her collection of rocks a bath. She was quite funny to watch.

Soon before bedtime Vanessa took a stroll around the front yard. She enjoyed going up to different license plates and pointing out letters and numbers to name them. She was excited to discover there are plates on the front of the cars too.

Before going back inside for what we thought was the last time for the evening, Vanessa made it a point to talk to the pansies. She told lots of stories.

Then, I'm afraid to report, just a little bit later (maybe 15 or 20 minutes after going inside) Vanessa walked into the kitchen and was jabbering about whatever. She then got quiet for a minute or two. I decided to go see what she was doing, assuming she must be flipping thru a book in her playhouse. As I went into the kitchen I called for Vanessa. When she responded I could tell immediately that she was not inside the house. I walked to the patio door, right beside her playhouse, and saw her looking back at me from the yard. I also noticed rather quickly that the screen was closed. So she went to all the trouble of opening and closing it and did so in just a minute or two without making hardly a sound. Thank God for a fenced yard!

Do you think she enjoys the outside?! Or perhaps it was her last effort to avoid going night night. :) Now we'll need to replace our screen with one that little fingers can't unlock . . .

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What happened to Easter? Oh we celebrated. Have no doubt. Vanessa met the Easter Bunny the Saturday before, and rather than run from him, she ran to him! I was surprised. She did, however, look back every so often to where Grandpa parked the wagon -- to be sure it was still there. As her grandma put it "She's looking for her comfort zone."

Vanessa did really well with finding eggs. She also did well with going straight to her basket on Sunday morning before church. She had fun pulling all of the pink grass out and exploring the extremely cheap but engaging toys. :) (Again, we totally missed a still shot op. We took video but it's probably too large to post.)

We went to church but Daddy had to stay with Vanessa in the nursery. The service was very nice. The sermon was outside of the box but easily connected with the Easter message . . . it was propulsive . . .

After church we tried to follow our newly established routine for napping -- eat lunch and go to bed. Everything went like clockwork except that Vanessa decided to take off her pants and test new boundaries. She climbed out of her crib that day. She passed over the edge and made a slight thud that alerted me to listen more closely. I heard giggles and pitter-pattering. I grabbed Adam and we went upstairs armed with cameras.

All of Vanessa's goofing off delayed any napping. We dressed her and headed over to her grandparents, where she proceeded to wear herself down until she finally gave up and took a 20-minute catnap. It was a big and exhausting day for her. :) But the Easter Bunny was good and we enjoyed our visit with family and friends!

Jimi Dog

Long story short . . . an awesome dog born at our home in Gallipolis nine years ago today.

Short story long (two pictures included). . . it was Easter Sunday. His mother had been dropped by her owner. The Thursday before Easter she found her way to our house, along a really busy rural route. She plopped down right outside our front door.

I eventually made my way outdoors and sat with her, once I realized she was a friendly dog. I ended up offering water and food, which she seemed to want badly. While watching her eat and drink I noticed movement in her tummy area. I then realized she was pregnant. We had storms rolling through the Ohio Valley and I couldn't stand the thought of this obviously pregnant animal having to stay out in such storms. Adam and I agreed that she would stay in our basement/garage for the night, although we were not allowed animals (that house ended up as quite the landing zone for animals, some of which came into the house for short visits.) We called her Lady since she seemed to respond to that.

By Saturday Lady was in labor. She gave birth to five stillborn pups, all of which looked to be big and healthy. We buried each one throughout the day. Lady was very distraught over the loss of her puppies. We'd carry one to their grave and she'd follow us, every so often pulling one back out. We even tried to save a couple -- yes, by breathing into their noses . . .

When it seemed Lady was finished, she still required lots of TLC, so we very willingly gave it to her. The next day she seemed better -- hopped up to greet me and gobble down food and water. She was still rather tired though. I left to go teach Sunday school but didn't stay for Easter services since Lady was back at the house and I worried for her. When I returned home she was curled up in a ball on covers and sheets. About two or three feet away from her was a dark glob. I just figured it was after effects. As I neared it I heard it squeaking. I quickly realized this rather small glob was alive. It was the runt of the liter and Lady had no interest in him.

After toing and froing over names, we settled on Jimi. We had a thing for naming animals after musicians, so he's named after Jimi Hendrix. We spoiled Jimi for the first five or six weeks of his life. We coddled him like a baby and took him for walks while cradling him in our arms, and we’d shield him from the sun, which he seemed to hate back then. He was resilient little guy. :)

As mentioned earlier, we were not allowed to have animals in the house we were renting, so we had to find Jimi and Lady good and loving homes. Jimi found his way to his grandparents. His grandmother welcomed him with open and loving arms. :) Jimi is still healthy and smart and just a great dog. We're so happy his grandparents kept him!

Happy Birthday!

Papaw . . .

. . . the nickname for my maternal grandfather, Vanessa's great grandfather. It's also probably what Vanessa would've called my dad. Today marks the fifth anniversary of his death.

It's interesting to hear and read about stereotypes and origins for different grandparent nicknames. When you look up "papaw" it is defined as a type of fruit tree or the fruit of that tree. Neat . . . since Vanessa is the fruit of her Papaw. Vanessa makes the sound for p really well. I can only imagine if Dad were still around, Vanessa would be saying Papaw lots and lots by now. I often wish he were with us to enjoy her endless energy. I know he would've loved her.

One might say that I had a rough childhood, but even so, my father always used (intentionally or unintentionally) humor and affection to soften the world we lived. As children we were so blind to most happenings . . . probably a good thing . . . but now when I reflect as a parent, our Dad did amazingly well overcoming many obstacles. I was a daddy's girl, but not in the typical generalized way -- only I could do no wrong and I was his princess (even when I was full-fledged tomboy.) He was gifted in so many ways but never fully realized . . .

Of course he's on my mind frequently, but with the anniversary of his death, my thoughts are a little more consumed. Love you Dad! Vanessa will experience the sunshine you brought to us all.

"Drink? Drink?"

Vanessa worked up quite a thirst picking up pine cones in the side yard today. I took full advantage of her thinking it was game. She was an awesome helper!

And to think this morning Vanessa thought she could chill out all day . . .

April 15

The official deadline for filing taxes. :( We've had our paperwork ready for a while now . . . but we found it hard to bring ourselves to file until the deadline. I wouldn't say we're procrastinators based on this, just unmotivated because although we get a return this year, like many it's already spent. So what's the point of hurrying up the transferring of money when there's no immediate need, right? Vanessa picked up on her daddy's routine for doing taxes pretty quickly. She wanted to sit at the dining room table with her paper and crayon just like her daddy (although he chose to use a pen since the IRS might frown on big chunky colorful words and figures all over the forms. No need for drawing attention to us. :)

For some April 15 is a great day. I have a friend whose birthday is today. Corrie ten Boom and Leonardo da Vinci were also born on this day. In 1923 insulin became generally available. Rand McNally published its first road atlas in 1924. And in 1947 Jackie Robinson broke a racial barrier in baseball when he made his debut for the Dodgers on this day. And on another positive note, many food places and stores are offering Tax Day deals. So keep an eye out! (Hey McGraw-Hill friends -- I hear P.F. Changs is giving 15% off today, not that I'm available. :)

THE APPLE DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM EITHER TREE

We tend to think that in many ways Vanessa is a pretty good blend of both her parents. She definitely favors one of us more than the other in certain areas. And of course then there are times when Vanessa's mommy thinks she's definitely acting more like her daddy:

(Vanessa is much older than her daddy in these pictures. )

And to be fair, vice versa, I'm sure:

(Same here -- Vanessa is older than her mommy in these pictures. And I could probably find an older one of her . . .)

Frog Prince?

I certainly hope not!

Rolling in the Dough

Vanessa and her mommy made playdough the beginning of last week. Just recently Vanessa has developed an inconsistent sensitivity to "dirty" hands, so it was interesting to watch her explore the dough. She poked it. And she picked up the bit I rolled using the palm of my hand. She tried rolling a little bit of her own. Besides that, though, she played with the dough using various objects to avoid touching it.

The left picture shows how we started, a set up by Mommy. The picture on the right is of Vanessa's work.

Did you know that the Play-Doh was first designed as a wallpaper cleaner?

April's Silly Goose

It’s not time to go swimming just yet! Vanessa had to wear a swimsuit over her PJs yesterday. I was hanging up clothes in Vanessa’s closet when she spotted a future swimsuit tucked away in some things. She pointed it out once but got distracted by something else. Then a few minutes later she went back to swimsuit and asked to see it. I pulled it out and then she insisted on me putting it on her. I decided since it’s still a little cool that we’d just put it on over her PJs. ;-) We pulled out other clothes to change into but she never allowed me that chance because it meant taking off her swimsuit. We finally negotiated a couple diaper changes later in the day. I was a little scared how bedtime might work – Would she allow me to change her into clean PJs and remove the swimsuit for the night? She did.

(In the second picture she's running away with her clothes and diaper at almost lightning speed. This was the fifth or sixth attempt.)

And here I thought Vanessa had eaten all of her strawberries but later when I went to clean up the play room, I discovered that she had put many in her teapot. Call me the fool! :)